Shemoth/Exodus
CHAPTER 14
5. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had left hurriedly, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and they said, "What have we done by setting Israel free from laboring for us?"
6. And he prepared his chariots, and took his people with him--
7. He took 600 select chariots, along with all the chariots of Egypt, and shield-carrying officers upon every one of them.
8. Then YHWH strengthened the courage of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he chased after the descendants of Israel, while the sons of Israel were going out with a high hand.
9. Then the Egyptians pursued them, and caught up with them while they were encamped by the sea beside Pi-haHiroth, opposite Baal-Tz'fon.
10. And when Pharaoh was getting close, the descendants of Israel lifted their eyes and, lo and behold, the Egyptians were marching up behind them. Then they were extremely terrified, and the descendants of Israel cried out to YHWH for help.
11. And they said to Moshe, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have carried us away to die in the desert? What were you trying to do to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
12. "Isn't this just what we told you in Egypt--to leave us to be enslaved to the Egyptians? Because it would be better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
Fear makes people say some very stupid things. The greatest army in the world is breathing down their necks, and in their minds they are still slaves. They are used to being protected. After only a short time backing Goshen, they were already spoiled, and even when they were slaves, their food was provided for them. And now they still had Moshe telling them what step to take next. When we get relief from pressure, we very quickly tend to forget just how painful it was. They are romanticizing how things used to be, forgetting about the whips and their children being thrown in the Nile to die. Now it is the wilderness that is the dangerous place, not Egypt! Back there, there was no army to hurt us; the army protected us there! Somehow it is easier to live with the pain with which we are familiar than to take the risks that come with change, even if the change may be for the better—because things may also get worse. (Change for its own sake IS dangerous.) It is more comfortable to remain a slave than to face a world we have never experienced. The fear of the unknown makes us freeze and fail to take the steps forward that we need to take. But being a Hebrew means living with many unknowns. A shepherd’s life holds uncertainty every day. Would it rain? Would there be food for the sheep? Would predators attack them? Like battered women who keep returning to their abusers because the alternatives might seem even more threatening, we often would rather go back to what hurt us than go through the unknown to receive something far better from YHWH. They can hardly cast the blame on YHWH, so they say it is all Moshe’s fault. When Pharaoh arrived, they would be likely to turn him over as a scapegoat and surrender. And since “Moshe” is also a shorthand for the Torah he wrote, people still blame it on him, saying it was not so hard when we could do anything we wanted; things were easier when we did not have community rules. But we forget how hard and how lonely it was being out on our own. But they were in reality saying YHWH did not know what He was doing, and Moshe pointed this out (16:8). If they did not want to leave Egypt or serve YHWH, why did they eat the Passover? If one eats it but does not intend to go when it is time to go, he is bringing condemnation upon himself.
13. But Moshe told the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand still, and you will see the deliverance of YHWH, which He will effect today for you! Because you will never again see the Egyptians in the way that you see them today.
14. "YHWH will fight for you; you just keep quiet."
15. But YHWH said to Moshe, "Why are you crying to Me? Tell the descendants of Israel to pull up [their tent pegs]!
“Don’t be afraid” is excellent advice, but Moshe did not get every detail right. Like common Christian doctrines, Moshe says to let YHWH do all the work. “It’s okay, everything will be all right; let go and let God!” is easy counsel to give. YHWH had a different opinion. While “stand still” (place yourselves expectantly in YHWH's care) was assumedly all they could do, Moshe interjected his own understanding. Why ask YHWH to do what we can do, and what He has told us to takle care of? He will not carry us when we can walk, but if we are faithful He will bear us up on eagles’ wings. YHWH has it figured out and will do His part, but only when we prove that we trust by moving forward before He reveals how. “Trust” that is merely a mental exercise is a waste of energy; it will not breing us closer to where we need to be. We need to go as far as we can go. He is already there, but we have to go there to meet Him. He will not reach back and drag us there. What resources has He already given us? What can we do about the problem? If we stay still when the ark is moving, it will only be a blur to us; we can only see it clearly if we keep pace with it. Keep up with what YHWH is doing in the world, or we may be guilty of continuing to blame Moshe even though the solution has already been provided, because we hang toward the back when the nation starts to move:
16. "But you lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, to divide it. Then the descendants of Israel will pass right through the middle of the sea on dry ground."
We are most afraid when we do not know how big something really is. These people had never been outside of Egypt as Moshe had; they did not know what the desert might hold. Were there sea monsters in the Reed Sea, or huge crocodiles? Like a tiny mouse whose shadow looks huge because he is near the light, when we get close enough to the problems, they look much smaller. If YHWH tells you to move ahead when you cannot see how, He has the solution “already in the mail”, though He does not give us the itinerary until we get there. How do we know if we are making progress? If things do not look the same as they did last year. We cannot walk with YHWH for a year and not know more about Him than we did before. The scenery may not always change, but the way we view it should. All the way back at Avraham, YHWH was telling His people to step into the unknown. (Gen. 12:1) That is the road to the Kingdom. He did not even tell Avraham where to go; He said He would show him when he had arrived at the right place. There is less stress that way; if we get it into our head how things are “supposed to” be, we will miss the things along the way that were meant to teach us. Go there and find out what YHWH has for us there. Do as much as you can and the next step will show up. He may not part the sea this time, but get right up against it and He will get us across it, or defeat Pharaoh in a different way. We will see and hear things we have never known before; how could He explain them unless we go through the prerequisites between here and there? We cannot know what the next life will be like; all we are told is that is will not be like this one. It could not make sense to us now; trust Him to the degree of appearing foolish, and He will bring us something more sane afterwards. (See 15:25ff.) The unknown is the world of the Hebrew (“one who crosses over”). We don’t have to send spies; that did not seem to help us much last time. We have to cross over to see what is on the other side.
17. "And behold, I Myself will strengthen the courage of the Egyptians, and they will follow them, and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his forces, his chariotry, and his cavalry.
18. "Then the Egyptians will know that I am YHWH by My being honored through Pharaoh, his chariotry, and his cavalry."
If we see too many previews, going to the movie will be a waste of time. We need to embrace the fact that we do not know the details ahead of time, but there is one unknown that we never should move toward: We must never go after elohim that our (ancient) fathers have not known. (Deut. 11:26; 28:64; 29:24; 32:15ff) Israel has only ever known one Elohim; do not worship anything else. He is the one factor that makes the sure it is safe to walk into the unknown. The more we know Him, the less we need to know what is ahead. What we need to know is that it is YHWH that is bringing us and that He is with us. (Ex. 6:7; 7:5; 7:17; 16:6; 16:12; 29:44-46) Any other source of security is likely to tempt us to worship it. He keeps us on the edge so we will not cling to the wrong things.
Commentary on
Parashat B'Shalakh
Embracing
the Unknown
