Exodus 14:10-28
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.”
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.”
15 And 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 adivided. 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.
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.
In this scripture God’s people were being chased by Pharaoh’s army and only the Lord new what it would take to deliver His chosen people from slavery.
Before them was the Red Sea and behind them came Pharaoh and his army and chariots with bad intentions.
Between them and the Egyptians God had placed a hedge of protection through the Angel of the Lord (A Theophany or a physical manifestation of Christ in the Old Testament). We see that He protects His people. He did it with the Egyptians, He did it with Job and He also does it with us. Satan himself said to the Lord ;( Job 1:10) “Has thou not made a hedge about Job and his house and all that he has, on every side?” Thessalonians 3:3 says that; “The Lord will strengthen and protect us from the evil one.”
Ultimately they got the victory in spite of Pharaoh’s great army and chariots. And there is also a victory for us if we face every day with the attitude that we are going forward and we will not back up or give up, no matter the cost.
What does it take to move forward?
#1. It takes knowing and understanding that we are heading to something better.
A. Where we are now is only temporary. This is not our final destination.
Heaven is our goal not the things that this world has to offer. Jesus said; “I go and prepare a place for you so that where I am you may be also.”
B.Move out of your place of comfort. They were comfortable in Egypt, they were used to living as slaves, and they were used to settling for the left over. They said; “It would have been better for us to be slaves in Egypt than to die in the dessert.”.
#2. Moving forward involves a change of attitude.
A. They had developed a slave mentality. They said’ “were there no grave sin Egypt that you brought us to this dessert to die?”
“Didn’t’ we tell you in Egypt to leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?”
B. People of God sometimes get accustomed to their worldly surroundings.
-We sometimes become accustomed to not receiving the promises of God.
-We get used to the hand downs even if it’s not the best that the Lord has for us.
*1 Corinthians 2:16, “We have the mind of Christ”
*2 Timothy 1:7 says; “God has not given us the spirit of fear but of love, of power and of a sound mind.”
God says that; “You are the head and not the tail”, “above and not below”,” Victorious and not the victim”.” Blessed in the city and blessed in the field”, “blessed going in and going out”.
#3. Moving forward involves Faith in God and putting to use what He has placed in your hand.
V.16, God said to Moses; “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the waters so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
Notice that the only thing that Moses had was Faith in what God had promised and a stick. What has He given you to move yourself and lead others to their destiny?
Perhaps a talent; singing, playing an instrument, fixing something or trade like carpentry or repairing cars or landscaping. It doesn’t matter what it is but use it for the Glory of the Lord.
Perhaps a Spiritual gift such as; teaching or preaching or interceding for others or encouraging others. What ever it is, put it to use in the Kingdom of God. It will not only push you forward but others also.
-We need to put our faith in the word of God not anything else.
-Put our faith in Jesus and what He accomplished. His work not ours.
#4. Moving forward also depends on God’s favor not man’s favor.
God’s favor will open doors.
Job said; “Thou has granted me life and favor, and thy visitation has preserved my spirit”.(Job 10:12)
Psalm 5:12; “For thou oh Lord will bless the righteous and with favor you surround him as with a shield”.
#5. Moving forward involves the power of God.
“It’s not by power or by might but by My Spirit” says the Lord. The Lord has given us power by His Spirit to move forward and conquer.
A. Acts 1:8 “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses …..
B. also the power to serve. Notice that it says; “You will be my witnesses
- *1 Corinthians 1:27 And God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things that are mighty”.
C. Power to speak with boldness.
Paul said that; his words were not persuasive words of human wisdom but in the power of the Holy Spirit”.
#6. Moving forward involves unity and fellowship with His Church (The body of Christ)
The church is not the building it’s the people.
The building is God’s house where his children meet.
Ephesians 4:3-4
Exodus 17:8-13, 8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with othe rod of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword."
- when there is unity in God’s people, it’s easy to move forward.
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- Pastor Moses interceding and lifting up Gods standard while the leaders helped by taking some of the load. While the rest of tyhe people of God fought the good fight.
Coclusion;
All this has to do with obedience and determination. If you get determined to move forward and heed to the voice of the Lord then nothing will stop you but if you chose to drift back into the place of comfort it’s like giving up or backing up. God has given you all that you need. Let’s do it. Let’s move forward and refuse to give up or backup no matter the price.
