Miracle Through The Sea - Exodus 14
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
Well, I'm Pastor Lauren if I haven't met you and I'm just honored to be with you guys today. We've been in our Impossible Moments series this summer, and we're just gonna continue on that. We are looking at Old Testament stories specifically, where there was just an impossible situation, and God shows up in really cool ways, in really big ways, and just does the impossible. So throughout this series, we've actually talked about Moses and the Israelites, and when Moses was a baby, and we talked about the manna in the desert. So we today are actually gonna talk about the Red Sea Crossing, which I feel like is a pretty popular story. I mean, Prince of Egypt, anybody like, is that a thing still? Like, I looked it up, it's like 1998 that that movie came out. Oh my gosh, that's a really long time ago. It doesn't feel, the 90s doesn't feel like that long, but it was. So Prince of Egypt, great movie, but it's a popular story. And I wasn't really sure, like, should we do this? People know it. But the more I dug into it and studied it, I realized there's just so much of God's power. It was truly an impossible situation. And I just, I think there's a lot for us in this story.
So we are gonna be in Exodus 14 today. So if you wanna turn there in your Bibles or your phones or on the screen, we are gonna look at Exodus 14. And we're gonna read most of the chapter today in smaller chunks, and we'll talk about it as we go. So I have some thoughts for us. as we go, so if you're a note taker, awesome, love it. If not, that's cool too, you can just follow along with us. But before we get started, let me pray. Jesus, I just thank you for who you are. I thank you for these impossible moments that we get to study and learn and remember to learn more about who you are and to grow our own faith, God. I just pray that you will be with us in this moment today, that you will speak to us and that you will be glorified. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so we're just gonna dive in. We're gonna just take it section by section here, but we're gonna start with Exodus 14, verse one. It says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to turn back "and encamp near Pihiroth between Migdal and the sea. "They are to encamp by the sea "directly opposite Baal-zaphon. "Pharaoh will think the Israelites "are wandering around the land in confusion, "hemmed in by the desert. "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them. "But I," the Lord, "I will gain glory for myself "through Pharaoh and all his army, "and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”
So the Israelites did this. Okay, so a little bit of background for us. The Israelites just experienced the 10 plagues in Egypt. So God exhibited his power and showed the Egyptians and the Israelites, through these 10 plagues, Pharaoh finally let them go, let the slaves be free. So they gathered up what little they had and all their people and they left Egypt. And they went out into the desert. And now here they are camping in the desert, facing the sea. God also said in this first part that he was gonna harden Pharaoh's heart. And that's a hard concept, I think, for a lot of people to reconcile. A lot of the time in scripture, that phrase is used a lot in the plague narrative and also in this sea crossing narrative. And it's often translated as God giving Pharaoh over to his own desires. He allowed him to make that decision. But in this case, it actually means to strengthen, which I found very interesting. It means to, it seems like Pharaoh needed to be strengthened. He had just lost his firstborn and he allowed thousands of slaves to leave his country. He was probably a little down and distraught, but God actually strengthened his heart, kind of revived him a little bit. And Pharaoh kind of woke up and realized, oh no, what did I do? But God says up front right here in these first four chapters, regardless of what Pharaoh does, regardless of his heart and heart, I'm gonna get the glory. He just tells them, the Israelites right up front, what's gonna happen. And as we'll see, everything that the Lord says is gonna be fulfilled. He says, "I am Yahweh, and everyone, including the Egyptians, will know it.”
So we're gonna keep going. We're gonna go down to verse five and read through 14. "When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, 'What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services. So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with them. He took 600 of the best chariots along with all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And just as a side note, chariots were like top of the line technology at this time. So like, you had the Israelites with like nothing and then you had the Egyptians with the best of the best. So they're like rallying the troops ready to go. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth opposite Baal Zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? This is a little tongue in cheek here because Egypt was actually known for the sheer amount of land they allotted for graves. So they were like, what, there weren't enough there? We gotta come out here to die? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. how soon they forget what God has already done for them. They had barely even left Egypt and they already forgot that God had provided for them, that he did these powerful plagues and helped them escape slavery and now they're asking to go back. Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance "the Lord will bring you today. "The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. "The Lord will fight for you. "You need only to be still.”
Verses 13 and 14 are basically a sermon in and of themselves so I'm gonna read that part again. "Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. "'Stand firm and you will see the deliverance "'the Lord will bring you today. "'The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. "The Lord will fight for you. "You need only to be still." So that's our first part, our first notes, if you will, today. Don't be afraid, stand firm, and be still. Sorry, going fast. Don't be afraid, stand firm, and be still. The Israelis were terrified. This is they were terrified and they cried out to the Lord. They had a reason to be. They were literally in the middle of the desert in an unknown place coming out of slavery. And they were between the sea and a very powerful army. Anybody would be afraid in this situation. But Moses says, "Don't be afraid. "You don't have to be afraid because God is with us. "Yahweh is here. "He told us what he's going to do. "He's going to help us. "We don't have to be afraid." And then he tells them to stand firm. Stand firm in the faith of who God is and of His word. Now, I don't know how great their faith was. They'd been in slavery for over 400 years. Their faith might've been a little questionable. But Moses was affirming to them that God is trustworthy. He is worthy of putting our faith in. So he says, stand firm in that. And then he says, be still. And this doesn't mean to do nothing, like freeze up, don't do anything, don't move. Here, be still actually translates more to peace and silence. It's this idea of keeping your peace and closing your mouth and letting God do what only He can do. God didn't need the Israelites to give Him ideas of how to fix the problem. He needed them to be silent and to keep the peace He was giving them. Something else just to note here is this idea of deliverance. Moses says, "You will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today." I recently read another theologian talking about how the idea of deliverance often we think about, it feels like we're getting plucked out of a situation. Well, if the Lord will deliver me, he will take me out of this terrible situation. But sometimes like giving birth, You have to go through it. You don't get to be out of it. He takes us through it. He delivers us by walking through it with us, not just plucking us out of the situation. And that's, as we'll see, the literally had to walk through the Red Sea. They had to be delivered by going through it.
So after this, the Lord tells Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand, and the seed was gonna divide. And then he says, "The Egyptians are gonna come in after you, "but I'm gonna take care of it, "and I will receive the glory." So he's giving them step-by-step directions, which wouldn't that be lovely when we're facing a tough situation, when we're stuck in an impossible moment, I would love step-by-step directions. But here, God is actually giving that to them. So we're gonna skip down to verse 19. And this is kind of where the miracle happens. Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night, the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side. So neither went near the other all night long. So if you're not familiar, there was a cloud that literally led the Israelites through the desert. They knew if the cloud moved, we follow. But in this case, the cloud actually went behind them. They didn't need the cloud to direct, there was one way to go through the sea. They didn't need someone leading them, they need protection in the rear. They needed a wall behind them. But something I never noticed before was this idea of the light and the darkness. I had never seen this. How God, with this cloud, shone light on the Israelite side and darkness on the Egyptian side. Like the dividing of the water is like really cool. I think that's the miracle. But how cool is it that he gave this super practical gift of light and then the darkness to blind the Egyptians essentially. It was the middle of the night. They needed light to see where they were going. And he gave that to them. And he blocked the Egyptians. The reality is they were powerful, they were faster.
The Egyptians would have overtaken the Israelites had God not intervened. So he provided this very practical miracle for them by giving them the light and the protection. And while this light and darkness, it was very practical, it also is a vivid picture of spiritual light and darkness. One commentary I read said, "This is how it is for believers and non-believers. God's word and work are like light to those who believe, but are like darkness for those who do not. For sinners or those who choose not to believe in God, The gospel is offensive and like darkness. But for those of us who believe, who claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, it is light. God's word and work are our light. Proverbs 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path." He doesn't promise to light the whole way, but he gives us enough light for the next step. We need His Word, we need the Bible, we need the work He does in our lives through our relationships with other believers. We need all of that to light our path. And He's good to do that. He's gracious in that. He wants to give us that. So He is our light. His Word and work are our light.
All right, I'm just gonna go ahead and finish out this story so we're gonna jump back into verse 21. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. Not muddy, not a little bit of water, dry land. The waters were divided and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued them and all pharaohs, horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night, the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and there are chariots and horsemen." Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and at daybreak, the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen. The entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea, not one of them survived, like God said. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day, the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses, his servant." All right, there was a lot packed into that. So Moses chose to be obedient. He said, "Okay, God, I don't know what you're gonna do, but I'm gonna stretch out my hand and raise my staff. So he did that as an act of obedience. It really was a sign of a prayer. And the waters parted. I picture it like walking through one of those aquariums where it's just like the wall of glass and you see all the fish come up to you, but there's no glass this time. It's just water. That's gotta be trippy. So he lifted up his hands, And this action wasn't the miracle. God used Moses, but it wasn't even, it wasn't Moses' power. It was a sign that the miracle was an answer to prayer. The east wind that came was from God. The east wind is what actually divided the waters. And that was a sign that it was by God's power. The miracle came from God. Matthew Henry commentary says, "God can bring his people through the greatest difficulties and force away where he does not find it. The God of nature has not tied himself to its laws, but when he pleases, dispenses with them. And then the fire does not burn nor the water flow." God is the creator. He made it all. So he's not limited by it. The width and the depth of the sea was not a problem for him. It did not thwart his plans. He made the sea, so why couldn't he divide it? He caused a natural thing like wind to come through and do this unnatural miracle in this impossible moment. After the Israelites crossed over, the Egyptians went into the sea, and God caused more confusion, jammed their chariot wheels. Technology's great until it's not, right? He used what their strength was against them. And then he told Moses, once again, "Raise your hand in your staff, and I will have the waters come back to their original place." And the Egyptians were drowned and washed up on shore.
But did you notice, before that happened, did you notice what was said in verse 25? He jammed the wheels, so he jammed the wheels. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt." The word the Lord there is not just another word for a God. They use the word Yahweh here. The Egyptians called him Yahweh, the one true God. Back in verse four, he said, "The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, "that I am Yahweh." And they did. They could see that God was fighting the Israelites battle. And they were terrified because of it. God used this not only to protect the Israelites, but to show the Egyptians who he was. (silence) Because of all of this, because of everything that happened, the being stuck in a tough place, this impossible moment, the parting of the Red Sea, the Egyptians coming in after them, all of it, this whole experience grew the faith of the Israelites. Verse 31 says, "And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses, his servant. God revealed more of himself to them through this in order to build their trust. He showed his power, his provision, his sovereignty, his all knowingness. He knew it was gonna happen. He told him it was gonna happen and it happened. See the Israelites, they knew about God. They knew about Yahweh because they had a family history of it. They had Adam and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and just, they had this history. They knew about God. But they had been in slavery for 400 years. So they still feared him, but I have to wonder if their relationship was a little unstable and their faith was maybe a little shaky. They needed to see God's power in order to grow their faith. So here's what I know is true for us too. We must truly know God, not just know about Him. The Israelites knew about God, but this experience helped them to get to know who He was. This week, a rabbit showed up on our porch. Literally looked like Peter Rabbit, hopped on our porch. It had a vest, like a harness, like it literally looked like Peter Rabbit. And so we've been fostering this rabbit all week long. And actually I had rabbits growing up, and so I know about rabbits. I've been Googling a lot this week. Learned a lot about rabbits. But I don't know this rabbit. I don't know its actual name. I don't know what kind it is. I don't know what it likes and doesn't like. But Chris and I actually had a dog for nine years. He was our baby before we even had kids. His name was Ace. We knew Ace. We knew about him. We knew facts. But we also knew him. We knew what he liked, what he didn't like. We knew that after a certain TV show, there was this jingle that played and if we didn't mute it fast enough, he'd howl. We knew this dog. I knew about the rabbit. I knew my dog. Now if the pet analogy is lost on you, what about humans? I was thinking how we know a lot about like celebrities, maybe what they've been in or who they're married to, how many kids they have, but we don't know them. I can't call them up and say, "Hey, wanna go grab some coffee?" But I know my husband. I know who he is, what he values. I know his character. I know facts about him too, but I know him.
We can know the Bible. We can know facts about God. We can know things that are true. We can memorize scripture and still not know who God is. Still not have a relationship with Him. But I do know that God wants a relationship with us. He wants to be known by us. That's why he reveals himself through scripture. Sometimes it's in a really ordinary things or simple conversations or silly things like a rabbit showing up on our porch. But it's also in the big moments too, in the impossible situations, in the hard things and the celebratory things, he reveals more of his character because he wants us to know him. He wants us to be in relationship with Him. So if you don't know God, you don't really know Him and you want to, or you wanna learn more about that, please come talk to me, or Pastor Chris or Pastor Andrei, we wanna talk to you about that, what that looks like. But if you do know Him, if you proclaim Him as your Lord and Savior, and you know Him and you have a relationship with Him, will you consider today the fact that it's really easy to slide back into just knowing about him. We can rely on facts and information and make it seem like we know him, that we're intimate with him without actually being in a relationship with him. We must choose to not be afraid, even when the circumstances feel impossible. We get to choose to stand firm in our faith, even when it's a little bit shaky. We get to be still, to hold onto the peace that only comes from God. We get to allow Him to be the light on our path, to light our way when things are really questionable. And we get to invest in this relationship that He has offered to us so that we can know Him.
I'm gonna pray for us, and we're just gonna go ahead and head out into food. We're so glad you're here today. I pray that you will know him today, that you will get to know him more and more today. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for revealing your character to us, for telling us more about you, for meeting us in the impossible moments. God, I pray that you will strengthen our faith, that you will grow us, that you will deepen it. God, maybe we haven't had a Red Sea moment, but there have been moments in our lives that have been tough, that felt impossible, that felt like we were between a rock and a hard place. And God, help us to trust you in those moments. Help us to believe who you say you are. And help us not to just rely on facts and information and things we can rattle off about you, but help us to get to know you. We love you. We thank you for this Spring Valley family. We pray over our lunch. God, may it be nourishing to our bodies as your word is nourishing to our souls. We love you. In Jesus' name, Amen.