To the Sea and Through it (Ex 13:17-15)

recap where we are in Exodus

Heading South to go North (13:17-14:9)

(this section was heavily influenced by Ben’s Stuarts sermon titled the same name preached at Breakaway)

So in this section we get a serios of geographic references that coordiantes to their migrations of the people

The Problems

-God does not take his people the shortest way

-God takes his people in the opposite direction of where they’re supposed to be going

- God camps his people in the worst possible location

- The people are overtaken by the army of Pharaoh

The Response of the people - 14:10-12

Exodus 14:10 ESV

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

they do cry out to God - which is interesting

BUT immediatley after that, what do they do

Exodus 14:11 ESV

They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

the hebrew translation - its not translating the conjunction and/but. So it should read “the people cried out to the LORD, BUT they said to moses...” and “they creid out to the LORD AND ALSO said to moses...”

They cried out to God for two seconds and then ran back to complaining against God and Moses.

How often do we do this? How often do we hit a moment of crisis, or we face challenges too big for us to handle - and we get on our knees and we call out to God.... but 5 minutes later we’re back to acting like he cant save. We run back to gossiping to our freinds, we turn back to social media or technology to numb us from our situation, or we turn back to an old sin pattern that we swore to leave behind. We are just like these people. When things hit the fan, we often want to run back to the very things that were holding us captive in the first place.

Exodus 14:11–12 ESV

They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

they doubt the good intent of God

When our lives go in different directions that we hope, how easy it is to doubt the goodness of God. To think he doesnt know what he’s doing, he’s not in control, or worse - he just doesnt care.

So why does God put his people in situations like these?

Why does God often not take us straight to the promise land?

Why does God often lead his people in the most confusing ways?

Why does he so often put us between death and the impossible?

we’re going to look at this question next week too, so i’ll give you two tonight that we see in the text and we’ll take about a few more reasons next week

-You’re not yet ready

The first reason we see in the text is that God does not take his people on the shortest path because they couldnt handle it.

Exodus 13:17 ESV

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”

We dont always see the terrors and pitfalls in the shortest path to where we want to be. Its easy to dream of a promise land, but we often neglect the battles along the way.

So why does God sometimes divert the plans and expectations of our lives? We arent ready yet.

If God gave us the desires of our heart immediatly, we often wouldnt be the kind of person we need to be to walk faithfully with him. I have said this a bunch in here - we often use David and Josephs as examples of this - God had to build the character of these men before he placed them in charge of kingdoms. But the one character in the Bible we see God give everything he could ever want, king Saul, he misues power, mistreats his people, doesnt walk faithfully with God and basically goes insane by the end of his life. God will often take us away from the green pastures and in to the wilderness because he has to build our character. It is far more important to him than simply getting us to where we’re going.

-God is more glorified through this path [maybe move this to the end]

people will reference this event later in the bible, there is more glory to be had

How does Moses respond?

Moses exhorts the people v13

Moses has faith v14

Exodus 14:13–14 ESV

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

What does Moses' response reveal about his trust in God's ability to deliver the Israelites? How does this apply to our own lives?

How does God respond?

God was with them the whole time

Exodus 13:18 ESV

But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

Exodus 13:21–22 ESV

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Salvation through water - 14:15-31

Call back previous water themes in Genesis: chaos, birth/life and judgement

What do we see happen in this story? How do these themese reverberate and perhaps fine their hight of definition in this story?

God saves his righteous people

But God destroys his enemies

Future water themes? crossing the jordan, Judges story water flood, Jonah

Baptism - Jesus’ and ours

What paralells do you with Jesus baptism and the Red Sea crossing?

carried into the wilderness after

Spirit of God is there (spirit descending, ruach blowing on the waters)

What paralells do you with our baptism and the Red Sea crossing?

Romans 6:3–4 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Colossians 2:11–12 ESV

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

How should we respond to this kind of radical deliverance?

Fear

Faith

Worship

A Song of Deliverance and Judgement - 15:1-21

Exodus 15:1–21“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them…”

What are some observations about this song?

What themes are present in the Song of Moses and Miriam, and how do they reflect the Israelites' experience and understanding of God?