“Hashem said to Moshe, “Stretch your hand upon the sea, and the waters shall return upon Egypt, on their chariots and their riders.” (Shemos 10:6)
When people learn the story of Moshe splitting the sea, they often imagine that he raised his arms and the water split, and then when he lowered them, the water came crashing down. Perhaps this is a carryover from the subsequent story about the war with Amalek, where the Jews overpowered the enemy when Moshe’s hands were raised, but when they were lowered, and the Jews stopped looking to Heaven, Amalek seemed to become more victorious.
Here, however, the waters remained standing like a vast wall, until Moshe directed them to fall upon the enemy and drown them. The Malbim says that nature changed at this time. Just as previously it was the nature of water to fall and be affected by gravity, now it was the nature of the world for the water to remain upright.
Therefore, when Moshe raised his arm, signaling the water to revert to its previous state, he performed a miracle of changing nature which was just as great as that which had taken place with the water standing upright. Since he was changing the nature, it required the direct intervention of Hashem to make it happen, and it was He who directed Moshe to raise his arm.
Others explain that scoffers argued Moshe wasn’t special. It was his “magic wand,” the staff he wielded, which contained mystical powers and had anyone else held it, they, too, could have performed wonders. Therefore, Hashem commanded Moshe, “Raise up your staff from your hand, and stretch your arm upon the waters.” He wanted Moshe to show the world that it was his holiness and devotion to Hashem which empowered him to perform miracles.
There is one other idea we’d like to suggest, before tying these ideas all together. Yes, when it was time to enable the Jews to cross safely through the sea, Moshe lifted his hands as Hashem directed him. When Moshe lifted his hands, Hashem made a strong wind blow which caused the water to stand at attention. After the Jews crossed, it was time for the retribution to occur.
Nevertheless, Moshe refused to act on this without Hashem’s command. He understood that he was to do something to cause the Egyptians to drown, but did not want to be the decisor or perpetrator of this act. Only when Hashem directed him to take action, would he do so.
What we see from the miracles of splitting the sea and bringing it back together is that Hashem is willing and ready to empower His people with the ability to do amazing, powerful, miraculous things. He enables them to become superhuman, and control the forces of nature almost like Hashem, Himself. However, the way this occurs is that the people so empowered have connected themselves to Hashem and subjugated their will for His.
The greatest miracle of life is that Hashem loves us and pays attention to us. Through this, He enables us to do more and be more than we ever thought possible. If we focus on doing Hashem’s will, He will give us the power to work wonders, and be His partner in it all.
