Living Life in the Spirit, Trusting God

Intro

I have called today “Hawaiian Shirt Shabbat.” This isn’t because I have any particular affinity for Hawaii, though, having spent a week there many years ago, I do think it is an incredible place to visit. Nor is the type of fashion I would usually choose to wear. I called today “Hawaiian Shirt Shabbat” because of the legacy of one godly man.

Yesterday was the birthday of our late Rabbi John Powledge. And his Hawaiian shirts, some of which you are wearing today, are a core memory of him for me. I sat under many a sermon where the only thing louder than John’s shirt was his booming voice that rang true with the words of Scripture.

As I read this week’s Torah portion, I felt like it was, in a way, telling a story that our Rabbi John also lived. So I have titled this message, “Living Life in the Spirit, Trusting God.” Today we will be covering Exodus 13:17-15:26 as well as Romans 8:1-14.

Exodus 13:17-22

Today’s Torah passage recounts God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, leading them through the wilderness and parting the Red Sea to escape Pharaoh's army, culminating in their worship and praise after their miraculous escape.

Let’s read the account of God leading them through the waters first.

Read Exodus 13:17-22

The first verse gives us the title of this Parashat, Beshalach. It begins “vay-he beshalach Paroh, et ha-am.” This translates directly to “After Pharoah sent the people.” Beshalach is a form of shalach, meaningto send or let loo se.

But God, in leading the Israelites out of Egypt, did not take them directly to the promised land. There was a direct route, and they did not take it. They were taking the scenic route, not the highway. God, in his perfect foreknowledge, took Israel in the route they needed, not what was may have appeared to be the best route in human eyes.

God went with them. Think about this for a quick minute. Up to this point in the Bible God had revealed himself to mankind just a handful of times.

He was in the garden with Adam and Eve

Enoch walked with God (Gen 5:24)

He appeared to Abraham (Gen 18)

He wrestled with Jacob (Gen 32)

He spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3)

Five times. We can count that on one hand. And now, in an incredible way, after having systematically destroyed the gods of Egypt and much of Egypt’s prosperity along the way, God now visibly appears to all of Israel – a few million people – in the form of a miraculous pillar of fire by night and cloud by day.

This is stunning to me. God is demonstrating His love for Israel by providing them a visual presence, one that anyone can see, for miles and miles around. Which is important for them as they have quite a large encampment.

Exodus 14:1-14

Read Exodus 14:1-14

But the pillar wasn’t just a visual guide to Israel. In this passage, God used this form of Himself as a military strategy, because He wasn’t done showcasing His power over the Egyptians. He had one last god to defeat – Pharoah himself. The Lord allowed Pharoah’s hard-heartedness to get the best of him once and for all. It wasn’t enough for Pharoah that most of Egypt was destroyed or that he had just lost his oldest son. He had never known defeat, so how could this God of a people he despised truly defeat him.

Pharoah’s pride was his downfall. Pharoah chased Israel and God let the Israelite people get cornered. They were truly trapped between Pharoah and a massive expanse of water. There was nowhere to go. And they flipped out. They were scared and let Moses know. It was life or death, and it looked like death was knocking. But Moses trusted in the Lord, and he told the people in 14:13, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today.” The torah uses the word “yeshua” there as salvation.

Isn’t this foreshadowing incredible? Yeshua is salvation. He is the ultimate deliverer from sin and death, and God is about to save Israel from what seems to them to be certain death, leading them through the waters of the sea and into a new life on the other side.

God offers the same salvation to you and me. Our death is certain because our sin must be judged. Yet, the free gift of the cancellation of sin and its obligations is offered by God through Yeshua. And once we embrace this gift, we can truly live a new life without worrying about the enemies of our past, no matter how powerful they once were.

Exodus 14:15-31

Read Exodus 14:15-31

For Israel, the situation they were in was impossible to escape in their own power. They might have offered some level of resistance, but it was futile. They were to learn exactly what the Apostle Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 12:9. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul added, ‘therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness, so that the power of Messiah may dwell in me.”

God literally made a way where there was no way. He used his pillar presence as a military strategy, position Himself between the Egyptian army and the Israelites. He made it dark on Egypt and light over Israel. Then He split apart the waters of the sea all night long and allowed the Israelites, along with all their carts and flocks, to pass through the waters on dry ground.

As they finished doing so, as if to give Egypt some hope, God left the water passageway open and allowed the Egyptian army in to chase after Israel. But it says God caused them to panic, and their chariot wheels fell off. And the Lord had Moses stretch out his hands over the sea and close it back up, right over Pharoah and his army.

This kind of situation is, again, as I noted before, similar to our situation when it comes to sin. Yeshua illustrated this in his parable of the unforgiving servant. The initial servant had an impossible debt to pay off, what was equivalent to billions of dollars. And yet the king was willing to forgive when asked. Of course that parable tells of how this servant did not reciprocate the benevolence shown him to others, and was ultimately punished for it. But your sin, my sin, is an impossible debt. We have no means to pay it off. Our judgment fate is sealed. But the hope we have is that God has made a way through Yeshua to be forgiven.

Exodus 15:1-21

Read Exodus 15:1-21

In response to their salvation, their deliverance from the hand of the Egyptians, the Israelites gave glory to their deliverer, God Almighty. They sand a song describing His powerful works and His lovingkindness. We are familiar with v11 as we sing it weekly in our blessing “Mi Kamocha”. Who is like you Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in praises, doing wonders?”

And this response that Israel gave is an example of how we, both individually and collectively, should respond to the salvation given by God. We need to offer our praise, not just in the moment of salvation, but daily as God continues to display His grace upon each of us. This praise should pervade our lifestyle to one where we desire to live our lives as a life of praise to God.

Paul reminds us of this in Romans 12:1-2, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Exodus 15:22-26

Read Exodus 15:22-26

Our initial deliverance doesn’t mean life is on easy street forever. Israel learned that lesson quickly as they traveled into the desert and couldn’t find fresh water. The had to continue to trust in Adonai’s provision.

We too face obstacles in our journey towards maturity in Messiah. God will allow us to be tested. He will allow thorns in our flesh. He will allow us to suffer. He chastises those He loves. And my encouragement is that you learn from Israel’s post-salvation rebellion and that you maintain faith in God’s sustaining provision and healing. His grace truly is sufficient for you.

Romans 8:1-14

Read Romans 8:1-14

A God’s grace is sufficient for us, we must learn to walk in His Spirit. We have been set free from the land of slavery that is sin that leads to death. So we need to no longer liver according to our flesh. We must allow the Spirit to form us and reject our selfish desires that seek to keep God’s provision only to ourselves. We must be a people who are walking in the Spirit, and encouraging each other to do so. This is where the vibrancy of our life will reside. This is how we will walk as a people praising God in His salvation. We put to death the deeds of the body and we truly live!

Application and Closing

At the beginning of my message I said that this week’s Torah portion truly reflected the life of John Powledge. How does it do so?

I’m not going to recount the many stories that could be told. But I will say that he and Annette truly lived a life of trust in God, walking in His Spirit. They left a comfortable American life, against the advice of their family, to pursue God who was calling them into ministry that would take them into the former Soviet Union and much later into Zimbabwe. They trusted in God to provide everything they needed, to open doors where none seemed open. They opened their doors to those who needed a place to stay. They gave generously from all that the Lord provided them. John continually walked in the Spirit of the Lord. The John I knew was one who was eager to praise the Lord. He had the most vigorous “Hallelujah” that I’ve ever known.

My encouragement to you is that you do the same. Be eager to so whole-heartedly walk in the Lord’s guiding that you are even willing to ignore the advice of those who may not have the Lord’s work in mind. Give yourself to the praise of the Lord as you live your life, trusting in the provision of the Lord. He is faithful to both protect and provide. It might not be a miraculous pillar, but it won’t be any less real.