Throughout the long history of the Jewish People, there have been many changes and reversals.  Some periods were blessed with peace and bounty that fostered intense spiritual growth, other times were fraught with dangers and tribulations.

People vary in their views on spiritually, and the spirit of the times affects most people’s interests.  During the more fortunate periods of our history, no one voiced complaints against Heaven, but there was often a danger that material abundance lead to overindulgence and a decline in spiritual pursuits.  During the blacker days, when the Jewish People suffered at the hands of their enemies, the question was often in people’s hearts, if not on their lips: "Where is G-d?  Why has He abandoned us to our fate?  Why does He allow our enemies to torture us so?"

During the dark period of slavery in Egypt, many asked: "Where is justice?"  It was only two hundred years later that their question was answered.

When the period of enslavement prescribed by Heaven had passed, Ten Plagues rained down on the Egyptians, one after the other.  They were harsh decrees; now it was the Egyptians who were suffering and the Jews who were the onlookers.  No one asked "Where is G-d?"  His hand was clearly evident in each of the ten supernatural blows which plagued Egypt and finally brought Pharaoh to his knees. Neither did anyone question G-d’s justice as they watched the Egyptian economy crumble and disintegrate.  There remained only one question in the air: "Why had G-d waited until now?  Could He not have poured His wrath out on the oppressors several generations earlier?"

The question seems to be a valid one.  Let’s leave it for the moment, and follow the events of the Exodus.  The miracles of the splitting of the sea were even greater than those that preceded it, back in Egypt.  The sea stood in frozen walls of water on either side of a dry roadway, allowing the Jewish people to escape from the Egyptian forces pursuing them. 

Suddenly, it all became clear.  The Creator ruled over all; there was no force to challenge Him or compete with His control of nature and men. What had seemed till now to be "laws of Nature" no longer existed; all was clearly dependent only on the will of G-d.  The Creator was revealed as the direct and absolute ruler of the universe.  Those who had asked questions in the past now fell silent, assured that G-d was aware of all, and must have His reasons for restraint or silence in the face of His enemies.

All agreed: Nothing could take place in this world without G-d's willing it to be so.  If He had waited two hundred years to bring the plagues upon Egypt, there was a reason, and it was good that it be so. Now there were no more questions, only faith.

What happens when someone weak is attacked?  He has two options.  If he feels he is too weak to put up any opposition, he can only bite his lip and remain silent.  Should he decide to fight back, he must act at once.  Any hesitation or delay will give his opponents that much more time to build up their defenses.  The longer he waits to react, the harder it will be to put a stop to the aggressive behavior.

This rule applies only if the person attacked is relatively weak.  If he is far superior to the attacker, and has no doubt that he can overcome him, there is no rush to mount a counterattack.  Even if the attacker uses the interval to strengthen his position, the defender has no doubt that wherever he does decide to put a stop to the attack, he will be fully able to do so without difficulty. 

This was G-d's situation vis-a-vis the Egyptians.  There was never any doubt who was the stronger, the more powerful or the wiser combatant.  G-d had no need to respond quickly, for He knew without question that whenever He did decide the time had come to limit Pharaoh's tyranny and to put an end to the Egyptian prosecution of the Jews, He could succeed in doing so without effort or delay. 

After the Splitting of the Sea, the Israelites realized the true situation.  G-d's silence all these years was not an indication of weakness, Heaven forbid.  On the contrary, it was a sign that G-d was the mighty and powerful ruler of all, who could afford to let his adversaries try to consolidate their forces and gain more territory.  He knew that the day would eventually come when He would intervene actively, and on that day, the victory would clearly be His. 

Restraint is not necessarily a sign of weakness.  In this case, it was proof of the might and power of the Ruler of the World.