John Gardner once wrote: “We are faced with a series of great opportunities—brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.” Have you ever felt like you’re in an impossible situation, with no solution in sight? Now, that word “opportunity” is definitely not my favorite word to use to describe a challenge.
Our text over the next few lessons comes from Hebrews 11:29-31, with one verse focusing on the Exodus and the other two verses focusing on the battle of Jericho. Each of them presents a “disguised opportunity” which seemed almost impossible, yet they were opportunities to trust God and watch Him do wonderful things.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Jim Cymbala, pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle and author of several books, leads a prayer meeting with several thousand people on Tuesday nights, and he said in his book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, “I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf.”
I hope that you have that desire as well. I hope you desire to see God “show himself mightily in your behalf,” to come through in an impossible situation. For that to happen, first you have to be in an “impossible” situation and second, you have to cry out to God for help and then believe that God will help you.
Listen to our author, in Hebrews 11:29-31…
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
Today we’re going to look at verse 29 and the exodus from Egypt. The children of Israel here in verse 29 face an impossible situation. Here, in Exodus 14, they had the Red Sea before them and the Egyptian army pursuing them. They were truly “between a rock and a hard place,” an impossible situation.
Faith Attempts the Impossible
Although Moses is the one leading the people, the emphasis of verse 29 is that it was the faith of the people that provided the reason for God parting the Red Sea and allowing Israel to pass through on dry land.
This may seem somewhat surprising given that the author of Hebrews has consistently viewed that generation of Israelites as “evil and unbelieving” (Heb. 3:8-12) and Paul says that “God was not pleased with most of them” and most of them died in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:2, 5).
But, we’ve already seen how generous God can be in describing even the best of the patriarchs as being people of faith, even though they didn’t always act that way. Perhaps the best way to interpret this is that “by faith” refers to a believing remnant and that faith is then generalized to refer to the whole nation—that is, the faith of a few is seen as characteristic of the whole nation. There is a similar situation in the New Testament when everyone on the ship with Paul was saved because of Paul’s faith, even though they did not believe God.
Israel is in an impossible situation, caused by their exodus from Egypt. Pharoah, despite having the nation and his own household devastated by the plagues, decided he didn’t really want to lose his workforce and so he took off after the Hebrews. Israel had been on their way out of Egypt when God told Moses, ““Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon” (Exod. 14:2). This would, according to verse 3, cause Pharoah to think that Israel was just wandering around confused…ripe pickings. Not only that, but God would once again harden Pharoah’s heart. Why? So that Yahweh can “gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” (Exod. 14:4). So Pharoah mobilized his army and “pursued the Israelites and overtook them” (Exod. 14:9). The Israelites “looked up,” saw the army and “were terrified” (v. 10) and then characteristically said, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” (Exod. 14:11).
One of the things we will notice in both verses 29 and 30 of Hebrews 11 is that faith does not exempt us from going through trials and difficulties. Even though they idealized their past, in believing that Egypt had been “so great,” in reality it had been very difficult living.
Here they harp against Moses, but it was God who had led them there. So here they were, with the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptians hotly pursuing them. It was an impossible situation and unless God intervened, they were doomed. Of course, this was God’s plan all along, to save them in such a dramatic and miraculous fashion that even the Egyptians would have to admit that Yahweh was the supreme God.
Israel needed to learn that salvation is completely from God, that salvation “salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 8:3), which Jonah had to learn. He said, “What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD,’” (Jonah 3:9). There was absolutely nothing they could do to save themselves. There was no place to MacGyver the situation and make an escape. God led them into this desperate, impossible situation so that they would have to trust solely in him.
That is how God grows our faith today. Sure, we know in our heads that we need to trust Him totally, every moment, but we don’t believe it in practice until He throws us into the deep end, into situations where there is absolutely no way out unless God comes through for us.
God delights in turning our overwhelming impossibilities into exhibitions of His might. John Flavel once said, “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” During the day of extremity, there is an opportunity for God to do what He does. To deliver. To save. To bring good out of bad and order out of chaos. Trials are like the gymnastic apparatus that makes the muscles of our faith grow stronger.
Here was a situation in which Israel’s enemy thought that they had an easy victory. But God did miraculously what was impossible. With God all things are possible. He piled the waters on either side, allowing Israel to walk through on dry ground (Exodus 14:21-22), then he allowed the Egyptians to confidently pursue them.
The Red Sea is also called the Sea of Reeds, and we are not sure of the exact location where the Israelites crossed, but it clearly took place at a point where there was plenty of water. I think it is humorous how some liberal scholars will say that the place where Israel crossed was just a few inches deep. Not only is that not the way the Bible describes it, but then you have to deal with a completely different miracle. How did God drown the entire Egyptian army in just a couple inches of water? You can’t have it both ways!
Surely the Egyptians should have noticed the trap! Water piled up in towering walls alongside them ain’t normal. But John Owens observes, “There is no such blinding, hardening lust in the minds or hearts of men, as hatred of the people of God and desire for their ruin.” The Egyptians abandoned all reason and rushed to their own destruction. And thus a helpless, defenseless, disorganized band of two million slaves were delivered from a powerful, well-equipped army. Nothing is too difficult for God Almighty!
The particular lesson of faith we learn from the crossing of the Red Sea is this: When you are trapped by impossible circumstances, trust in God’s miraculous deliverance. Don Moen wrote the song “God Will Make a Way.” In it he writes:
God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
Now, come back to the reason that God delivered them. Our author says that it was “by faith.” But after expressing their desire to return to Egypt (Exod. 14:12), “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exod. 14:13-14).
Up to this point it was really Moses who, up to this point, had faith. They were full of fear. He comforts the people and then this eventuated in Moses’ preeminent display of faith when he stretched his hand out over the Red Sea, and the Lord drove back the waters with a strong east wind, and Israel passed through as on dry land (cf. Exodus 14:21, 22).
Both the book of Exodus in the Old Testament and the book of Hebrews in the New Testament stress the fact that the Israelites crossed over the Red Sea on dry ground. The Israelites did not have to swim or wade across. They didn’t even get their feet wet! God pushed the waters back, and the Israelites crossed over on dry ground. Now that is a miracle.
Meanwhile, the Egyptians followed them into the sea and immediately started experiencing problems. Their chariot wheels were jammed and they had difficulty steering their chariots. Then “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived” (Exodus 14:27-28).
The end result is that “That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (Exodus 14:30-31).
One man’s faith, which led to God’s action, resulted in the people “putting their trust in [the LORD]. What a sublime fact we have here! One man’s faith can be so authentic and effectual that it can elevate a whole people and secure their deliverance! In lesser ways we have seen this in the lives of such people as Martin Luther and John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. This truth holds great promise for us. Vibrant, authentic faith can elevate our families, churches, and communities. Because Moses believed, the Israelites believed.
Now, it’s important to understand that the way God opens up for you will still require faith on your part. Notice God did not just pick the Israelites up and deposit them safely on the other side of the Red Sea. Exodus 14:22 says, “and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
God created a passageway for them through the Red Sea, but they still had to walk through that passage believing that God would protect them. I would imagine it took tremendous faith for them to step onto the dry bed of the Red Sea with those walls of water towering above them on the right and on the left. Only God was holding those great walls of water back, and if He chose to let go at any moment, there was nothing anyone could do to stop that water from flooding back in.
When you are trapped by circumstances, God will make a way for you. But that way will still require faith on your part, again proven by obedient action. Sometimes the way God opens up for you involves making hard decisions or taking great risks in order to do that which is right. Sometimes it requires confession of sin, not only to God but to the person you sinned against. Sometimes it means letting go of some things that you hold dear in life. God never promises you an easy way, but he does promise to make a way if you will follow him in faith.
And most important of all, when you do follow God, God promises to go with you. You never walk the path of faith alone. When you go with God, God promises to walk with you every step of the way. God says this in Isaiah 43: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you” (Isa. 43:2). That is exactly what happened with these Israelites. The rest of the verse says, “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze,” which happened to three Hebrew young men who trusted God and refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol.
Why does the LORD do this? Look at verses 3 and 4 of Isaiah 43: “For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.”
First, I am “your God” and “your Savior.” You belong to me as my people and as your God I will save you. He specifically says here. “I give Egypt for your ransom.” That was the redeeming price for saving Israel. Second, we see God’s affections. He is loyal because we belong to Him, but He is also affectionate towards us. He saves us because we are “precious and honored” and “because I love you.” Therefore, God will deliver them from other nations throughout their history.
Notice that what God did for Israel He did not do for the Egyptians. He saved Israel and destroyed the Egyptians, even though they also went into the Reed Sea. However, the difference, beside the fact that they were not God’s people, is that they didn’t enter the Reed Sea by faith, but by presumption. They just presumed that if Israel could do it, so could they.
But it is dangerous to presume upon God and faith is not like that. Faith is based upon God’s revealed promises. The Egyptians had no promises to go on. They acted on the presumption that nothing bad would happen to them. The Egyptians had as much (or more) courage than the Israelites, but they didn’t have the promises. So let’s not be like the Egyptians, presuming upon God when He has given us no assurance through revealed promises.
A. W. Pink notes: “”There are three degrees of faith. There is a faith which receives, when as empty-handed beggars we come to Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour: John 1:12. There is also a faith which reckons, which counts upon God to fulfill His promises and undertake for us: 2 Tim. 1:12. There is also a faith which risks, which dares something for the Lord.”
None of these degrees of faith are effective and beneficial to us unless they are backed by God’s promises. We can receive nothing by faith unless God has promised to give us something. We cannot reckon on something being true unless God’s Word tells us so. And we dare not take dangerous risks unless God clearly tells us to do so.
The test of faith is trusting God when all we have are His promises. When the waters are piled high all around us and problems and dangers are about to overwhelm us, this is when faith is tested, and when the Lord takes special pleasure in showing us His faithfulness, His love, and His power. When we have nothing but His promise to rely on, His help is the nearest and His presence the dearest to those who believe. (John MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur NT Commentary: Hebrews, 358)
So faith overcomes enormous obstacles, enduring by seeing the unseen God. “But,” you may be wondering, “what about Peter Cameron Scott and all of his fellow missionaries that died young while trying to take the gospel into Africa? Their faith did not deliver them!”
John G. Paton (1824-1907), who left his native Scotland to take the gospel to the cannibals of the New Hebrides Islands, answers that question well. As he was getting ready to leave, an elderly friend repeatedly sought to deter him. His crowning argument was always, “The Cannibals! You will be eaten by Cannibals!”
Paton finally replied, “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is to be soon laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms. I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or worms. And in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer” (John G. Paton Autobiography [Banner of Truth], p. 56).
When Paton finally received his external call at age thirty-five and landed in the region in 1859, he was quickly “stunned by the dreadful loss” of his first wife, Mary Ann Robson, to fever (John Paton, John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides: An Autobiography, ed. Rev. James Paton (Geanies House: Christian Focus Publications, Ltd., 2009, p. 60), Their newborn son, Peter, followed three weeks later. His ministry was undergirded by this reigning thought: “This is strength; — this is peace: — to feel, in entering on every day, that all its duties and trial have been committed to the Lord Jesus, — that, come what may, He will use us for His glory and our own real good!” (Ibid, p. 101).
Let’s join Paton and Scott and Moses as people of overcoming faith, who endure by seeing the unseen God!