Red Sea Escape

Text: Exodus 14

Prop: a straw and small plate with water

Summary: God is with us when we face danger. God parted the Red Sea to provide an escape for Israel from the Egyptian army.

Alternate Skit: Use long thin balloons: 10 blue, 2 red, 2 green. Shape 2 Egyptian helmets from the green balloons. Recruit children to play parts. Use some to be the sea (holding the blue balloons), one child to be the Angel of the Lord (holding 2 red balloons as if it is a pillar of fire), two children to be horsemen. Cut out two chariot wheels from construction paper. Have a narrator read the story. Recruit an adult to play Moses. When the wind blows and the sea parts, have the children raise the blue balloons and wave them, creating a wall on the left and right. Have Moses lead the children through the parted sea. When the two horsemen chase them, have them drop the chariot wheels and then when Moses stretches out his hand, the sea covers the Egyptians.

God still does miracles. Have you ever been in danger? One day my neighbor Len was trying to jump-start a riding lawnmower using the battery in his Jeep. He thought the emergency brake was on but somehow the Jeep started rolling backwards down his driveway. He ran after it and opened the door. When he tried to get in the moving vehicle, he slipped and his head fell under the Jeep. He saw the front tire coming straight for his head and thought he was about to die. Suddenly he felt someone yank him out from under the Jeep. The Jeep continued to roll into the next yard until it hit a tree and stopped. When he sat up no one was around. He thanked God for having an angel pull him to safety. Today I want to tell you about another miracle when God provided an escape for the children of Israel when they were facing danger.

When God lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, God told Moses to camp near the Red Sea. God knew that Pharaoh would chase after them if he thought they were trapped between the wilderness and the sea. When the children of Israel saw the army with chariots and horsemen approaching, they panicked and cried to God for help.

(Read Exodus 14:13-14) Jesus calls us to do impossible things by faith. God told Moses to go forward (verse 15) but that meant going into the sea! But remember, Jesus said with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). God provided the children of Israel with an Israelite Nite Lite. He gave them a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Then the angel of God moved from leading them and went behind them. The pillar was a cloud of darkness on the side facing the Egyptian army, hiding the Israelites from their enemy, but it shone brightly to give light to the children of Israel.

(Read Exodus 14:21-22) Wow! Can you picture what God did? Watch this. [Blow through the straw on the plate filled with water to demonstrate the wind blowing on the sea to divide the waters.) The wind blew so hard on the sea that the waters were divided. There was a wall of water on each side as the children of Israel hurried through on dry ground. When Pharaoh’s army chased after them God caused the wheels on the chariots to fall off and they couldn’t drive them! When the children of Israel were safely on the other side, Moses again stretched out his hand and the waters let loose and drowned the army in the sea. With this miraculous parting of the Red Sea, God provided an escape for the children of Israel from Pharaoh’s army.

It only took God one day to get Israel out of Egypt, but He would spend 40 years getting the Egypt out of Israel. They continued to complain and failed to trust God to lead them, so they wandered in the wilderness. Sometimes we may face great danger. It is hard to stand still and not panic, but Jesus wants us to trust and depend on Him. God is always with us to protect us. He can provide a way of escape even if our problem seems hopeless. We don’t need to be afraid because Jesus gives us victory in life if we just trust in Him.

©1999 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.

Moses

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