Exodus 14:19-31 - Crossing the Red Sea is a Joint Effort

God has already told Moses and the Israelites what to do – to trust the God who delivered them from Pharaoh in the night, the God who has already shown them, time and time again, that God can do impossible things, and to be willing to follow this God by day and by night.

God is saying to Moses and the people, "I am already doing my part, but there are parts only you can do here."

Then, “Tell the Israelites to go forward.”

Notice the instruction to go forward comes before any mention of Moses using his staff to part the waters of the sea, before any indication of what happens next. This story has been told so often we are prone to miss an important element: God asks the people to make the first move!

We tell this story from Exodus as a miraculous moment of God’s divine intervention, but the text reminds us it is just as much a story of a people who are willing to say “YES” to God – a people who are brave enough to take the next step in following God even when they can’t see what’s next.

Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim says,

“As has been the case throughout the exodus narrative, God does not work alone; God works through the instrumentality of both human and nonhuman powers to accomplish the divine purpose.” (Terence Fretheim, Exodus (Louisville: Westminster Knox Press, 1991), 159.)

The hope of the Exodus is a joint effort. It is a people co-laboring with God - stepping out in faith together and trusting God to lead the way forward.

The ancient rabbinic tradition emphasizes the initiative of God’s people by telling a midrash – a form of ancient Jewish commentary – about an Israelite called Nachshon. According to tradition, the people hesitated to jump into the water. Who would go first? But Nachshon was ready. Even though he could not swim, he waded first into the sea. He trusted God by jumping into the water even before it started to dry up. In fact, according to the midrash, he went farther and farther into the water until it almost completely covered him! In response to his trust, God then parted the waters for the Israelites.

This extra-biblical story highlights the people’s initial response to God. It is not about Moses’s uplifted staff; it is about the people’s actions.

Author Brian McLaren says:

“We hear the call to go forward not after the sea has opened, but before. The call to get moving comes not after the way is clear, but while it still seems impassable. The call to join in a great migration…comes not when we have everything figured and settled and made certain, and not when all obstacles have been removed, but before, when chaos, uncertainty, and turmoil prevail, and when the tumultuous sea shows no sign of parting. Only in that impossible, uncertain, disruptive place…does a new depth of naked, essential faith in God mysteriously become possible.” (Brian McLaren, The Great Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion is Seeking a Better Way to be Christian (Convergent Books, 2016), 203.)

We are invited to see beyond what is directly in front of us and remember God’s presence among us. We then can take action based on this alternative quality of sight.

**This essay is a slightly revised version of pages 65-67 in Hard and Holy Work: A Lenten Journey through the Book of Exodus, which I co-wrote with Mary Alice Birdwhistell.

A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)

Uncle Ishmael will be exploring the biblical book of Exodus in alignment with the Revised Common Lectionary. The lectionary begins on August 23 with Exodus 1 and concludes its journey through the book on October 11 with Exodus 32.

Here's a list of the Sundays and the Exodus scripture lesson:
September 20 2026 Exodus 16:2-15
September 27 2026 Exodus 17:1-7
October 4 2026 Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
October 11 2026 Exodus 32:1-14