Commit to God
Today we learned about the plagues that God sent to the Egyptians. This showed the children of Israel and the Egyptians that, unlike the gods of the Egyptians, The God of Israel is God over the whole earth: the rivers of water, plants, animals, health and sickness, weather, sunlight and darkness, even the lives of men and women. The miracles progressed from pretty mild, a leprous hand, a snake stick, to literally life and death. Most of them happened to the people regardless of their belief in God; the Egyptians and the children of Israel at first didn't take it very seriously. By the last plague, the Egyptians were begging the Pharaoh to change his mind and send the children of Israel away: the Egyptians had lost their animals, their fruit trees, their crops, their sources of water, their health.
The children of Israel got to sit back a bit and watch, with light in their homes and food on their tables; their animals were safe, their land protected. Nothing bothered them about this, until the last plague. God warned them. Now is the time to choose. Are you the children of Israel, "Let God prevail", or are you staying in Egypt? God didn't actually let them leave Egypt until they made their half of the commitment. Putting lamb's blood on their doorposts and preparing to leave became the signs that they chose the God of Israel. Once they covenanted to follow God's directions, then He led them out, with fire and a cloud.
It was a permanent commitment; they could not go back. I'm sure some of them tried to return to Egypt. Some of them dragged their feet. The Egyptians didn't really want their slaves to depart; that's a big change. So God led the children of Israel into a box, with no apparent way out. Pharaoh and his army blocked the exit. The children of Israel plead with Moses to do something. God answered their prayers by moving the water. They had to step out into the sea, with faith that they would not drown, the tide would not come back while they were out in the middle. They had to keep going all the way to the other side. Only then did God release the Egyptians to come tearing across the flats; only after the children of Israel walked all the way across, did God destroy the armies trying to kill His people. God returned the water to its place and the Egyptian army drowned.
Now the children of Israel are committed. They literally cannot go back to Egypt. The only way out, is forward. Be brave; God is with you.
