He Put It There For A Reason
Scripture Reference: Exodus 14:1-3 (KJV)
Exodus 14:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
There are many things in our life right now that may look like they signify the end of our lives but if we take a second look and really seek the face of God on all of our matters then we may realize that God put it there and he has put it there for a reason.
When the children of Israel crossed the Red sea there was much more involved than just the crossing of the Red sea
The very place that they were in represented an Egyptian god and evidentially God wanted to prove to the world that he was the God of gods and Lord of lords.
Let’s take a moment and investigate the significance (to the Egyptians) of the place that the children of Israel were in
1.) Pihahiroth - Egyptian word for “place where sedge grows”
Sedge - Grasslike or rushlike plant growing in wet places
having solid stems, narrow grasslike leaves and
spikelets of inconspicuous flowers
2.) Migdol - Egyptian word for Tower of God
3.) Baalzephon - Egyptian place of Worship
By simply looking at the significance of this place to the Egyptians it is easy to see that God was not just ministering to the children of Israel but he was ministering to the Egyptians as well (Exodus 14:18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.)
By the use of the word sea in this passage it implies that it is something of apparently limitless quantity or volume (Verse 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.)
If you have ever been on a sea shore before then you can completely understand the feeling of helplessness that you feel if you were to ever consider trying to cross it without some type of vessel that floats
They were at a place that was no way humanly possible to cross without help
Some of us have done all that we know how to do yet we find ourselves in a place that is humanly impossible to cross
I remember talking to the minister that led me into becoming a preacher and he would always say that “From time to time, God wants to get us in a situation where we can’t see anyway out. This way when he delivers us it will make us better believers.”
I, like you, thought this was a silly concept but after much living and learning now I too can say that this must be true of our God
The children of Israel did not have time to ponder on which way they could go otherwise
Has an emergency situation ever come up on you and you had to have an answer immediately but you really did not have any good ones to offer. If not keep living, if you have then you can relate to the children of Israel feelings right now
Let’s look a little closer at some of the things that are happening in this passage of scripture:
1.) God is demonstrating his power over the Egyptian god by first placing the children of Israel in what seemed to be a doomed and entrapped situation (Verse 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.) and then delivering them at his will with great ease and in a miraculous way (Exodus 14:16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.).
We have to realize that sometimes a situation that looks like a trap may be a blessing in disguise
I would like to take a moment and share a story with you
This story was sent to me over the internet it is entitled
Mouse Trap
A Mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package.
"What food might this contain?"
He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.
"There is a mousetrap in the house!; there is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.
I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house."
The pig sympathized but said, "I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, But there is nothing I can do about it but pray.
Be assured that you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow.
She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse.
I’m sorry for you. But it’s no skin off my nose."
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught.
In the darkness she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer’s wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.
Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the
soup’s main ingredient.
But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer
butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife did not get well. She died; And so many
people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to
provide enough meat for all of them.
So next time you hear that someone is facing a problem
and think that it doesn’t concern you, remember that when one of us is
threatened, we are all at risk.
In the book of Genesis, Cain said about Able his brother
to our God: "Am I my brother’s keeper?"
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must
keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra
effort to encourage one another.
2.) God is demonstrating his power over the Egyptians by destroying their entire army with the use of unconventional warfare (Exodus 14:28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.).
We have all at one time or another or in one way or another heard about, been effected by or seen war. We have seen how one side does what they can to destroy the other side using creative tactics and the best weapons that they could find. I am sure that the Egyptian army had seen it’s fair share of war, tactics and weaponry but they had never seen anything like this before
There was no way to prepare for or defeat the force that had come against them
Some of us today are at war against God. He has spoken things into our lives and we are fighting against him. We think that every time someone says something that we don’t like we should give up and abandon the vision that God has set before us. We think that somehow maybe Satan has finally found a way to defeat God. Saints this is not true.
God still has all victory in his hands and is still able to deliver us at his will. (I Corinthians 15: 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.)
God has not gained or lost any power since he parted the red sea
God still has all power in his hands (Jude 1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen)
3.) God is proving to his children (again) that no matter what it looks like he has all power in his hands and he can do whatever is pleasing to him
The children of Israel were a hard crowd to please because even the appearance of danger caused them to doubt God and give up without a fight (Exodus 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?)
We often look at this situation and perhaps say that after all that God had shown them in Egypt they should have known that he was going to deliver them
I would like to say the same thing to you now.
After all that God has brought you through you should know that God is going to deliver you out of this situation that you are in right now too
CONCLUSION
Although the children of God had been thoroughly blessed and taken care of miraculously by God they were ready to throw in the towel for just the appearance of trouble.
Are we doing the same thing today?
Are we allowing Satan to just give us an appearance of trouble and make us give up on all of the promises of God?
In a way I am forced to believe that this is true. The evidence that I use comes through our judicial system right now.
Why are there so many divorces?
Why are so many people committing violent crimes that are otherwise normal everyday people?
Why is there so much child abuse, gang violence, burglary, etc?
Are we allowing Satan to place things that appear to be our doom in front of us and we give up?
Are we in tune to the fact that nothing can happen to us except God allow it?
Once we fully develop an understanding of this then we should full and well know that God put it there and he put it there for a reason.
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord above all I am thankful for even the challenges that are been presented before me in my life. Though I pray that you find it necessary for me to be delivered from the wiles of the devil. I also see the need to continue to press forward against the things that come against me. Lord I love you and I need you to continue to bless me and show me your ways for the rest of life. Amen
Thank You. May God continue to bless you and keep you. Amen
Your Friend
Minister Juan D. Lane Sr.
