Stand Still

Exodus 14:1–14 KJV (WS)

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. 4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. 5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? 6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. 9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. 10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. 11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. 13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Introduction

It’s the last day of 2023.

How did the year go for you?

Did everything go exactly as planned?

Were there some unwelcome surprises?

Were there some unexpected blessings?

New Years are funny things.

On one hand, they are full of hope and opportunity.

On the other hand, there is a lot of uncertainty.

How can we deal with the disappointments, trials, and fearful circumstances that come our way?

The Bible, as always has the answer.

God directs the people to the exact place they need to camp.

Moses didn’t pick out their camp site.

God specifically guided the people to the place where he wanted them.

No one could reasonably assume otherwise.

God led the people through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

The location of their campsite sets up a well-established situation.

To the North and West the Israelites were hemmed in by mountains.

To the East was the Red Sea.

The Israelites are boxed in on three sides.

This wouldn’t have been that bad of a stopping place.

God obviously directed them there.

They only had to worry about enemies coming from one direction.

They had no reason to expect that anyone would give them in problems.

So, everyone probably felt pretty secure.

I imagine that the general feel in the camp was positive overall.

God let Moses know, however, that the security would be short-lived.

As the Israelites made camp, Egyptian spies report back to Pharaoh.

They tell him about the landscape that has entangled/trapped the Israelites.

They must have thought it was quite funny how the foolish slaves had allowed themselves to get hemmed in so bad.

Stuck between the mountains and the sea, Israel had nowhere to retreat.

The King of Egypt lamented his decision to let the Israelites leave.

So much of his country’s economy was dependent on the 100’s of thousands of free laborers.

Having let them go, his economy would certainly suffer.

This would mean less money, which would mean less influence, which is basically the same as less power.

For Pharaoh, the decision is easy.

He has to get the slaves back.

He gathers up his chariots to pursue after the Hebrews.

600 chariots against the Israelites is basically like 600 tanks against civilians.

Pharaoh will either bring his slaves back or their would be an unimaginable massacre.

It wouldn’t take long to catch them either.

Panic ensued when the Israelites noticed the Egyptians had tracked them down.

There must have been some who had the thought, “but he said we could leave!”

As fear grips the hearts of the Hebrews, they begin to frantically run their mouths.

There isn’t really much else they can do, after all.

They can’t run, they are trapped by geography.

They can’t fight, Pharaoh has 600 chariots.

This is one of those situations where you are completely out of control.

There is nothing you can do to fix the situation.

The way so many people respond to this is to lash out verbally.

The Israelites cry unto the Lord.

They verbally attack Moses.

They accuse him of bringing them into the wilderness to die.

They accuse him of intending for this to happen.

They claim foreknowledge that this is how they would have ended up.

They express a preference to have left things as they had been rather than pushing toward something better.

Moses responds to the people’s panic with a 3-point message + application.

Fear not.

Fear of man, circumstances, and the unknown all stem from a lack of faith.

We are to fear the Lord and that is all.

We have to get used to the fact that we don’t know all of the details of what our lives will hold.

The Israelites, though, knew that God had promised to bring them to the promised land.

The disciples knew that God had told them to sail to the other side.

We know that recipients of the gospel are promised eternal life.

It’s like we are at A, God has promised to bring us to C, but we just don’t know yet what B entails.

It doesn’t matter what B entails, because we should have faith that God will bring us to C.

Moses tells the people, do not fear.

Stand still.

Second, he tells them to stand still.

There state of panic had led to a lot of nervous energy.

They were looking for some means of escaping their situation.

I can just see some of them ready to leave the elderly and the children behind so they can flee into the mountains.

Perhaps others were looking for wood to fashion a raft to take their chances on the sea.

Part of the command to stand still is to cease moving.

Another part of this command is to be at peace.

Peace in the face of danger can only come when one is confident in their security.

Remember how the Hebrews had gotten this far?

First, God put His power on display with the 10 plagues.

Then, God had manifested His guiding presence in the form of the pillars of cloud and fire.

You would think that these people would have been pretty confident in their God’s power to save.

And yet, they needed to be reminded to stand still.

Don’t retreat.

Don’t try to fix this yourself.

Don’t be filled with chaos.

Be Still!

Watch God work.

Specifically, see how God brings salvation into your life.

We know how this is going to end, but think of the confidence that Moses expresses.

He claims that the Hebrews will never have to see the Egyptians again.

The Lord will fight for them against their enemy.

Fear not, be still, and watch God.

Those are his three points, but what was his application for them?

Hold your peace.

Be quiet.

This is the essence of the gospel too you know.

The fear and uncertainty regarding the afterlife?

The feeling of helplessness in the face of our own guilt.

Fear not.

Don’t try to solve it your self, you cannot.

Watch God save you through Jesus when you repent of your sins.

Application

With every new year we face the challenge of uncertainty.

Can anyone tell us all that 2024 will hold?

No, we don’t know what 2024 will hold.

You may not be finishing 2023 the way that you hoped.

You may be facing a situation right now that fills you with fear.

You may feel trapped and like there is no way forward for you.

Whether there something in your life right now, or a test of your faith is upcoming in 2024, we all need to be reminded of Moses’ words.

Fear not.

Stand still.

Watch God move.

Conclusion

I had the privilege of talking to one of my heroes over Christmas break.

Many of you know Bro. Sam Davison.

He was asking about the building project.

I told him we were close to starting.

He told me he’d been a part of 3 major building projects.

He said he was so excited for us.

With a $3 million project there will be some bumps in the road.

This is an opportunity for all of us to watch God work.