something about the East Wind

Exodus 14:15–21 KJV 1900

15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. 21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Intro:

There is something about the moving of the wind that is mysterious and the power of the wind that is miraculous.

In John 3 vs 8 Jesus tells Nicodemus, the wind blows where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit.

The wind, unpredictable, uncontainable, and uncontrollable.

For thousands of years, man has worked to harness the power of the wind: It has been discovered that as early as 5,000 BC existing civilization used wind to power and propel boats along the Nile River.

by 200 BC, the ancient chinese were using wind power to pump water.

B The scriptures make it clear that the winds are a tool in the hands of God

In Ezekiel chapter 37, the account of the valley of Dry bones, God speaks in vs 9 to the prophet Ezekiel and says, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon the slain, that they may live

It was through the movement and the ministry of the four winds that a valley of dry bones becomes an exceeding great army.

Throughout the scriptures he establishes his authority over the winds and demonstrates that their might and their power are at the bidding of his command.

In Psalms chapter 107 vs 25, the Psalmist declares that the Lord commanded, and raised the stormy wind, which lift the waves

And in Luke chapter 8, He steps to the bow of the ship and commands the wind and the waves to be still.

While we could spend time looking at each and every aspect of the wind, its significance within the scriptures and what they mean for us, I want to focus on the primary wind that is presented throughout the scriptures

Within the sciptures, of the winds, the west wind is mentioned only once, and it comes to drive away the plague of the locusts that had devastated egypt.

The south wind is mentioned 5 times, The north wind once and both are favorable winds that bring pleasant conditions.

However, the East winds are the winds that are mentioned most often within the scripture.

19 times in total the East wind is spoken of....nearly 3 times as prevalent in the pages of your bible as all of the other 3 winds combined.

And while the west wind drives away plagues and the North wind and the south wind usher in favorable conditions....the East wind is also a tool in the hand of the almighty God…but when the East wind blows, its blast is anything but peaceful.

When the east wind blows, its breath is hot and scorching. It brings in its wings the scourge of judgment and destruction.

Listen to what the scriptures have to say about the blowing of the east winds.

Exodus 10:13 KJV 1900

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

vs. 15 “…and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the tree which the hail had left.: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

The East wind devours. It brings the army that devours and destroys until not one leaf is left on a tree.

In Genesis chapter 41, Pharoah dreams a dream and in his dream, seven ears of corn are blasted by the east wind leaving them withered, thin and scorched.

and in Jonah chapter 4, God sends a scorching east wind that leaves Jonah wishing he were dead rather than alive.

The King James version calls it a vehement wind.

the East win is relentless and unforgiving.

In Job chapter 1 vs 19, one of the servants bearing bad news, comes to Job and says “Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking in their brothers house, and a great wind came from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead.

commentaries tell us that the wind coming from the wilderness was an east wind.

Psalms 48 vs. 78 says that with the east wind God breaks the ships of Tarshish…which were ships if trade and merchandise

Ezekiel 27 vs. 25-27 Tells us that the east winds will destroy the ships, and the riches, the merchandize, the mariners and all of the occupants of the ships will fall into the midst of the sea.

The east wind is a wind of destruction, death, devouring and desolation.

and yet…the East wind is a tool in the hand of God.

I would tell you today that the East wind is blowing.

The ears of corn are thin and withered.

The ships of merchandize are splintered and scattered.

And I know that likely many of you are about tired of preaching that talks about all that we have been through in 2020…and to be honest I’m tried of preaching about it, talking about it, thinking about it.

I’ve never been more committed to staying up to celebrate a new year as I am this year. I can’t wait to see 2020 fade into the distance.

I told my wife and daughters the other day, I feel like we are putting so much pressure on 2021.

But here is what I know…that while we like the favor of the West wind, and the calm that comes with the North and the South Wind…He is not just the God of the three winds…He is the God of the four winds…and it took the four winds to bring life into dead bones in the Ezekiels vision.

And I really don’t understand how it is all going to work out…but he is the God of the East wind!!!

There is a purpose in the East Wind!

Tell your neighbor…there is purpose in the East Wind!

And the bible says that in Exodus chapters 12 and 13…the children of Israel come running out of Egypt. The death angel has swept through the land and there was a great cry in Egypt. Pharoah calls for Moses and Aarons and tells them to get out…take your wives and your children, your flocks and your herds and be gone.

And the Bible tells us that the children of Israel from Rameses to Succoth and from Succoth to Pi-hahiroth…and if you look on your Bible atlas you will find that there journey out of Egypt was just about due east to the Red Sea.

And the Bible says in the 14th chapter of Exodus that they come up against the Red Sea, and they see the dust cloud coming from the West…Pharaoh and his army coming after them....and they begin to say…would to God that we had stayed in Egypt. We would be better off serving the Egyptians than dying in the wilderness.

They are barely a few days out of being slaves in Egypt and already Israel is looking Westward. They got that “go west young man” burning in their hearts. God has no sooner delivered them than they are ready to go back to what the lamb died to bring them out of!

Come on…I’m preaching some folks in here that you are living on lambs blood! You ought to be thanking God for bringing you out, but instead your looking for how you can get back in.

you might have come out of Egypt, but you still havent got Egypt out of you...

And already, they are plotting and planning....how can we get back to being slaves in Egypt...

And the bible says in Exodus chapter 14 vs. 21 that Moses stretched out his hand over the seap and the Lord caused the sea to go back by strong…EAST WIND all that night.

Now…out here on the east coast, when the winds starts blowing…leaves and branches start flying. If it gets too strong, limbs and even a few trees might come down....but if you have ever been in the desert when the wind starts blowing…dust and dirt start flying. You cant even look into the direction of the wind. You have no choice but to turn your back to the wind.

This East wind wasn’t a breeze…it wasn’t a little windy…the bible says that this wind was so strong and so powerful that it pushed back the waters of the Red Sea.

Those Israelites were looking West, so God sent an East wind. They were leaning West, so God sent an East wind.

Im preaching to some of you that you are here today because of the blood of the lamb....you shouldn’t be here! you should still be a slave to sin, suffering in Egypt…But God!!

and yet you’re looking west!

You’re leaning west...

But God sent an East wind…to keep you from going back to where he brought you from!

there are some of you that have literally made efforts to go back to what you were, but there was almost a tangible opposition against every step you tried to take!

Lord, thank you for the East wind!

Thank you for not letting me go WEST!

Thank you for sending an east wind that wouldn’t let me go back to where you brought me from!

2. The East wind blew all night

It was a hot dry wind. It was uncomfortable. Sand pelting against their tents. Miserable, sweltering heat that made sleep impossible

All night.

Listen, I know that its easier to sleep when the favorable west winds are gently blowing.

I know its more comfortable when the gentle south wind is whispering…but there is a purpose in the East wind!

And all night when the wind was blowing…chapter 14 vs. 21 and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided, and the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground!

The east wind put distance between them and their past....but it also paved the way for their future!

It was because of the east wind that what they would have gotten stuck in today, they will walk upon tomorrow.

The east wind is paving your path!

The east wind is creating conditions that you can step on. That you can walk on.

And I know that we want the east wind to stop blowing....and they will…but only when you cross over. Only when you decide that you are done with Egypt…

How do we do that? We come through the Red Sea....baptism!!