Dance before the miracle takes place

Last week I brought forth part one of this event that caused the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea. Remember that God rebuked Moses who told the people to stand still when God instead wanted them to walk into a miracle.

Exo 14:19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

There are times when it looks as if God has abandoned you. When you look ahead and can’t see the glory of God any longer. This angel went behind the camp of Israel. WHY? So that they which were looking back could not see and would not be afraid. As I said, they could still hear the chinking of the enemy army – but could not see them. The enemy works in our lives like that… we can hear him, but we MUST NEVER fear him.

Suddenly Moses stretched forth his hand. His bony old natural blood-filled hand over the sea. At least, that’s what everyone saw. But his hand, when moved by the word of God caused each and every one to believe that they could move into a supernatural realm.

And they walked in the midst of a miracle. Trouble on every side in the form of angry waves perhaps some 60 to 70 feet high. That much water displaced for 6 million people had to stack at least that high. I don’t believe the Bible records one word from one of those millions of Jews. Not one word of praise. Not one word of worship. Only silence.

And then… as the last man was coming to step into the land of Midian, the dawn broke and it was written: Exo 14:24 And it came to pass that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians.

The enemy thought they were more powerful than they were and began to charge through the immense fog bank toward the Israelites. Egyptian and Israelite alike, watched in the midst of silence as God replaced the water. One thing you must know is that the enemy cannot walk into the midst of your miracle! The fire of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah was a miracle fire where the enemy could not go.

The place of the cross is a place the enemy could not hang. Sometimes the most horrible places to the flesh are the most miraculous in the Spirit. But your senses will never have enough courage to take you there.

And what was really revealing to me happened not as this frightened band of senseless people who only relied upon their five senses walked through their silence, but what happened afterward.

In the 15th chapter of Exodus and the first verse, look at that first word of the first verse. The word is: “THEN.” Then and only then did they begin to sing and praise and worship. Oh, they had a shouting praise gathering. Dancing. Singing. Telling of how God “had” triumphed gloriously. They said in the second verse… “The Lord IS my strength and song…” What they were really saying was… “the Lord WAS my strength and song”

Where was that dance in Egypt? Where was that song during the long night of deliverance? Where was that proclamation of God being called “LORD” as they crossed on to foreign soil?

Oh, we will cheer God on after the fact, but what about right now – when you are still in Egypt? What about right now when you are in the longest walk of your life through a darkness that seems to span eternity? Who has the ability to jump our of your five senses and see into the five senses of the spiritual realm? What about the ability to call those things which are not… as though they were?

Rom 4:17 As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who brings to life the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.

We can jump all over those poor Israelites for not cheering in the midst of the miracle, but look in the mirror and see that we are related. We have their eyes of fear. We have their mouths of unbelief. We have their hands that hang down. We have their tongues that only taste the bitter. We only hear the clanking of enemy armor.

Faith is still the substance of things HOPED FOR and the evidence of things NOT SEEN. (Hebrews 11:1)

Blessed are they who can believe before the miracle occurs… or in the midst of the miracle… AS WELL AS after the miracle. And yes, it is important to believe AFTER the miracle as well – because there are those who attribute signs, wonders and miracles to logical circumstances.

Jesus, after He ascended to Heaven and spilled His blood on the mercy seat came back to let his disciples know that “the coast was clear.” He wanted to rejoice with them that salvation had been secured and that one had crossed over on dry ground to a neighborhood with mansions… making a way for all others; including them.

How His heart must have broken when He returned just as He said, and Thomas was still speaking out of his five natural senses. “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)

People in a five-sense realm are proclaiming sadly today… “I will not believe.”

Thomas did eventually believe. He eventually got to the other side of his sea and saw the enemy destroyed. He eventually believed it was true. But not because of faith. Not because of his ability to walk in the Spirit.

Joh 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Yes, we can jump all over Thomas, but again… look in the mirror… many of us are related to him too.

We are like the Jews in Psalm 126 – we rejoice after the deliverance. “Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing.”

I believe that God is looking for someone to bless. Someone who will stand on the shores of their Egypt with the past and the darkness threatening them… who will be dancing… who will be singing… who will be proclaiming WHO GOD IS through thick or thin, darkness or light.

God is working. Whether you see Him or not. Whether you see evidence or not. He’s working and He is worthy of praise. I know that I use this scripture many times, but again, we must be people who can dance before the ark gets home. We must be able to sing from inside the inner prison. And we must be able to proclaim in the midst of darkness that He is the Light.

There are five natural senses. There are five books in the Pentateuch. I believe it is no coincidence that God is telling us that we can escape our five senses that hold us captive and prevent us from the freedom we can experience in the parallel realm.

Hab 3:15 You walked through the sea with your horses, through the heap of great waters.

Hab 3:16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he comes up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

Hab 3:17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

Hab 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

We must proclaim before we are delivered. We must sing before we are safe in the fortress and we must shout while our feet are still on miry clay:

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:2

It’s time to dance. It’s the season to rejoice no matter the environment.