Walls of Water

We have some very creative teens in our church. Recently, Ruth Feldman read the following dramatic retelling of the crossing of the Red Sea in our Cross Culture Group. Ruth’s creative use of language brings a very familiar Bible story to life. Enjoy!

Walls of Water
By Ruth Feldman

I turned around, catching a glimpse of the helmets’ and chariots’ metal glinting in the moonlight.
“Come on!” my cousin cried pushing me forward. The pillar of cloud moved behind us, blocking our view of the pursuing Egyptians. I didn’t like that because I don’t like at all to be chased by something I can’t see. No matter how hard I have tried in previous times the pillar of cloud is so thick that I can’t see thru it.
The group jerked to a stop and I pulled myself out of my thoughts. We were in front of the sea.
“Oh no!” I heard someone cry. There was a mummer of voices that grew louder and the sea tumbled about and roared over it. I could only hear snatches of what they were saying—the sea tossed and the Egyptians pressed in behind us.
I shivered with fear and the people around me lifted up their voices to God. A few grumbled against Moses. “What have you done?” they moaned. “It would have been better to serve the Egyptians than starve in the wilderness.”
I didn’t exactly like what they were saying, but I wished someone would hurry up and do something. If there was anything to be done. It sounded as if the Egyptians were closing in on us.
Moses began speaking, and the people’s voices hushed. “Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will work for you and you have only to be silent.”
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and there was a strong gust of wind that nearly knocked me off my feet. The sea churned and began to part, like a curtain being pulled back, a wall of blue and green on either side.
I gasped along with everyone else around me. As soon as there was a big enough opening Moses and Aaron began to walk through and slowly the people began to follow. I walked forward with the rest of the throng of Israelites and gingerly stepped onto the sand between the walls of water, expecting the sand to be wet and my feet to sink into it. But it was dry.
I giggled—I couldn’t help it. Here we were being pursued by our enemies and we were walking through the sea as if it was a street in Pharaoh’s city.
I heard the Egyptians follow us into the sea, but everyone calmly kept walking, though I would have liked it if we quickened our pace. The sea kept unfurling, making more room for the people and the livestock.
We kept walking and it grew quieter except for a few snorts from the oxen nearby and the creak of our wagons. There was an eerie silence, and I could feel the tension in the air. The sea had stopped moving and there were two towering waves on either side of us, hovering like the walls of a fortress.
The stars twinkling above us began to fade and the sun began to rise, streaking the sky with color. I began to focus on the brightening sky to keep my mind off the unpleasant thoughts that kept creeping into my head.
Suddenly there were shout of confusion and panic. I swung around to see what was happening, but I saw nothing except the large pillar of cloud swirling around us.
Horses whinnied frightenedly and I heard orders being shouted.
“Hurry up!” someone yelled. “We’re almost to the end!”
There seemed to be a fresh burst of energy and everyone ran to the shore.
As quickly as they could, the men herded the livestock away from the sea’s edge and Moses again stretched his hand over the sea. The wind stopped and the blue-green walls began rolling in to meet each other. I raised my hands to cover my ears so I wouldn’t hear the terror in the screams of Pharaoh’s army, but the roar of the waves closing in upon each other drowned out everything else.
Mother gasped and everyone was too shocked to move. God had protected us and all we had to do was put one foot in front of the other. But presently someone did move, with a tambourine.
“I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”