The crossing of the Red Sea is regarded the greatest display of God’s power in the Old Testament.
In her sermon The Red Sea Experience, Minister Beverley Chandler described Exodus 14 as one of the most dramatic stories in the whole Bible, contending that the greatest display of God’s power was when Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
She was preaching during a service attended by the Support Group of the Radiotherapy Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Lead Vale New Testament Church of God, Lead Vale, Christ Church.
Chandler, a member of the group, recalled the miraculous way in which God delivered the children of Israel by parting the Red Sea.
She noted that while Pharaoh thought the Israelites were trapped and set out after them with his army of 600 choice chariots of Egypt, with captains in every one of them, God had this great miracle in store for His people.
Her message came last Sunday as church leader Pastor Terrence Vaughan and church members placed the spotlight on cancer awareness.
That included Marvalita Chase, head of the support group, sharing her struggle with breast cancer; her conversion to Christianity and subsequent victory over the illness.
According to Chandler, pharaoh’s attempt to overtake the apparently helpless Israelites who were camping by the sea and surrounded by Egyptians, was probably the origin of the popular idiom for a terrible dilemma: “Between the devil [Pharaoh] and the deep blue [Red!] sea.”
She told her listeners, many of whom were attired in pink as a show of solidarity in the fight against cancer, that they must trust God and have faith in Him in every circumstance in their lives.
“There will be many Red Seas in our lives. When the children of Israel raised their eyes and saw the Egyptian army marching after them, they were naturally petrified, but wisely cried out to the Lord.
“No longer timid, Moses told them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. One of the greatest miracles in all history was about to occur,” Chandler said.
She added that the Lord instructed Moses to “tell the children of Israel to go forward”.
“But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”
She noted that “the Israelites passed through safely, but when pharaoh’s army tried to follow, the Lord troubled them and disabled their chariots so that they drove them with difficulty”.
“Before they could retreat, the sea closed in on them at Moses’ command. Not so much as one of them remained.”
Chandler told her listeners that “the same faith that opened up the Red Sea enables us to do the impossible when we are moving forward in the will of God”.
She also said that while many often seek miracles of physical healing from God, He “wants to heal us spiritually”.
