WEDNESDAY 27 October 2021 “Waves Rescue” Exodus 14:23-31

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

Have you ever been in a situation where you literally had to run for your life? Maybe running for cover as a terrible storm suddenly was coming upon you? Or running from an explosion or a fire or some other great disaster? I was once nearly trampled to death as a young boy when I was swept up in a crowd of people running frantically and out of control. It’s terrifying to be running for your life!

Yesterday I left you standing in one of the most unusual experiences in all history. We were standing in the middle of the Red Sea, but on dry ground, with walls of water on both sides and a huge swarm of people all around us, running for their lives. The account is found in Exodus 14 in the Bible and it’s the famous Exodus flight of Hebrew slaves running from Pharaoh’s pursuing chariot army.

I’ve often wondered… when the wind opened a highway through the Red Sea and people began rushing forward, running away from the Pharaoh’s approaching army, were there some who looked at the walls of water, and simply said: ‘No! I’d rather work to death in the mud pits of Egypt as a slave than drown in the Red Sea. I’m staying right here and I’ll surrender to Pharaoh and I’ll go back to slavery?’ We have no indication of that in the Exodus record, but knowing human nature as I do and the fear many people have of stepping forward in great faith into what seems a big risk, it wouldn’t surprise me if some, perhaps many of those frightened slaves simply stayed put on the shoreline and waited to hand themselves back into Pharaoh’s enslavement.

How about you, my friends? When you look ahead in your life and you feel as though you are facing situations which feel hopeless like the Red Sea in front and Pharaoh’s chariots coming behind… what has been your pattern of action in your life? Do you panic? Do you run to a bar and get drunk? Do you call friends? Do you turn to God? We all have a pattern of crisis response don’t we? So… what is yours, my friend, and what can we learn in this remarkable situation in Exodus 14?

You’ll remember God had repeatedly told Moses to tell the people that God loved them, God saw their misery and God heard their cries for help, God understood their pain and their plight, and God was concerned, and He was working His plan to help them. God had promised HE would do such great things Pharaoh would release them from slavery and God would then lead them out of Egypt and to the land He had given to Abraham nearly 500 years before! But to get from Egypt to Canaan, a place none of them had ever been, they would have to learn to trust God and follow Him through the desert!

That my friends is one of the great secrets in life… learning to TRUST God and FOLLOW Him! And because we are each unique people, created by God, and His great desire is that EACH of us lives in a relationship with Him as our heavenly Father, God invites us to regularly take great steps of faith which will grow our personal relationship with God and will help us know God more and more each day! THAT is what is happening here with God and these Hebrew slaves. God was trying to help them learn to TRUST Him as their loving God, and learn to OBEY His instructions and step forward into a growing relationship with Him, even when it looked risky!

As these Hebrews were rushing, as quickly as they could, into this highway through the Red Sea, with walls of water on both sides and a strong wind blowing, they probably didn’t notice but the big dark cloud, which had formed a thick barrier between them and Pharaoh’s chariot army pursuing them… that big cloud was dissipating! Soon the whips cracked on the horses’ backs and those chariots came flying across the sand toward that huge opening in the sea! The Exodus record says: “The Egyptians pursued the Israelites and all Pharaoh’s 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 God threw them into confusion. God made the wheels of their chariots come off… and the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them and against Egypt!” (Ex. 14:23-25)

Can you imagine the mayhem as chariots are getting stuck in the sea bottom as their wheels fall off, and then, like a biker who falls down in the pack of riders in the Tour de France, can you see the pile ups happening as chariots are all running into each other and horses are falling over and riders are thrown to the ground? Frantically Egyptians soldiers scramble to their feet overwhelmed that they are fighting an invisible force much stronger than they are! How do you battle an enemy you cannot see and who is more powerful than you? Do you sometimes find yourself in battles like that, fighting powerful emotions like anger or fear or jealousy or bitterness? Those are unseen enemies that can be so powerful they can ruin your life, am I right? And have you discovered the powerful weapons God offers you and me to fight those unseen, destructive forces? May I give you three?

1. The Word of God! Remember Hebrews 4:12 tells us it’s alive and powerful!

The Truth of God’s Word, applied by the powerful Holy Spirit in our lives, can defeat fear, anger, lust and any of those invisible forces of the dark kingdom! Those dark enemies MUST submit to the authority of the Bible, God’s WORD!

2. Have you discovered the power of WORSHIP? Praising God in song, lifting your voice to God declaring His majesty, His glory.

Thanking God for HIS glorious attributes and His great work in our world. There is great power in declaring your allegiance to God and your rejection of the dark kingdom and it’s attack on you!

3. Have you discovered the power of God honoring Friends who will stand with you and pray with and for you, when you’re under attack of those evil, invisible enemies?

These Egyptians recognized the fingerprint of God! They saw the invisible power confronting them was the same power that sent the Locust swarms, and the Hail storm and the boils and the darkness. They knew they were helpless against the power of God, thus they surrendered and began to backtrack, leaving their broken down chariots behind. But God wasn’t finished yet. The record says: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.‘ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and at daybreak the sea went back to its place!… The water covered the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived!” (Exodus 14:26-28)

If you have ever stood on the sea shore, and been swept off your feet by a huge wave, and found yourself tossed around in the surf like a cork, that gives you some understanding of what was happening to hundreds of chariots and horses, and thousands of soldiers! The great, fearsome chariot army of Egypt was being trashed and drowned in the waves as these walls of water descended upon them! And standing on the shoreline watching all this were nearly 1 millions Hebrew slaves who had just come rushing through that God made highway in the sea, the miraculous water tunnel! Look at them holding their children in their arms, putting their kids up on their shoulders so they can watch this indescribable cascade of waves closing over Pharaoh’s pursuing army!!

And over there, on the far shoreline, from which all these people had come, do you see him? The great Pharaoh of Egypt in his opulent chariot, surrounded by some of his highest ranking officers and officials. Their eyes are wide open in disbelief, their mouths now hanging open, struggling to catch a breath. Nothing like this has ever been seen before. In the churning waves the Pharaoh can see chariots and horses and soldiers flung about like toys! An entire army is drowning right in front of Pharaoh’s eyes!!

Finally the sea calms as the waves settle. Look, do you see it? I call it ‘miracle debris’? Do you see what’s floating on the surface of the Red Sea? Bodies… both soldiers and horses. Chariot parts, spears and other weapons. All the collateral damage of God’s outpouring of his power on Pharaoh’s army. The Exodus record says: “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 great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in HIM and in Moses His servant.” (Ex. 14:30,31)

How long do you suppose the Hebrews stood on that shoreline watching the ‘miracle debris’ wash ashore with wave after wave? Did some of them pick up a souvenir? Maybe a spear or the boots off a soldier? They never wanted to forget this unbelievable, indescribable event. They would most certainly tell their children and grandchildren what they experienced in this place, over and over again. How many of them gathered their families around them and fell to their knees, raised their arms up to the sky and thanked God, praised God, worshipped God for His miraculous deliverance of them?

Do you see my friends that it was finally here, on the shoreline of the Red Sea, that the record shows us the people FINALLY began to trust God and fear Him in great awe of His power and His majesty? Finally, they began to trust Moses and see Moses as a true servant of God, their God appointed leader through whom God would speak His instructions to them? How about you… what is the depth of trust you have in God and who are those looking to YOU to be the person who helps them know and trust God? Once again here’s a worship song to help us join these Hebrews in worship of our great and delivering God!

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 14:23-31.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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