When The Situation Seems Impossible

Dr. Gerald W. Nash Jr., D.Min.

Foothills Baptist Church

7-15-01, PM

Sermon # 473

When The Situation Seems Impossible

Exodus 14:1-2, 13-15

Exodus 14:1-2, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [2] Speak unto the children of Israel, that

they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon:

before it shall ye encamp by the sea.”

Exodus 14:13-15, “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation

of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall

see them again no more for ever. [14] The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

[15] And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of

Israel, that they go forward:”

Introduction:

A college student wrote the following letter to her parents:

Dear Mom and Dad:

"I am writing this letter on school paper because my stationary got burned in the fire. I got out of the

hospital, and have moved in with my new boyfriend, Bill. He got me a job where he works--I’m a

waitress at the Red Dog Saloon. Your new grand baby is due next fall."

The next page continued...

"Mom, Dad, none of the above really happened. However, I made a "C" in French and I’m failing

History.

Love,

Your Daughter."

Sometimes even some bad news is better than some other news. I wonder how many times in my life I have said “Things could be worse” or “Now what!” Can you image this scene described in our text? After a tremendous ordeal of just getting out of Egypt, the sea lies before the people and Pharaoh’s army rapidly approaching from behind. Everyone could see the cloud of dust coming. There are no boats to ferry the people across. There is no arsenal to distribute to the people so they could fight. No one had to tell the Hebrew people that the situation was

basically “impossible.”

It did not take the Hebrew people long to start complaining. This proved to be a running motif throughout their wilderness wanderings. Listen to their words:

"The people began to panic, and they cried out to the LORD for help. Then they turned against Moses and complained, "Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave? Didn’t we tell you to leave us alone while we were still in Egypt? Our Egyptian slavery was far better than dying out here in the wilderness!" (Exodus 10b-12, NLT.)

The people knew that Egypt specialized in graves. One third of Egypt’s land was devoted to graves. They could have a more decent burial in Egypt. They saw the situation as hopeless. Moses responds to the people:

But Moses told the people, "Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you. The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again. The LORD himself will fight for you. You won’t have to lift a finger in your defense!" (Exodus 14:13-14, NLT).

Basically Moses told the people to stand there, do nothing and let God take care of it. It is evident that God wanted them to do more than just what Him do something. Notice what God said:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Exodus 14:15).

We must not make light of their situation. There is an uncross able sea before them. Even if they had boats,they could not easy transport the all the people before Pharaoh’s army got there. Scholars tells us that extra-biblical material reveals there were approximately two million Jews that left Egypt. This would explain the big problem that was behind them.

The Scriptures say that Pharaoh sent 600 hundred of his best chariots, all the chariots of Egypt, and their officers. The Hebrew word used for “officers” is “salisim” which was used to describe three-man chariots. There were about 1800 men to man the best chariots. There was be probably that many and much more for the rest of the chariots of Egypt. This is not even including the horseman described in verse 19. This was a huge army.

There is a spiritual principle to be understood here. Moses told the people just to stand still and let God take care of it. But God countered, “Get the people moving forward.” The Christian life is not a static or passive life

it is dynamic or active life. This principle doesn’t change when an obstacle is placed in our path. This principle doesn’t change because road gets a little bumpy. This principle doesn’t change because there is a sea in front of us and no boats can be found. This principle doesn’t change because the enemy is on the attack and its look much bigger than our abilities. God requires us to keep moving forward regardless. How do we do this?