In
the crossing of the Red Sea, God used Pharaoh once again, this time to create a
situation to bring about the baptism of His people. By means of the pillar of
cloud and the pillar of fire, God led them to take a detour. As they marched behind the pillar that
guided them, they were led to camp by the sea (Exo. 14:2).
Baptism requires
faith [Heb. 11:29; Col.
2:12].... The children of Israel needed faith in order to cross the Red Sea. At
first, however, they had no faith at all. Seeing a mass of water in front of
them and the Egyptian army behind them, they cried out to the Lord and
complained to Moses: “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have
taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you done this to us, bringing
us out of Egypt?” (Exo. 14:11). Although
the people had no faith, faith came when God came in to speak a word. The
Lord was not angry with the people for their lack of faith, even though they
had just witnessed His mighty and miraculous acts in Egypt. To Moses, who as a
human was no doubt troubled by the situation, the Lord said, “Why do you cry
out to Me? Tell the children of Israel to move forward. And you, lift up your staff,
and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of
Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground” (14:15-16). When Moses
received this word from the Lord, the children of Israel spontaneously had the
faith to cross the Red Sea. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 319-321, 324, 337)
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