Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Well, good morning.
[00:00:02] If you got your Bible, you can turn to Exodus, chapter 13. We're gonna begin in verse 17, and we're gonna go all the way through the end of 15. So we got some ground to cover again.
[00:00:14] Part of what my hope is as we continue to read the book of Exodus is I hope that you're learning a little bit on just how to read the Old Testament. Just how do you read and pull out these truths that then we can begin to apply to our life. And so that's my hope, and I hope to. To do that again today, that as we walk through this text, there's no commands specifically to us, and yet there's incredible wisdom for us here. And so let me just pray for us as we begin our service. And then what I'd like to do is just jump into this and pull these things to the surface, and then we'll begin to make some applications of that. Would you guys pray with me, Lord? We do just come to you, Lord. Just needy for you to speak to us. Lord, that your word would guide us, Lord, that we might get a clearer glimpse of who you are, that we might just be reminded of who you are, Lord, that then those truths might begin to impact the way we make decisions, the way that we think, the way that we act. Lord, that we would be wise in the way that we live. In light of who you are, we ask it in Jesus name, Amen.
[00:01:30] Well, this text does have one of my favorite stories passages in the scripture. It's really small, but it's brought me so much comfort throughout life, and so I'm excited to get to that. But I was in Dallas the other day, and I was driving back, and it was late, and so I Normally hit the 6:35 that scoots around Dallas so that you don't have to go through it. And I was using Waze, and I use Waze a lot because Waze guides you and tells you the things that you don't know are ahead. And yet I'm driving and it's late, and I'm like, Waze is telling me to go through Dallas, and I don't like going through Dallas.
[00:02:12] I'm gonna go around Dallas. I'm gonna go the way that I want to go, the way that I know, and you guys know where this ends, that I spent an hour and a half sitting still in the direction that I wanted to go. And I then was kicking myself. I was like, why did I do that?
[00:02:33] I know not to do that. I tell my parents not to do that. I'm like, just trust ways. It knows where it's leading you. Just trust ways. Don't do that.
[00:02:41] And yet then I did it. Well, that's one of the things that we're going to see. If you just look in Exodus, chapter 13.
[00:02:49] The things that I want us to see in this is that God leads his people.
[00:02:54] That's the first truth that I just want us to see. Look at verse 17. It says this. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.
[00:03:08] For God said, lest the people change their minds when they see war, and returned to Egypt.
[00:03:15] But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness, towards the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt, equipped for battle.
[00:03:26] I love this. There's so much in this. We don't have enough time to cover all of it. But did you hear what that just said?
[00:03:33] God intentionally took his people on a detour that he knew them, that when God leads us, he leads us with wisdom.
[00:03:45] Listen, God knew his people and he knew that if they were to see the Philistines, which was the direct route, it was the short route, that if they saw the Philistines.
[00:03:57] The Philistines are known for war.
[00:04:00] Then even though they had seen everything that God had done, even though they had experienced all of the deliverance and the strong arm of the Lord, even though when they saw the Philistines, they would turn back, that they'd be afraid, that fear would overcome them and that they would turn back. That. What do we see in this? We see that when God leads us, he leads us with wisdom. He knows what you and I can handle.
[00:04:29] He knows that there's certain things in your life and in my life, that if he were to take you on a direct route, you would go, I can't do that. He'd go, yeah, you can.
[00:04:40] Just think of all the things that have brought you to this point, and you go, I can't do that. There's no way that I could do what God's calling me to say. Yes, you can, because you'd be afraid. You would see the opportunity, you would see the influence, you would see the trials, and you would go, I can't handle that.
[00:04:58] And yet God knows. And so he's taken you on the scenic route.
[00:05:06] The scenic route which would teach you to trust him. Look, the purpose in this, why God takes them this way, is so that they might continue to trust in him. It's so that they might continue to learn who he is, that he takes them the way of the Red Sea.
[00:05:24] See, built into that is that God knows what he's about to do.
[00:05:29] He's already foretold that he is going to get glory from the Egyptians.
[00:05:35] He knows what he's going to do.
[00:05:37] And yet the Israelites need to see his protection and his power one more time.
[00:05:44] They need to see Him. There's a question in this that I just wonder, when you take the long way, do you see it as the right way?
[00:05:55] When God takes you the long way and you're like, why can't I just go there?
[00:06:02] Do you see it as the right way that he's taking you this way to get you there?
[00:06:08] I think it's one of the incredible pictures that we get to see here. God just shows us very clearly that when he leads, he leads with wisdom, but he does something else we see in this, that he leads where we have to trust Him. He leads in such a way that it requires faith and trust. As we continue in this story, there's actually verse 19, a little note that Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. That seems really odd if we're not careful as we read. But in Genesis, chapter 50, right at the end of Genesis, then Joseph makes the people promise him that they will take his bones out of Egypt with them into the land of promise. And Joseph knows that God is always going to keep his promise.
[00:06:55] Joseph says, take my bones with you when you go into the promised land, because God's going to bring you there, even though you'll spend time in Egypt. And so here we see very early on, as they're leaving Egypt, they're carrying Joseph with them his bones, which is a reminder to the people of Israel that God keeps his promises.
[00:07:18] They've got this physical reminder with them. To you and I, that would be a little odd, carrying some bones of those who have gone before. And it's like, hey, why are you carrying those? We promised him we're gonna take him with us when God answers His promise. And yet that's exactly what they're doing. And so we see some irony in here that God does this, that they're carrying these bones because it says, verse 19, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.
[00:07:48] Just a little subtle reminder.
[00:07:50] God's not gonna leave them in Egypt. God's not going to leave them in the wilderness. God is going to take them to the land that he promised.
[00:08:00] They have Joseph's bones to Remind them of that.
[00:08:04] They go into the wilderness. God shows up in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
[00:08:14] He goes with them.
[00:08:15] Everywhere they go, he's with them. They're not alone. He didn't just send them with a message and say, I'll meet you when you get there. No, he goes with them every night. Every step he's leading them. They can physically see this cloud by day and this fire by night.
[00:08:33] That when God leads us, he does it with wisdom. When God leads us, he goes with us. But then this is the last point I want us to see.
[00:08:42] When he leads us, he requires faith and trust.
[00:08:47] Chapter 14, verse 1 through 14, tells this story that the Lord talks to Moses, and he tells the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of PI Hairatha between Migdol and the sea, in front of BAAL Savan.
[00:09:07] You shall encamp facing it by the sea.
[00:09:11] And then look at this, verse 3. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, they are wandering in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.
[00:09:20] And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.
[00:09:32] And they did so.
[00:09:34] God then tells Moses to lead the people.
[00:09:37] He leads them by the pillar to this place, a specific place to camp, a specific place that God has a plan for.
[00:09:47] And so he leads them there.
[00:09:49] They have only to trust and walk by faith to do this.
[00:09:53] The king of Egypt, he then summons all of his chariots, all of his armies. They then come out to capture the Israelites again because he has changed his mind once again about letting them go.
[00:10:09] So you've got the people of Israel who are sitting there, who have mountains on one side of them, specifically in this place where they camp.
[00:10:20] They've got the Red Sea in another spot, and then they've got the army coming at them.
[00:10:27] This is a situation that God has led them into. Don't miss this.
[00:10:33] God in his wisdom and in his sovereignty, has led them into a place where they have no escape, they have no control, and they have no way out.
[00:10:46] And yet God's about to show up.
[00:10:48] Listen, there are times in our life where if you look at the circumstances around you, and you go, God, why would you lead me here?
[00:10:59] God, look at the circumstances. There's no way out. And he goes, I know you're gonna have to trust me.
[00:11:07] You're gonna have to believe me. You're going to have to walk by faith.
[00:11:12] You See, one of the things that this text tells us is that it's not always about the destination.
[00:11:19] Sometimes it's about the journey.
[00:11:22] That in this journey God is developing their character beyond the destination.
[00:11:30] That the journey is the means in which God is going to get their heart, not just the destination.
[00:11:40] I love it because as they walk in this, we see the way the people respond. We would hope that they're like man, look at this. We've got God who has delivered us out of the Egyptians hands. We've got God who goes with us. We've seen his power, we've seen his might. That he controls creation, that he controls all things. We've seen it.
[00:12:02] No, that's not what happens.
[00:12:04] Look at verse 10.
[00:12:06] I call this fear induced amnesia.
[00:12:10] That when Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them and they feared greatly.
[00:12:20] And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. This is the same phrase that their cry to the Lord because of their slavery is what God had seen, is what God had heard and what had moved him to action.
[00:12:34] The same cry.
[00:12:36] But now they're crying out again. Verse 11. And they say to Moses, is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness of all the nations?
[00:12:47] Egyptians knew how to do graves. People still go visit them, right? These days, huge pyramids. Like the Egyptians knew how to do graves. And so they're like, what, there's not enough graves there? That's why you brought us out here?
[00:13:02] What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
[00:13:06] Is it not this?
[00:13:09] Is this not what we said to you in Egypt? Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians. That's what they said, right? No, no, this is fear induced amnesia. That they're like, can we please go back to the slavery?
[00:13:27] Can I please go back to that which is familiar?
[00:13:31] Rather than having to walk by faith, rather than having to trust God. If you don't come through, we don't make it.
[00:13:40] Rather than having to live there.
[00:13:43] I'd rather live with what's comfortable. I'd rather live with slavery.
[00:13:50] That's what they said. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.
[00:13:56] Verse 13. And Moses said to the people, look at what he calls them to.
[00:14:00] There's a couple things that he says. He says, fear not. That's the most common command in all the Old Testament. Fear not, fear not.
[00:14:09] Second thing he tells them to do is stand firm.
[00:14:12] Fear not.
[00:14:13] Don't be ruled by fear. Stand firm. Just stand.
[00:14:18] And then the third thing he tells them to do is see the salvation of the Lord.
[00:14:23] Fear not. Stand firm. Watch.
[00:14:27] Watch what the Lord is going to do. Because he will work this for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
[00:14:35] The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. Look, there's nothing that they were supposed to do, not fear. Stand there and watch.
[00:14:48] So what do you want us to do? Nothing.
[00:14:50] Just stand there and watch.
[00:14:53] Just trust.
[00:14:55] Walk by faith. That when God leads us, he requires faith.
[00:15:01] I think a lot of times we would rather walk by sight than walk by faith.
[00:15:08] We would rather walk by that which we know than to have to walk by faith. And yet that's not what the scripture calls us to. We see this really clearly here. We'll make some applications about that.
[00:15:21] The second thing that I want us to see in this text as we just continue to walk through this is that first God leads us, but then second, God delivers.
[00:15:29] God leads, and then God delivers.
[00:15:31] From verse 15 through 31, we see the deliverance of God. He has said that they only needed to watch. But look at verse 15.
[00:15:39] The Lord says to Moses, why do you cry to me?
[00:15:43] Right. So the people have cried out to Moses. And we see this repetition. It's what we've seen all through the book of Exodus with the plagues, is that the people cry out to Moses. Moses then goes to the Lord. The Lord answers Moses, and then he tells the people. And so we see this again. The people have cried out to Moses. They've started to blame him. They've started to say, this is your fault. And so Moses has gone to the Lord. And the Lord says, why are you crying to me? You know what's coming.
[00:16:10] You know what I'm gonna do? I've already told you what I'm gonna do.
[00:16:14] So tell the people of Israel to go forward. I love this.
[00:16:19] He tells them, go forward.
[00:16:23] He's told them where they should camp.
[00:16:25] They're like, go forward. Where?
[00:16:28] Where?
[00:16:30] Right? He doesn't tell them, turn around and go back. He doesn't tell them, form a circle and fortify. He just tells them, we're going forward.
[00:16:39] You're not staying here. We're moving forward.
[00:16:42] Go forward.
[00:16:44] He tells Moses, lift up your staff. Stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. That the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
[00:16:53] I will harden the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and they shall go after them. And I will get Glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts, his chariots and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen. Again, we see that we're pulling from earlier, that Pharaoh has specifically said, who is the Lord? That I should obey him.
[00:17:14] And God continues to show that I will get glory over them when they know who I am.
[00:17:22] And yet God moves them forward.
[00:17:25] He's delivering them. He's not leaving them where they're at, but he's delivering them.
[00:17:31] The angel of God goes about before them. This pillar actually moves behind them to protect them. That he provides protection for the people.
[00:17:41] He brings a wind. He controls all of creation. God brings a wind. It divides the the Red Sea.
[00:17:49] The people then begin to walk across the Red Sea again. This is not just a small little army. This is probably 2 million people is what commentators estimate. This was 600,000 men plus their families. So they're moving across this Red Sea that God has divided by his sovereignty to deliver his people. Listen, when God rescues his people, he makes a way.
[00:18:18] He delivers them.
[00:18:20] This divinely orchestrated crisis is the means of God's deliverance.
[00:18:27] Catch this.
[00:18:28] There's application here.
[00:18:31] This divinely orchestrated crisis is the means of God's deliverance. You're not alone.
[00:18:40] He hasn't forsaken you.
[00:18:43] The mountain, the sea, the army, though everything looks like it has turned against them, God makes a way.
[00:18:54] And yet for the people, fear had rewritten their reality.
[00:19:02] Fear had retold the story.
[00:19:08] Fear creeps up in our hearts when we look at the circumstances rather than when we look at God.
[00:19:19] What do we see in this? We see that salvation belongs to the Lord. There was nothing that the people could do. They couldn't fix it. They couldn't escape it. They couldn't control it. And yet God made a way.
[00:19:31] You jump to the New Testament.
[00:19:34] It's actually the same story that has been happening since Genesis is that mankind has a problem.
[00:19:41] They can't control it, they can't escape it.
[00:19:46] They can't fix it on their own.
[00:19:49] It's a problem of sin that every human being who has ever walked this earth, besides one, has had a problem with sin that they couldn't escape, they couldn't control and they couldn't fix.
[00:20:05] People have tried.
[00:20:07] I'll try to be more good than I am bad.
[00:20:12] I'll try to be the best person and compare myself to those around me.
[00:20:18] I'll try to fix it.
[00:20:20] I'll try to bootstrap it and say, I'll never do that again.
[00:20:25] I'll try.
[00:20:28] And yet we can't fix it. We can't control it, and we can't escape it.
[00:20:34] And yet our God has delivered us.
[00:20:39] And yet our God has made a way that for all those who by faith would walk and just stand there and see the deliverance that the Lord would provide, that he would send his one and only Son, the perfect spotless lamb, the unblemished Lamb, the Savior of the world.
[00:21:01] That they would send him to make a way.
[00:21:08] That through his death and through his blood, he would wipe away every sin.
[00:21:16] That he would cast our sins as far as the east is from the west.
[00:21:21] That we might walk through not in judgment, but in righteousness and holiness.
[00:21:28] That God would deliver us from sin.
[00:21:32] You see, we see in the Exodus just a shadow of the greatest rescue, the greatest deliverance that God has ever done in making a way for sinners to be reconciled to a holy God.
[00:21:48] And so what's the response of that? We see that the people of Israel, they go through.
[00:21:55] You guys know the story.
[00:21:56] God then has put it in the heart of Pharaoh and the Egyptians that they chase after the Israelites into the Red Sea.
[00:22:08] Specifically, we see here that God then causes panic among the Egyptians.
[00:22:15] Verse 25. He then causes a clogging of the chariot's wheels so that they drove heavily.
[00:22:22] That God's in control of the most minute details. Listen, next time you get a flat tire, don't get all mad.
[00:22:32] Don't get all mad.
[00:22:34] Maybe God was protecting you from something. Maybe.
[00:22:39] Maybe he wants you just to take a breath.
[00:22:43] Listen. We see God's in control of the most minute things. He causes the chariots wheels to get clogged so that they drove heavily. The Egyptians said, let us flee from before Israel. For the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.
[00:22:57] That the Lord fights for his people, his covenant people. The Lord fights for them.
[00:23:05] God then tells Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea. The waters come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and upon their horsemen.
[00:23:13] So Moses obeys.
[00:23:15] The sea returns to its normal course.
[00:23:18] When the morning appeared, as the Egyptians had fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. It's the same language that was used by Pharaoh, commanding the Egyptians to cast every child to throw them of the Israelites into the sea. And God says, no, I will throw you into the sea.
[00:23:44] That God throws them into the sea.
[00:23:48] But the people of Israel, they walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right and on Their left.
[00:23:56] Look at verse 30.
[00:23:58] Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians.
[00:24:01] And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
[00:24:05] Verse 31, Israel saw the great power that the Lord had used against the Egyptians.
[00:24:11] So the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Listen. Their fear had moved from their circumstances to the Lord who fought for them.
[00:24:25] We know from Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
[00:24:30] We know that this is a right fear of the Lord. This is a reverence of his power.
[00:24:36] This is a recognition of his sovereignty.
[00:24:39] And this is a recognition of his love for them.
[00:24:43] And in response to that, we get a song.
[00:24:48] The third thing that I just want us to see in this text is that God is worthy of praise.
[00:24:53] God leads, God delivers, and God is worthy of praise.
[00:24:58] This is the first song that we really have recorded in the Scripture.
[00:25:02] This is a song of Moses. And I just want to point out a few things that as this song goes, it really emphasizes the strength of the Lord.
[00:25:12] Verse 1, it says he triumphed gloriously. It says he threw them into the sea. Verse 2, it says that his strength.
[00:25:19] Verse 3, it says that God is the man of War. Verse 4, it says that God cast them into the sea. Verse 6, it says that he is glorious in power and that he shatters the enemy. Verse 7, it says that he overthrows his adversaries. Verse 7, it says that his fury consumes them like stubble.
[00:25:38] That the Lord is powerful to fight on our behalf.
[00:25:43] Are you going to fear the circumstances of life? Or are you going to trust in the One who has all power and authority?
[00:25:52] See, it's foolish to fear our circumstances when we know who God is.
[00:26:00] He's the one who changes circumstances. He's the one who works in the midst of circumstances. He's the one who is over all circumstances.
[00:26:12] And he's worthy of praise.
[00:26:15] Praise is the correct response to seeing God work.
[00:26:21] One commentator said it this way that saved people sing.
[00:26:25] It's the response.
[00:26:27] When you get rescued, you sing.
[00:26:34] That the same God who led Israel is leading you.
[00:26:40] The same God who parted the sea has made a way for you to move forward.
[00:26:46] The same God who brought victory is worthy of praise.
[00:26:51] I want to jump forward to Miriam's song. It's right at the end. We actually get two songs in this.
[00:26:58] Miriam's song in verse 21 says this.
[00:27:01] She says, sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously.
[00:27:09] I wonder if we could maybe rewrite Miriam's song for Us.
[00:27:15] Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously My sin and my shame he has cast into the sea how would you write that?
[00:27:29] Sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously that he did not leave me in my own despair but has made a way forward Sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously that when I thought there was no way he has made a way Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously that he has made me new yet again Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously that his mercy is new every morning Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously not only has he removed my sin he has called me righteous Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously he has adopted me into the family Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously Though my circumstances are dark he is my light Sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously he has come but he is coming again I wonder what song you could sing to the Lord.
[00:28:56] The band's gonna come.
[00:28:58] You're gonna have an opportunity to sing. It's actually a new song, which means that you're probably going to pay attention to the words a little bit more.
[00:29:06] They're great that they give us words to communicate back to the Lord, to communicate what he has done on our behalf that we might sing.
[00:29:19] The Lord leads us, the Lord delivers us.
[00:29:23] And our response is he is worthy of our praise.
[00:29:28] Let's pray.
[00:29:31] God, would you just remind us right now that you have made a way? Lord, I know in this room that there are circumstances going on that feel like the Israelites, that feel like there's a mountain on one side, a sea on the other, and an enemy coming at them. And there's no way.
[00:29:53] And yet, God, we have been reminded this morning that you make a way, that you are the deliverer of your people, that you fight for your people, for those who have trusted in you.
[00:30:05] You fight for them, you deliver them.
[00:30:09] You go with them. You lead us in wisdom.
[00:30:16] But I pray that we might never get over the fact that you have rescued us from our sin.
[00:30:23] We couldn't fix it.
[00:30:25] We couldn't control it. We couldn't escape it. And yet you, in your love and in your mercy and in your Glo, you made a way.
[00:30:36] We just had to watch and by faith move forward.
[00:30:45] But we thank you for that truth. Would you put it in our heart to sing? We ask in Jesus name, Amen.
