The Pathway to Deliverance

Introduction: Her name was Aramenta Ross, and she was born on a plantation into slavery in 1820. She learned bible stories from her mother and would come to faith in Christ at an early age and it would be her Biblical conviction that would influence her decision to escape from slavery in 1849. Following her escape from slavery she would change her name to Harriet Tubman and would return to the south thirteen times rescuing 70 slaves including most of her family. Her courage and well-known religious reputation would earn her the nickname Moses… as an abolitionist, she would devote her life to liberating people who were trapped in the same diabolical system of raced based chattel slavery that she was born into.

Later in life when she was asked about how she found the courage in to keep on returning to rescue others… She stated simply, “I told the Lord I will hold steady on to You, Because I know that You’ll see me through” ...

This statement attests to the reality that Harriet Tubman believed that her deliverance from the bondage of slavery was not tied merely to human effort, but God was leading her and fighting on her behalf!

Transition Statement: And friends that’s the primary thrust of this passage. This climactic scene in the book of Exodus demonstrates to us...

Primary Claim: God delivers His people by leading us through the process of trusting Him to fight our battles.

Because God is fighting to set you free despite the evil forces that want to keep you in bondage!

That’s where our text meets us today….

Transition Sequence: Israel has just experienced the greatest moment of their nation’s history. God has led them out of the country in which they were subjugated to the diabolical and oppressive system of slavery for the last 430 years. Up to this point in the book of Exodus, the children of Israel have witnessed God demonstrate His power and display His glory through his chosen leader Moses.

Moses whom God saved as a baby by means of a wicker basket floating across the Nile River amid a mandate to murder every Hebrew male. And shaped His life for 40 years in Pharaoh’s palace in Egypt.

Moses who God sustained his life as a fugitive on the run after murdering a man out of anger, fleeing to Midian, and spending 40 years in obscurity.

God would then use Moses to display His glory… Through His bold confrontations with Pharoah…. Ten Plagues concluding with the Passover and the death of every first born in Egypt… God has put His Glory on full display, and He has led them out of Egypt into the wilderness with a Pilar of cloud by day and a Pillar fire by night!

God got Israel out of Egypt…. But now that they are in the Wilderness…God has to get Egypt out of Israel.

So, while they camped in Pi-Hihiraoth a distance between Egypt and the Red Sea… God hardens Pharoah’s heart and causes the Egyptian army to pursue the children of Israel… So, with six hundred chariots Pharoah and His army begin to chase down Israel in an effort to capture them and bring them back as slaves in Egypt!

As they drew near the inevitable happened… Israel saw them approaching from the distance…. And instead of believing God for deliverance after witnessing all that God has done to get them out of Egypt…. The children of Israel are filled with fear and despair… and they begin to complain. The fear exposed their mentality of inferiority and complacency, and they expressed a desire to live as slaves in Egypt instead of fighting for their freedom in the wilderness… “Were there no graves in Egypt... is that why you brought us to die in The Wilderness….

The Children of Israel are faced with the internal dilemma of fear and despair … While staring at the external dilemma of a Raging army behind them and a Red Sea in front of them…. And now

Organizational Sentence: This three-way conversation between God, Moses, and God’s Chosen people is an entry way into the process of Israel’s deliverance throughout the entirety of chapter 14.

And this descriptive sequence of God’s deliverance of Israel can help us as we trust God when we are in need of deliverance ourselves.

You may not be facing an army behind you…. But instead, you need God’s delivering power

Maybe it’s a sinful habit that got you tied in a web of dishonesty.

Maybe it’s a lack of self-control that has resulted in your own personal misfortune.

Maybe it’s a toxic relationship that you keep running back to

Or a thing that you keep running back to in order to self-medicate ….

God wants greater for you! He wants you to have true deliverance and not settle for cheap comfort!

Transition Statement: God’s pathway to deliverance, first requires us to Confront your fear with Conviction.

I.                             Confront your fear with Conviction (v.13-14)

That’s right confront your fear with conviction. You cannot fix it if you never face it. You can not overcome what you intentionally avoid. That thing will handle you if attempt to hide from it. So instead of cowering in the face of fear, God is calling his people to stand with confidence, honesty, and clary and confront the thing that you that for some way or another is causing you fear.

Fear is the first thing that Moses addresses as he responds to the actions of the sons of Israel. He says Do not Fear!

a.        The Fear of What you see (v.13a)

Fear is an unpleasant emotion that we feel as a result of a perceived threat. Moses acknowledges that you are looking at is a fearful situation. He knows that when opposition arises often our first response is fear… and fear can cause you to veer away from the will of God and slip back into your old way of doing things…. Fear is the enemy of your deliverance.

b.       The Faith in What you know (v.13b)

So instead of falling victim to the fear of what you see. You must shift your perspective from fear in what you see to faith in what you know. So, Moses tells the children of Israel to look at something different! Stop grumbling or complaining, because that is a sure way to talk yourself out of what God has for you… but instead Moses says Stand still see the Salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you! Remove the grumbling from your talk and the panic from you walk…. Instead stand still and witness the salvation of the Lord!

The Egyptians that you see, you will never see again! I don’t know who I am talking to but when moments of fear come over you… You need to combat the fear of what you see, but rehearsing your faith in what You…. Sometimes what difficulties arise you are going to have to talk to yourself more than you listen to yourself. And when you do you better recite the word of God!

Moses addresses their fear… Gives them a statement faith….. then He reminds them that the fight is not theirs in the first place!

c.        The Fight is not yours (v.14)

The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent! Since God’s ultimate plan is to demonstrate His glory. The Sons of Israel were not in any real danger but instead they were exactly where God wanted them to be! Because what was at stake was not their lives but it was God’s glory and God would protect His glory at any cost!

I love this because this first section allows us to peek over to how God protects Israel in verse 19. In verse 19, the presence of God that is  in the form of a Pillar of Cloud… That Pillar of Cloud went from guiding them from in front…. And God shifted its role from guide to protector and He placed His presence between the Egyptian army and the Children of Israel.

When He did this the Pillar of Cloud obstructed view of the Egyptian army from seeing Israel… and it kept Israel from looking at their problems and all they can see is the presence of God.

Because in the presence of God you have both protection from your enemy and provision to help you make it through! You want to know how you are going to face your fear with conviction you better remain focused on being in the presence of God! As a matter of fact… how do you think you made it this far in life it isn’t because you are so awesome and so righteous… But the reason you have been able to endure what the enemy has thrown at you is because you protected and preserved by the presence of God!!! While God fights for you!

Transition Statement: You have got to Confront your fear with Conviction…... Second you have Continue walking with God through the Obstacle.

II.                         Continue walking with God through the Obstacle (v.15-16)

It doesn’t stop with confronting your fear… Now you and I must go through the obstacle. You can’t go around it. There is no option to avoid it… But if you want deliverance the only way is to go through the obstacle. But the good news about being a believer in Jesus Christ is that you never walk through anything alone!

a.        Go Forward (Children of Israel) (v.15)

The conversation shifts from Moses talking to the children of Israel, to now Moses is having a conversation with God. Moses is crying out to God. Moses is asking for direction. Moses is a leader that is dealing with the External opposition of the Egyptian army, the internal opposition of the grumbling of His people… And now He is faced with the obstacle of the Red Sea. This is a massive body of water that stood in the way of their escape from Israel… but please remember that they aren’t there by accident God has led them there!

The Lord tells Moses “Why are you crying out to me” tell the children of Israel to go forward! Moses, I know that you see the Red Sea, but you have to trust God enough to keep moving forward. Moses, I know that the children of Israel seem as if they don’t fully trust your leadership, but you have got to lead them forward. I know that the obstacle seems insurmountable, but I am here to encourage you to move forward. Because sometimes what deliverance looks like coming face to face with the obstacle and keeping it forward moving as you trust God.

The reason that Moses can tell the people to move forward is because He knows that God will perform the miraculous!

b.       God will perform the miraculous (v.16)

So now God gives Moses the blueprint to His deliverance… and it turns out the tool of His deliverance has been with him the whole time. God uses what Moses already possess and allows it to represent His power to perform the miraculous. The staff in his hand

The Lord says to Moses lift up your staff and stretch out your hand toward the see! And divide the waters. And when you do that the Sons of Israel will walk through on dry ground.

That’s exactly what God did through Moses. With the Red Sea in front of him and His staff in his hand … verse 21 tells us that Moses stretches out his hand toward the Red Sea and God sent an east wind and all night long this East wind begins to divide the Red Sea. Moses with His staff stretched out… and for hours the weather changes and with hurricane like winds God begins to part the Red Sea.

The Bible says that waters went from raging to standing like walls on each side. The Red Sea would divide, and this division was wide enough to allow an entire nation of people to walk through! And just like Moses and the children of Israel… when God wants to accomplish your deliverance… He just may lead you to what looks a dead end in order to propel you into deliverance!

God has a reputation of turning dead ends into platforms for deliverance!

Examples-

-              Abraham the sacrifice of Isaac

-              Joseph in Prison

-              3 Hebrew Boys in the fiery furnace

-              Daniel in the Lion’s Den

So, the Children of Israel go forward through the Red Sea and as their walking they are witnessing the Power of God. They are looking up and seeing the wall of water on each side…. But that isn’t the best part of this miracle. The best part is that when they walked through the divided sea…. …they went through on dry ground. God not only made a way through the obstacle…. But he made the pathway through safe, secure, and void of any resistance.

As a result…  After walking through the Red sea their sandals were dusty and not muddy…

What was supposed be muddy was dry ground…

Mud sticks to you, but dust can be easily shaken off you! God brought the people through a sea on dry ground and when they got out, you couldn’t even tell that they had been walking through a place saturated with water.

Let me tell you the result of God’s miraculous deliverance… You don’t look like what you’ve been through!

I just want you to know that God has stopped leading people through obstacles in Exodus 14… But somebody here can testify that you don’t look like what you been through

You were given the diagnoses…. But now that you are in remission… You don’t look like what you have been through.

You dealt with the traumatic experience….. But although it happen to you it doesn’t define you and God didn’t let it destroy you… And your still standing… You don’t look like what you been through! 

Your marriage was on the rocks…... But now God has restored your marriage and your mentoring other couples…. Because you don’t look like what you’ve been through!

You went through a season of unemployment…...

The business plan failed…..

The Investment didn’t work out….. But through it all God sustained you… and restored your finances…. And now you don’t look like what you’ve been through.

You better learn keep on walking with God through the obstacle because God not only has the power to lead you through but when you make it over…... You won’t look like what you have been through!

Transition Statement: Confront your  fear with Conviction…..Continue walking with God through the Obstacle… Lastly, Count on God to handle the Opposition

III.           Count on God to handle the Opposition (v.17-18)

Count on God to handle the opposition! Oh, family I wish I could tell you that your deliverance would be void of opposition. I wish I were able to tell you that as God begins to work out His power in your life, that there aren’t forces of evil attempting to make you go back to the places that He delivered you from. You need to know that after God leads you through the obstacle the enemy will use every tactic He has to get you shrink back from all that God is calling you to be ….. There will be opposition to your deliverance…..

Oh, but I got good news friends…. The Good News is God can handle your opposition….

a.        Harden the Hearts of the Egyptians (v.17a)

In this three-way conversation, there is one final shift in the conversation. Now God begins to tell Moses what He will do as this deliverance unfolds. God demonstrates His sovereignty and lets Moses in on His plan. God is going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will chase after them… and Ultimately He is going to Gain His glory through Pharoah, The Egyptians, Chariots, and Herdsmen.

And at the conclusion of chapter 14 we witness God do just that! The Egyptian army, led by Pharoah witnesses the power of God as Israel walked through on dry ground… As this east wind is restraining these two walls of water. God has hardened the hearts of Pharaoh and His army so much …. That they think that the same favor applies to them. The Egyptian army begins to chase after the Sons of Israel … and for several hours it appears as though they are going to catch up with the Sons of Israel…. But although they get close Israel goes unharmed. Because can handle the opposition!

And He this very moment is orchestrated that He can Gain His Glory!!!

b.       Gain His Glory

So after hours of pursuit as the sun begins to rise and morning is on the horizon. God looks down through His Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire…..and He confuses the Egyptian army. All of the sudden wheels of the their chariots began to swerve, and it became difficult to drive their chariots …. The conditions got so bad for the Egyptians that you can literally hear them saying…. “Lets us flee because The Lord is fighting for Israel and against us! God prevents them from getting close to Israel Because He is going to gain His glory through the Egyptians

c.        Know that I am the Lord.

Oh but it doesn’t stop there…. Yahweh has one more point to prove to Israel and Egypt…. And He is going to prove His point through Moses! You will know the He is the LORD your God. The name for LORD in this text is Yahweh God’s covenant name with Israel. God is keeping His promises and demonstrating His omnipotence!

So, God tells Moses to stretch out His hand over the waters…. And the same waters that were divided for Israel…. Are now closing in of Pharoah’s army… The Most powerful political and military force in the world has now entered into a liquid grave…. And the Children of Israel witness God deliver them from their enemies, and now God has vindicated His chosen people…. by completely eliminating their enemy… because God knows How to handle our opposition

Conclusion: This is text contains one of the most significant events in redemptive History. God demonstrated His power through His leader Moses to liberate the children of Israel from the evil rule of Pharoah. Here God uses Moses as a vessel through whom HE would demonstrate His power through! Moses would emancipate God’s chosen people, Led them to trust in God, Give them the Law the Festival and the  Covenants! God used Moses

But as amazing as Moses was…. He fell short in many ways! I can think of another liberator who liberator that delivered us all by the power of His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension!

Jesus Christ is the ultimate example. And the only way to experience true deliverance and a lifetime of spiritual freedom … It is only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ!

So don’t leave today without establishing a saving relationship with Christ.