Trapped On A Dead End Street

Trapped On A Dead End Street

But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal-zephon. 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. 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? Exodus 14:9-11

My brothers and sisters, all of us are familiar with the term or the expression, “Dead End Street.” Whether we drive or not, all of us, if we are much age know about dead end streets. In fact at one time or the other, we have all possibly seen such a street. A dead end street is a street that all of a sudden runs out. It’s a street that comes to a premature end. A street where traffic is prohibited from flowing through, because the roadway has completely ran out. A dead end street ends at a point beyond which traffic cannot travel. It ends maybe because there is a house or a dwelling or some other obstacle is in the way. But it is a street that comes to an end. Usually when you are driving and you approach a dead end street, there are signs that lets us know or warns us that the street we are about to turn on to, is a dead end street. Can I get a witness? That was the case in our text today. The children of Israel were marching from the land of bondage to the land of promise. They had already been set free. Pharaoh had already released them. Their taskmasters had turned them loose. And now they were a liberated, emancipated people. Somebody has read the story. But Loving Peace to be free and going nowhere, to be free and doing nothing with your freedom is worthless. Can I get a witness?

That was not the case with Israel. For they are not only free, but they are marching. They are marching to a better place. They are marching to a land rich with milk and honey. They are on their way to the Promised Land. I would this morning, that every heart would be like Israel. Not standing still. Not caught up in the rut of being stagnated, being satisfied with what we have and where we are. Having put down our roots and becoming at ease in a place short of the Promised Land. I don’t know about you, but every time I get comfortable here, the spirit of the Lord reminds me that I’m not home yet. I’ve got to keep on marching to the Promised Land. That is the case with Israel, for they are marching to a better land. The Lord was with them. The Lord was guiding them. God led them during the day by a pillar of cloud. The cloud by day went before them and all they had to do was keep their eyes on the cloud. And at night they followed a pillar of fire. And I wonder today what are you looking at.

Is the Lord in front of you, guiding you and are you watching and following the Lord. Have I a witness? They could not go wrong. It was impossible to make a bad turn. You just don’t make wrong turns when the Lord is leading you. You don’t end up on the wrong road when the Lord is guiding you. You don’t end up on the road that runs out short of your goal when the Lord is guiding you. Can I get a witness? But today we find Israel on a dead end street. Now Loving Peace I need you to come a little closer for the key word in our text today is trapped. You see being on a dead end street does not necessarily mean that you’re trapped. Most of the time when you find yourself on a dead end street, you’re not trapped, because you can usually pull into someone’s driveway and turn around and go back the way you came and find another street that

will take you where you need to go. But not so with the children of Israel. They were not given the privilege of turning around. There was no place for them to turn around. There no way for them to turn back, because every way was blocked.

They were blocked from behind by Pharaoh’s army. Somebody has read the story. Pharaoh’s army was closing in on them from behind. There was no driveways to turn around in because there were rocks on the left and rocks on the right. They were trapped. They could not go forward, because in front of them was the Red Sea. And you just don’t skinny dip across a sea. Anybody going to help me? Mountains on the right. Mountains on the left. Pharaoh’s army behind them and the Rea Sea in front of them. They were trapped on a dead end street. Now what is meant by the term trapped? What is a trap? What does it mean to be trapped? To be trapped simply means to be caught, to be entangled, to be ensnared so that escape or released become extremely difficult or virtually impossible. A trap is an instrument or a device designed to catch something or someone. A trap is usually baited to entice the prey that the trap was set for. Somebody know what I’m talking about. Whatever was appealing to the prey or what you are trying to catch in the trap, you used it for bait.