Exodus 14:10-22 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel
lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and
they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. (11)
They said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt
that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us
in bringing us out of Egypt? (12) Is not this what we said to you in Egypt:
'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better
for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." (13)
And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the
salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom
you see today, you shall never see again.
(14) The LORD will fight for you,
and you have only to be silent." (15) The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry
to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
(16) Lift up your staff, and
stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may
go through the sea on dry ground. (17) And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians
so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all
his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
(18) And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and
his horsemen." (19) Then the angel of God who was going before
the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved
from before them and stood behind them, (20) coming between the host of Egypt and the host
of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night
without one coming near the other all night.
(21) Then Moses stretched out his
hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all
night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. (22)
And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground,
the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
The Israelites have seen God work in a number of ways over the past
months. Moses has come to them sent by God with the promise of deliverance and
has come with God-given authority and power. They have witnessed the power of
God through the various plagues that have come upon Egypt, God’s power over
nature, over creation and over life. God has proved Himself to be true to His
word and His promises, the people of Israel are eventually set free by Pharaoh.
But now as they stand with the Red Sea on one side and Pharaoh’s army
bearing down upon them on the other side, they forget the power and
faithfulness of God. God had shown Himself to be great, powerful and faithful,
but surely now this situation is too great even for God. Death awaits them all,
either by drowning, or by an Egyptian sword. They cry out against God and then
against Moses, doubt and fear have completely overwhelmed them, and disarmed
what faith they did have in God.
God responds and in doing so reveals the true greatness of His power,
and His love, faithfulness, and commitment to the people of Israel. If ever the
Israelites doubted God’s love and commitment to them, surely this event would
dispel all that doubt and leave them utterly convinced that God was indeed for
them. Moses is instructed by God to stretch his hand out over the sea, and to
the absolute astonishment of Israel and the Egyptian army, the sea parts, a
pathway of dry ground appears, with walls of water on either side. What an
incredible sight this must have been! The people of Israel walk through the sea
and they come to know and understand the truth of what Moses has said to them, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the
salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.”
It is highly unlikely that you and I shall ever witness such an event,
but like the Israelites, as believers in Christ, there will be times when it
appears as though we are surrounded by trouble on every side. No matter which
way we look, it appears as if everything and everyone is closing in on us,
seeking our demise. These troubles may be the greatest troubles we have ever
faced in our lives up to this point, and they fill us with a fear the likes of
which we have never known. We may even find ourselves despairing of life
itself. What do we do then?
We should take ourselves to this passage in Exodus and focus our minds
on verse 13, “Fear not, stand firm, and
see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.” As
believers in Jesus Christ, God has worked in power to save us from the greatest
trouble, trial and distress we could have ever faced, that of our sin and its
eternal consequences. His power is therefore sufficient to enable us to endure
through and overcome other trials. We are called and challenged to fear not, to
stand firm, to trust in God and to await His salvation. In other words, we look
to the greatness of our God, not the greatness of the trial, and we stand firm,
we continue to cling to Him, not allowing the trials to tempt us to doubt God.
We trust in Him knowing, believing that He is faithful to His children, that He
is with us and at work, and we wait for His salvation. That salvation may not
come immediately, nor in the form we expect it. We can be certain that when
Moses first spoke to the Israelites telling them that God was going to deliver
them, they would have never expected it to take place in the time and manner
that it did. God worked their deliverance in this manner so that they would
come to see that it was by His hand, power and faithfulness alone. This should
have bolstered their faith and given them much assurance and courage to face
future trials.
God will work in the midst of our great trials, in a manner that only
He can work. When we see His salvation, we will know that it has come through
His power, by His hand and in His faithfulness. This will serve to grow our faith
and enable us to trust Him all the more with the future. What a wonderful
promise we have from God and what an incredibly powerful and faithful God we
have! “Fear not, stand firm, and see the
salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.”
Great God of creation, who parts the sea
and saves His people from death, we praise Your great name. We thank You that
You worked in Your power to save us from eternal death, that You rescued us in
the day of our greatest distress. We thank You that now as Your children, You
continue to work in Your power and faithfulness, helping, strengthening,
equipping and saving us in the midst of all our distresses. Keep us from
thinking that our trials are bigger and greater than You, or are beyond Your
ability to rescue us from. We pray that You would help us to not be filled with
fear, but to grow in trust, and to stand firm, clinging to You, patiently,
prayerfully awaiting Your salvation. Amen
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