The Red Sea

Exodus: Set Free to Live Free • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Before the Red Sea opens up, the Israelites see the Egyptian army descending upon them, ready to overtake them at any given moment. In their great fear, Moses calls out for the people to FEAR NOT--STAND FIRM--and SEE the salvation of the Lord. ALL of this BEFORE God reveals to Moses what He's going to do to make this happen.

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Welcome

Well good morning, Park! Good to be with you all! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan Osborn and I serve as the pastor here for our Forest Glen location. If you’ve got a bible with you, open up to Exodus chapter 14. . It’s on Page 56 in you have one of the blue house bibles from the seat in front of you.

Men’s Study ANC

Introduction

Have you ever had a WHAT NOW moment? Do you know what I’m talking about? It’s one of those situations where you’re just left wondering what on earth is going on? It feels like getting the wind knocked out of you a bit—the proverbial rug gets pulled from under your feet and you’re left holding the pieces; not really a clear way forward.

All of us have been there at some point—you just wonder about what is going to happen next…and yeah, there are a RANGE of different ways we experience that tension…sometimes it’s a bit more petty…though it probably doesn’t feel like it in the moment…but I’m talking about a season where maybe at work you feel stuck—job’s not really going anywhere soon. You don’t particularly hate the work…but you’re not exactly excited about it. And the end of the day—there not much risk of anything terrible happen if you stay in the same spot—but you know it’s time for a change—just not sure to what.

and there I know all of us have been there at some point—you just wonder about what is going to happen next…and yeah, there are a RANGE of different ways we experience that tension…sometimes it’s a bit more petty…though it probably doesn’t feel like it in the moment…but I’m talking about a season where maybe at work you feel stuck—job’s not really going anywhere soon. You particularly hate the work…but you’re not exactly excited about it. And the end of the day—there not much risk of anything terrible happen if you stay in the same spot—it’s just not very fun. [expand example].

But then there are the crisis moments. I’m talking about when you no longer have a job and you don’t have a back up plan.

What do you do when you’re cornered…

We’ve got to know it’s not a matter of if will experience this, but when.

And the question is....what do we do in the WHAT NOW moment? How do navigate them?

The reason I’m bringing this up is because this kind of what now moment is exactly what is happening is the part of Exodus story we’re looking at this morning. And they way Moses responds is not what we would expect.

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to Exodus chapter 14.

I’l pray, and then we’ll get started.

PRAY

Exposition

Recap

Passover ()

If you were here last week, two of our Elders at Park, Moises Sanchez and Brian Basler, did a great job of teaching through the Passover Story—that God was going to provide a way out of experiencing the last plague over Egypt; the death of the first born son in every family. That the Israelites, were supposed to take the blood of a lamb and place it over their door-post…as a sign of their obedience to God…and the plague itself would passover their household and they would not experience death.

And this

But it’s NOT until this final plague—with the death of the firstborn son—that Pharaoh finally responds. You can see what he says on the screen behind me () [SLIDE].

Exodus 12:31–32 ESV

Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

Exodus ()

And this is the moment. The story has really been building to this point—where the Israelites are sent out by Pharaoh. And it’s not just Pharaoh who sends them out…all the people of Egypt are pleading to have the Israelites leave because of Plagues they have experienced.

But it’s interesting…because we really don’t get very much detail about the actual exodus itself. Moses, who we believe wrote the book, doesn’t spend way to much time on the details of what happens—He just tells us in a few verses that it happens. And it’s odd because you’d think that if he’s spent 12 chapters leading up to this—he would spend a little more time describing it for us!

But he doesn’t.

And that’s not to say that the moment of the Exodus is unimportant. No! In fact, God tells Moses to set up a yearly celebration of the moment they left Egypt—called the Feast of Unleavened bread… Moses explains it this way to the people (, ). “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place…You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of t Egypt.’ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.” SLIDE

What’s the point? See—the Exodus story is about SO MUCH MORE than just Israel being enslaved, and then Israel being free. It’s actually all about what GOD has done! It’s all about how GOD has brought them freedom. How God has done for Israel, what they could not do themselves…and you see this even in the celebration that Moses sets up for them [SLIDE with underlines]. They are to remember how THE LORD brought them out—they are to remember who brought them freedom—not just the freedom itself! Or to say it another way, the details of what happened are not nearly as important as why it happened…And what Moses understands is that going forward, God’s people need to be convinced that they are free because God did exactly what He had promised to do!

It’s this reminder to:

Look back to see what He’s promised.

Why am I telli

Look back to see where He’s been faithful.

Look back to see where He’s been kind.

Look back to see where He’s come through.

Look back to see what He’s provided!

And it really is brilliant the way Moses articulates this for the people because when we hit one of those What Now moments…looking back is often the last thing we do. Instead, we get hyper focused on what’s playing out right in front us and our current situation.

And as you continue going through the story of Exodus…this is exactly what happens to the Israelites almost immediately after they leave Egypt. They have one of those What Now moments.

Courtney and I went to Park City Utah on our honeymoon [picture]. At that point in our lives, neither of us had really been to see real mountains like we saw out there…and it was great timing when we went because it was the VERY beginning of the summer tourist season—so everything was open for business, but it kinda felt like we had the town to ourselves because no one was really there.

We got these passes to ride the ski gondolas through the city—they’d take you up in the mountains and you could hike down—that kinda thing. So one morning, I decided to get up early…I went down to the coffee shop—got some coffee for us—and we took our first early morning ride through the mountains…which honestly, in my head, was going to be MUCH cooler than it was.

See, here’s the thing. If I looked strait down—it really didn’t look like we were that high…you know, it was like 20 feet off the ground…which was NOT what I was expecting…and then of course, you look ahead of you and there’s still this mountain…you don’t really feel like you’re making that much progress—at least it doesn’t much look like it.

[EXPAND]

Confusion in the Wilderness ()

As they are leaving Egypt, we’re told at the end of chapter 13 () that, “…the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” [SLIDE].

And miraculously, it’s God himself who is leading them out…but he doesn’t take the route that makes the most sense. We’re told He takes them out into the wilderness toward the Red Sea. But they end up taking this pretty erratic route. If you follow the details of the story, Israelites move from a place called Succoth to Etham, and then they turn back to settle in a region called Pi-Ha-hiroth. Normally, I’d show you on a map where these places are…but actually we really know know exactly where these things take place—but let me show you the general region.

And Pharaoh is keeping an eye on what the Israelites are doing—and seeing this erratic behavior, he comes to the conclusion that they have no idea what they’re doing…they’re just wandering...and all of a sudden, something clicks in Pharaoh’s mind again. He says this in chapter 14 verse 5 (), “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

He thinks he’s made a HUGE mistake in letting them go! In his mind—it doesn’t matter everything that’s happened with the plagues…the death and destruction that came with them…all that matters to Pharaoh is that he’s just lost his work force!

So he get’s his army together—hundreds of chariots and soldiers—ready to descend on the people of Israel who are camped out near the sea and have no idea what’s about to happen!

And at some point, Pharaoh and his army gets close for the Israelites to see them—and you’ve got imagine the position they’re in for a moment. They’ve just left Egypt…they’ve got no standing Army…they’ve got no way to defend themselves…they’re cornered in because the Sea is behind them…they enemy is on horseback and chariot so there’s no outrunning them!

This is their WHAT NOW! moment! What are they supposed to do? If God was the one who was supposed to be leading them out…then what’s happening now.

And one of the things I love about this story is how real the responses are that the people have when they recognize what’s happening! Really, they have the same kind of response to their WHAT NOW moment that we do to ours—at least in principle.

Fear

Look with me starting at v. 10, ().

Exodus 14:10–11 ESV

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. 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?

Exodus 14:10 ESV

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.

Response

And here’s the thing—as the Israelites see what’s going on here—they really respond in ways that are probably very familiar to us.

Panic

The first response they have is like this PANIC MODE over the situation.

Exodus 14:11 ESV

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?

And when we read this, it’s almost comical the response they have …because you think about everything they’ve seen recently—everything that they have seen God do in the last few weeks and months with the Plagues that He’s brought on Egypt—all of it to demonstrate His power over Pharaoh—none of that matters in this moment of panic from the Israelites, right?

Why?

Because they’re doing what many of us to all time! They’re fixated on what happening here and now! And I’d say, that given the current circumstance…they’ve got pretty good reason to panic! Because there is no conceivable way out! The Egyptian army is descending on them and they’re barricaded in behind by they enormous body of water!

And I wonder how many of us can relate to that? Probably not the situation itself…but at least that sense of panic that sinks in when you can’t see the way out. It’s like this blinding panic—your stomach drops…your heart races…you play all different scenarios in your head about how everything is going to end up.

‘Fix It’

But the second response is also very familiar…and you can imagine that while there are many who go into panic mode, there are people who want to fix the problem. Look at v. 12 ()

Exodus 14:12 ESV

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.”

These are the people who are going to suggest that they all immediately surrender and willingly offer to take themselves back to Egypt to continue doing what they’ve been doing their whole lives!

And again, I think some of us can relate to that right? Some of you are ‘fix it’ people—or you’re married to a ‘fix it’ person. And I’m not knocking this, but if you’re a fix it kind of person you automatically try and take the situation into your own hands and make it right. There is a problem and you want to get to work on solving that problem. For the Israelites here, the solution to the ENORMOUS problem facing them in the moment is they need to find a way to surrender back to the Egyptians—so that they can at least return to what they were doing—going back to what was comfortable and normal for them in Egypt.

And there’s nothing inherently wrong with panic mode or fix it mode—they both have some value, but I think they ultimately become a problem for us because they inevitable betray a significant mistrust in God…don’t they? After all—when you only ever hit panic mode…it’s ultimately a statement that you don’t trust God [EXPLAIN MORE PASTORALLY].

And I think on a similar level, if we only ever really stay in FIX IT mode, what we’re actually revealing is belief that we can’t trust God—so we’ve got to take things into our own hands…make something happen for ourselves, right?

Big Idea

But check out how Moses responds to this...look with me at v. 13 ().

Exodus 13:13–14 CSB

You must redeem every firstborn of a donkey with a flock animal, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. However, you must redeem every firstborn among your sons. “In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘By the strength of his hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Exodus 13:13–14 ESV

Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

Exodus 13:13–14 ESV

Exodus 14:13–14 ESV

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. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Keep in mind…Moses is seeing the same thing unfold in front of him! He’s is well ware that they are boxed in—with the sea behind them…no where to go…this is just as a much a WHAT NOW moment for him as it is for everybody else!

AND YET…his response is entirely different from that of the rest of the people. Instead of panic mode or fix it mode, Moses has this calm confidence about what is going to happen next.

God responds to the cry of Israel...Look with me at v. 15 ()

Exodus 14:15–16 ESV

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 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.

And this is exactly what happens—Moses raises up his hands over the Sea and the water split open—enough for the people to march through. And for the record…yes…we believe this was an actual, historical event! Something that apart from God, couldn’t happen—but because God chooses to intervene in this moment, it does!

And we could spend a lot of time talking about this parting of the sea—about how God demonstrates his absolute power and authority not just over Pharaoh, but over nature and creation itself…I mean, THIS is what Moses was talking about when he says FEAR NOT....STAND FIRM....SEE THE SALVATION OF the Lord! He is talking about the unmatched power of the God of Israel who makes a way when there is no way. Who can and will move the MOUNTAIN and SEA. Who can CALM the STORM. Who can do what no one else can do! Who, in the WHAT NOW moments of our lives, can demonstrate that NOTHING is beyond HIS authority…not nothing is beyond his power!

And yet…do you know what I find MOST amazing about this passage? It’s that when Moses says “Fear Not…Stand Firm…See the Salvation of the Lord...” He says this before God tells him what He’s about to do!

As this story plays out, they don’t know that God is about use Moses to perform a MIRACLE and split open the Red Sea so they can walk through! They have no idea that this is about to happen and that they will actually be free from the Egyptians forever.

And I think in saying this, Moses is actually making a very profound point…that God’s people need to TRUST God, not just His plan. They need to have a radical trust in God Himself…not just in what He plans to do!

You follow me?

That hit me for the first time this week—even as I’ve been studying a passage and story that I’m super familiar with—this idea that especially in the WHAT NOW moments we go through…God’s people are called to trust in HIM—not just in what He’s going to do!

You know the reality is—and maybe it’s just part of the human condition—we have this incredible desire to know the future…to know how things are going to work out…and when we don’t, like I said earlier, we generally have one of two responses: Panic Mode or Fix It mode, right?! But either way, what were doing is betraying this fear of not being in control! That’s really what those WHAT NOW moments do, isn’t it? They demonstrate how out of control we really are.

But Moses point here is powerful reminder for us to TRUST GOD…not just God’s plan.

Characteristics of God

And you see when we look through all of the details of this story, and really in all of the events of the book leading up this this story—there are powerful reminders of who GOD is and what He is like that show up all over the place! These are the things that we can look to in those ‘What Now’ moments! Things that can actually be comforting when we cannot figure out what’s going on around us. Let me just highlight a couple of these things for us.

Sovereign (14:1-4)

The first thing we see is that—even behind the scenes, God is still in control of everything that’s happening…theologians use the word SOVEREIGN to talk about the truth of God’s control.

After all, God is the one who is leading the Israelites through the wilderness to all of these seemingly random places…but while it felt random to the Israelites, it was very intentional on God’s part! Look back at v. 3 ()…because it’s here that God tells Moses why He’s taking them on such a strange route.

Exodus 14:3–4 ESV

For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 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.

Exodus 14:3 ESV

For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

It’s because God is going to demonstrate, once and for all that HE is greater than Pharaoh—so his people CAN trust Him!

Kind (13:17)

God doesn’t want to lead them through the land of the Philistines—() [SLIDE].

Exodus 13:17 ESV

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”

And in his Concern for how the Israelites would respond, he shows a DEEP kindness towards them—one that they’re not even really aware of!

Powerful (15)

In the Plagues themselves are a resounding picture of God’s power…one that is far greater than they could have imaged!

Faithful

And finally, even in the act of bring the Israelites out of Egypt…this is exactly what God had promised to do and now He’s done it. It the reminder that God is faithful.

You see God’s grace as he gives the Israelites—and often times the Egyptians—what they do not deserve! And he you see His mercy as He does NOT give them what they do deserve!

All throughout this story, you see these incredible pictures of WHO GOD IS that all plead and proclaim to us that He alone is worthy of our trust because of who HE IS and what he HAS DONE—not just because of what we think or hope he WILL do!

And the beauty of this story of the Exodus—of God bringing the Israelites OUT of Egypt and THROUGH the waters is that it’s still only a shadow of what was to come in the person and work of Jesus!

Ultimately, Jesus is the reason this story is not just about what God did for some people a few thousand years ago!

And this is what makes the story of Christianity so compelling. Because it tell us that the same God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt is still at work today. The same KINDNESS, POWER, SOVERIGHNTY, GRACE, MERCY, FAITHFULNESS that God demonstrated to the Israelites in the Wildness as they stood before the Red Sea…not knowing what happen next…in the midst of a WHAT NOW moment with no conceivable point of hope available to them…these same things are seen perfectly in the person and work of Jesus!

After all, Jesus is the one who lived the perfect life, the one we SHOULD HAVE but FAILED TO live. In our pursuit of control—and taking matters in to own hands, we have rejected God—saying that we do not and cannot trust him!

But the gospel confirms that even though we had rejected God…He did not reject us! And to put on display His kindness, grace, mercy, faithfulness…Jesus took on all of the consequence of our sin; dying in OUR place on the cross and rising from the dead with promise and hope of true, everlasting life!

And friends, when we trust in Jesus—HE restores our relationship to God. He enables us to live the way we were were created to live.

You see, because of the Gospel, those of us who follow Jesus, we are freed, FINALLY AND FOREVER, from finding our hope only in the future and a way out of our WHAT NOW moment..because as followers of Jesus, we make the radical claim that we are not in control…and it’s okay. Because we know the One who is!

Amen?!

His

You may have come in here today and you’re in a WHAT NOW moment. And if you’re not now, the time will come—and you’ll hit one. I hope you hear from Moses’ words today that far more than knowing the way out, the next steps, or what’s going to happen…the true and lasting hope in the midst of WHAT NOW is found in knowing and trusting God.

And as I’ve been thinking about this passage over the last couple of weeks, I’ve just been reminded of how FAR TOO OFTEN, I am just like the Israelites. That I go into panic mode or fix it mode because I forget that God Himself is bigger than what is going on right now. And I want to know God’s plan—to know what is going happen next—to know the way out…but I’ve needed to be reminded THIS WEEK that the call on my life is not just to trust his PLAN and know what is going to happen next but to have a deeper trust in God himself!

And one of the ways we cultivate this kind of trust is by…doing exactly what Moses had the Israelites do in and 14—to look back and remember where God had already been faithful. Where he’s already been good, kind, loving, where he’s already provided. As followers of Jesus, looking back in our lives to see where God has already provided—to see ways he’s already been at work in our lives and it’s amazing how that begins to change our perspective of what’s going on now as we begin to trust HIM more than just His plan.

Let me close with this.

We go these passes to ride the ski gondolas through the city—they’d take you up in the mountains and you could hike down—that kinda thing. So one morning, I decided to get up early…I went down to the coffee shop—got some coffee for us—and we took our first early morning ride through the mountains…which honestly, in my head, was going to be MUCH cooler than it was.