Israel were afraid. A paralysing fear, so great that all they could do was cry out in terror to God. Do you know what that’s like? When things seem so dark and there’s no way out, nothing you can do? When the doctor tells you that you need heart surgery as soon as possible. When the phone rings and you’re told your daughter has been knocked out by a football and has been taken to hospital unconscious; and all you can do is pray that God will keep her safe. Or when you hear that a major restructuring is about to take place; you’re being down-sized and your department is being abolished. Fear that leads to panic - paralysing fear. Or when your spouse says ’I don’t think I love you any more. I think we should separate.’ That sinking feeling right in the pit of your stomach.
"The Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians." Everything had been going so well. In Exodus ch 12 we were told that they plundered the Egyptians, taking their silver & gold & clothing. In ch. 13 we’re told they marched up out of Egypt armed for battle. And even here in v8 we’re told they were marching out boldly. God had defeated the Egyptians and here they were marching out boldly en route to the promised land. But then they come to the Red Sea. Water in every direction. How would they get across? Has Moses made a mistake? And no sooner have they set up camp than they look up and there on the horizon is the dust storm kicked up by the Egyptian army. Here they are, caught between the Egyptian army on one side and the sea on the other, with no way out. No options. Like the person with the heart condition. It’s bypass surgery or die.
Israel’s immediate response is fear. And see what fear does. "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?" Egypt of course was the home of the great tombs, the pyramids. "What have you done by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ’Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians that to die in the desert." Not for the last time, fear causes them to distort the truth, to be ruled by doubt rather than faith.
I wonder are we sometimes like that? Do we sometimes doubt God - are we afraid that he may not have our best interests at heart? Are we afraid perhaps that he hasn’t noticed our predicament - that he won’t look after us - that he has more important things to worry about than our situation? Do we, like the Israelites, sometimes regret having stepped out in faith when we see what’s involved?
Before this wave of panic Moses stands out like a rock. "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you wil see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today." Moses has learnt a lot in a short time hasn’t he! And the most important lesson is this - that the Lord can be trusted - he is in control - it’s he who’s delivering his people. Even when there seems to be no way out, Moses has confidence in God. v14: "The Lord will fight for you; you have only to keep still." This wouldn’t always be the case. There would come times when they’d have to fight to win the battle, but not today. Today they need only to keep still. I think for me, that’s the hardest place to be. To find that I’m totally helpless. That my strength, my mind, my analytical skills, my theological training, are of no use in a particular situation. To have to sit back and be still and rely entirely on God. To sit and wait patiently for God to act.
So Israel wait. How do they last through the night? They’ve seen the Egyptians on the horizon - they can only be a few hours away. They could get here any minute. I imagine they wouldn’t have slept much that night. Do you know what that’s like? to lie awake all night worrying about something - scenario upon scenario running through your mind? You go over and over what you said or might have said; all the things that might or might not happen. And the darkness deepens as the night goes on. Your fear only seems to grow as you dwell on your situation.
Moses says take our eyes off the Egyptians. Stop concentrating on what you’re afraid of and look to the Lord, who hasn’t abandoned you; who still cares for you - and see the deliverance he’s about to accomplish for you. Israel needs to learn, just as we need to learn, that God is the God of presence, the God of guidance, the God of protection, who is always with us, caring for us and looking out for us.
And so, as the people of Israel lie in darkness and fear, the angel of the Lord moves from in front of them and takes up a position between them and the Egyptians; and the pillar of cloud brings darkness to the Egyptians so they’re held back. Moses stretches forth his staff over the sea and as they sleep, God sends a strong east wind which drives the sea back and turns it into dry land.
So when morning comes, there before them is a way of escape. The insurmountable barrier has been removed. How often do we lie awake all night worrying about something, only to find that with morning comes a way out that we hadn’t imagined, or that in the light of day our worries aren’t quite as bad as they seemed? And so the people of Israel pass through the sea on dry land.
But they’re not quite out of the woods yet - or should that be out of hot water? There across the sea, hot on their tails, they see the Egyptian chariots at full pace following them into the sea. But again God intervenes. Notice what God says to Moses in v17. "I wil harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them." I know it’s more than a month ago, but do you remember what we discovered about this idea of God hardening the Egyptians heart? Do you remember the reason for it? Well, the same reason as before appears here again: "And so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army." What God is about to do, is not just to save the Israelites, but it has a greater purpose - to bring glory to God, as the might of the Egyptian army is overthrown and destroyed. So God throws them into confusion. Their wheels become clogged, bogged down in the soft bed of the sea. God tells Moses to again stretch out his staff over the sea, and as the Israelites look on, the waters flow back to their place and the Egyptians are drowned. And so the song goes up: "I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea! The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation." Notice the importance given to celebration of this victory. Most of ch. 15 is devoted to a song of praise of this great victory. It’s important to celebrate God’s victories. To recount the things that he’s done. To praise his name. Because as we do that our faith is strengthened. This is why psalms and hymns have always had such an important place in both Jewish and Christian worship. Paul tells us in Col 3 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart." Singing songs of praise is an important part of the word of Christ dwelling in us. And so it is with the people of Israel. Now they’ve seen God in all his power and might, rescuing them from an impossible situation. And so they sing about it. This is the God who rescues his people. The God who changes history. This is something to sing about! And so we read in v31 that the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him - and in his servant Moses. //
Often it’s only when we look back that we realise how God has been at work. When we’re in the midst of life’s difficulties we can be blind to everything except our fears. Even when God’s at work it can be hard for us to see it. Sometimes this is because God uses ordinary means to do his will. And so it was the angel of the Lord who went between the Israelites and the Egyptians, but it was a cloud that physically separated them. It was Moses stretching forth his staff that led to the waters being divided, but the means was a strong east wind. It was God looking down from the pillar of fire who threw the Egyptians into confusion, but it was the mud from the sea bed that clogged their wheels. Some people would like to separate the supernatural from the natural. Either because they want to deny the supernatural, or because they want to so exalt it that the natural gets overlooked - but here as in other parts of the Bible the two go together. God is the God of creation and so he uses the natural order to achieve his supernatural purposes. And so we sometimes find it hard to know whether it’s God at work in a special way or whether its mere chance, or the outworking of natural laws. This is especially true I think, when it comes to illnesses. When we pray for healing and at the same time go to the doctor. Is it OK to pray to God for healing, and then go to the doctor? Is God at work when the doctor gives us appropriate treatment and we get better? The answer is yes. God works through natural means as well as supernatural to fulfill his supernatural purposes.
That’s what Israel found this day: that God was at work, using the created order to achieve his purposes - to rescue his people from an impossible situation and bring about a great victory that would be remembered by the Israelites, and others, for all time.
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When we find ourselves weighed down by fear we can take hope in the knowledge that God is still with us. God is still our strength and song. Because of Jesus Christ we know even better than the Israelites that God has become our salvation. And if he’s saved us from sin and death, what else is there that can harm us? And because of what we’ve seen of the way he rescued the Israelites we can know that even when seemingly ordinary things happen, it’s God at work.
And like the Israelites, we too can respond to God’s salvation with praise and thanksgiving and with a renewed faith in his power
