Have you ever felt backed into a corner, surrounded on all sides? Have you been in a position where your choices were limited and your options few?
In our lesson for this week, Israel is backed into a corner. They have left Egypt and are now encamped on the bank of the Red Sea. For the first time in their lives, they are free. Surely, they wake up with smiles on their faces and at night they sing and celebrate around the camp fire. Then on the horizon, they see Egyptian chariots coming.
People who find themselves backed into a corner sometimes make decisions they do not want to make. The Chicago Public Radio show This American Life recounts the story of an individual left with few choices.
Joe Amrine makes a terrible choice and is in prison, paying his debt to society, for robbery. While serving his prison sentence, he is accused falsely of murdering a fellow prisoner. Although a guard testifies he saw someone else commit the crime, it soon becomes apparent Amrine is going to be convicted anyway. Amrine is facing either life in prison or the death penalty.
At this point, he makes an extraordinary decision. Amrine decides to try and get the death penalty. He is convinced that if he is sentenced to life in prison, he will never get out. He knows he does not have the resources to hire a lawyer and make an appeal. However, if he gets the death penalty, his case might get media attention and possibly free legal help. So, during sentencing Amrine confesses to every bad decision he has ever made. He even tells the jury he believes in the death penalty. As a result, he gets his wish and is sentenced to death.
What a risk. Who among us would be willing to play with our life like that? But his plan eventually pays off. His case gets publicity and a nonprofit group provides him with a lawyer. Armine spends 17 years on death row, but thankfully, in 2003 his conviction is overturned, and he is finally set free. When backed into a corner, Armine makes a very difficult decision, one he did not want to make, but ultimately it saved his life.
In our lesson for this week, the Israelites too are backed into a corner. The Red Sea is behind them and the Egyptian army is coming. The Israelites know there is no way to outrun them; they are trapped. This lesson is about Israel’s perseverance in the face of a scary situation and about God’s miraculous intervention on their behalf.
Exodus 13:17-18, 14:9-18, 31
The Bible tells us the Israelites leave Egypt armed for battle, but they are ex-slaves who have been making bricks all their lives. They are not trained for war. Plus, they have their families at their side, women and children who will be of no use in a battle. The Israelites are totally vulnerable and they know it. The sight of the fast approaching Egyptian chariots causes them to lose heart.
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So, they do the only thing they can. They cry out to God and lash out at Moses for bringing them into the desert in the first place.
Moses’ response to them beautifully captures the simple trust Christians should have when backed into a corner. Moses says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (14:14). Moses does not know exactly how God will deliver them, but he has faith they will be rescued. The Israelites think they only have two choices: learn to walk on water or fight the oncoming Egyptian army.
The solution God comes up with is unexpected. He has Moses stretch out his hand and turn the sea into dry land. Finally, an escape route opens up. The people stand awestruck for a moment. I can hear Moses saying, “Hurry up, get moving.” It takes courage to step into the seabed with the swells of water piled high on each side, but they do.
At this point in the story, with all the displays of God’s power Egyptians have witnessed, one might think they would turn back. They have seen plagues of locust, gnats and frogs. They have experienced unhealed boils and witnessed the Nile turned blood red. They have lost their first-born. What would cause this army to push ahead after the Israelites?
Somehow, despite what they have seen, they still fear the wrath of Pharaoh, who wants his labor force back, more than they fear God. Consequently, they urge their horse-drawn chariots into the seabed. With the wave of Moses’ hand, God releases the waters he has held back all this time and the Egyptian army is washed away. In their final moments, the Egyptians acknowledge God is with the Israelites.
When backed into a corner, Joe Armine took matters into his own hands, but the Israelites know that they are powerless to save themselves. Without God, the Israelites would have be slaughtered or dragged back to Egypt in shackles. God steps in and delivers them in a totally unanticipated way.
When they arrive safely on the opposite shore, they look back. Then, the sight of all those Egyptian bodies, chariots and horses washing up on shore causes them to recognize God’s great power. Despite all the struggle and hardship, their faithfulness and perseverance were rewarded. They are finally free of the Egyptians.
As Christians, we are not promised pain-free lives, but following the Israelites example, we can learn that perseverance pays off. In the troughs of a difficult experience, we remember how the Lord rescues his people and believe we too will be delivered.
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