We are going to take a break this week from our verse by verse study through the book of Matthew. If you have a Bible, find your way to Exodus chapter 14 this morning.
It’s recorded that Alexander the Great was preparing for a particular battle when his officers came and gave him a report. They told him that there were hundreds of thousands of Persians soldiers standing against him. “Yet,” he said, “one butcher fears not myriads of sheep.” One of his officers said, “[But] when the Persians draw their bows their arrows are so numerous that they darken the sun.” Alexander’s reply was, “It will be fine to fight in the shade.”
As a Christian, you are on a battlefield. We’re clued into that fact throughout the Scriptures, but there are 2 verses that are very familiar to us that drive the point home.
The first is John 16, verse 33:
John 16.33 – These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
The other is Romans 12:21:
Romans 12.21 – Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
There is a common word in those verses – it’s the word ‘overcome.’ The root of that word is the Greek word Nike, which means to conquer or win victory or prevail completely. It’s a word used in battles and conquest.
As Christians, we have enemies. There are 3 serious enemies that come against us, a sort of axis of evil in the spiritual realm. They are the Devil, the world and the sin nature within ourselves.
And the Lord says in His word that there will be times when these powers and principalities come and fight against us. There will be times when we’re walking in the valley of the very shadow of death. There will be times that we will be attacked, and shelled and besieged, but we can take courage and not just survive those attacks, but actually move forward in victory because our Savior has prevailed completely over our enemies. And along the way the Bible goes as far as saying that we can fight these battles without fear, like Alexander facing the Persian masses.
How did he do it? Well, he was a crazed nut job.
How do we do it? Well, we find the how by going to God’s word and seeing how these things were accomplished in the lives of God’s people in the Scriptures.
Paul let’s us know in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 that:
1 Corinthians 10.11 – Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition.
So, Paul says that we can go to God’s word and see written examples of how we realize the things that God wants for our lives. Specifically, Paul cites the time when the Israelites were rescued out of Egypt and traveled through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.
Maybe this morning you’re being besieged or attacked in some way by one of our spiritual enemies. Maybe you’re being battered by some kind of storm in your personal life. Maybe you’re losing battles to temptation in your heart, giving in to sin and not overcoming your old nature.
If that’s the case, God says we can go to His word to see how He plans to overcome our enemies and what our part is to play in that work.
In Exodus 14, God’s people were faced with the biggest threat of their lives. It begins in verse 1 where we read:
Exodus 14.1-4 – Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
The Israelites had been set free from 400 years of slavery in Egypt and were making their way to the Promised Land. As you track their trip, you find two important elements. The first is that the trip took time. This would have gotten me into trouble if I was there in the multitude. You know, I like to think that I’d do better than the Israelites did when it comes to trusting God and going with His flow, but the truth is, I’d be complaining that we actually had to walk to Canaan. I’d be thinking, “Didn’t God just completely supersede the laws of physics during these 10 plagues? Can’t He just miraculously transport us to Canaan right now?” I know I certainly have that kind of attitude when the Lord asks me to wait during a storm.
But you see the Lord wasn’t just going to change their address. He was working to transform their lives from the inside out. That’s also the case in His relationship with us. We’re destination oriented, and God is too, don’t get me wrong, but He has more in mind than just our residence. He compares what He’s doing to a tree that is planted and is cultivated and grows and bears fruit. He compares what He’s doing in us to a building project. Now, like you, I wish In-N-Out was open right now! But more than that, I want the building built right so that it’s safe and the doors open properly and the gas and electricity get properly installed so that when I do go there they can give me what I came for and the building actually works.
God has more in mind than just changing our eternal destination. He’s working to craft our lives into something perfect and complete. That work takes time.
But we also see from their trip to Canaan that God’s route is very specific. He led them to specific places on purpose so that He could accomplish specific things through their circumstances. He was taking them down a particular path in order to grow them and demonstrate Himself to the world and, this is also important, He was taking them down a specific route so that He could deal with their enemies.
As God leads us, He’s going to bring us to places along the way that bring growth in our lives and demonstrate to the world around us that He is real and that He has power. He wants to show Himself, for example, as the God who provides and as the God of victory. Because that’s who He is. In order to be the Provider and the Victor, He’ll have to move us into positions where we need provision and rescue. That’s exactly what He was doing with Israel and it’s what He wants to do with us as well.
God wants to do something in your life today. Football has started to clutter up my Twitter feed. People are talking about games and their fantasy teams. I see people reference teams that have a ‘bye’ week, meaning that they don’t play that week. In the Christian life, there is no bye week. There are no bye days. If we could somehow transport ourselves each morning into the throne room of heaven and stand before God and say, “Ok Boss, what do you got for me today?” Do any of us think for a minute that God would look back at us and say, “….eh….nothing. I got nothing for you.” Not at all. God has something planned for your day today. Something good.
He told the Israelites, “Here’s what we’re going to do today. We’re going to gain honor over Pharaoh and prove that I am God and we’re going to deal with this enemy of yours.”
Exodus 14.5-9 – Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
We’ve talked about those 3 enemies that are on the prowl for you. The question is this: What will you do when one of these enemies catches up to you? Look how easily Pharaoh overtook the Israelites. When the storm does hit. When the world challenges your faith. When the flesh within brings that strong temptation. Those trials and attacks are coming. There’s no way around it. And like Pharaoh and his army, they are coming with everything they’ve got. Those of you who are going through a trial in your life right now know firsthand that these enemies are using live rounds. It’s not just a war game, it’s the real deal.
Now, think about this for a minute, if Pharaoh and his army are an example of the strength and ferocity of our spiritual enemies, then Israel shows an example of our weakness and inability. They were in some serious trouble. They had been slaves for 400 years! They had no training, no defenses, they had no weapons, they’d never been to war, they had no strategy. If you take God out of this equation, this is going to be a fish-in-a-barrel, shock-and-awe bloodbath.
We are no match for our spiritual enemies. But our enemies are no match for our God! The Lord intends to win victories in our lives, but it means that we’re going to find ourselves in situations where there is no hope for us apart from heaven. By that I mean there will be times and situations in life where the only answer for real rescue is by God’s mercy. Why? So that the people around us will know that God is real and so that the Lord can refine us.
Christianity is not just a philosophy. It’s not just a system of morality. God wants people to know that He is real. He wants people to know that He really has the power to save and to rescue and transform us. Not just words, but testimonies that are built in our lives. Evidence of His ability worked out through our circumstances in times where only He could rescue.
And He wants to refine us. Ladies, I doubt very much that many of you are wearing a diamond in the rough today. Whether it’s your wedding ring or a necklace or whatever. Is an uncut, unpolished diamond really what you’re looking for? No, you’re looking for something that has been meticulously refined and beautifully set to adorn yourself or symbolize the love of your life.
Jesus Christ looks at us and says, “I want to refine you and bring you forth like gold.”
So, we’ve seen that our enemies are on the prowl and we see that God allows these battles in order to bring victory and growth into our lives.
This leads us to understand that if we’re living the Christian life, if we’re faithfully walking with God, eventually we’re going to find ourselves under fire.
If you’re never experiencing aggression from these spiritual enemies, it’s altogether possible that you’re still on their side or that you’ve covered up your light as a Christian. The kingdom of darkness does not tolerate light. When light shines, there will be attempts to extinguish it.
But we’re told frequently in God’s word that we do not have to be afraid of these things. Over and over again God says that to the Israelites. We’re told it in the Psalms. Jesus said it many times to His disciples. It’s said in the epistles. The threats of our enemies are real, but our response is up to us and we do not have to be afraid.
Isaiah said:
Isaiah 12.2 – Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid;
It’s possible because of who God is and what He does.
Let’s see how Israel responded:
Exodus 14.10-12 – And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
Here we have an example of how not to respond to spiritual attacks. The Israelites were giving in to their fear.
Fear is an incredible motivator. Unfortunately it motivates us in all the wrong ways. Spiritually speaking, it always sends us backwards, not closer to God.
We know that everything they said was untrue.
First of all, the plan wasn’t for them to die in the wilderness. The plan was for God to save them and get them to Canaan. God had told them that and He had shown He was strong enough to do it.
Second, they didn’t tell Moses back in Egypt to leave them alone. They called out for hundreds of years for God to save them. And when Moses came they believed that he was the deliverer.
Third, and this may be the most important thing devotionally, it wouldn’t be better for them to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. That’s the lie that fear makes us believe. The God who had just brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm had been very clear that they would not die in the wilderness, but they were going to make it to the place He had for them.
Better is a life in their own land, a life free from the bonds of slavery, a life not defined by Egypt. Better is a life not forced to build treasure cities for pagan gods. Better is not being forced by the government to kill their baby boys in order to keep the Hebrew population down.
But in the book of Exodus the Israelites often had 2 things that hampered their progress, and they are things that can trip us up as well, their memory and their commitment.
How’s your spiritual memory? Mine is terrible. I find that I need to force myself to write the things that God has done down so that I can have a real record and not forget.
The Israelites always remembered Egypt kinder and better and they remembered God weaker and worse. They would get into these difficult circumstances and throw up their hands and say, “What is God going to do?”
Well, what had God done? That’s a question we need to pose to ourselves when we’re in a trial. What has God done? He’s saved us. He’s answered prayers. He’s used us. He’s given us gifts. He’s shown Himself strong on behalf of His people. What has God done for you?
The other problem that Israel had was with their commitment. This happened a number of times. They would get excited about the Lord for a while, but when it started to get tough, when being God’s people started to cost them something, they would often back away. You find them saying things like, “Moses, YOU go talk to God and do that stuff. We’re not interested in being THAT spiritual.” When they experienced friction they would give into fear and convince themselves that it was God who was the problem and that it really wasn’t that bad to be slaves in Egypt.
Of course, they were wrong. We know it. God knows it. Moses knew it. But let’s update this for ourselves. When we consider the price of discipleship, or when we get bombarded by our enemies, the temptation is to hang back and fly under the radar. Sort of a spiritual appeasement. But really, what we’re choosing when we do that is to live a lukewarm life. Our enemies whisper in our ear that it will be better to just pull back from the Lord a little, turn down the heat a bit and then the pressure will come off. But it’s not better to be lukewarm. It’s offensive to God. It’s unacceptable to Him. The Bible says it makes Him sick.
It was the giving in to fear that was causing the Israelite’s faith to crumble. Moses responds in verse 13.
Exodus 14.13-14 – And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
The proper response to fear is simple. We’re to trust in the Lord and go to His word. When you cut yourself at home, where do you go? You go to the first aid kit. You don’t go to the blender. You don’t go to the tool shed. You go where the help is.
David said,
Psalm 56.3 – When I am afraid, I will trust in You.
Our God is trustworthy and He’s up front about His plan for your life and He has answers for what you’re facing.
Now, the people have spoken, Moses responded, but here’s what God Himself had to say:
Exodus 14.15-18 – And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
This is interesting to me. Moses said, “Be still.” God said, “Get moving!”
Rather than scheme and try to figure their own way out of the situation, Moses said, “wait for what God is going to do.” And then the Lord showed them the rescue. And once God gave them direction, His message to the people was, “Get moving!” It’s a hard balance, but what we find in the Scriptures is that we’re to release control of our lives and our decisions to the Lord, but when He speaks, we’re to move immediately.
Psalm 123.2 – We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
That’s the Christian life. No just philosophically, but practically and daily.
Exodus 14.19-20 – And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
The Angel of God is a reference to a Pre-Incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ on the earth. I always think of the Pillar of Cloud and Fire being there with the Israelites in the wilderness, but here we see that the Son was there with them as well, walking with them at the front of the camp.
And then we also see the Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of Fire, which is a representation of the Holy Spirit.
We learn 2 things about how to have spiritual victory in our lives. The first is to walk in the presence of Jesus. He is not just a traveling buddy, He sets the path and the pace and the destination. It’s not that we’re traveling through life and we pick up Jesus like a hitchhiker to have a little company on the road. At some point, Jesus Christ got in our way and what He proposed to us is very simple. He revealed to us that the road we were on leads inevitably and invariably to death. But if we stop going that way and instead choose to turn around and follow Him, He would lead us to life in the promised land. Now, He walks in at a certain pace and we have control over the fervor of our pursuit of Him. To the Ephesian church Jesus said, “You left your first love. You diminished your fellowship with Me. So now you need to repent and do your first works. Get back in communion with Me. Get up to speed and walk with Me so we can get where we need to go.”
Second, we see that we must be powered by the Holy Spirit. It was the Pillar of Cloud that gave them light and protected them from their enemies.
And, here’s the thing – The Holy Spirit and Jesus always cooperate. They’re both working on the plan together. Jesus told His disciples, “You need the Holy Spirit. And the Father is going to send Him to help you. In fact, just wait here until you receive the Holy Spirit.” It’s the Spirit that empowers us for the life we are to live. So, if you’re not filled with the Spirit, then you can not truly walk with Christ.
Exodus 14.21-25 – Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
This battle took time. All the people had to do was obey the Lord and walk forward, but it still took time. It was all night. Not the rapid, fire-from-heaven approach I would’ve been hoping for. But God’s plan was something that would be so undeniable, so powerful that it will be talked about for the rest of human history. And the important concern for the people was not the army or the chariots, but just going where God was leading. Going down the path through the sea was all that they had to worry about. The Lord was in control of the wind and the waves and the wheels. They were in control of their two feet and walking the road that God had opened up before them.
Exodus 14.26-29 – Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
As we walk down the road that God sets before us, He does give us ways we can fight. He will inevitably ask us to trust Him in ways that seem unconventional to worldly wisdom. Not always, but, I think, more often than we realize. And as we’re walking forward, He does give us ways to raise our hands to fight against our enemies.
With the Devil, we’re told simply to resist him. If we resist him, he will flee from us.
With the world, we’re told to separate ourselves and overcome the world by living by faith.
And with the sin nature, well, we’re told something a bit more severe. We’re told to find that guy in our hearts and kill him. God tells us to crucify him and show him no mercy.
Think for a minute about what God asked Moses to do. He said, “Stretch out your hand, THEN the waters will come back on the Egyptians.” Moses, the meekest man in the world, essentially became a mass murderer. When it comes to the sin nature within, what are you willing to do to overcome? Are you willing to hunt him down and kill him? Because that’s what we’re called to do. We’re commanded to put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within us.
God calls us to fight hard against our enemies. He gives us the weapons. He gives us the strategy. He wins the victory for us, but He requires that we raise up our hands and contend along with Him in order to grow in our spiritual lives.
If we will walk with God and follow after Him and obey what He asks us to do we will grow and win victory in our lives over our spiritual enemies. And, as we see with the Egyptians and the Israelites, as we walk, there should be a visible difference between us and people who do not follow the Lord. The Israelites crossed through on dry land. The Egyptians had no such luck. There was a profound difference in their experiences in the sea.
Exodusd 14.30-31 – So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.
The work that God is doing in your life is work He wants to display to the world. Fruit is visible. It’s not secret. A Christian should be able to look at their life and identify how God is working and growing and interacting with them. The multitudes stood on the seashore and saw the great work which the Lord had done.
Are you seeing fruit in your life? The answer for all of us who are Christians here this morning should be yes. Because God is not withholding. His plan is to grow us and develop us and refine us. His plan is to equip us to cut away the rottenness of sin and instead bear fruit of the Spirit.
Some studies showed that in World War II that of every hundred men along the line of fire during the combat period, an average of only 15 to 20 would take any part with their weapons. Without judging those other 75 or 80, I will say that we definitely don’t want that to be the way we live our spiritual lives. We’re in a battle, but the war is won. And in the mean time our God walks with us, equipping us and showing us the way to victory. He is our light and our salvation, He is the strength of our lives. Of whom should we be afraid?