OPENING: At the entrance to a one lane bridge in Sonoma Calif.: "When this sign is under water, this road is impassable."
APPLICATION: Why does that seem so silly?
Probably because it’s so obvious.
If the water was up that far you couldn’t read sign anyway!
The world’s can often be like that - often overlooking the obvious.
I. The people of Israel crossing the Red Sea is an obvious and unavoidable part of scripture.
Cecil B. Demille’s depiction of this event(in "The Ten Commandments") was beautiful. You could almost sense the awe that God’s people must have felt as they passed beneath those walls of water.
The crossing of the Red Sea is a central part of the story of Israel. However, as obvious a part of God’s Word as that event was, there are critics who reject it. They can’t accept story as true because - in order to do so - they must accept God and His role in the story.
But there exists a significant problem for the skeptics. There is a rule among historians:if a story is central to a people’s history, that story must have some element of truth to it. Critics therefore must deal with this Red Sea story by offering some alternative explanation - even if that explanation is as absurd as a sign that’s under water.
ILLUS: In the 1980’s, Pennsylvania State Univ. physicist Dr. Alistair Frasier addressed the Optical Society of America and proclaimed that the crossing of the Red Sea was a particularly accurate picture of a mirage.
A Mirage?
Joshua 2:8-11 tells us "Before the spies lay down for the night, (the prostitute that protected the spies) went up on the roof and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in
this country are melting in fear because of you.
We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.
When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."
Interesting that a mirage would have such a powerful effect upon the people of Jericho - 40 years after the event. I don’t think so.
Another challenge that critics are fond of mounting against the Red Sea story is the Hebrew phrase for the Red Sea - "Yam Suph" (which means "sea of reeds"). Capitalizing on this seeming problem, skeptics suggest that the area where the Israelites crossed was only about 6 inches deep.
Hmmm. Yam Suph? Only a shallow shoal? According to I Kings 9:26 - Solomon’s Navy was in the Yam Suph. Must have been they had flat bottom boats.
But, of course, if the skeptics’ argument any had merit, then the greatest of all miracles in this whole event was that Pharaoh’s army drowned in 6 inches of water.
But really, the Bible is so obvious, and so consistent, that the world of agnostics and atheists have to do handstands to deny its realities.
But, of course, this is what we should expect from the world. They may want our qualities as church goers... but they don’t want our God.
They are just like Pharaoh in Exodus 14:5 "When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!"
* Like Pharaoh, the world wants our examples as strong families, our reliability and trustworthiness, our good citizenship - but not our God!
* They want our votes but not our voices (in politics)
* They want our support but not your sanctions (our morality)
YOU GOTTA EXPECT THAT! The world is behaving just as Pharaoh did in days gone by. That is what you should expect from UNbelievers.
II. What is baffling is when those BELIEVERS act as if there were no God.
Ex. 14:10-12 tells us that the Israelites (who had seen the power of God in the 10 plagues) trembled in fear at the impending arrival of Egyptian army. In the midst of their chaos they shout out one of the funniest lines in all of scripture:
"Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? (Ex 14:11)
At this point, I believe if Pharaoh had said "all is forgiven...," these faithless followers would have hung Moses from the nearest tree and followed the Egyptians dutifully back into slavery.
Why? Because they were afraid.
Their backs were against the sea - they were facing certain destruction - and there was not a thing they could do about it!
You’ve been there.
Back against the wall.
Dreams being crushed.
You’ve watched as people have dismantled your careful plans.
You’ve felt uncertain, unsure, and afraid.
The unfortunate tendency when we find ourselves in situations like that is to react against God. To become distraught, rebellious and angry.
ILLUS: I once knew a minister who was so angry over a problem he was facing he walked out into a lonely field, turned his eyes toward heaven and in his fury shout: "GOD!!!!"
III. I don’t want to be like that!
I don’t want to react to God in anger when I’m frustrated. But greater men than I have fallen to this temptation. How do I avoid falling into this trap? How do I protect myself from an emotion that could turn me away from God in despair?
To begin with I must understand and believe that God leads me no matter what the circumstances.
Consider, how did the Israelites get into their present predicament at the Red Sea? They were led there by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:17-18). Did God know they were there? Of course He did. He’s the one who led them there. The problem was not in God’s presence in protection, it was their inability to see Him in their despair.
ILLUS: There’s the story of a wealthy couple whose two sons were complete opposites - one a unwavering optimist and the other an unswerving pessimist. The couple decided to change their viewpoints.
They brought the pessimist to a room of the mansion and asked him to open the door. Inside were all the toys a child could possibly want. The boy looked at the toys and then at his parents and started to cry. "But, what’s wrong boy?" his parents asked. "I’m afraid I’ll break something," he replied.
Then they took the optimist to another room and as the door opened the boy’s eyes beheld a room filled with horse manure. The boy looked at his parents and then back to the room and again to his parents. Breaking out in a big grin he dove into the room and began digging away with all his might. "Son, stop it. What are you doing?" his parents cried.
The boy looked back and shouted "with all this horse manure, there just has to be a pony in here somewhere!"
For the Christian who truly walks with God - there’s the knowledge that there’s a pony in there somewhere. We need to stand firm in our faith
ILLUS: We need to be like the 84 year old grandmother who fiercely maintained her independence and lived alone in the old family home. Her 4 children lived in the same town, but she rarely called them except in emergencies. It was with some apprehension, therefore, that one of her sons drove to her house one morning in answer to her phone call. When he arrived, she said she suspected that there was a burglar in her bedroom closet, since she had heard noises in there the night before.
"Why didn’t you call me last night?" he exclaimed.
"Well," she replied, "it was late and I hated to bother you, so I just nailed the closet shut and went to bed."
That’s the kind of attitude a Christian can have when faced with the impossible. Nail the door of fear shut and go to bed in calm assurance.
Why can we believe and stand firm? For the same reason they could. In I Cor. 10:1-2 we’re told "our forefathers were all under the cloud and... they all passed through the sea. They were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea."
Likewise Romans 6:3-5 tells us "...don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection."
GO FORWARD.
OTHER SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Whose Will Be Done? = Exodus 4:19-4:26
The Fingerprint of God = Exodus 8:16-8:19
Stand Firm = Exodus 14:5-14:31
Thirst Quencher = Exodus 15:22-15:27
Strike the Rock = Exodus 17:1-17:7
Get Real = Exodus 34:29-34:35
Of Pride and Prejudice = Numbers 12:1-12:16
