Why did God divide the sea? Why does not He do it again?
Those sentences which are colored in orange are from Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati book Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth) and those which are colored in black are Jerry Thomas’s response.
"The Lord shalt fight for you….speak unto the children of Israel; that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea , and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea." (14:14 – 16.)
C. ~ Well Sir! In ancient times God used to follow the children of Israel as does a shepherd his flock of sheep. We wonder where has He hidden himself now? Had he been in evidence now, He would have helped the Christians to make rail-roads throughout the sea which would have been a great boon to the world. They would also have been saved the trouble of constructing boats and ships. But what is to be done. None knows where this Christian God had hidden himself. The Biblical God had done many an impossible thing in his dealings with Moss. But it appears that like God like devotee and His Book is but too true in this case. May such a God and such a book remain far form us. In this alone lies our good.
Answer: Look how a Vedic Maharishi misses the point by miles. Before I come to the point, let me note that the God of the Bible still relates to humanity but not always in the same way before humanity. There was a very good reason why God did so at the time of Prophet Moses.
At this point of time, God was revealing Laws to Prophet Moses. The laws of Moses stood as the criteria for the rest of the revelation given in the Holy Bible.
Now, do we want such an important thing to have happened in some caves or mountains or in the sight of millions witnesses? Surely, we will all want millions to witness such an event than blindly following alleged claims of someone.
Let us look how the Holy Bible interprets these major events.
(a) The Holy Bible itself records this as unique and not as a regular feature. The Holy Bible also says these were given as evidence for the Author and message of revelation.
Deuteronomy 4: 32-36 "For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and [ask] from one end of heaven to the other, whether [any] great [thing] like this has happened, or [anything] like it has been heard. Did [any] people [ever] hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or did God [ever] try to go [and] take for Himself a nation from the midst of [another] nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, THAT YOU MIGHT KNOW that the LORD Himself [is] God; [there is] none other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, THAT HE MIGHT INSTRUCT you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.
(b) The Holy Bible again says these have to be taught to the children implying that many things will not be repeated.
Deuteronomy 6:20-25 "When your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'what is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?' then you shall say to your son: 'We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as [it is] this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.'
Now the question to the Vedic Maharishi is the same question asked by Prophet Moses- is there anything parallel to this? And the answer from the admission of Maharishi himself is no. He is a blind follower of someone else unverified claims.
