Trust in God's Power to Deliver
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· 24 viewsChallenge: Do the right thing when your back is against it and you are facing problems.
Notes
Transcript
Challenge
Challenge
Stand Firm and Watch the Deliverance of our God!
Introduction
Introduction
In today’s message we will be discussing the story of how the Israelites were delivered from the Egyptians and seen God do an amazing miracle by parting the Red Sea, but how they almost missed it because of their fear, their desire to remain in Egypt, and their mistrust of God’s delivering power!
We will begin in several different sections of Scripture to give a sort of 50,000 ft overview of this story of deliverance, but it is my intention to land the plane on an incredible passage found in Exodus 14:13-14. So, please have your Bible ready to look there with me.
I will have the passages on the screen to follow along with, and you can open your Eagleville Bible Church app and click the notes tab to follow along there too!
Pray
Message
Message
God’s Plan of Deliverance
God’s Plan of Deliverance
The Heart of God
See, this is the heart of God that we need to capture from today’s message. That our God is a God of salvation that has a plan for your deliverance!
He had that plan since before the foundations of the world, and He wants us to trust in His delivering power no matter what we are facing right now.
Intentionality, love, and covenantal promise are what compel the heart of God to deliver His people!
Let’s look at how God worked through some key men in the Old Testament to enact His rescue mission for His people!
The first of these was Abraham.
Abraham
Hundreds of years before the enslavement of God’s people to the Egyptians, God foretold it to the father of His people Abraham! You can read this part of the story in Genesis 15, but this morning I want to look at Acts 7.
There, in verse 6-7, Stephen retells this story to the people that were about to stone him to death as the first martyr for his faith in Jesus Christ!
Acts 7:6–7 (NIV)
God spoke to (Abraham) in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated.
But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’
God spoke His deliverance for His people to Abraham way before they were even born and needed delivered!
Abraham ended up having Isaac, Isaac had a son called Jacob (which is Israel), and Jacob had a son that got sold into slavery named Joseph.
Joseph enters the scene
Fast forward in the story a bit and we see God using for good what people meant for evil and Joseph gets established as second in charge of Egypt when God brought a famine to that land.
The people of God stayed in Egypt in a land called Goshen. They were enslaved to the Egyptians and mistreated for hundreds of years.
Then, As Stephen puts it in Acts 7:17, ““...the time drew near for God to fulfill the promise he had declared to Abraham,...”
Moses steps onto the scene.
Moses had an incredible beginning!
He was almost killed by the Pharoah of Egypt, he was put into a basket and set among the reeds of the Nile river, and miraculously he was saved from that river by the daughter of the one that was seeking to destroy him!
Moses has this thing with water! The Nile river, the Red Sea, and the Rock.
Moses, who was beautiful to God and used as an instrument of deliverance, was living in the home, being raised up and strengthened by the one oppressing Israel who Moses will later be sent to to deliver God’s people from!
How many of you know that what once held us captive most times becomes the area God calls us to help others find deliverance from once we ourselves are delivered from it! We see it all the time in CR!
Wow, what a God!
Unfortunately, Moses ended up killing an Egyptian when he saw that a fellow Hebrew was being beaten. This caused a problem and Moses ran!
As a side note:
How many of you know that our tendency to run from our problems is great! Stop running from your problems. Address them and find a resolution.
Moses wouldn’t realize the calling God had for him for another 40 years in the land of Midian!
Burning Bush
Then God shows up to Moses in a burning bush, and He made a statement that I really want to pause on this morning because I believe it has the potential to bring someone healing today!
So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
God took notice of His people’s groaning and desperate cries and He was concerned about them!
Did you know that God is concerned about whatever affliction and pain you are facing?
Have you forgotten this truth?
Does this truth bring you comfort this morning?
Again, God says to Moses through a burning bush;
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
Catch the heart of God here folks. God is concerned about us!
Name of God changes
Now another detail that I want you to notice in the text with me is the name of God in these two verses!
Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Personal Name)
“As God exercises his power over Egypt to deliver his people, he reveals himself to be (both) sovereign and saving...”
The first is God (Elohim), the God who created and rules over the universe (Sovereign). This is who Moses hid his face from in Exodus 3:6.
But when talking with Moses about the children of Israel the name changes to LORD (Yahweh).
The change in form takes it from a common name of God, Elohim, to a proper name of God, Yahweh. Which means it is much more limited in scope and focused than the common name of God!
This indicates the personal Lordship of the God of creation that is self-existent and eternal yet so focused, loving, and intentional that He takes notice of our cries and says,
Exodus 3:8 (NET 2nd ed.)
“I have come down to deliver them...”
This becomes even more evident when in the New Testament we read that the Word, which is Jesus Christ (the eternal Lord of all), came from the Father and made His dwelling among men so that through Him all men might be saved!
See, An Agnostic might believe in the idea of a God (Elohim), but has a real problem with a personal God (Yahweh)! Like Pharoah, they might say “who is the LORD that I should obey Him?”..
If you are here this morning and have subscribed to the understanding of a God who is far off and unknowable, it is my prayer that today you may be able to see that God is the One who desires to show Himself to you as the personal and sovereign Lord of your life who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to this earth to rescue you from your sin and provide eternal life to you through Him!
Moses returns to Egypt at the Command of God
So, returning to our main story, Moses then follows God’s command to return to Egypt and save His people from the Egyptian affliction they were facing.
God laid out 10 plagues intended to soften the heart of Pharoah, but it didn’t work until the final plague killed the first born male, both human and animal, in every household in Egypt.
This was what is now known as the Passover, and it worked as Pharoah let the people of Israel leave Egypt!
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested!
God led them out of Egypt.
Exodus 13:18 (NLT)
So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea...
But…God led them by a different way than they expected. He took them on a path that was difficult and out of the way.
Doesn’t this happen so many times to us? We think things are going to go a certain way and the path ends up going a completely different direction!
So, why did God do this?
Because He knows the fickle nature of our hearts and said that if He makes it easy on them they would return to Egypt as soon as they faced opposition!
Appreciate hardships designed to build our character
O’ Church, we need to appreciate the times of testing and hardships that we face because they are working in us a resilience and building up character in us that would not be there had we not faced such a wilderness journey!
Although God led them into the wilderness, He did not leave them orphaned and alone!
God’s presence was with them and is with us!
During this journey, the Lord was present with His people through a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day.
Isn’t it true that we need God’s presence to guide us and remind us that He is near when we are on a difficult path that has led us into the wilderness?
Seek Him with all your heart and you will find Him!
The Lord turned back the people to camp at the Red Sea
Then the Lord told Moses to turn the people back to the Red Sea so Pharoah would think they were confused and chase after them again.
He said that He was going to be glorified when they did this and that the Egyptians would know that He truly was the LORD God!
Moses did what the Lord commanded him.
Sure enough, Pharoah did what God said he would. He took the bait, and came out after the Israelites with chariots, horsemen, and his army!
He overtook them while they were encamped by the sea.
And this brings us to our main verses for today then. Exodus 14:13-14
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.”
Do not be afraid
Do not be afraid
Exodus 14:13 (NIV)
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid....”
Now this is a really interesting command given by Moses to a people who were looking at the most sophisticated military of their day marching directly at them while their backs are against a sea of water with no escape!
Exodus 14:10 gives us a glimpse of the terror of this situation:
When Pharaoh got closer, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified. The Israelites cried out to the Lord,
Fear is natural
I would have been afraid too! The Red Sea at my back and the Egyptian army coming to attack me. Sure seems like a great time to be terrified, right?
Fear is a natural physical or emotional response to a perceived threat or danger, right?
There are times where fear is a good thing and actually motivates us to do good things like flee a potentially dangerous situation.
But, when fear becomes the all-consuming force you are operating from then it is a very damaging and unhelpful influence in our lives.
Many times fear will cause us to seek control of our situation and then we usually make a mess of things pretty quickly.
Like when getting attacked by a Grizzly Bear, fear will tell you that you need to run away and fast! But....it is actually better if you don’t run because the bear is much faster than you and you will actually kick its predatory instincts into overdrive and most likely die!
Much better to give up, lay down in a crouched position with your face to the ground praying that God will spare your life.
This will take an incredible amount of self-control and subjection of what we want to do naturally to what we need to do if we want deliverance from that bear!
Anyways, listen to Paul’s words here in 2 Timothy 1:7.
For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.
I don’t believe God expects us to walk through this life without having the physical reactions that come from being afraid. Our heart rate will increase, sweat will start to form, and possibly even shaking will happen.
Spirit of Fear
But, we need to allow the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to remove the spirit of fear that can consume our minds. We have to learn to submit our fears to our faith!
Holy Spirit gives us the power and a sound mind that produces self-control!
Self-control is to resist the urge to control our situations and to hand over control to God to deliver us from them! We need to cry out to Him and trust Him!
Cry out to God when you feel fearful
And…the Israelites actually did just that in verse 10, they cried out to the Lord!
That is the proper response whenever we face a dreadful situation. That is where our fear turns to faith!
We must cultivate a prayer life that regularly brings us to the Lord God for help in our times of need. A space that we can bring our fears and cares before the Lord because we know that He cares for us!
Fear leads to unhealthy behaviors
The problem is that after they cried out to God - they kept talking and their words ended up revealing the true doubt and distrust of the plan God had to deliver them.
Maybe that’s why Moses commanded them in the last phrase of our text to be silent!
Instead, they said;
and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What in the world 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 can serve the Egyptians, because it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’ ”
Fear causes memory loss
See, fear causes us to have a very short memory!
The very reason God showed Himself to Moses was to fulfill the promise He had made to Abraham to deliver His people when they cried out to Him to do so!
These people had already forgotten that they had cried out to God for deliverance from these Egyptian oppressors!
Fear stimulates illogical thoughts
They are actually convincing themselves that their time of bondage and oppression in Egypt would be better than being in the will and plan of God who was there to rescue them!
Think of Egypt as any place of oppression, affliction, or bondage in your life.
There are some here today that might be battling the temptation to return to your Egypt due to the fears you face and the difficulties you are experiencing as you attempt to follow God’s will and plan for you!
Contemplating a return to the substance that once held you captive, a divorce from a spouse because things are getting difficult at home, not making that appointment with the doctor because you’re afraid of the diagnosis that might come from that visit.
Fear, fear, fear.
If we are going to cry out to God, then we must have the faith to trust that His plan to deliver us is best. Even when that looks like a sea behind us and an army of enemies marching directly toward us!
The battle is God’s and we must Take captive every thought and make it obey Christ as we subject our fears to our faith!
God doesn’t fail to execute His plan
This current situation Israel faced did not indicate a failure in the execution of God’s plan!
O’ church, we must get this! Whatever insurmountable situation you are looking at right now does not indicate a failure on God’s part.
See, God told Moses exactly what was going to happen and why/ when He told him to lead the people back to camp by the sea!
He knew this would cause Pharaoh to chase after them and God would gain glory by conquering them and opening up a way when there seems to be no way (literally).
Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation, that he might reveal his power.
This whole thing was intended to bring the Lord God glory!
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NET 2nd ed.)
“So....whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
Our afflictions, our rescue, our sufferings, our salvation, our healing, our pain, our joy, our relationships, our everything is always intended to bring the Lord God glory!
It’s not about us! It’s always about Him - the God who delivers!
So don’t let your fears cause you to do something that robs God of glory. Instead, glorify God by standing firm in your faith!
Stand Firm
Stand Firm
Exodus 14:13 (NET 2nd ed.)
Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand firm...”
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (3656 יָצַב)
(to) resist,...be in a state of firm inner strength....and not moving or running away
Moses is telling the people not to allow their fear to cause them to run away, but to fight! But it’s a different type of fighting than we might imagine with an army marching toward them.
He is telling them to resist (to fight) the urge to run, to be immovable in their inner man!
Why or how could Moses tell the people that?
Because God gave him the outcome before it happened and he rested on that truth!
We can, and should, face the difficulties of this life fully convinced that God’s Word will come to pass!
Even though we may be fearful we can choose to trust in God’s will and plan over us!
Moses trusted in the God of the impossible, resisted the tendency to doubt, and didn’t allow the people’s murmuring and complaining to distract him from God’s plan!
Did you hear what I said?
They needed someone to lead and to remind them of God’s ability to do all things, and that is what we see Moses doing!
Left to themselves, Like a dog that returns to its vomit, these people would have allowed their fear to drive them right back into the arms of their oppressors!
They needed a leader who was fully convinced in God’s ability to deliver them!
Don’t compromise on your values, or the convictions you hold in regard to God’s will for your life right now, because of the murmuring and complaining of others around you!
Lead the way by submitting to God’s way!
So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.
There are a lot of you in this place today that have stepped into different situations that are requiring a lot of faith and prayer, and the enemy may be whispering lies into your ears trying to devour the faith you have in God’s plan!
RESIST HIM!!
Don’t allow fear to cause you to flee! Stand firm, and resist the tendency to believe those lies that you are not enough, able, adequate, or called by God to be in the position you are in!
See, the devil wants us to be convinced that the situation is bigger than the God of the impossible! He wants us to grumble and complain, to doubt the direction of leadership, to become defiant and run.
That will never result in glory and praise for our God who saves us!
So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.
Don’t fall as you wait for God’s faithful deliverance! Stand Firm!
Submit yourself to God and allow Him to fight your battles while you subject your fears to your faith in Him!
See the Deliverance of God
See the Deliverance of God
Exodus 14:13 (NET 2nd ed.)
“Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord that he will provide for you today;..”
Moses knew God was going to fight for them, but he didn’t know how it was going to happen! Yet he remained confident that God knew.
He didn’t know that the Angel of the Lord that was going before them in a cloud by day and fire by night was going to move from in front of them and go behind as well!
Moses didn’t know that the cloud was going to bring darkness to the Egyptian camp and light to the Israelites!
God’s people are always given the blessing of light! Hallelujah.
He didn’t know that he was going to extend his hand toward the sea and it was going to part and allow them to pass through on dry land!
I’m sure it astounded him when he watched the God who promised to fight for them throw the Egyptian forces into a state of confusion and fear as their chariot wheels literally became so jammed up it was if the had none!
Exodus 14:25 (NET 2nd ed.)
“…the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from Israel, for the Lord fights for them against Egypt!”
The enemy of God’s people, who were just hours before confounding and causing fear to tempt them to flee, were now confounded, fearful, and seeking to flee because of the reality they knew very well - God was fighting for His people!
O’ Church, that we might see the spiritual significance of this story beyond the physical miracle itself!
Our enemy trembles and flees when he knows we are trusting our Lord God to fight for us!
What would have happened if they would not have stood firm?
If they would have fled and allowed their fears to rule the situation instead of allowing God to rule over their situation?
They would not have seen the deliverance of God, this miraculous display of God’s power on their behalf that has been told and retold for thousands of years!
We must be resolved Church to stay calm, cry out to God, and watch for His delivering power to become activated in our unique situations.
I think I might know what you are thinking right now though. “But what if I don’t see it?”
“What if God doesn’t take away my cancer, heal my friend, fix my marriage, provide a job for me, give me peace, etc.?”
This is where I look to the great cloud of witnesses that Hebrews 11 references in the Great Chapter of Faith as those who were tortured, stoned, sawn apart, murdered with a sword, destitute, afflicted, and ill-treated.
Wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and openings in the earth and all were commended for their faith having believed in the power of God to the end without having received what was promised!
I believe we need to rise above the evil and wicked generation that Jesus talked to that required a sign in order to believe and do the right thing, and instead we need to have the resolve of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego which told their enemy this:
Daniel 3:17–18 (NIV)
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.
But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
I don’t know what your deliverance looks like but God does!
I can’t promise you a biopsy result that shows that you are cancer-free, that when you get home today your spouse will be revived and treating you just like Jesus would, that your next scheduled date to serve on a ministry team will go off without an issue, or that your application will be reviewed and accepted for that job position.
Stay calm! Look to the pillar of fire and the cloud that represents the presence and power of God with you, resist the temptation to return to that Egypt in your life, and cry out to God for Him to glorify Himself in your situation!
I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul.
You have not handed me over to my enemies but have set me in a safe place.
El Roi is the name that Hagar attributed to God when He revealed Himself to her in Genesis 16 when she was facing an affliction. It describes God as the God who sees us!
Be glad and rejoice Church that El Roi sees you and cares about the anguish of your soul. You are not alone!
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Do you believe that God is near when you call on Him?
Can you find encouragement in the message of Isaiah 41:10 where He says;
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you— yes, I help you— yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand!
Take risks and walk into the unknowns of giving, signing up to serve in that ministry opportunity, loving the unlovable, forgiving those that treat us badly, etc., knowing that God is right there upholding you with His victorious right hand!
The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
I know we want to take up our own battles, to fight our own fights. But listen to me.
Trust God to fight those battles for you. Like Pastor Bill says, let God do God stuff for you!
Exodus 14:13 (NET 2nd ed.)
“...for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again.”
It is unavoidable and important for us to see the significance of sight in this verse!
O’ be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father up above is looking down in love!
Whatever Egypt you are seeing today, God no longer wants you to see it as you direct your sight from it and onto Him forever!
By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure.
He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.
By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.
Set Your sight on Jesus and His power to save! Moses persevered as though he could see the One who is invisible!
We have the power through God’s amazing grace to resist our enemy, to overcome our fears, and to see salvation over that which seeks to oppress us forever!
Trust God to Save and Forgive You
Trust God to Save and Forgive You
Closing
Closing
For some here today, you may have to take that first step of trusting God to be your personal Savior. Of asking God (Elohim) to become your personal LORD (Yahweh)!
Maybe you don’t remember a time in your life when you asked the Lord to deliver you from the greatest enemy and force that is oppressing you - sin.
He is ready to provide forgiveness of those sins, to deliver you from not only the penalty but also the power those sins have over your life! Cry out to Jesus Christ to save you today.
To those that have already asked Jesus to save them, maybe we need to repent of living in perpetual fear, grumbling and complaining, a lack of trust in God, or returning to our Egypt. Repent right now.
For others here today, we just need a space to cry out to God for deliverance from that which is afflicting us!
If this message has reminded you of the need to cry out to Him, then do not quickly grab that coat of yours to leave, but take the time you need to cry unto the Lord right now!
Listen to these words penned by Charles Spurgeon that brought me much comfort on September 28, 2023:
When a tear is wept by thee, think not that God doth not behold; for, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper can incline his ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay his hand; thy faith can move his arm.
Think not that God sits on high taking no account of thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou art, yet the Lord thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.
Pray
Don’t give up Church! Keep pressing into God. Keep standing firm. Resist the enemy’s temptations and see the salvation of God!