Exodus 14:29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

The only thing better than a sequel is a trilogy. I can only hope that this tale lives up to the reputation of trilogies. I am not going to rehash the stories of the last two days. What I would like to do is point out three words that appear in verses 20 and 21. All the night.

Hebrews 13:5c I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Imagine if you will the hearts of Israel waiting all night long for the waters to clear so that they could escape to the other side. The east wind blew all night clearing the waters from the far shores towards them. While they saw salvation far off on the distant shore, the promise of safe passage had not yet been delivered to the shore upon which they stood.

Did they worry that salvation would not come in time to their shore to save them? Do we in the midst of the night of circumstances fear waiting on the dawn of salvation? Is our God any less capable of holding off the enemy than He is in completing salvations work? Does our losing heart and trembling in fear change the sanctification protection and the hope of salvation? No, it doesn’t. It just takes all the joy out of the waiting.

Hebrews 4:1-2 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

So keep the faith, the dawn is coming.

Exodus 14:21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Hollywood 2, the sequel. Surely if the original was a hit, the sequel will be a money maker. Perhaps yesterday’s devotional wasn’t exactly a hit movie, maybe more like a preview. Here we see the execution of God’s word to Moses from 14:16. While yesterday I teased you with verses 17 and 18, I have left out verses 19 and 20 today.  A good sequel follows the premise of the original.

So what are we missing here? What wasn’t in the movie that was in the Word? Let us look and see for ourselves.

¹⁹ And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

²⁰ And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Egypt is kept in the dark while Israel is shown the light. This point is lost on Hollywood. Can you see separation and protection? We call that sanctification. Please note that this occurs before the east wind blows and makes a way to escape. Egypt cannot see salvations plan while Israel in the light gets to witness God’s mercy and grace extended towards them.

Is this what caused the hardening of the hearts of the Egyptians? Is there anything there for us to understand? Nothing hardens the heart of a person faster than being excluded. We are hated among all the other beliefs on earth because we say that there is no other name by which you must be saved but Jesus. They ignore the fact that the offer is extended to all who will say yes.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Be the light for those in darkness.