Living with Faith When Life is Hardest - Jeremy Gimpel | Land of Israel Fellowship

I want to share the insights into the Torah that I found that give me strength, that give me inspiration, that give me encouragement. Cuz everyone is going through something. Everyone. I mean, if you just take the time, you can really find that everyone is this epic novel of drama and love and loss and victory and triumph and tragedy. It's just everyone's life is so marvelous and everyone's going through something. So I really just want to share the Torah portion spoke so beautifully to me this week and you know I'm trying to break free from my own Egypt in my own way and this Shabbat it really hit me. What was the purpose of the splitting of the sea? I mean we already had 10 plagues. The Egyptian Empire was in shambles. Pharaoh was crushed and he finally let the Israelites go. Moses kept on famously saying, "Let my people go. Let my people go." And that's exactly what happened. He, "Let the people go." Like, why did we need this most astounding cinematic miracle, the splitting of the sea? The Torah's like, why? Why? What was the purpose of the splitting of the sea? What was that all about? And the first verse of the Torah gives us a little bit of an insight, and then it really opens up as we move on. Exodus 13 verse1 17 the very beginning says like this. Then it came to pass when Pharaoh had sent the people that God did not lead them by the way of the land of Philistines although it was near. You see the people of Israel hadn't really broken free yet. Pharaoh was still in charge until the Red Sea. He's still calling the shots when he says stay. They stay. Now he's saying goal. Parro sends them off. Now they're leaving. He's still the dictator. He's dictating what they are in their own life. They're not free yet. It means that they're still enslaved. Their minds, their hearts. You know, it's one thing to take the Jew out of the ghetto, but it's another thing to take the ghetto out of the Jew. It's the same thing that we're living at here in Israel. You can be free on your way off into the desert, but really, you're not free at all. And the people of Israel needed a Red Sea moment that would just be a clean break from Egypt that would finally they needed to like be born again as a new nation and then watching Egypt pursue them and then absolutely fail and be crushed and be destroyed. That's when we were born truly as a free nation. We were birthed through the birth canal of the Red Sea and born as a nation on the other side. And then something beautiful happens. the women take center stage. And that's really what I want to share with you tonight. Exodus 15 20 and 21. Right as the sea is splitting, it says like this. Then the Miriam the prophetus, the sister of Aaron, took the timberal in her hand. And all the women went out after her with timberalss and with dances. And Miriam answered them, "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously." the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea. And so aside from them this being just a marvelous moment of song and of praise, the Torah goes out of its way to say that Miriam along with all the other women, they packed their musical instruments with them. The timing was just right. They went into their knapsacks and they brought their timberals. They brought their tambourines. They brought their drums and they started to sing together. I mean, think about that. They didn't even have time to let their bread rise, but they're packing musical instruments. It's such a deep lesson. And you know, it's one thing, you know, everyone goes through hard times. This happens to be the hardest challenge of their life, the scariest moments possible. They were sort of safe as slaves. They were protected from all the plagues and now they're breaking free and they're going off into the unknown. They're being chased by the army of Egypt and they're trying to leave and they have no idea where they're going. And as they're walking into the unknown, they pack their musical instruments ready to sing and praise when the time comes. But you know, it's not like they were marching away like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs singing as they are marching off into the desert. They're still walking. They're terrified. They're trusting in God, but they are scared. They don't know where they're going, and they're being chased by the army. And so, in life, we can trust in God and walk into the unknown. And it's scary. And there's room for that in the story. But always pack your bags with musical instruments. Always have hope in your back pocket because a time is going to come and the sea is going to split in your life and you will be free. And when that time comes, sing to the Lord a new song for he has done wondrous things. You know, I have a dear friend, a mentor of mine, a partner in the land of Israel network, a founder, just like so dear to us. Now he's a very modest and humble guy. So, I don't want to call him out, but he told me this years ago. He's like, God is never late, but he's always last minute. And that has really stuck with me. And so, you know, we're all waiting for that moment. Like, hold on tight. Pack your timberals because the time is coming that you're going to play a song of salvation. And I'm not selling now impossible promises. I'm not saying you have to have faith that everything is going to work out exactly as you want. Because sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers because when I was younger, I thought I knew what I wanted. I knew what I was praying for. I knew what I needed. And I just didn't have the perspective. But I'm talking about having faith. I'm talking about having amuna. Amuna does not mean that things will turn out okay. It means knowing that you will be okay no matter how things turn out. And muna is believing that everything will be okay because you'll be okay. It's not that everything is going to work out the way that you want it to work out. And muna is knowing that no matter what happens, you'll be okay. And so that's my blessing for all of us tonight. that no matter what we're going through, and I know everyone is going through something, as long as you're walking into the unknown, don't forget to pack your timberalss. Put them in your backpack. Just hold on. Don't just keep the faith. Hold on to that hope. Pack your bags knowing that salvation is going to come and walk with the hope because God is never late. He's always last minute. Hey, that was a highlight from this week's Land of Israel Fellowship. If you like that highlight, you'll love the Land of Israel Fellowship. Find out more on the land ofisrael.com. 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