WHEN GOD TAKES YOU ON THE SECENIC ROUTE
(Exodus 13:17-22 KJV) And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of ? re, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of ?re by night, from before the people.
WHEN GOD TAKES YOU ON THE SECENIC ROUTE
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
IN THE TENOR AND TONE OF THE TEXT
GOD IS ABOUT TO LEAD ISRAEL OUT OF EGYPTIAN CAPTIVITY
AND IT`S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THERE WAS A WELL TRAVEL HIGHWAY CALLED VIA MARIS
THAT RAN STRAIGHT FROM EGYPT TO PALESTINE
TO SOME IT WAS KNOWN AS THE PHILISTINE INTERSTATE
IN OTHER WORDS ALL I`M TRYING TO TELL YOU
IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ISRAEL 10 DAYS TO MAKE THE JOURNEY TO THE PROMISE LAND
BUT YET GOD HAD A DETOUR IN MIND
SO HE TOOK ISRAEL ON THE SECENIC ROUTE
AND TOOK ISREAL THE LONG WAY AROUND TOWARD THE RED SEA
IN WHICH LOOKED LIKE A DEAD END STREET
BUT AIN`T IT AMAZING THAT IN LIFE
THAT GOD STILLS TAKE US ON THE SENECIC ROUTE
BUT I STOP BY BETHESDA TO REMIND YOU THAT
GOD KNOWS WHAT HE `S DOING
And GOD Does not lead us along the shortest route in this life in which we live.
AND If we permit the Lord to direct our steps,
Expect to be led occasionally on paths that may seem unnecessarily long and indirect.
YOU SEE On the day of the Exodus, the whole nation gathered.
IT WAS the day they’ve waited for after 400 years of bondage.
They are on their journey to the promise land.
NOTICE-- NOTICE—NOTICE
THEY DID`NT HAVE-
No Google maps,
Or no Global Positioning Satellite to guide them.
BUT THEY HAD SOMETHING MUCH BETTER
They have a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night to usher them to the promise land.
IN OTHER WORDS THEY HAD THE BEST ESCORT SERVICE ANYBODY COULD EVER HAVE
BECAUSE God ushered them with His presence.
AND they had the reminder of God’s promises in the bones of Joseph.
Remembering that God had amazingly ful?lled His promises.
In other words
God is ushering them out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the wilderness and into their ?nal destination the promise land.
Notice –Notice-Notice
They are already in battle formation.
The men are in front in case of an ambush,
And in the rear, the more vulnerable stand with weakness in their knees.
The pillar of ?re and cloud starts to move,
But to THEM GOD is going the wrong way!
The Promised Land is north and God is going south.
He’s taking a big detour!
But it`s important to understand that
God’s has his reasoning behind taking a detour.
Because ---“If they take the Philistine Interstate, take the easy way and then suddenly run head?rst into a major con?ict, they might backslide, and return to Egypt.
You see
” If life was too easy,
if we never had a setback
and had smooth sailings all of our life,
Then when something ambushes us,
Like heart disease, we might not be prepared on how to handle the situation.
God wants us to grow up, and He never gives us more than we can handle until we’re ready for it.
The text reveals that
God led Israel on a roundabout way through the desert toward the Red Sea.
He even told Israel to reverse course, and make camp on a dead end street up against the Red Sea.
Which led Pharaoh to think, “
They’re lost and confused. I’ll run them down and bring them back to Egypt again.”
You see
Egypt represents, Satan’s kingdom of darkness.
The taskmasters represent the fallen angels and demons.
Pharaoh represents Satan himself
And the Israelite represents God’s children who are in bondage to sin all over the Earth.
The name “Pharaoh” means “sun” or “his nakedness.”
And Pharaoh’s effects and dominance in the affairs of our lives scorches and burns us in the wrong way.
In other words
He strips us bare, leaving us destitute, naked, exposed and defeated.
He reduces us to slaves in a slime pit!
But God’s will is that we are in His Son (Jesus Christ)
And personally know the truth and power of being covered and clothed by JESUS precious blood.
God said, “I will use Pharaoh and his army to put my Glory on display before all Egypt!”
And Pharaoh took the bait and came charging like killer bees behind God’s children.
And Israel chickened out and complained,
Asking “God weren’t the cemeteries big enough in Egypt that you took us into the desert to die?
And how they would have been better o? back in slavery!”
God said, “You just wait and see!”
The problem with us is.
When God moved on our behalf, we refuse to let Him work it out!
In other words
There’s too much complaining and not enough Hallelujah! “
And you Do know that God specializes in ushering?
Often times, we do not know or forget from whence comes ushering.
God was the very 1st usher.
He ushered in day and light (Genesis 1:3-4)
And ushered man into the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15).
You see
Ushers or forerunners are depicted throughout the Bible.
You see
Abraham ushered faithfulness into the world (Genesis 22).
Moses ushered the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 15).
Joshua, his successor ushered them into the promise land (Joshua 1).
God ushered Himself into Mary.
The Star of Bethlehem ushered the wise men of the east to the place where Christ ushered Himself into a manger.
John the Baptist, forerunner of Christ, ushered the coming of Christ, and prepared the way.
He was the voice crying in the wilderness (John 1:6-13).
The pillar of cloud and ?re moved between the Egyptian army and Israel like a shield.
God sent a powerful east wind that pushed the seawater back which opened a land bridge to safety.
Families ran forward as babies cried,
Children left footprints in the sand,
Cattle and sheep bleated, and the whole congregation got through to the other side.
And When the Egyptians tried to follow,
The wheels of their chariots stuck in the mud.
Seaweed wrapped around their axles like hands holding them back
Then with a roar like Niagara Falls the wall of water collapsed over them, and not one of Pharaohs’ army men survived.
But Israel stood marveled while watching God’s power and glory.
And if you allow me to use my black preaching imagination
I can hear someone in the crowd saying,
“We made it” and asked Moses, “So where do we go from here?”
And Throughout the bible God sums it up in two words, if you want to know where we’re going “Follow me!”
You see
God ushered them through the wilderness by means of the pillar of cloud by day and ?re by night.
And the ?re by night should remind us of Moses at the burning bush that was not consumed when the Angel of the Lord spoke out the flames.
It should remind us when Mt Sinai was covered with cloud, smoke, lightning and ?re.
The awesome presence of God!
Because It was there upon Mount Sinai, where God gave the Ten Commandments.
His written word as a spiritual road guide for his people,
And today we have the Bible.
And What’s more important we have the Holy Spirit, who sets our heart on fire like he did the disciples at Pentecost.
And as you journey on today;
I need to encourage you to take Jesus with you.
Because we will all face unexpected “detours” in our life journey
And God specializes in taking roundabout ways.
Ain`t God alright
Because when I think of goodness of Jesus and all He`s done for me
I say when I think about how they walk Him up Golgotha hill
And nailed Him
I say nailed Him to and old rugged cross
And how He hung –bleed- and Died for your sins and mines
And how they place Him in a borrowed Tomb
Oh but early Sunday Morning
He Got up
With all power in his Hands
