THE WALK
EXODUS 14
INTRODUCTION:
Woody Allen in addressing a Harvard graduation said, "You have entered a crossroads of life. Down one road is despondency and despair.. down the other road is total annihilation. I sure hope you make the right choice." Now, I’m confident that Woody Allen was being humorous but he was describing how many people feel sometimes. There can be for all of us periods when we just see no way out, when we feel huge burdens, waves of despair. Well, that’s the story in a nutshell in Exodus 14. The children of Israel came to an impasse at the Red Sea. Just hours before they were celebrating their release from 400 years of slavery in Egypt but now emotions reverse and they are dire straits. But I don’t want to look at their despair this morning as much as I want us to watch what happens when they placed their trust in God. The Psalmist wrote about this incident saying, "Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. You heard their cries for help and saved them. They put their trust in you and were never disappointed."(Psa. 22:4-5 NLT) How God created this “unexplained phenomenon” and miraculously saved the people of Israel should be a source of inspiration to us. So, let’s examine how God delivered them and gain some lessons on how we can trust Him to deliver us in the times where we are up against it too.
I. THE TRAP AT THE RED SEA:
The children of Israel were absolutely trapped between the devil and, in this case, the deep red sea. The devil was Pharaoh. The Red Sea, which is not red but the mountains surrounding it have a red tint, was uncrossable by human standards. The Red Sea is over 1200 miles long and in places over a mile deep. Ron Wyatt, a well known archeologist, about 20 years ago, found what many think is the exact spot this event occurred. It is at the Aquaba gulf. Some scuba divers have actually found old chariot wheels & human remains. As you can see, this place is a perfect description of how the Israelites were boxed in by mountains to the south, an Egyptian fortress to the north, Pharaoh’s army behind them and the sea in front. Here, the Sea is some 5 to 8 miles across & 250’ - 300’ deep. The Israelites are trapped.
But let’s take a moment to look at how the children of Israel got trapped. This wasn’t a military blunder but incredibly it was by God’s design. God could of led the children of Israel on a more direct route to the promised land. A direct route from Egypt to Israel is about 350 miles. Even 2 million people could walk that in 6 to 8 weeks. But God said if they went the short route they would encounter the Philistines, who were a warring people, and the children of Israel were soft from 400 years of slavery and not ready for battle. Ex. 13:17- "God said, “If they see that they have to fight a war, they may change their minds and go back to Egypt."(GW) So, God took them the long route. It would be kind of like 2 million people leaving Colorado Springs headed for Denver and going by way of Grand Junction or someplace out of the way. But God took them on this indirect route for 2 reasons. (1) He was going to test their faith. He was going to perform a miracle so that their trust in Him would increase. They were like children and God knew they had some growing up to do, spiritually, before they were ready to enter the land of promise. (2) He wanted to demonstrate His care for them. The children of Israel needed to understand that God had not delivered them from slavery and just left them. He was still there, still protecting them and they could depend totally on Him. So, the indirect route strengthened them and showed God’s care. The plan was simple: Place the Israelites in such a predicament that it will be impossible for them to escape without His intervention. God’s plan was to deliver His people in such a fashion that it would be plain to all that He was the One, True, God. Look at the text starting at vs:5- “When the King of Egypt was told that the Israelites had left, he and his officers changed their minds about them. They said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites leave. We have lost our slaves!” This was an incredibly tight place. The Wadi Watir. No escape possible and all in God’s plan.
But of course, the Israelites don’t understand God’s design and so they panic which is just a symptom of a lack of trust. Vs:10- “When the Israelites saw the king and his army coming after them, they were terrified.” They responded like most who feel trapped. They cry out to God. They pray. Isn’t that what happened after Sept 11? It seemed everyone was calling out to God.. Congressman on the Senate steps, world leaders, everyone, praying and also telling others to pray. But how much do you see of that now? Or to be real blunt, how much of that did we see even 6 months after the attacks? But that is so like us isn’t it? When you can’t go forward, or right or left or backwards the only way you can go is up! And so the Israelites lifted up prayers and cried out to the Lord.
Look what else a lack of trust does. Vs:11- They said to Moses,“What have you done to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? There were plenty of graves for us in Egypt.” They begin to criticize their leader. When panic hits we often look for someone to blame rather than someone to trust. And in doing so, they distort and glamorize the past. Vs:12 - “We told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone; we will stay and serve the Egyptians.’ Now we will die in the desert.” Now, these people must have developed amnesia. Stay in Eygpt? Serve the Egyptians? For 400 years they had complained about that situation but as soon as the pressure of bad circumstances come upon them they distort and glamorize their past. They basically say, "We didn’t have it all that bad in Egypt. We didn’t want to leave in the 1st place!" Have you ever noticed how people who feel trapped or wronged distort the past? Someone is involved in an extra-marital affair and they say, "You know, I was married for 20 years and I never was happy." Never happy? I once got exasperated with my kids for fighting and said, "I don’t know why you kids can’t get along, my brother & I never fought.” My parents were there and they just started laughing. My Dad said, "You’ve got a poor memory boy." F.D.R. said, "Nothing is so responsible for the good old days as a bad memory." But the Israelites responded like this because they were trapped.
And there are all kinds of things that can trap us. Sinful habits. For some it seems almost impossible to quit drinking, or gambling, or losing their temper, or stopping that sinful vice. We can feel trapped in dead end relationships, feeling like it’s hopeless. They’ll say, "My marriage is so unfulfilled, there is no attraction anymore, we don’t communicate, we haven’t slept in the same bed for weeks." Some may feel trapped in a deteriorating body. Once you knew what it was to free of pain and to be able to do what you wanted. But now because of an accident or disease or aging your body is not functioning very well. And that can be so discouraging. Maybe you’re trapped by tragic circumstances. And when those kinds of things happen you feel trapped, like the Israelites, you feel hopeless. The important question is: When we face times in our life where we feel trapped, how do we respond, who do we turn to?
II. THE DELIVERANCE OF GOD:
Well, God intervened in this impossible situation and provided an all time unexplained phenomenon. Let’s see one rendition of this incredible event. Now, this clip is longer than the ones we usually use but it is a classic, movie depiction and is fairly faithful to the events recorded in Scripture. Here’s Cecil B. DeMille’s rendition of God’s deliverance in The Ten Commandments.
VIDEO CLIP - Paramount Pictures - 1956 - Used by Permission - 7:40
Moses gave three principles that helped the Israelites then and will help us today cope in times of discouragement and despair. They were in the film and in our text.
Vs:13. “..Moses answered, Don’t be afraid! Stand still and you will see the LORD save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again after today. You only need to remain calm; the LORD will fight for you.” (1) "Don’t be afraid." In other words, refuse to panic. He said, “Stand still” & “You only need to remain calm.” Now, that is a tough assignment sometimes isn’t it? When we are faced with impossible situations we tend to withdraw, strike out or to look for some way to manipulate our situation in order to escape. The instructions are: Stand firm in the Lord.. be still.. remain calm, don’t panic. The Lord will fight for you if you’ll just wait. Felix Noalla was a persecuted man of God and once while fleeing his enemies he crawled into a cave, to hide and he prayed for safety. And a spider came and spun a web over the small entrance to that cave. And the troops came right up to the cave but when they saw the spiders web they figured no one had been there. Later Noalla wrote: "Where God is, a web is like a wall. Where God is not, a wall is like a web." And God spun a wall between the Israelites and the Egyptians. This is where the movie took a little “dramatic license.” Vs:19-20 tells us that instead of fire, the cloud came between the Egyptians & the Israelites and cast Pharaoh in darkness. But the bottom line is that God made it impossible for Pharaoh’s army to get to His people. So when you face despair remember what Moses said, "Don’t be afraid.. Stand still.. remain calm." Realize that there’s some situations where you just say: "There’s nothing I can humanly do to correct this. So, I’m not going to panic but wait and stand firm in the Lord." While Pharaoh is stymied, God delivers. Vs:21“All that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind, making the sea become dry ground. The water was split, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry land, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”
(2) God told him in vs:15 to tell the people to “keep moving.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Command the Israelites to start moving.” He said this even though their way was barred by the sea. But even after it opened up it must have been terrifying walking between a wall of probably 250 to 300 feet of water on either side. Moving forward is risky and uncomfortable for us. We don’t want to risk being alone so we hold onto that relationship that we know is wrong. We don’t want to risk insecurity so we hold onto a lifestyle or a job that is running us in the ground and stealing our spiritual growth. We don’t want to make a mistake so we don’t move. Somebody said, "A lot of people no longer hope for the best. They just hope to avoid the worst." But we’re to keep going, i.e. to keep moving forward when you believe it is God’s will. I’ve found trust usually involves risk. So, the Israelites trust, move forward and cross on dry ground.
Then all of a sudden God removes His wall leaving Pharaoh a straight shot at the Israelites. Vs:23- “Then all the king’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers followed them into the sea..” But God causes the wheels of the chariots to fall off and then in vs:26 He tells Moses to stretch his hands back over the sea and this 250 -300’ water wall crashes down on the army, and vs:28 ends simply & sadly: “Not one of them survived.” Look at vss:30-31- “So that day the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptians, and the Israelites saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. When the Israelites saw the great power the Lord had used against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord, and they trusted him and his servant Moses.”
Ex. 15:1-2 reads, “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, because he is worthy of great honor. He has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea. The Lord gives me strength and makes me sing; he has saved me. He is my God, and I will praise him.” So, here’s the 3rd principle: When victory is realized, give God the credit. There is always a tendency once we have been delivered to forget the deliverer. How many people do you know who in a period of despair cry out, "God, help me." But then when everything works out they don’t give the Lord any credit. That’s great you’re graduating. "Boy, it was hard. There were times I wondered if I would make it, but I really studied." You’ve got such good children. "Well, we’ve just raised our kids the best we know how." But the victory belongs to the Lord. When your prayers are answered, your business prospers, your health is good, your kids are doing well, give God the thanks, don’t brag about your technique. It takes trust to remain calm, it takes courage to move forward and it takes humility to give credit where it’s due.
III. TWO LESSONS TO LEARN:
Now this account was not recorded simply for our amazement. But like Rom. 15:4 tells us: "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope." And I want us to see two very practical insights from this incident before we leave.
(1) Trials always require trust - place your complete dependence on God. Nothing could of looked more desperate than the trap the Israelites were in. But in a few hours they were delivered and the enemy was slain. God occasionally allows us, not makes us, but allows us to be in “down” situations so we will turn to Him. Like the man who said, "I didn’t realize that God was all I needed until God was all I had." Remember our extremities are God’s opportunities. 1 Ptr 1:6- "So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it -and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return."(LB) The operative word is patience.. trials require trust.
(2) Depending on God will produce ultimate victory although the rewards may not always be immediate. The Israelites just had to wait overnight and then their gloom turned to gladness. I’ve got to be honest with you, it doesn’t always turn around that quickly. But God promises in the end that if we will depend on Him He will give us the ultimate victory, even if we have to wait until heaven. It seems to me that the ultimate test of our faith is when the Sea isn’t parted overnight. I think the gold medal of faith in eternity will be given to those individuals who trust God’s goodness and grace even when their sea is never parted on this earth.
Becky Pippert tells a wonderful story, an old legend really or three trees that make this very clear for me. “There were once 3 ambitious trees on a mountain who were small and were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. The 1st tree said, "When I look at the stars and see them sparkling.. well, when I grow up I want to be made into a treasure chest and have sparkling diamonds and gems within me. The 2nd tree said, "When I look at the water running into the stream I think about the ocean. I want to be a powerful sailing vessel carrying the kings and queens of this world across the water." The 3rd tree said, "When I look into the village and see the busy people I just want to stay here and grow to be the tallest tree in the forest, so when people look at me, I’ll be pointing to God.
Years past and eventually the woodcutters came and felled the trees. The 1st tree was delighted because he was taken to a carpenters shop but then devastated because he wasn’t made into a treasure chest but instead, made into a feeding trough for animals. No diamonds but hay, grain where animals slobber and feed. The 2nd tree was delighted when he was taken to a ship yard, but then devastated because he wasn’t made into an ocean vessel but a fishing boat- no kings and queens, just smelly old dead fish. The 3rd tree was devastated to be cut down at all but even more so when he was simply cut into beams and discarded onto a lumber pile and forgotten.
The years went on & the dreams were shattered & forgotten. Then one day the tree that was a feeding trough saw a young couple come into the stable in Bethlehem and give birth to a baby. They wrapped him in clothes and placed him in that trough, that manger and the tree realized that he held the most precious treasure of all. Sometime later that little fishing boat was carrying a handful of men across the sea of Galilee. A terrible storm erupted and a man who was asleep was awakened and he stood up and said, "Peace, be still," and the storm stopped. That 2nd tree realized that he was privileged to carry the King of Kings. The 3rd tree who had been discarded on the wood pile was one day placed on the back of a man who carried him through jeering mobs and then the man was fastened to it. That 3rd tree wept in despair because he felt so ugly. Until the 3rd day when the earth trembled with joy beneath it and people rejoiced in a resurrection and the tree realized that, as the Cross, he would always point people to God.”
What do you do with plan B? Maybe you think God has disappointed you, maybe you can’t see relief right now but God will provide the ultimate victory..in His time. So, if life has got you down remember, Don’t panic, do what you can while trusting God, and give Him the praise. Or as Moses said, "Don’t be afraid!.. remain calm; for the Lord will fight for you.. And He is worthy of great honor.."
{All Scripture taken from the New Century Version unless otherwise noted}
