A Strong East Wind
A Strong East Wind
A look at the story God was really telling when He parted the waters of the Red Sea for His people
Did you ever realize that when God opened the red sea, he did so with “a strong East wind that blew all night”? I always had this image of Moses raising his hand over the sea and the sea just opening and making a way for the Israelites to cross. That’s not what the scripture says. It says that God sent a strong East wind.
There are places in the bible where an East wind is sent to destroy the wicked. For example, the locusts in Exodus came from an East wind. But at the same time, the East often declares the presence of God. The Wisemen saw a star in the East and traveled from the East to find the infant Jesus. The Messiah, when he arrived, was meant to come from the East, specifically the Mount of Olives. The East is the source of blessing and divine salvation. Just as the “right hand” is biblical symbolism for a place of honor and status, sovereignty and authority, the East is symbolic as well.
Did you know that the cloud and the pillar that led the Israelites through the wilderness to the Red sea moved from in front of the Israelites to behind them, staying between them and their enemies? The cloud and pillar kept it light as day for God’s people and, at the same time, as dark as night for the Egyptian army all night long.
The cloud and pillar continued to create light and darkness the entire time that God’s East wind continued to blow. I looked it up, and I read that it would have been at least a 63-mile-an-hour wind coming from the East for at least twelve hours to have done what was done.
Let me ask you a question. Do you think God can do that? Do you think God did that? Or do you think that just happened? Because that’s why I think He used an East wind. God chose to control something
that He created to allow you to be skeptical if you choose to be and to allow you to have faith in him if you want to.
A wind that strong, we call a “gale” wind. In Hebrew, the word “gale'' means: “Father rejoiced” or “The Father’s joy”! Let’s catch this; the Father rejoiced as He made a way to freedom for His people.
Let’s look at the scripture together in two translations.
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night, the Lord drove a strong East wind and turned it into dry land” (Exodus 14:21 NIV).
”Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong East wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the sea bed into dry land” (Exodus 14:21 NLT)
In both cases, there was a strong East wind, and in both cases, it was the Lord doing the work. God is doing a new thing. He is intentionally protecting his people and providing a way to a freedom that they could not provide for themselves.
I couldn’t help but notice the timing of this provision. I couldn’t help but think that although the color of the sea wasn’t red, the name was. A name that made me think of another red liquid. Blood. Was this a coincidence? Was this just happenstance? This was the final act of God delivering his people from slavery. Why was it there, I wondered. God could have chosen any place, but He chose the red sea.
Did you know that although most days the red sea isn’t red, there are times when it becomes populated by extensive blooms of the algae called Trichodesmium erythraeum, which, upon dying off, turn the sea a reddish color?
These algae bloom in Spring. Passover begins on the 15th day of the month of Nissan, which typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar (Spring). This would be the exact time that the Red sea was actually red! Another coincidence? I think not! Nothing is a coincidence with God. He speaks in every detail. He is present in each moment of the ever-changing fabric of our lives.
You may be wondering why I am writing about the red sea. It is because I had a thought, a fleeting inkling, a nagging question in my spirit; “What if the red sea represented the blood of Christ?” What if this exodus from death to life, from slavery to freedom, through a way that man could never make on his own, was literally a picture of what the holy blood of Jesus on the cross would do for you and me?
God doesn’t waste a thing. He is the most detail-oriented storyteller of all time. He tells the stories we need to hear. His stories are full of Love, grace, hope, and forgiveness. Because of this, when I have a question, I ask Him. I would highly suggest you try this too! Read the bible and listen to His voice. Keep asking questions, and allow Him to show you the details, the nuances, and the meaning that is layered throughout His word.
In the beginning, in Genesis chapter one, the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Next, God created light and called it good. He called the light day and the darkness night. God went on to separate and name the sky, and then he separated the waters below from the dry ground. And yes, you guessed it, He named them too: the land and the seas. So let me ask you this if God created all of this, if He took the time to name His creations and declare their goodness, why couldn't He choose to separate a tiny little red sea?
The same Spirit that “hovered over the earth when it was formless and empty when darkness was over the surface of the deep” (Genesis 1:1-2), that is the same Spirit of God that was moving and working as God the Father spoke creation into being. It was His Holy Spirit wind that hovered and blew the waters away from the land. It was ultimately His breath that would fill the lungs of the man He formed out of dust. He breathed into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living, breathing being! (Genesis 2:7)
God created heaven and earth. He formed Adam and brought him to life with His “Ruach '', which is a Hebrew word meaning both wind and breath. This word used to describe the breath of God alludes to the power that releases the breath or wind. The definition of this word is pointing to this being a life source that sustains all living things. This is the same word used in Genesis 1:2!
The idea of breath is completely integral to the human experience. We cannot live without taking a breath of life. When the Old Testament becomes the New Testament, the need for this word still exists, and we see the Greek word: “Pneuma,” which continues to refer to the Holy Spirit.
In Matthew 3:16, when the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove, the New Testament uses the word “pneuma” to describe the Holy Spirit. Similar to “Ruach '' although mostly used in reference to the Holy Spirit, this word can also refer to the animating life principle that exists in humans. A soul or a spirit.
Both ruach and pneuma refer to a life force. Nothing created can exist on its own. Everything needs a life force to animate them. Even with all of our own strength and technology, we can't command stones to live or our lungs to work as we please. So although all things may have a ruach with a lowercase “r,” only one thing is Ruach with a capital “R”: God.
God doesn’t need anything to exist. He is. Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58) Because God exists, we exist. And without Him, nothing can exist.
With all that said, can we now begin to believe that indeed it was God who created the Red Sea, who by His Spirit, easily moved it by His strong East wind while He kept His people safe in daylight, and their enemies confounded in darkness?
God‘s ways are higher than our ways. Not only is He able to do more than we can think or imagine, but He will do things in a way that brings those who love Him good while bringing Glory for Himself. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) He deserves all of the glory! “What shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
