This story is about the same story as the church song that goes, "Pharaoh, pharaoh. Oh, baby, let my people go. Huh!" Basically, Moses goes to Egypt to rescue the Israeli child slaves from the evil Egyptian pharaoh. When he gets there, he rescues them and they all run for it through the desert. God protects them by giving them cloud cover during the hot desert days and a lamp of fire by night. But they still run into problems. Eventually, the Egyptian military comes running after them in chariots and it seems as if they won't escape. But God comes to the rescue again! They get to the Red Sea and God commands Moses to stamp his staff in the ground in order to split the sea. When the water parts, the refugees run through and take cover on the other side. The Egyptian army follows soon thereafter, but is trapped in the water as God makes the water collapse on top of them and drown the entire army in front of the pharaoh.
I think this story and other miracles are especially difficult for anyone to wrap their head around. Since visible miracles like this are practically nonexistent in modern day, it seems too good to be true for miracles like this too have happened during biblical times. While they are a great inspiration for faith in God for some people, they cause greater questioning of Christian faith in others. I, personally, am still trying to figure out my opinion of literal vs. poetic interpretations of the bible, but it does make a good story, regardless. I think the reason why so many Sunday School lessons are centered around "The Parting of The Red Sea" is because this story represents what so many people want from God- to be rescued from distress and hell-like situations on Earth.
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