Moving Forward With the Lord

This life is a journey made up of years, and months, and weeks, and days.. It is easy to get caught up in the seconds and minutes of the days and forget what God is up to. This morning’s message hinges on two words found in verse 15 that we will read together in just a moment: go forward. While two words in English, this one Hebrew word conveys the idea of progress and journey. My hope this morning is that we can be encouraged in the midst of the walk with Christ as His disciple to continue to move forward.

Read Exodus 14:1-15

The first half of this passage of scripture provides us with important context prior to one of the top formidable Old Testament stories from your childhood.

The people of Israel set up shop right next to the sea. The Lord informs Moses that Pharaoh and the Egyptians will pursue the Israelites. However, because of that, two things will take place: the Lord will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host and they will know that He is the Lord. We will see the fulfillment of this further down in verse 18.

Pharaoh has a moment of panic. He realizes that the entire workforce for the people of Egypt had just been released. So he climbs into his chariot along with the whole army to pursue the people of Israel until they are surrounded.

The people of Israel look up to see the Egyptian army drawing near and they cry out to the Lord. But as they cry out, they begin to grumble and essentially claim that Moses led them out to the wilderness so that they might die there. The complaining gets to a point where they claim that it would have been better if they stayed in Egypt and continued to serve as slaves.

The command from Moses to the people is important for what comes next: Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord.

The truth here is an eternal truth. The Lord will fight for us. He will work for our good and on our behalf. Many times, all we have to do is remain silent.

Verse 15 is the center of today’s message. “Tell the people to go forward.” There are moments when faced with difficulty when the only thing that we can do is continue to go forward. We go forward with the Lord. Ordinarily, the message from here would be why we should go forward with the Lord. However, I want to look at what happens when we do move forward with the Lord. First,

If you move forward with the Lord… the Lord will make difficult circumstances easier (v. 16)

As the people move forward, Moses is given instruction to divide the sea so that the people are able to move forward to the other side. The reality here is that the people of Israel found themselves in an impossible situation. They are trapped between the sea and an angry army. They’re calling out to God and fearing for their lives. There doesn’t seem to be any good way for them to be saved.

And yet the Lord does the impossible and parts the sea so that they can safely escape to the other side. This is what seems at first to be an impossible situation. Yet the Lord, in His almighty power and sovereignty intervenes on their behalf.

But I want you to notice that this situation is only made easier. There are still difficulties here. They are still being pursued at this point. They still have to continue moving forward. As we approach situations in life, our God provides miraculous solutions that can only be attributed to the Lord. They don’t take all of the difficulty away but they most certainly lighten the load.

This is a solution that would have never been considered by the people because it would have been impossible for them to pull off. But because they moved forward with the Lord, that situation is made better.

The Lord intervenes but what comes of that situation besides a difficult situation becoming easier?

If you move forward with the Lord… He will get the glory (v. 17)

This is not just the case in this situation but is the case each and every time. Specifically, the Lord states that He will get the glory over Pharaoh and his people. This is phrased in a way that makes us think of Pharaoh as the enemy of God, which is true based on what we’ve read in Exodus. But this happens all the time.

In a difficult situation, God provides what would seem to man to be an impossible situation. The only explanation is that a high power intervened and resolved the situation. While some in the world look at this and wonder what it could be, those that know God know the truth: that the Creator of the Universe is almighty and is in control of everything.

We’ve all heard stories of this sort of thing. My favorite is told by missionaries to Africa who had a tent set up for important vaccines for the people. They were running out of the medicine to give out to people and there were still people waiting in line to be treated. The line continued to dwindle and people kept coming through and the nurses thought surely they would run out of supplies. Yet, they were able to treat everyone that came on that day. Some might have just explained this away that the nurses weren’t very good at math. Yet, those who believe in God know that this was a miracle.

When God gets the glory, others take notice. Next,

If you move forward with the Lord… others will come to a knowledge of the living God (v. 18)

To have knowledge of God is important here because there are so many times where Pharaoh seems to acknowledge the God of Israel but he doesn't ever actually submit to Him. This might be more of a philosophical discussion but I believe that if a person truly has a knowledge of God, then they will be so compelled because of this knowledge that they won’t have any other choice but to submit themselves to Him. The phrase “know that I am the Lord” is a reference to the fact that the God of Israel is the only true God. It is well known that the Egyptians had many different gods that they would sacrifice to and worship.

In this case, the moment when the come to knowledge of who God is, the Egyptians are being swallowed up by the Red Sea. They now understand that there is only one God who controls creation. Yet, it is too late for them to do only logical thing in this situation and submit to Him.

As we consider knowledge of God, I simply want to ask you this morning whether or not you live each and every day as if there is a God in heaven? Do you love others as though there is a God who loved you first? Do you live as though Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins?

It is vital that we consider the mighty works of the Lord and desire to live for him in light of His power.

The people were not yet out of the woods yet. They needed the Lord’s help to move forward

If you move forward with the Lord… the Lord provides protection from our enemies (v. 19-20)

While the sea would be split so that they could walk right thru, the Egyptian army would have been much faster and caught them before they could reach the other side of the sea. God repositions Himself in the form of the pillar of cloud and fire so that there would be distance between His people and their enemy.

The ultimate enemy that we have is Satan. I believe that God positions Himself between us and Satan to keep us from the destruction that could come. I also believe that there are moments in our lives where God has intervened and we had no idea that he has. If we will continue to move forward with Him, He will keep us from evil, just as Jesus prays in Matthew 6.

Up to this point, the sea hasn’t been split but we read in 21 and 22 that it is.

If you move forward with the Lord… the Lord’s power is put on display (v. 21-22)

There isn’t a better way for God to put his power before the world than by working through sinful, imperfect people. Often times when I look at situations in the world and see the hand of God, the opportunity for God to be at work at all comes from something that one of us humans managed to mess up. That isn’t the case here, though the sinfulness of Pharaoh could be pointed out.

It is when God moves that others are able to marvel at not just how God works but also the sheer amount of power that operates with. It is possible that we forget at moments the level of power that is needed to create something out of nothing. In the case of God, His power is amazing. It quite literally inspires awe in us. But beyond taking dust and turning into a man, the fact that He could take a faithless sinner and turn him into a man surrendered to the will of God is even more amazing.

The world is able to see this if we will keep the faith and continue walking forward with Him.

Because of the power we can see

If you move forward with the Lord… our enemies are defeated (v. 23-28)

The enemy does not always come in the form of another person. In fact, I would guess that most of us here today don’t have a true enemy in this world. Instead, we have sin from our past that still lurks in the corner. We have an enemy that comes in the form of pride. We have an enemy that comes in the form of turning to old habits.

But what happens when that enemy is knocking at the door and there doesn’t seem like there is anywhere to go? The power of God provides us a way out. It might be the Holy Spirit bringing to mind a scripture that pulls us away from that enemy. But it is the power of the Lord that defeats that enemy.

But we must be faithful and continue to move forward. Trust that God has placed you on the right path.

Finally,

If you move forward with the Lord… a fear of the Lord and belief in Him is instilled (v. 29-31)

These final three verses are a reminder for the people. Who caused the ground to be dry beneath their feet? Who saved Israel from the Egyptians? From whom did the power to defeat this army come from? It is the Lord. It is His power.

There is a necessary reverence that we must have for God. It is vital that we both fear him but also believe in Him and the leaders that He has put in place in our lives.

When times get difficult, we must continue to move forward. With trust that God will provide. With faith knowing that He is able. With a fear and belief in the one true God.

Are you on the right path?

Are you on the path but discouraged?

Can you celebrate because you moved forward and you can look back and see how He worked?