January 21, 2010
Our responsibility is this:
Why three years, Lord? Why has "the storm" lasted three years? When the lawsuit first began we prayed for "the storm" to pass quickly. We were willing to do whatever God wanted us to do, but we wanted IT over quickly—the short route. Instead it has been three years and the lawsuit still isn't over and "the storm" is still raging. But, you know what? Now we are grateful for all the time that has passed. God has used this time to grow us, protect us, but most importantly—God has used this time for Him to receive all the glory and honor for what HE has done.
The Israelites were leaving victoriously. Exodus 13:21 - "The Lord showed them the way..." God went before them during the day with a pillar of cloud and during the night with a pillar of fire. The Egyptians, even though they had suffered horrible consequences, began to regret their decision to let the Israelites go. Exodus 14:5 - "What have we done? We have lost our slaves." The king, even after losing his firstborn and the firstborn of all the Egyptians and animals in his kingdom, still could not bring himself to truly let the Israelites go.
So, Pharaoh took 600 of his best chariots, plus all his other chariots, each with an officer, and they started out to take the Israelites captive again. The Israelites, seeing the Egyptians coming towards them, began to panic. They had no place to go. The Egyptians are coming from behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them. There was NOTHING they could do to save themselves. They were wishing they would have just tolerated being slaves and stayed under Pharaoh's authority in Egypt.
It looked like they were in an absolutely impossible situation.
Twice in Chapter 14 it says that God will receive glory THROUGH the king. Ezekiel 14:4 - "I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord."(NIV) Ezekiel 14:17 - "I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army ... The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD ..." (NIV) It wasn't just the Israelites who would understand that God is the LORD, but the Egyptians would as well. The Israelites were being blessed, and the Egyptians were being destroyed, but both the Israelites and the Egyptians were going to understand—"I am the LORD."
God specializes in impossible situations.
Moses gives the Israelites instructions. Exodus 14:13–14 - "Don't be afraid! Stand still and you will see the LORD save you today. You will never see the Egyptians again. You only need to remain calm; the LORD with fight for you." The battle belongs to the Lord!! The Lord, who normally traveled in front of them, moved behind them and put a barrier between the Egyptians and the Israelites. It was darkness for the Egyptians and light for the Israelites. The Lord had the Israelites backs covered.
I remember when we first began to understand this concept. When "the storm" clouds first began to build in the distance, my husband and I vowed that we would walk together every day to pray and seek God's will and direction for our lives. One morning as we were walking, the sun was just beginning to crest on the horizon. The rays from the sun warmed our backs and cast elongated shadows out in front of us. We stopped, and I said, "Look! Look at our shadows!" We turned to each other and said, "God has our backs covered." God has literally covered our backs many, many times. As we continued to walk and pray our hearts were filled with praise as we began to recount the many instances where His protecting hand covered us, even before we realized we were in danger and needing His protection.
Exodus 14:21–22 - Moses held his hand over the sea and the water parted. The Israelites walked through on dry land. I always had this pictured entirely wrong. I had in my mind the pictures from my youth. A body of water like an average sized river. NO! From what I can tell it was at least ten to twenty miles wide. This was no small body of water. It was wide!! It could ONLY be God that saved them. It took courage to walk across even if the bottom was dry. It would have been easy to be distracted by (and fearful of) the walls of water on either side.
God parts the water; the Israelites are walking across—and STILL Pharaoh pursues them.
Pharaoh just didn't get it. He would have small moments of the "fear" of God, but he just couldn't bring himself to acknowledge The LORD! It was always your God and never my God. His confidence was in himself, his power, and his army. I don't think it bothered Pharaoh that the LORD put the cloud between him and the Israelites or that he was in the dark. He was just focused on his "we got them now" attitude. Their backs are against the sea. "We've got them" right where we want them. This cloud will lift and then "we've got them."
The Egyptians try to follow the Israelites across the sea but the wheels of their chariots wouldn't turn. God was making the way difficult for them. There were walls of water surrounding them on either side and FINALLY they realize that THE LORD is fighting for the Israelites. THE LORD!! Exodus 14:25 - "Let's get away from the Israelites. The LORD is fighting for them and against Egypt." Not their God is fighting for them, THE LORD is fighting for them.
Twelve times from Chapter 6 until now God says, "I AM THE LORD" and finally Pharaoh knows it. Pharaoh went from saying, "Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go" in Exodus 5:2, to saying, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them..." Finally—he finally gets it and he turns to retreat. The Egyptians finally decide to quit pursuing the Israelites. This is the first time they (the Egyptians) turned and quit being the aggressor. They sent the Israelites away before, but this is the first time they made a choice to stop, acknowledge it was the LORD who was fighting for the Israelites, and to turn away from their pursuit. Unfortunately, it was too late. The water rushed back and the Egyptians tried to run from it, but the Lord swept them away. Before they died they understood. They finally understood—God is THE LORD.
Imagine the impact this had on all the Egyptians that were left in Egypt. The promise in Exodus 14:18 - "WHEN I defeat the king, his chariot drivers and chariots, the Egyptians, will know that I am the LORD," was fulfilled.
All praise, honor, and glory belong to our LORD and Savior.
Next Entry: Exodus 13:1 – 15:21 (Continued)
Our responsibility is this:
- Do what God has revealed to us to do
- Don't be afraid
- Stand still
- Wait on the Lord
- Remain calm.
Instead, God took them the long way, through the desert and towards the Red Sea.
This could not have made any sense to the Israelites. They could have walked across dry land! The farther they went into the desert the wider the Red Sea became. Yet God knew exactly what He was doing. If they went the short way they might have been tempted to turn back and surrender to captivity. By taking them the long way and to the Red Sea, it meant (as our Pastor says) either God shows up, or they were going to fail. This way God received the glory AND the foundation for their future life was laid.
This could not have made any sense to the Israelites. They could have walked across dry land! The farther they went into the desert the wider the Red Sea became. Yet God knew exactly what He was doing. If they went the short way they might have been tempted to turn back and surrender to captivity. By taking them the long way and to the Red Sea, it meant (as our Pastor says) either God shows up, or they were going to fail. This way God received the glory AND the foundation for their future life was laid.
Why three years, Lord? Why has "the storm" lasted three years? When the lawsuit first began we prayed for "the storm" to pass quickly. We were willing to do whatever God wanted us to do, but we wanted IT over quickly—the short route. Instead it has been three years and the lawsuit still isn't over and "the storm" is still raging. But, you know what? Now we are grateful for all the time that has passed. God has used this time to grow us, protect us, but most importantly—God has used this time for Him to receive all the glory and honor for what HE has done.
The Israelites were leaving victoriously. Exodus 13:21 - "The Lord showed them the way..." God went before them during the day with a pillar of cloud and during the night with a pillar of fire. The Egyptians, even though they had suffered horrible consequences, began to regret their decision to let the Israelites go. Exodus 14:5 - "What have we done? We have lost our slaves." The king, even after losing his firstborn and the firstborn of all the Egyptians and animals in his kingdom, still could not bring himself to truly let the Israelites go.
So, Pharaoh took 600 of his best chariots, plus all his other chariots, each with an officer, and they started out to take the Israelites captive again. The Israelites, seeing the Egyptians coming towards them, began to panic. They had no place to go. The Egyptians are coming from behind them and the Red Sea was in front of them. There was NOTHING they could do to save themselves. They were wishing they would have just tolerated being slaves and stayed under Pharaoh's authority in Egypt.
It looked like they were in an absolutely impossible situation.
Twice in Chapter 14 it says that God will receive glory THROUGH the king. Ezekiel 14:4 - "I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord."(NIV) Ezekiel 14:17 - "I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army ... The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD ..." (NIV) It wasn't just the Israelites who would understand that God is the LORD, but the Egyptians would as well. The Israelites were being blessed, and the Egyptians were being destroyed, but both the Israelites and the Egyptians were going to understand—"I am the LORD."
God specializes in impossible situations.
Moses gives the Israelites instructions. Exodus 14:13–14 - "Don't be afraid! Stand still and you will see the LORD save you today. You will never see the Egyptians again. You only need to remain calm; the LORD with fight for you." The battle belongs to the Lord!! The Lord, who normally traveled in front of them, moved behind them and put a barrier between the Egyptians and the Israelites. It was darkness for the Egyptians and light for the Israelites. The Lord had the Israelites backs covered.
I remember when we first began to understand this concept. When "the storm" clouds first began to build in the distance, my husband and I vowed that we would walk together every day to pray and seek God's will and direction for our lives. One morning as we were walking, the sun was just beginning to crest on the horizon. The rays from the sun warmed our backs and cast elongated shadows out in front of us. We stopped, and I said, "Look! Look at our shadows!" We turned to each other and said, "God has our backs covered." God has literally covered our backs many, many times. As we continued to walk and pray our hearts were filled with praise as we began to recount the many instances where His protecting hand covered us, even before we realized we were in danger and needing His protection.
Exodus 14:21–22 - Moses held his hand over the sea and the water parted. The Israelites walked through on dry land. I always had this pictured entirely wrong. I had in my mind the pictures from my youth. A body of water like an average sized river. NO! From what I can tell it was at least ten to twenty miles wide. This was no small body of water. It was wide!! It could ONLY be God that saved them. It took courage to walk across even if the bottom was dry. It would have been easy to be distracted by (and fearful of) the walls of water on either side.
God parts the water; the Israelites are walking across—and STILL Pharaoh pursues them.
Pharaoh just didn't get it. He would have small moments of the "fear" of God, but he just couldn't bring himself to acknowledge The LORD! It was always your God and never my God. His confidence was in himself, his power, and his army. I don't think it bothered Pharaoh that the LORD put the cloud between him and the Israelites or that he was in the dark. He was just focused on his "we got them now" attitude. Their backs are against the sea. "We've got them" right where we want them. This cloud will lift and then "we've got them."
The Egyptians try to follow the Israelites across the sea but the wheels of their chariots wouldn't turn. God was making the way difficult for them. There were walls of water surrounding them on either side and FINALLY they realize that THE LORD is fighting for the Israelites. THE LORD!! Exodus 14:25 - "Let's get away from the Israelites. The LORD is fighting for them and against Egypt." Not their God is fighting for them, THE LORD is fighting for them.
Twelve times from Chapter 6 until now God says, "I AM THE LORD" and finally Pharaoh knows it. Pharaoh went from saying, "Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go" in Exodus 5:2, to saying, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them..." Finally—he finally gets it and he turns to retreat. The Egyptians finally decide to quit pursuing the Israelites. This is the first time they (the Egyptians) turned and quit being the aggressor. They sent the Israelites away before, but this is the first time they made a choice to stop, acknowledge it was the LORD who was fighting for the Israelites, and to turn away from their pursuit. Unfortunately, it was too late. The water rushed back and the Egyptians tried to run from it, but the Lord swept them away. Before they died they understood. They finally understood—God is THE LORD.
Imagine the impact this had on all the Egyptians that were left in Egypt. The promise in Exodus 14:18 - "WHEN I defeat the king, his chariot drivers and chariots, the Egyptians, will know that I am the LORD," was fulfilled.
All praise, honor, and glory belong to our LORD and Savior.
Next Entry: Exodus 13:1 – 15:21 (Continued)
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