Salvation Will Be Accomplished

Exodus 14 NASB95

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. 3 “For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 “Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; 7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. 9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘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.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. 14 “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16 “As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17 “As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 “Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.” 19 The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24 At the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.” 26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. 29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

Introduction

For quite some time we’ve been immersed in the information age that we’re in. Have you ever thought about how many of our routine questions of the day can be answered with the enormous amount of information that’s available at our fingertips? If we were to ask, “What’s the weather going to be like today?”, we might sooner pick up our phone rather than look out the window. If you’re on a road trip and ask, “Where are we?” we’re probably more likely to pick up our phone than look out the window. One of the most fascinating things to me about this age is the ability of a pilot to land a massive plane in fog as thick as soup with just his instruments. He’s not looking out the window hoping to hit the runway, he’s looking at the information his instruments have provided him to get him where he needs to go. We don’t even think twice as passengers any more.

There are certainly downsides to this abundance of information that is always at our fingertips, but there’s something to be said about the limitations of our eyes in times of adversity. There’s only so much hope and direction to be found by looking out the window if you will. Looking out the window in the midst of a storm provides little hope. Looking out the window provides little hope that you’ll arrive at your destination unless you have directions, and simply looking out the window in the fog gives absolutely no hope for a pilot that he’ll land safely.

As we look to Exodus this morning, there’s a repeated reference to what Israel is seeing with their eyes, and very early on we find them looking out the window in fear and desperation. Is the solution simply more information? That’s the way our world thinks today isn’t it? If we have a problem, all we need is more information, more reasoning, more scientific advancement… Israel’s fear isn’t resolved by simply looking in more places for more information it’s looking to the right person in faith. Moses says to them, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; Stop looking out the window at the world and look to your God who will save you!” Israel’s fear is challenged by a call to faith in God which ultimately leads to their salvation - that place where their faith is finally made sight.

Our main point this morning:

Looking at the world gives us every reason for fear. Looking to God gives us every reason to believe that our salvation will be accomplished and one day our faith will be made sight.

Fear: despairing in what we see (vs. 1-12)

Faith: hoping in God for what we don’t yet see (vs. 13-25)

Salvation: our faith turned to sight (vs. 26-31)

Fear: despairing in what we see

We closed our time last week looking at God caring for His people as a faithful shepherd. Day and night He is with them in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. He’s leading them onward to Mt. Horeb while being considerate of their weaknesses; God ensures his people do not encounter war with the Philistines just yet and now God begins to give Israel some directions through Moses.

He directs them to a very particular campsite near the sea. God provides three specific locations as bearings so they know exactly where they need to be: Pi-hahiroth, Migdol, and Baal-zephon. There’s no shortage of debate on exactly where these places were, but the long and short of it is that Israel needed to go East and right in front of them is a sea. You might imagine the glances the people might start giving Moses. Moses is the navigator of course, getting his directions from God, yet people may be asking questions at this point. “Does Moses know where he’s going?” “Shouldn’t we be going around the sea?” “What’s the plan here?”

In the eyes of Israel, this probably isn’t making a lot of sense. God hasn’t provided His people with the grand plan on the front end has he? We’re familiar with the story perhaps. We’ve maybe grown comfortable with the idea of God leading His people to the Red Sea because we know what happens next. Think for a moment what it’s like to be Israel. You might know generally what the plan is. “We’re going to the mountain and eventually we’re going to end up in Canaan, but for the moment... there’s a sea in the way!”

What Israel doesn’t see is perhaps the most important facet of this story. What is God doing that Israel is unaware of? God doesn’t lay out the whole plan, but he does give Moses a glimpse of what’s going on. What is God’s purpose in providing these very specific directions?

Exodus 14:3–4 NASB95

3 “For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 “Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

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Pharaoh, clearly hasn’t totally put Israel out of his mind. He likely has scouts keeping an eye on them as they leave the land bringing back word of there whereabouts, and as they do so it becomes apparent to Pharaoh, Israel has no idea where they’re going. God’s purposes likely aren’t apparent to Israel and clearly aren’t apparent to Pharaoh, but God is bringing this to a proper conclusion.

God hasn’t put Egypt out of His mind either. Even after all of the plagues there still remains a lack of fear and understanding of who the LORD is in the eyes of the Egyptians. There’s glory for God yet to be gained from the downfall of Egypt’s army - the remainder of their strength as a nation. In God’s rightful pursuit of glory, He will harden Pharaoh’s heart to bring about one final battle between Himself and Egypt. Unbeknownst to Israel, God is setting the stage for His own glory.

So what does Pharaoh do? His hard heart reasons that they’ve acted foolishly letting Israel go:

“What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

So Pharaoh gathers a force of 600 select chariots along with many others, horses, and an army. They catch up to Israel in the exact place God told them to camp - beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

If you look at this scene for just a moment from a military perspective, Israel is in the midst of a tactical nightmare.

For one they’ve positioned themselves in a position with no retreat. There’s only water at their back.

Two, water is always the low point on the battlefield. They’re right next to the sea watching Egypt take the higher ground.

Thirdly and plainly, Israel is not trained in any kind of warfare. They’ve been slaves for hundreds of years!

If we’re just using our eyes at this point, this is truly a hopeless situation… and in the moment Israel thinks as much.

What is their response in verse 10?

Exodus 14:10–12 NASB95

10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘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.”

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If you look at verse 10 by itself, it’s almost praiseworthy. It’s much like many of the Psalms if you think about it. They see with their eyes the desperate situation they’re in, there’s fear in their hearts, and they cry to the LORD.

Perhaps this is where their hope will be renewed like the Psalmist.

“Yet God is my king from of old Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth...”

(Psalm 74:12)

No, not quite.

There’s a glance at God in desperation then everything from then on is accusation against Moses. Notice how many times they say, ‘you’ as if God had no part in this.

“you have taken us away to die...”

“Why have you dealt with us in this way...”

“we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’ ...”

...

In reasoning with their eyes alone Israel has made multiple errors.

For one they’ve concluded everything is over, they’re utterly forsaken, and they’re all going to die in the wilderness.

Secondly, they’ve totally removed God from the picture.

Thirdly, all of their accusations against Moses are completely false.

Moses didn’t take them anywhere, God did!

Moses hasn’t dealt with Israel in any way other than what God has expressly told him.

and it wasn’t up to Moses whether or not Israel was going to leave Egypt, God was the one who decided to bring them out!

...

We can see the world without absolute clarity, but if we’ve forgotten God, then we might as well be blind. You would think you would know when you’re walking blind, but it’s not always so apparent. It sneaks up on us doesn’t it?

How do we know we’re reasoning without God in view and relying upon worldly eyes to make sense of our situation? There’s multiple ways we could approach that question, but let’s just look at the text:

Despair - If we’ve arrived at a place where we’ve given up hope, then it’s likely we’ve slipped into a worldly blindness. If at any point we conclude, “there’s no way out, there’s no way forward, it’s all over” then it’s likely that somehow God has been removed from the picture. There are some of us who may truly know what despair feels like, but it’s likely that most of us don’t experience such immense crisis that we’re brought to the point of despair. Very often they’re minor crises which give way to anxiety. There’s not an army on the horizon, but maybe there’s a health burden, a financial burden, the burden of parenting… Whether it’s anxiety with lighter burdens or outright despair with unbearable burdens, the heart of the matter is who bears the burden? We’re anxious because we think we’re the only one bearing the burden of our well-being. The only reason we don’t despair in the moment is because the burden is bearable. We despair because we think we’re the only one bearing the burden of our well-being and the burden is crushing. We do well to ask ourselves? Who bears the burden of my physical well-being? Who bears the burden of my financial well-being, my children’s well-being, my spiritual well-being? If there’s anxiety or despair it’s likely God isn’t the picture and we’re left bearing the burden.

Accusation - As we bear that burden that’s overwhelming to us in the moment, sometimes we look for someone else to bear it. God’s not in the picture so at times we shift it to someone else in the form of accusation. We’ve all been there haven’t we? Things aren’t going well at work and there’s that little thought in the back of your head, “Boy my boss needs to get his act together.” Finances are tight so we direct our anxiety toward the government for the economy we’re in. Perhaps more than anything else, the burden of work, finances, and kids ends up directed at our spouse doesn’t it? If only you did this or that then we wouldn’t be in this situation… “If only you had listened to us in Egypt when we said leave us alone, we wouldn’t be in this situation about to die at the hand of the Egyptians.” Hits kind of close to home if you think about it.

In moments of anxiety and despair we need to ensure we move the burden in the right direction. The temptation is always to move it horizontally, to the people we can see with our blind eyes. Real relief occurs when we move the burden vertically, if you will - give God the burden! In order to do that we need to see Him in our situation, and in order to see Him we need eyes of faith.

—-

Moses has just received a thorough drubbing from Israel, but he doesn’t stoop to this game of pass the burden. He says don’t look to me, look to the LORD!

Faith: hoping in God for what we don’t yet see

Exodus 14:13–14 (NASB95)

13But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.

14“The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.”

—-

Firstly, Moses gets to the heart of the matter. This isn’t merely behavioral. He could have addressed their false accusations. He could have defended himself. There are plenty of good arguments he could have thrown back at them, but he knows the problem is in their hearts. He says, “Don’t fear.”

There’s a saying in the construction world.., “Gentlemen, are we digging holes or just moving dirt?

Moving dirt out of a hole just to put it back in again might look like you’re getting something done, but it’s really just moving dirt around. Moses doesn’t even bother trying to put the burden back on Israel by defending himself. Moving burdens with accusations and arguments feels like you’re getting work done, but in reality we’re just moving dirt. Moses says, don’t fear. God carries that burden you think you bear alone!

“Stand by and see the salvation the LORD which He will accomplish for you today.

—-

Three times Moses addresses what they see, and what does he begin with? What’s the matter of first importance? The very thing they can’t see now but.. will see soon. Their salvation is yet to come, it’s in the future, but God will accomplish it! It’s the thing which requires faith to grasp and not merely worldly eyes.

He calls them to believe in the unseen, and only then addresses the burden at hand:

“the Egyptians you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.”

—-

and even that burden is seen with eyes of faith knowing that God will surely relieve them from it.

Notice the contrast between Israel’s worldly blindness and the faith of Moses! The both come to very different conclusions and boils down to” Who is going to meet their demise?” Apart from faith, simply looking with our eyes at the schemes of the world, the flesh, and the devil we so naturally conclude that we are the ones who are doomed. Yet when we look at the world with eyes of faith, awaiting what the LORD will do for us, it’s the schemes of the world, the flesh, and the devil which will meet their doom. When God is done with them, we will never see them again forever!

I love how Moses puts it to Israel

4“The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Notice Israel’s frantic attitude in all of this, “what are we going to do? We’re going to die” then Moses says, “Stand by, watch, keep silent, you’re not the one fighting this battle. The LORD will fight for you.”

By nature, faith recognizes there are burdens we cannot bear ourselves. God must bear the burden and we must wait for Him to do the work which only he can do.

Salvation belongs to the LORD. He is the one who gives life and causes the growth.

The church is the LORD’s. He is the one who will build His church.

The earth is the LORD’s. He is the one who will make it new.

—-

Should we attempt to bear these extraordinary burdens in the face of the schemes of the world, the flesh, and the devil, we will surely despair. Yet what does faith actually look like? Is it truly just standing, watching, and staying silent? Sometimes it really is waiting for God to do the work that only he can do, but Israel isn’t static, or unmoving in our narrative either. What does God say to them?

Exodus 14:15–16 NASB95

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16 “As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

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There are certainly times when prayer is all we can do, but very often there’s a time for faith to take action in accord with God’s provision, and in this case God’s provision is abundant!

God will make a way that only God can provide.

As Moses stretches out his hand over the water the sea is parted such that walls of water stand on both sides of the narrow way.

The ground is even dry. Ground that has been buried under the sea for centuries will see the light of day and dry out so God’s people would have a firm footing on their way to salvation.

The angel of the LORD which has been leading them in pillar of cloud and fire will move to their rear guard until the way has been opened holding back the army of the Egyptians.

When the Egyptians are finally let loose to pursue Israel, God is the one who causes them to stumble in their confusion.

—-

Israel is called to action through faith, but God will never cease to be their powerful deliverer through every step. He is the faithful, caring Shepherd, and he is the one who will receive the glory in the end!

When I read this passage I can’t help but think of Psalm 23 as God leads his sheep through the valley of the shadow of death. There’s no deeper valley than standing at the bottom of the sea with two walls of water standing on your left and on your right. Two walls that if God does not hold them will mean certain death.

Psalm 23:4–5 (NASB95)

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.

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In the presence of certain death and the threat of enemies at their back, God is with them as a faithful shepherd.

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The truth is that our life as the church, as followers of Christ, is a call to walk that valley of the shadow of death.

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In our baptism we declare to the church, we’ve been buried with Christ in death. We are new creations dying to ourselves and living to righteousness. It’s not a life that satisfies our eyes. Dying to self is not a glamorous pursuit. Picking up our cross rarely promises comfort, safety, or riches and at times slavery may even sound better than the valley of death before us. It’s a foolish endeavor if all of our hope remains in what we can see.

If however, we look with eyes of faith we can see that the valley of the shadow of death is the way of Christ. It’s a narrow way, but it’s the only way of salvation. We can look death square in the eye and know by faith, this is not the end. There’s no need for fear because death cannot hold us because Christ is risen.

Paul in his letter to the Romans

Romans 6:4–5 NASB95

4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

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Against all worldly wisdom we can actually take comfort in the valley of the shadow of death because Christ is there with us. With eyes of faith we hope in God for what we don’t yet see.

As the Psalmist concludes:

Psalm 23:6 NASB95

6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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The valley of the shadow of death is not the end for those who are in Christ, and until that day when we will see Him face to face on the other side of death, He fights for us.

Even the Egyptians in their blindness and unbelief witness all that God is doing for His people.

Exodus 14:25 NASB95

25b so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

Salvation: our faith turned to sight

There will come a day when our faith will be made sight, and all will be made right. All that the world was striving for will be wiped away before their eyes, and the salvation which God’s people hoped for from a distance will appear before their eyes in full.

Exodus 14:26–28 NASB95

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.

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All of Israel’s fears are wiped away before their eyes. They are literally standing by and watching with their own eyes the salvation of the LORD as the enemies of God are swallowed up in death once and for all. No longer will the people of God need to fear the enslavement which God delivered them from because there is no one to enslave them any more.

...

How do we look upon the enemies of the church today? How do we perceive the schemes of the devil, the ambitions of the world, and even the desires of our own worldly flesh? For one we know they are not to be trifled with. The devil is a roaring lion, the world is enticing, the heart is deceitful. We ought not diminish the ability of these powers to cause us to stumble, but even in that stumbling, even in our fear, we can know that God will not let us fall. He will bring His own - His redeemed - to the end, and in that end when our faith will be made sight, all our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil will meet their end.

There’s a foolish confidence that says, “I don’t need to worry about any of things. I’m impervious to it all.” But there’s also a confidence of faith that can say with certainty, “The world, the flesh, and the devil have no power over my God, and one day they will meet their end, Christ will conquer, and our salvation will be accomplished.”

Knowing the demise of our enemy is certain, brings us confidence for today in the valley of the shadow of death. Do you know that? Are you confident in that reality?

When we look out the window into the world and are tempted to despair for the evil that we see, we can say with the confidence of Moses, “The Lord will accomplish salvation for us and there will come a day when the enemy we see today will never be seen again.”

Maybe we don’t have to look outside if you will. Maybe we just look through the window of our hearts and we see sin... For we who are redeemed, bought by the blood of Christ, we can say with the same confidence. The LORD will accomplish salvation for us and there will come a day when the deceitfulness and sin of even my own heart will never be seen again.

That day may be far off, but it will come as surely as God would bring His people across the Red Sea.

Exodus 14:30–31 NASB95

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.

—-

When all that has been foretold - when all that we’ve put our faith in from a distance without sight finally appears before our eyes, God will be the one who receives the glory and we will gladly worship Him. We will witness the conquering of death, sin, and the devil once and for all and on that day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We will fear Him because we see Him fully and we will worship Him because we are finally in His presence.

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Two points of application as we close.

Know that Christ is with you in the valley of the shadow of death! We are the redeemed, bought by the blood of Christ and He will not forsake us to the enemy of sin and death. We’ve been buried with Him. We bear our cross with Him, but even in death Christ is with us and we will surely be raised with Him. It’s a deserving prayer, “Father, help me to know and believe that you are with me in the valley of the shadow of death.”

Secondly, does your brother or sister know that? At times we stand as Moses did watching our fellow Christians fear as they look out upon the world. If we’re honest, at one time or another we need a Moses in our life to come alongside and say, “Why are you looking at the world, you know God will accomplish your salvation and one day all of this will be behind you.” Maybe you can be Moses to someone else this week. It probably won’t be as bold or public, but maybe it’s a quiet prayer with them or a gentle reminder that Christ is with us in the valley and not even death can keep us from Him. We need that simple reminder! One day our faith will be made sight! One day the Lord will accomplish the work he began and salvation will be accomplished in full.

Let’s pray.