Exodus 13:17-14
The children of Israel
thought they had it made because Pharaoh had finally let them go. However
tonight were going to find out that the Pharaoh wasn’t finished with them yet.
Exodus 13:17 Then it
came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by
way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God
said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and
return to Egypt." 18 So
God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And
the children of Israel went up
in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.
We learn that there were
2 routes the children of Israel could of taken. The first route was through the land of Philistines. This would have been the easiest route take because it was closer. The
second route took them to the wilderness by Red Sea. God wants them to take the harder route because he knows that if the
Children of Israel take the easy route that is close to Egypt when they see the Pharaoh and his arm approaching
that they will run back to Egypt with their tails tucked between their legs.
This harder route would make it very
difficult for them to try run back. When I was thinking about this I
couldn’t help but think that sometimes
we try to take the easiest path in our lives. But as Christians when we follow
Gods word and we strive to do those which are right many times is going to lead
down a more difficult road. In fact this reminded of what Jesus said.
Matthew 7:13-14 3 " Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and
broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in
by it. 14 "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the
way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
The children of Israel
was an army now and they were armed for battle and based on verse 18 when it
says they went out in orderly ranks according to a Hebrew lexicon this means
they were standing side by side in rows of 5.
19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph
with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under
solemn oath, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my
bones from here with you."
This oath is found in
Genesis 50: 25
Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will
surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here." 26 So Joseph died, being one
hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in
Egypt.
I find this very interesting of how much importance the
children of Israel took an oath. Think about it. Here we have Joseph who was embalmed and
stuck in an Egyptian coffin and the children of Israel had managed to keep up with his body for 430
years and now they are starting the process of keep their oath by take Josephs
bones with them.
20 So they took their journey from
Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the LORD went before them
by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire
to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar
of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
The children of Israel had camped at to places the first was Succoth and
the Second place was Etham which was at the edge of the wilderness. The Lord
loved his people and he was there to lead them. By day he guided by a cloud and
by night he lead them by fire. Verse 22 show Gods longsuffering in that he did
not take away the cloud or fire day or night. The same thing is true today God
love us just as much as he loved the Children of Israel then. He will always be
there for us and that should give great comfort.
Exodus 14:1 Now the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2
"Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi
Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp
before it by the sea. 3
"For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are bewildered
by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.' 4 "Then I will harden
Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over
Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the
LORD." And they did so.
God had a plan that would
not fail. Since God knows the heart of man and he knew that when the Pharaoh
came and saw the children of Israel camped at the river that he would think
that they had become confused and didn’t realize they were trapped and easy
prey for Pharaohs army. That’s exactly what God wanted him to think.
5
Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of
Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said,
"Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving
us?" 6 So he made ready
his chariot and took his people with him.
7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the
chariots of Egypt with
captains over every one of them. 8
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he
pursued the children of Israel; and
the children of Israel went
out with boldness. 9 So the Egyptians
pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and
his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal
Zephon.
Once again we see Pharaoh change his mind but this time the
children of Israel
were gone. They just couldn’t seem to fathom the thought of losing their slaves
so Pharaoh gathers up his army and races to find the children or Israel.
It doesn’t seem to take them long before they catch up with them where they
were camped by the sea just where God told them to stay. The Pharaoh is like
satin always pursuing and never giving up.
10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the
children of Israel lifted
their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very
afraid, and the children of Israel cried
out to the LORD. 11 Then they
said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have
you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to
bring us up out of Egypt? 12 "Is this not the
word that we told you in Egypt,
saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it would have
been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the
wilderness."
Here is where we see fear come over the children of Israel.
When the saw Pharaohs army they began to shake in their boots. Here the thing I
don’t understand. First of all they had seen first hand what God had did in the
10 plagues against Egypt they had also seen God guiding by a cloud during the
day and by fire during the night. They had armor and were ready for battle. Why
were the scared of Pharaoh and his army? After all they had been through and
seen they apparently still lacked trust in faith in the Lord. Now it easy for
me to say this standing here safe in the building but I would like to think
that if I were there and I had seen all that God done that I would have enough
faith and trust in God not to fear the Pharaoh and his army. That’s exactly
what God teaches us today in the NT.
Matthew 10:28 28
"And do not fear those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul. But rather
fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell.
The children of Israel had not grasped
this concept. Notice what they do.
- The cry out to God
- They ask Moses Have you brought all the way
out just to die in the wilderness?
- Why have brought out of Egypt?
- Did we not tell you to leave us alone so that
we could serve the Egyptians?
- We would have been better off staying in Egypt instead of dying out here.
13 And Moses said to the people,
"Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which
He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you
shall see again no more forever. 14
"The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."
Moses tries to get the children of Israel
to calm down and to really think about their situation and think about God
almighty.
- Do not
be afraid
- Stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. Watch what he will do today
- You
will never see these Egyptians again.
- The
Lord will fight for you so hold your peace.
This is something good for us to remember today as well. We
should not be afraid of enemies and should strive to put our trust in God
knowing that he will fight for us and he will delivers us in the end.
15And the
LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go
forward. 16 "But lift up
your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the
children of Israel shall
go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 "And I indeed will harden
the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor
over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 "Then the Egyptians shall
know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over
Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."
19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved
and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood
behind them. 20 So it came
between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus
it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to
the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his
hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong
east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters
were divided. 22 So the
children of Israel went
into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a
wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued and
went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots,
and his horsemen.
Here is where we learn
about the miracle of parting of the Red Sea. First of
God tells Moses to tell the Children to go forward and then Moses is to raise
is rod over the sea and God brings about a strong east wind which blows all
that night and parts the Red Sea and makes it dry enough for the children of
Israel to cross with all of the belongings. We also protects the Children of
Israel while the sea is being parted. The angel of God moves behind the
children of Israel and causes darkness to be on the Egyptians and light to be on the children
of Israel. Some have doubted and tried to explain away this
miracle of the parting of the red sea. First of all a natural wind could have
never produced the parting of the sea. We must keep in mind that there were
somewhere around 2 to 3 million of God children here. This means that the
parting of this sea had to be pretty wide for this many people to cross over.
The Bible describes the water being as a wall on the left and the right this
means that is was not a shallow parting but that the water was fairly deep.
Then when you factor in that the ground was dry so they could walk across it shows
that is truly was a miracle and it done by God. Gods plan was working perfectly
because now Pharaohs army was chasing after the children of Israel across the Red sea.
24
Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army
of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army
of the Egyptians. 25 And He
took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the
Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the face of Israel, for
the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians." 26 Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon
the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen." 27 And Moses stretched out his
hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full
depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the
Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28
Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all
the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of
them remained. 29 But the
children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and
the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their
left. 30 So the LORD saved Israel that
day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the
Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31
Thus Israel saw the
great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the
people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.
What an amazing site this
must have been. At first I am sure the Pharaoh and his army thought they just
might catch the children of Israel but the harder they tried the more God against
them. Here they had there fancy chariots and all their captains but God made
the wheels fall of the chariots. It then the Egyptians said, "Let us
flee from the face of Israel, for
the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians." While this was true it was to late for the Egyptians. God tells Moses to
hold his rod up again and this time these great walls of the river came
crashing down and drowned the Pharaoh and his army. Once again the children of Israel were afraid but this time they feared the Lord
and once again they believe in the Lord and in Moses. Finally the Children of
Israel were safe from Egyptian bondage and it was time for the to start a new
life dedicated to following God.
Now what I want to do is
to show how their salvation was obtained and how it very similar to the way our
salvation is obtained. Even thought the Children of Israel became scared when
the say Pharaohs army and even began to question why they even came out there
when Moses told them Gods command to go forward they obeyed. Moses was told to
raise in rod up over the sea again he obeyed. Once the water was parted and
even though I am sure it was scary to walk across such as a site as that they
obeyed. When they were safe on the other side Moses was told to raise is rod
again and once again he obeyed. The salvation came because the obeyed God will.
1 Corinthians 10:1
Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were
under the cloud, all passed through the sea,
2 all were baptized
into Moses in the cloud and in the
sea, 3 all ate the same
spiritual food, 4 and all
drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
The children of Israel
were baptized in Moses and when the came up out of the walls of the water and
cloud they were saved and now they were to begin a new life living in unity and
serving god.
That is the same way it is today. He wants his people both
Jew and Gentile to be obedient to his will. Instead of Moses he wants us to
baptized into Christ. In Romans 6 Paul describes in detail what happens when a
person obeys god will and submits themselves to baptism in Christ. He talks
about how were are buried with Christ how old self is crucified with Christ and
how we are raised up to start a new life in Christ have had sins removed.
Romans 6:15- What then? Shall we sin because we are not under
law but under grace? Certainly not! 16
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are
that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of
obedience leading to righteousness?
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of
sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were
delivered. 18 And having been
set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Notice since they obeyed
the gospel and were baptized into Christ they were freed from sin.
Revelation 22:14 14 Blessed are those who do
His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may
enter through the gates into the city.
So you see salvation for
the children of Israel and salvation for us today is achieved by have an obedient faith and
following Gods command.