Tag: Exodus

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 14:19-22

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“Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the Sea. The Lord drove the Sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the Sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that can be so hard for someone who has been thoroughly trained in a secular worldview when considering the Scriptures are stories like this one. I remember watching a documentary years ago on the History Channel (which used to be a very consistent source of demythologizing-the-Bible specials, especially around Christmas and Easter) that was offering up all kinds of natural explanations for how this could have happened. It was entertaining, but not terribly informative. It wasn’t very information because its baseline assumption was a naturalistic worldview. In other words, it started from the position that what Moses wrote wasn’t true, and went from there. The trouble with a naturalistic worldview is that sometimes God simply does a miracle. Let’s talk about this one.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 14:17-18

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“As for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Just when we thought we were finally through with the whole struggling over the idea of God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart to continue to oppose Him, apparently in order to justify His actions against Egypt on behalf of Israel, we find ourselves facing it yet again. But this time, instead of hardening the heart of just one king and a few of his officials, He’s doing it to an entire army. And the results of this hardening will be their pursuit of the Israelites into the dry seabed of the Red Sea where they are all going to die, and He is going to receive glory because of it. What?!? Let’s talk about how to deal with this.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 14:15-16

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“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Prayer is important stuff. Vitally important. One of the things I find myself telling my congregation more and more frequently lately is that prayer is one of the three essential things you need to be pursuing regularly and intentionally if you want to grow in your faith (the others are engagement with the Scriptures and a local body of Christ). I have several times heard messages about prayer that rightly remind folks that prayer is not a substitute for doing something. In many cases, it is the something we most need to be doing if we want to see positive changes come to a hard situation. Prayer is essentially for getting God involved in a situation to make things happen. What we see here, though, brings a much needed balance to all of this. Let’s check out God’s response to Moses and the Israelites’ panicked cries to Him when they spotted the Egyptian army bearing down on them.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 14:13-14

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“But Moses said to the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are all kinds of stories about fighting against the forces of darkness and evil. Spiritual warfare is a common theme, especially in the horror genre. And in pretty much all of our stories about fighting spiritual forces that are opposed to God, the battle always goes about the same way. We do all the work. Yes, God may give us a little bit of help in the form of a powerful weapon or talisman or something like that, but the victory is always ours. We achieve it. We save ourselves. This makes for a fun story, but in terms of an approximation of reality, it really doesn’t come close. What we see here is a much better picture of how our biggest battles are really won. Let’s talk about what’s happening here as Moses tries to reassure the people in the face of what appears to them to be their impending doom.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 14:10-12

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“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 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 by bringing us out of Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you have taken the journey of parenthood, do you remember when your kids went through their whiny phase? If you don’t nip this in the bud as a parent, what starts as a fairly natural phase can become a personality trait that sticks with them to the eventual frustration of everyone around them, but that’s a conversation for another time. What is it that prompts a kid to whine? The same thing that tempts us to it: not getting our way. When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army heading toward them, they felt like they hadn’t gotten their way…and they were terrified. Their response should have been a major red flag for Moses, but that’s only really visible thanks to hindsight. Israel had a great chance here to demonstrate great faith in the God who was in the process of rescuing them. Let’s talk about what they did instead and why it is a warning for us.

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