IN THE MIDST OF THE WATERS

“And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters” (Gen. 1:6). Firmament was mostly used in the olden days, but now it is known by the name sky. Firmament is a wide area –you can call it a space—or a surface. And this God commanded to come in the midst of the waters. He called it to sever the waters, to separate the waters below and above. So this firmament was a wide area between the waters; in the midst. “… and let it divide the waters from the waters” this space caused a separation between waters which is literally of the same kind. Firmaments come to create ways, they come to create paths; and it came out of the Word of God.

Let’s refresh our mind on how the Israelites escaped the Egyptians. They encountered an obstacle and couldn’t go further. They began to worry, and discomfort caught them such that, they said to Moses “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?” (Exo. 14:11). They had lost faith in God; they started complaining and blaming him. All because they had an obstacle before them, they had forgotten that I AM is a miracle God. They had forgotten the plagues in Egypt- And were looking for someone to blame. One important lesson here is to be patience for He has began his good works and will surely bring it to a glorious end. They couldn’t exercise patience because, they saw the Egyptians coming.

Moses told them to stand still (hold their faith in God) for the Lord shall fight for you and you shall have peace. When you are in trouble and you thinks all is over, just stand still, have faith in God for God shall fight for you. He is our peace therefore even in the midst of storm, Jesus was asleep on a pillow. And I wondered, was not the pillow soaked with water? Yet He was relaxed (patience). Don’t let Jesus ask you “where is your faith?” Just stand still. The fight is not ours, He who dares to wrestle against the sons of God, dares to wrestle God.

But then, God spoke to Moses, the Word of God brought salvation to them. And he did as instructed, and the Word of God went into action. “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sear (waters) and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” (Exo. 14:21). He could have used a second to divide, but used a whole night to do that, that is patience. A strong east wind implies brevity, in shortness and the waters were divided as found in Genesis 1:7 “And made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so”. In the case of the Israelites, as they walked through the sea, the waters were walls unto them, at their right and left side. They walked through the firmament in the midst of the waters. This is where the salvation power was revealed to them, though the waters divided sideways but there was an upward and downward division by the firmament.

Take note here, as the Israelites move, they hadn’t yet totally been separated from Egypt. And the Egyptians were right behind to recapture them. So they were in the same area just that the pillar of fire blocked them, He was their defense. And so the Egyptians followed them. When God’s children had finished the path of the firmament, Moses stretched the rod to close the gap. He closed the pre-firmament. And the Israelites were separated from the Egyptians unto the promise land. This is the upward division, that we are seated in Christ at the right hand of God. We have been ascended into His glory. So we don’t struggle to make it to heaven, because we are already there. We are ambassadors for Christ. “For our citizenship is in Heaven and eagerly awaits a saviour from there” (phil. 3:20) –except you refuse to go. This separates the working of our spirits from the body (earth). “And they that are in (belong to) Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and lust” (Gal. 5:24). Hence we are uplifted by God in Christ Jesus. Now the red sea becomes the firmament (Christ Jesus is the only way to God).

God called the firmament Heaven. This is synonymous to sky; from the Hebrew translation. “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:9-10) this is another separation. He is indeed the author of order not confusion. He made the land clear by gathering the waters. God reveals hidden treasures to us, He just showed us the land of our earth. He cleared the land for a purpose and with His Word. And the Dry land was revealed. He showed us a platform within us. This dry land He called Earth; which means to be firm. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities…” (Rom. 8:26). This is one characteristic of a Christian, we are firm in faith, and we stand strong through trials and rejoice. Because; “When men are cast down, then thou shall say, there is lifting up, and He shall save the humble person” (Job 22:29). Be firm in Christ.

“… and the gathering together of waters called He Sea”, glory to God. This is another essential element of the Christian –Sea which means to Roar. “yẩm” which is pronounced as “yawm” is the Hebrew name for Sea. We roar at storms and they keep quit, we roar at walls and they break down flat; no wonder Jesus Christ is the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5). A Lion though there are elephants there, is the King of the jungle, and he is a respecter of nobody. If the lion encounters a buffalo, he roars at him, whether it is an elephant or snake irrespective of your size, he will still roar. That’s what God has made us, so we can’t shut up at circumstances, we can’t cease praying, we can’t cease sharing the word of God, because we roar. So we keep on giving the Lord a shout of victory and the enemy becomes confused. That is the power of shouting, we roar.