Exodus 14 - The Salvation of the Lord
Notes
Transcript
The Word Read
The Word Read
Please remain standing for the reading of the Holy Scripture. Hear the Word of the Lord from:
10 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. 11 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? 12 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.” 13 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. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Behold, brothers and sisters, this is the Word of the Lord. Please be seated.
Exordium
Exordium
Beloved in Christ,
I invite you to open Holy Scripture to Exodus 14 this morning.
Today is Mother’s Day. Mothers get the joy of holding their newborns in their arms after carrying them in their wombs for 9 months—a precious life formed by the Lord. A Mother desires her child or children to grow up and be successful in life, finding a good job, marrying a wonderful spouse, and having children, among other things. However, for Christian Mothers, there is no greater joy than to know their child belongs to Christ Jesus. There is immense joy knowing that her children have repented of sin, are at peace with God, and desire to follow Him all the days of their lives.
This morning, we find ourselves sitting in the great triumph of Yahweh’s salvation as we peer into Exodus 14. Reading through this chapter is like riding a roller coaster. There is fear, sadness, anger, complaining, joy, and finally victory. Yahweh will prove to the Israelites that their redemption and deliverance are secured. They will never again be put under Egypt’s brutal slavery. Finally, sweet freedom has come.
As we read this chapter, our minds will think of creation as Yahweh draws the water together and brings forth the land. We will undoubtedly think of Noah’s Ark and God bringing salvation amid judgment. We will think of the outstretched arms of Christ, where our salvation was purchased, and when Christ took God’s wrath on our behalf on the cross. The salvation the Lord brings to Israel here is the great redemptive story of the Old Testament, and points us to the salvation that is to come in the Son’s redemptive work.
Exodus 14:1-9 - Egypt’s Pursuit
Exodus 14:1-9 - Egypt’s Pursuit
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed 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 ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
In what appears to be a random path, the Lord orders Israel to backtrack and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, which places them near the Red Sea. Pharaoh hears of Israel’s trek and believes they are wandering about, lost in the wilderness. However, this is all a divine ruse. Yahweh has hardened Pharaoh’s and his servants’ hearts. They now desire to have the Israelites back as slaves.
In ancient times, the gods were known for their temperamental nature. In one moment, they could be pleased with those who worship them, and the next be angry with them. So, it is relatively reasonable to think the Egyptians saw the Israelites confused in the wilderness and thought, “Oh, it appears as though Yahweh is displeased with them in some way. He’s led them out of Egypt only to remove His presence. They are lost, vulnerable, and our’s for the taking. They will be our slaves again.” They had no understanding of the providential nature of the Lord. He is working all of the details for His glory. The Egyptians will come to the Red Sea, they will be defeated, and Yahweh will get the glory over this mighty nation and their powerful army.
Pharaoh readies his army, and they march towards Pi-hahiroth. Israel left Egypt defiantly in victory, but it appears as though they are on the edge of heading back into slavery. A great, massive army is barreling down upon them. They have been overtaken. There is no way out. In front of them, Pharaoh and his great army. Behind them, the Red Sea. The stage is set for a great war between a highly trained and fierce army and a defenseless people.
Exodus 14:10-20 - Complaining & The Charge
Exodus 14:10-20 - Complaining & The Charge
10 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. 11 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? 12 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.” 13 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. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
The people lift up their eyes, and what do they see? Horses, chariots, horsemen, and an army. In that moment, what fills the hearts of God’s people? It is not trust in Yahweh. It is not remembering how He is their Divine Warrior who has already worked mightily. No, it is fear. Fear filled their hearts. Fear is a powerful emotion that can quickly overwhelm the heart.
Fear was not an unusual emotion for the people of Israel. In Isaiah 41:1-20, the Lord is reassuring His people that He alone is in charge of history. He gives these words of comfort to His people in Isaiah 41:14:
14 Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Yahweh tells His people that He is the one who helps them. I help you, says the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
I think we can all attest that fear is not limited to the people of Israel as they see the Egyptians marching towards them. How many times has fear gripped our hearts? Or, even more pointedly, how many times has fear paralyzed our hearts? We, like the people of Israel here in this passage, see the enemy forming an attack against us, and we forget the mighty works of the Lord. Instead of resting in the power and strength of Christ, we become exceedingly fearful. In times like these, Psalm 121 should be at the forefront of our minds:
A Song of Ascents. 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Hide Psalm 121 in your heart because fear will come once again. Sometime this week, fear will come seeking to sink its teeth into your heart, soul, and mind. When you lift your eyes, will you become exceedingly fearful like the Israelites here, or will you find strength in the resurrected Jesus Christ, trusting in God’s very Word?
In their state of inward fear, what is the outward response? Complaining and grumbling against Moses. “We told you to leave us alone, Moses. Did you bring us out here to die because there were not enough graves in Egypt? We should be slaves in Egypt rather than die in this wilderness.” What are they saying at the very core of their complaint? It’s better to be under the slavery of Egypt than to be free with Yahweh. In our minds, this would seem like an incredible complaint. How could you want to go back? Those Egyptians murdered your newborn baby boys. They murdered your children, and you’re willing to go back so quickly?
Fear struck the hearts of these vagabonds, who appeared to be wandering on the edge of the wilderness, leading them to lash out at Moses. “If you had just left us alone, Moses, then we wouldn’t have these problems. We were better off in our slavery before you arrived. We told you this was going to happen!” Complaining fills the mouths of these people because fear has taken control of their hearts. Show me a person whose mouth is filled with complaining, and I’ll show you a person whose heart is gripped by fear. Show me a family where grumbling and murmuring flow freely, and I’ll show you a family in a state of fear. Show me a church that is known for complaining, and I’ll show you a church held captive by fear.
One of the greatest tactics Satan uses to destroy, deceive, and divert people, families, and churches is to normalize sin and to make righteous behavior abnormal. If he can normalize sinful behavior, he can create chaos and confusion. A heart, home, workplace, store, or church where complaining has become acceptable and normalized behavior is a place of chaos, confusion, and sin. A heart, home, workplace, store, or church where complaining has become acceptable and normalized behavior is a place of chaos, confusion, and sin.
Yesterday, the women had an incredible time fellowshipping with one another. From everything I’ve heard, I think you ladies had a fun morning. However, I’ll say that I believe the men had even more fun than you all. We laughed at each other and made fun of one another.
For the women who attended the women’s breakfast yesterday, you heard my wife speak on the topic of joy. Before us lie the pathways of walking in either joy or fear. As Kristin read yesterday, Psalm 16:11:
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
A person whose words are life-giving is a person who knows the joy of the Lord. Why do they know the joy of the Lord? Christ has redeemed them, and this is a big AND, they spend ample time with Christ each day. There, they find the promise of Psalm 16:11: in Christ’s presence, there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. This morning, which is more true of you? Do your words bring life to those around you, or are your words filled with complaining and grumbling like the Israelites in this passage? Does fear grip your heart, or is your heart dazzled by the presence of Christ, causing you to be overwhelmed with the joy of the Lord?
You know the goodness of Christ is that He doesn’t grumble against us. He does not sit next to the throne of the Father, complaining against His brothers and sisters. No, instead, He intercedes for them. If anyone in the world has the right to complain against us, it is the One who died for our sins. Yet, He never does.
His desire is also for us not to complain against one another, but instead to speak life-giving words of encouragement to one another, helping one another grow into the image of Christ Jesus. We don’t complain about our spouses, children, co-workers, supervisors, or brothers and sisters in the church. We are called to tame the tongue, as James writes in James 3. He writes these convicting words in James 3:9-10:
9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
When we think of the home, who usually comes to mind as the one giving nurturing, life-giving encouragement? Is it not our moms? Moms, you have an incredible opportunity to speak life into your children by sharing words of Scripture and the gospel with them. It doesn’t matter if they are four or 44; continue to speak life into the children you love.
In verses 13-14, we see Moses’s response to the people’s complaining. He tells them,
13 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. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Moses gives no credence and no energy to the complaints of these people. He tells them to remove their fear. Then he gives them two commands: 1) Stand firm, and 2) See the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. You can imagine the weight of pressure Moses faces as millions of people cry out and complain. Yet, he says, remove your fear because Yahweh is about to remove the Egyptian horsemen, chariots, and army who are marching towards you from your life today. Just be silent, for Yahweh is your Divine Warrior who fights for you today.
Here is how He will fight on their behalf. Moses will stretch his arms out, the Red Sea will be divided, and they will walk through the sea on dry land. God hardened the Egyptians’ hearts, and they followed the people of Israel into the Red Sea, only to be destroyed. Why? What is the purpose of this? God will get the glory over Egypt, Pharaoh, and Pharaoh’s army. The Exodus points us to the glory of God in every way.
The last few verses of this section present us with a question: “Who is the angel of the Lord in verses 19 and 20?” Many answers have been given over the last few thousand years. I believe the Angel of the Lord seen here is the same Angel of the Lord in view in Exodus 3 at the burning bush. Ultimately, I think this is a preincarnate Christ. Christ brings protection to His people. He came between the people of Israel and the Egyptians, so that the Egyptians were unable to enter Israel’s camp. And today, Christ is still the protector of His people. None can snatch His people out of His hand. Christ provides spiritual protection for His sheep against Satan and the hosts of the demonic. Right now, Christ is your protector. He is protecting you in ways that you cannot even imagine against the dark forces of this world. Jesus is your protector, carefully shielding you from principalities and rulers that you cannot see.
Exodus 14:21-31 - Deliverance
Exodus 14:21-31 - Deliverance
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being 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 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
The moment has finally come. Deliverance is finally here. The Lord drove back the sea by a strong east wind, the water of the Red Sea parted, and the people of Israel walked through on dry land. This is not the work of Moses, but the work of Yahweh. He is the mighty God who is working all things for His glory. Moses is His servant.
The army of Pharaoh rushed in after the Israelites, hoping to capture them, but the Lord caused the army to be thrown into chaos, and they experienced problems with their chariots. One could only imagine the chariots sinking into the soft ground. In a moment when rationality returns to the Egyptians, they discover that Yahweh fights on behalf of His people against them.
The Israelites have crossed the Red Sea. Moses raised his hands, and the waters crashed down upon the Egyptians, killing all in the Red Sea. Just as the waters during the flood rose, so now the waters of the Red Sea come crashing down, taking the lives of God’s enemies. Like the Flood, God saves His people from judgment. In Genesis, Noah and his family are saved from God’s judgment as they float in the Ark. In the Exodus event, God’s people are saved as they walk through the waters of the Red Sea. Their victory is now secure and will be forever.
Salvation has come to the people of Israel. Before their eyes is an incredible scene, the dead bodies of the Egyptians wash up on the seashore. This is a graphic picture that screams out — your slavery to Egypt is dead. The people have seen the mighty work of Yahweh. They fear and believe in Him, and they believe in Moses, Yahweh’s servant.
This event is a landmark that the people of Israel return to often throughout the Old Testament. It is the story of their redemption. It is the story they tell their children during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. God has miraculously saved them, not because they were worthy or powerful. No, they were saved because of the compassion, steadfast love, and grace of God.
This entire event causes us also to reflect, ponder, and meditate on the work of Christ. We were just like these Israelites sitting under the bondage of sin. We were slaves to sin without any power to gain freedom. We had no hope within ourselves to see deliverance. Yet Christ saved us out of our misery and despair.
It was at the cross where Christ’s arms stretched high—the wrath of God bearing down on the sinless, spotless, and innocent lamb of God. It is at the cross where God’s justice and mercy meet. Justice is required because of sin. Yet, mercy flows because God so loved the elect that our sins were imputed to the Righteous One. There on the cross is the suffering servant.
Moses is the greatest prophet for the Jews. He was an outstanding servant of the Most High. The author of Hebrews writes these words about Moses in Hebrews 11:23-26:
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
Yet the author of Hebrews also makes it very clear that Jesus is greater than Moses. He writes in Hebrews 3:1-6:
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Moses was a servant in God’s house, testifying to what would come later. Yet, and hear this difference, Christ is faithful over, not in, as Moses, God’s house, the Church, as a Son. Christ is truly greater than the great prophet of the Old Covenant.
Moses, though a great servant, did not put the Egyptians to open shame; that was the work of God. So, Jesus is greater because He defeated the evil spiritual forces, publicly shaming them when He was crucified on the cross (Colossians 2:15). Jesus is awesome and truly greater than Moses.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Thousands of years ago, Christ secured the victory in His life, death, burial, and resurrection. For those in Christ, we experience this victory to a degree. We no longer sit under the chains of sin’s power. Yet, we also know that Revelation 19-21 is soon to come. Christ will return, He will defeat all His enemies, and we will enter paradise glorifying and enjoying Him forever. As the Israelites continually looked back to the Exodus, let us continually return to the cross, where our great Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, bringing deliverance to our weary hearts.
