Let’s say you are driving and you are cut off by a maniacal driver weaving in and out, speeding through downtown traffic. Are you tempted to yell and call names? A little honesty please. What if in that moment, God spoke to you and said, “I understand my child, that his driving is scary, but his little girl is deathly ill and in a panic he is driving her to the hospital.” Do you see things differently? Are you all of a sudden rooting for this crazed driver whom you were, only moments before, ready to curse? Our sight gets in the way of our perception. What we see colors our perception; and often in unhealthy ways. And here’s the thing, if we only see the physical, this world becomes a downright terrifying place; a place where it is perfectly alright to call names and make assumptions guided by sight. On the other hand, if we are able to perceive the Spiritual we may just find ourselves filled with hope and maybe even a little understanding.
In Exodus 14:5-14 there is a whole lot of seeing, but not much perceiving. Pharaoh receives a report concerning the flight of the Israelites. This is not an indication that Pharaoh didn’t know; like he is surprised right out of his socks when he hears. He had most likely been receiving reports of the crazy course of the Israelites leading him to believe that they were confused and now they found themselves all shut in. Maybe grief settled bitterly in their souls and they blamed those miserable slaves for their distress; maybe the reality of all the work the slaves had done hit them like a ton of bricks; maybe they regretted being pushed around by a god they wanted desperately not to recognize. Whatever the case, they experienced a shifting change within themselves toward the Israelites. Pharaoh jumps in his chariot and organizes his army and they gave chase. The word pursue can have the meaning of “to persecute”. In case we weren’t sure, Pharaoh and his massive army are not rushing out into the wilderness to wish those loveable Israelites good luck.
The Israelites, completely unaware of the quickly approaching army went out with “lifted hands” which is an idiom that means “with confidence”. They believed that they were beyond Pharaoh’s reach. And then they lift up their eyes and their exalted confidence drops right into panic and terror. Imagine camping on the edge of the sea with no escape and then noticing the approaching chariots of Pharaoh bearing down on you. The Egyptians have weapons. There are well over six hundred chariots with three men in each. The word “officer” is literally “third”. This officer was the third man in the chariot. This is a huge, angry army. We sometimes give the Israelites a hard time for their lack of faith, but seriously, how would you react if you saw an enormous army with superior weapons and training rushing toward you? In their terror they cry out to Yahweh. In their panic they get all sarcastic with Moses; “What? Could you find no graves for us in Egypt that you had to bring us all the way out here to bury us?” In their panic they forgot that they had cried out to be delivered from slavery; that Pharaoh and Egypt had its collective foot at their necks. And they also allow their fear to twist their own words. They had not requested that Moses just let them be so they could continue to be slaves to Egypt. They did curse Moses, but the rest is an invention of their panic.
Moses is completely unruffled by their sarcasm and accusations. He tells them to not be afraid, which always cracks me up. Hey, stop being afraid of that army. Pay no attention to the chariots and weapons. Just stop it, okay guys! But there is something oddly comforting about a person calmly encouraging bravery in the midst of fear. Moses also tells them to stand and see what they cannot yet see. What they can see is the advancing and angry army of Pharaoh. Ah, but they will never see that army again. While you hold your tongues, Yahweh will fight for you. Respectfully shut up and perceive what you cannot see and ignore what you can see.
There will always be moments in our lives when we see the angry army; the obstacles; the overwhelming odds. And what do you see? Do you see a hopeless political situation? Do you see only what people do? Maybe we need God to tell us to respectfully shut up and stand and wait for what we cannot yet see. Maybe we need to perceive God instead of lifting our eyes to the encroaching dust kicked up by the threatening things of this life. And how do you respond to the people around you? Do you react in fear and anger? How about if we tried our best to perceive. Every behavior has an antecedent. Open your heart to perceive Yahweh my friends. Peace, Walter