We Are Not Moses
God's Deliverance Is the Story
By Paul Scribner, CEO, General Holdings Limited and Raven Resources Corp.
With Kelly Delp, Chief Communications Officer, Raven Resources Corp.
The people stood trapped between an advancing army and an impassable sea. They had nowhere to run, no weapons to fight, no hope of escape. Yet the waters parted anyway. This simple fact reveals a profound truth: God's commitment to deliver His people is so great that He once split the Red Sea to prove that salvation belongs to Him alone. The moment we realize we are the terrified crowd, not Moses, is when we stop trying to engineer our own escape and start trusting in the deliverance He provides.
When we read biblical narratives, we instinctively cast ourselves as the heroes. We want to be David facing Goliath, Moses leading the exodus, or Daniel surviving the lions' den. We crave the starring role in stories of faith and triumph. But this impulse reveals our fundamental misunderstanding of Scripture's message: we are not the heroes of these stories. God is the hero.
In the story of the Exodus, it is natural to picture ourselves as the great lawgiver, staff in hand, divinely commissioned, leading a nation to freedom. We imagine ourselves as the one chosen for leadership, the unlikely liberator who confronts Pharaoh and parts the sea. The uncomfortable truth is that we are far more like the Israelites trapped at the water's edge than we would like to admit.
For generations, the Israelites had lived in bondage. These were broken people, enslaved laborers, men and women who had forgotten what freedom looked like. When they found themselves pressed between Pharaoh's chariots and the Red Sea, they cried out in terror, convinced they would die in the wilderness. By every measure, they were helpless, but they were not hopeless. Yet God raised up Moses not to showcase the man's courage or condemn the people's fear, but to demonstrate that deliverance belongs to the Lord of hosts.
“God did not part the Red Sea to showcase Moses' faith. He parted the Red Sea to showcase His deliverance.”
The heart of Moses' message was simple: "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today." It was not elaborate planning, military strategy, or human ingenuity. Behind his confidence lay a deeper truth: the very fact that God had led them to this impossible place was proof of His intention to deliver. If destruction was inevitable, there would have been no exodus, only continued slavery.
This divine deliverance that parted the Red Sea echoes across the story of God's people. In Judaism, the Passover celebrates God's power to liberate from bondage. In Islam, the story of Musa (Moses) affirms Allah's ability to save the oppressed. In Christianity, the cross and resurrection demonstrate that God's power to deliver exceeds even the grave itself. The story of the Exodus reminds all who follow the God of Abraham that His salvation is not limited by our circumstances, our resources, or our ability to save ourselves.
The people watched as the waters divided, their panic transformed into praise by another's power. The final verses show the Egyptians drowning while Israel walked safely to the other side, revealing the contrast between human helplessness and divine might. God's triumph through Moses proved His concern not just for one man's calling, but for an entire nation that had cried out for freedom.
Here lies the story's revolutionary truth: we want to be Moses, the chosen deliverer, the sea-splitter who leads with divine authority. We want to be the lawgiver, the liberator, the hero. But we are not Moses. We are the terrified Israelites, the helpless multitude, the ones trapped with nowhere to turn. We are the ones who needed the deliverance, who required the rescue, who stood paralyzed until salvation came from an impossible source.
Moses' story is not ultimately about human leadership or divine calling, but about the God who saves His people. His power to deliver far exceeds our ability to escape. His plan to demonstrate His glory will not be stopped by our circumstances. We are the Israelites: afraid, trapped, given a front-row seat to witness deliverance not to prove the man with the staff mighty, but to prove our God faithful.
In every biblical narrative, we search for ourselves in the wrong places. We are not David; we are the trembling army watching someone else face the giant. We are not Jonah; we are Nineveh receiving undeserved mercy. We are not the disciples; we are the crowds following Jesus, desperate for healing. We are not the heroes of these stories; we are the ones who need rescuing. And that is exactly where God's deliverance meets us in our desperation.
About the Authors
Paul Scribner is a corporate leader and communicator with over two decades of experience in global finance, strategic investment, and organizational leadership. He writes on leadership, faith, and the lessons found in both successes and failures.
Kelly Delp is a communications strategist and writer with a background in storytelling, non-profit leadership, and organizational culture. She partners with leaders to craft clear, compelling narratives that inspire trust and action.