Testing Before Blessing

Currently I am studying the book of Exodus in the Bible. While reading through books of the Bible slowly and studying them intently, many new insights can be revealed as well as many questions that I hope to have answered once I meet Jesus.

One thing I have been pondering as of late is that Israel’s Exodus journey out of Egypt and into the Promise Land of Canaan was book ended by two similar events: the crossing of the Red Sea, and the crossing of the Jordan River.

To escape Egypt, they had to cross the Red Sea while being pursued by finest of the Egyptian millitary. It looked hopeless, but God opened up the sea so they could pass through on dry land. Once all of the Israelites made it to safety on the other side of the sea, God allowed the water to retreat so that it would crush the Egyptian millitary who was in hot pursuit.

The Israelites wanted to give up and head back to Egypt when they saw the forces approaching them with the Red Sea blocking their way to safety. But God simply was testing them to see if they had trust that the God who had just miraculously delivered them from slavery could also miraculously deliever them from the forces of Egypt and the obstacles of nature.

But by His grace, God delivered them because of His covenant promises made to their forefathers and His willing servant Moses who obeyed Him and led his people thruogh the open sea.

A similar occurance took place nearly 40 years later as the Israelites were finally crossing over into their Promise Land after decades of wandering in the desert due to their sin. The Lord told Joshua, who had taken charge of Israel after Moses died, to have the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant step into the waters of the Jordan River so that when they did the waters of the Jordan would back up upstream so that Israel could cross over on dry land. And Israel did just that, this time with much more faith than their ancestors 40 years earlier.

Even though the Jordan River didn’t compare to the scale of the Red Sea, God arranged this circumstance to give the people respect for Joshua now that he would be leading them, and I believe, as a test of their faith in Him before crossing into the Promise Land. It proved to Israel that they had to rely on God from day to day and that their very existance was dependent on Him.

So as Israel was escaping enslavement and when they were entering the land promised to them, they faced a test of their faith.  And in both cases, it was God who delivered them and provided for them.

I believe that this principle translates even into our personal lives today- that at pivotal points in time- we face tests of our faith . In many cases I believe the outcomes of these pivotal points in time- even though God has known those outcomes since eternity past- depend on how we respond to faith in God. We need to expect times like this in seasons of deliverance and in seasons of blessing. We need to respond with faith. We need to realize that it is God who provides and nothing comes according to our own merit.