Exodus 14:10-16 (for background)

10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.

11 Then they said 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 dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?

12 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, "Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

Last time we saw the fear of the Hebrews, and their failure to have faith in God. Let’s see how Moses, their leader, encourages their faith.

13 But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.

Moses gives them 3 commands:

1. Do not fear. In the Hebrew, this is what’s called an imperative of injunction. All this means is that it a command issued by someone in authority that demands immediate fulfillment. Fear is the main thing that keeps believers from accomplishing God’s plan for them in their own wilderness. Fear is simply a lack of faith in God. The only time you will have fear in your life is when you are NOT walking by faith!

2. Stand by. The word YATSAB means to be still, or to stand fast. So many times, when we get into the wilderness, and there is no visible means of provision, we turn and run, looking to solve the problem ourselves. When Moses tells them to stand fast, what is the only thing they can do? It’s to have faith and trust in the Lord! To stand still, they had to let go of the circumstances and have faith.

When you get in an impossible wilderness, and you don’t fear, but stand still and have faith, then you get to do this:

3. See. The Hebrews are about to get a box seat right next to the Braves dugout. When you have faith, you get to see God actually accomplish what He has promised to do! Think about these Israelites, and what they are about to see. What if they had run instead of staying still and having faith? They would have missed an unbelievable miracle! Faith will allow you to stand still long enough to see the deliverance of the Lord from a situation that appears impossible to solve.

They were commanded to watch the deliverance of the Lord. He is the one who accomplished it! He does all the work when we simply stand still and watch in FAITH. If we fail to stand still and have faith, then we will never get to see the deliverance which the Lord will accomplish.

Look what Moses says next:

14 "The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent."

Our translation actually says this a lot nicer than Moses did. He basically says, “just shut up!” You have to love the faith of Moses. Think about this:

Moses did not know how the Lord was going to deliver them; only that He was!

It’s not up to us to know how the Lord will deliver us, only to have faith that He will. Why? Because He promised!

Moses did not have any idea that God was going to part the Red Sea. I love how God responds to the faith of Moses:

15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.

Now what did the people have to do? They had to take a step of faith. It took faith for them to move forward, because the Red Sea hadn’t been parted yet!

16 "As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

Skip down:

Exodus 14:22

22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Imagine these people taking the first step toward the water, and then seeing it part, and having to take another step with the walls of water on both sides! Each single step they took required faith that God would hold up the walls. Look what Hebrews has to say about this:

Hebrews 11:29

29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.

Walking by faith is a moment by moment decision. Each step of the way, they could have looked at the reality of the situation, but instead they continued on in faith that God would deliver them.

We have to keep walking by faith to cross the Red Sea. You have to realize, one step at a time, that the Lord has you covered every step of the way.

Would you have had enough faith to step toward the Red Sea?