Bnei Yisrael were saved from certain death when the waters of the Red Sea miraculously split before them. Hashem’s Divine decree altered the course of nature for His People. What happened afterwards when the people had passed safely through? The waters should have reverted to their original state. That is what should have happened. The Torah, however, records that Hashem commanded Moshe to “stretch out your hand over the sea, and the waters will go back upon Egypt.” Why did they not simply fall back to their original position? Once the purpose of the miracle had been fulfilled and its effect confirmed, we expect that the waters would have “returned” on their own!
Horav Mordechai Gifter, Shlita, derives a remarkable insight from this pasuk. We have become so accustomed to believing in the concept of “nature” that we fail to realize that teva, nature, is actually neis, miracle. The natural order of Creation, and the functioning of the world, has license to exist only as a result of the will of Hashem. When Hashem expressed His desire that the waters separate, that reality immediately became the new order of “nature.” Life does not simply return to “business as usual” after the miracle has ended. In order for the sea to have reverted to its original state–its pre-miracle standard–another miracle was needed. Indeed, it is our goal to be able to perceive the constant miracles in what we consider to be “routine” nature.
