Think about it.

After Moses talked to God, Moses told the Israelite slaves in Egypt some weird stuff. “Sacrifice a lamb, spread some blood on the door posts, bake some bread. Quickly. No yeast. Don’t open the door or go outside until morning. Pack light. We’re leaving Egypt for good, first thing in the morning.”

Moses told them God promised to give them land. Lots of good, fertile land. A land flowing with milk and honey. And Moses said God told him He was going to be their God and they were going to be His people. Things were going to be better where they were headed, Moses said God said.

After ten plagues, the last of which killed all the first-born males in Egypt, Pharaoh agreed to let them go. Then he changed his mind and went after them to kill them or bring them back.

There they were. At the water’s edge on the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them from the rear.  Moses lifted his staff and the walls of water parted, leaving them a path to cross the Red Sea on dry ground. Moses told them they were going to a better place. A land flowing with milk and honey. A land they had never seen before. To get where Moses told them God wanted them to go they had to trust Moses, and God that God would deliver.

The Jews had no leaders. No heritage. No organization. No committees. No laws. No government. No weapons. No skills. No food. No water. No place to run? There they were, masses of ragtag vagabonds who had known nothing but slavery for 400 years. They weren’t even a people yet. They had only Moses, his staff and a promise, a second-hand promise, from God .

Have you been there? At the edge of the water? Enemies breathing down your neck. Turning back means defeat and despair. Going forward means leaving everything behind and trusting God that the ground really is dry and the place where God’s taking you is really a land flowing with milk and honey–like He promised.