The God Who Delivers

Exodus 14:26 - 31

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 14

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 boverthrew 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.

Most of you probably know the story of Israel coming through the Red Sea. It’s a story that has been told over and over since the time it happened. All through Israel’s history, we find the story of the Red Sea being told. It became a source of faith to Israel all through the years.

I want to take a look at this event in terms of what it might say to us this morning about deliverance. God is still The God of Deliverance.

All the way back in Genesis, God told Abraham that his people would be in bondage for a long time.

Genesis 15:13 - 14

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 15

13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.

This was God’s promise that Abraham’s descendants would be in bondage and also God’s promise to deliver them from bondage. We know that Jacob took all of his family down to Egypt. Apparently after about 30 years, oppression began. We come now to the time when Moses went down to Egypt to lead God’s people out of bondage just like He promised to do.

I don’t know what they did before this, but it was 400 years before the cried out to God, at least as far as we can tell. Ten generations had passed. I imagine these people were pretty disconnected from God at that point. There is a strong indication that the people of Israel had adopted an Egyptian view of God. When they had come to Mount Saini, Moses left them for a little while and at the request of the people, Aaron made a calf for them to worship. This was probably a statue similar to those depicting the Egyptian god, Amon-re (Oswalt, 1973). That’s another message for another time, but it shows us how much the culture of Egypt had worked its way into their thinking.

As a matter of fact, the indication is that bondage in Egypt became very comfortable for the people of Israel. They had been there for about 10 generations. Bondage was just the way life was for them.

There is no indication these people wanted out or anything else. They had become very comfortable in the place God never intended for them to stay.

Oftentimes, you and I are the same way. There are times in our lives when we get very comfortable with bondage. We get bound up in a certain way of living our lives and it becomes just part of who we are. We get these ideas like, “I can’t change it, so I might as well live with it.”

I’ve worked with people who have come out of prison for going on 15 years. One of the things that I see over and over is they get comfortable in their bondage. Some of them have been in prison for a couple of years and some of them have been in prison for a couple of decades. There comes a time when they get comfortable in prison. I know that’s hard for some of you to believe, but it happens. When you are in that environment day after day after day, you get used to it.

Then they get out of prison. Somebody unlocked the door and told them to go be normal. The problem is they’re still in bondage. They think like they’re in bondage. They act like they’re in bondage. It’s as if they are carrying the prison door with them wherever they go. Prison got comfortable to them.

This is where Israel was in Egypt. They had been in bondage so long they got comfortable. They got comfortable in this place God never intended for them to stay. But there came a time when bondage was no longer tolerable. There came a time when these people who were comfortable for so long all of a sudden became uncomfortable.

If you know the story, you will know that sometime after Jacob died, the Bible says there came a pharaoh who did not know Joseph. If you remember, Joseph was the prime minister of Egypt during his lifetime. He was Jacob’s son. A pharaoh came who did not know Joseph. He told his staff the people of Israel was getting too strong so overnight, through an executive order, the new pharaoh turned the people of Israel into slaves.

All of a sudden pressure starts to mount. Things are not comfortable anymore. They got sick and tired of being sick and tired. The workload got harder and harder. The paycheck got smaller and smaller. They had nearly forgotten God but somebody must have remembered some of the stories that Jacob told them about how God delivers those who call on Him.

Exodus 3:9

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 3

9 “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

God was talking to Moses and said, “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.”

These people cried out to God. I don’t know what they said, but something tells me it wasn’t “Now I lay me down to sleep…” I believe these people wanted out. They were done with bondage. They cried out to God and said, “God, I need You.” Maybe that’s you this morning. Maybe you have come to that place in your life where the cute little prayers won’t do anymore. Nothing wrong with those little prayers and we need to teach them to our kids, but there have been times in my life when I didn’t have the pretty words to talk to God. All I had was, “God I need You! God I’m desperate for You to do something. God, I don’t see a way out but I know You have all power in heaven and earth. God I need You to move!”

Have you ever been there? Have you been to that place? Some of you are there this very morning. Some of you feel like you’ve got nothing left. You’ve been in bondage for a long time. You just dealt with it for a while. You just got used to it for a while. But now, it feels like it’s pressing on you more and more all the time and now you have nothing left but to cry out to God for deliverance.

You’ve been in bondage to depression too long. You’ve been in bondage to addiction too long. You’ve been in bondage to fear for too long. You’ve been in bondage to what other people think about you for too long. You’ve been sick too long. You’ve been broke too long. Some of you have been in bondage to your past for too long.

I want to tell you this morning that God is still a God of deliverance. He is still the God that hears the cries of His people. I believe the Lord wants to do a work in somebody’s life this morning. Cry out to an almighty God for deliverance!

Exodus 13:17–18 NASB95

Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt.

Notice what God did. The Bible clearly says here the Lord did not take them the quick way. He took them the long way around. But He knew something they didn’t know. The Lord, and probably Moses, knew the Egyptians had outposts all up and down the border of the land of the Philistines. The Lord knew the quick way might look good before they got into it, but they would turn around when they saw what was going on.

Sometimes, we look for the easy way. We look for the quick fix. The problem is, there are a whole lot of times the quick fix doesn’t work. We get in the middle of it and we turn back. God might be taking you on the scenic route this morning. God might be looking ahead and seeing the danger in that quick path and He might be saying, “No, don’t go that way. I know this other path is longer, but it’s better. I know you’re going to get tired of walking, but this is the way out.”

Listen, patience is a hard thing to have when you’re the one in pain. But God sees all the paths at the same time. He knows that short cut will just lead you back to bondage. Don’t be afraid to keep stepping in the direction God is leading you.

So the people of Israel left Egypt. When we’re reading the story, we get this idea that they left Egypt and 10 minute later they were at the Red Sea. But that’s not the case. There are different opinions, but it was probably somewhere around 25 days later when they came to the Red Sea.

Can I tell you this morning, that when the Lord delivers you, the test is going to come later? It’s not that hard to get excited at the beginning of the journey. We get this inspiration that gives us strength. We get excited about finally getting out. The people of Israel did the same thing. When they got up that morning, they were excited. They were ready to go. I can hear the shouts, “Today is the day we’re getting out!”

Then, 25 days later, they are faced with a circumstance they couldn’t handle on their own. I know I started reading about the Red Sea this morning and I’m about to get these people to the Red Sea.

So they left, and now, a good bit after they left, they come to the Red Sea. The Bible says the Egyptians were marching after them. I want you to know something, that enemy that has you bound is going to try to chase you down. That depression you haven’t been able to shake for years. Once you start out of that bondage, it’s going to try to chase you down. That addiction that you haven’t been able to shake is going to try to chase you down. That past that you have been in bondage to for so long is going to try to chase you down.

Exodus 14:11–12 NASB95

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? “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.”

25 days later! That’s when they come to the Red Sea. This is their response! They got scared and wanted to turn back. You and I do this same thing. We start following the Lord out of our bondage and then after a little while, we want to go back.

You remember those guys I was talking about who come out of prison? Too many times, I’ve seen them come out and they get going in the right direction for a while. Then they get into the place of difficulty and they turn back. They go as far as they can go on their own and they fail to look to God and keep stepping His direction.

Let me tell you something this morning. If the Lord has you started on a journey out of bondage, don’t you turn back. Don’t you turn around and go back. I know it looks impossible, but you keep going. I know it’s more than you can do on your own, but you keep on walking that path the Lord is leading you on.

Moses stood up in front of all these people and said, “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.”

This was Moses on the outside. He was confident on the outside. He was preaching the right words on the outside. On the inside, Moses was scared to death.

Exodus 14:15 NASB95

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.

Moses was saying all the right words to everybody else, but the Lord saw His heart. The Lord heard Moses on the inside saying, “Lord, I’m telling them You’re going to do something, so You better come on with it and do something. Lord, if You don’t do something, these people are going to kill me before those Egyptians ever have a chance to.” Even though Moses was saying all those confident things, the Lord asked Moses, “Why are you crying to Me?” Sometimes we have the right words to say to other people. And that’s not hard to do a lot of times.

It’s easy to say God is the Healer when you’re not one who is sick.

It’s easy to say Jesus is the Prince of Peace when everything is going good.

It’s easy to say God is the Provider when you have money in the bank and the refrigerator is full.

It’s easy to say God is my refuge when you’re sitting in your house and ain’t nobody trying to evict you because you can’t pay the rent.

It’s easy to look around and throw out all kinds of religious cliches when you’re not the one in a predicament.

At this point, though, Moses was in it with them. He’s still saying the right things, but he’s with them this time. He needs deliverance just as much as everybody else. It’s harder to believe God when the person in the mirror needs deliverance. It’s harder to believe that God still delivers when you’re the one who can’t go any further and the enemy is chasing you down.

But notice what the Lord said for them to do – He told them to GO FORWARD!

I imagine they must have said, “Go forward where?” Some of you are in that place right now. Somebody around you even said that to you – just keep going forward – and you’re saying, “Where? Where do I go forward? Which way is forward? There’s a sea in front of me and I don’t have a boat? How am I supposed to go forward?”

Let me tell you this morning, you keep stepping the way God has pointed you. I know it’s hard. I know it’s scary. I know it’s tempting to turn back. But you keep going the way the Lord has pointed you. You go until you can’t go anymore. It might feel like you’re about to fall in and drown, but you keep on going.

Moses told these people to go forward. He said, you go forward. You know the story, Moses stretched out that staff and the water divided. The Bible says they walked through on dry ground. I don’t know how you see this, but I would not have wanted to be the first one in this path. This path is scary. I know I have dry ground under me, but all I see is this wall of water on the right and this wall of water on the left.

I want to tell you this morning that God has a path already planned to bring you out of your bondage. That path might be scary. That path might be hard. But you walk that path as far as you can walk it. When you can’t go any further, the Almighty God will make a path that you didn’t even know was there. He can’t tell you about it now because it doesn’t make any sense. He can’t tell you that you’re going to walk through a sea on dry ground. You won’t believe it. You’ll stop moving forward. But you just keep on walking.

When the Lord opens up that path, I know it’s scary. I know it looks like you’re going to drown any minute. But keep stepping. Take a step. Take another one. And then another one. The Lord wants to lead you out of bondage. Just keep looking at the path. Keep your eyes on Him and not on the danger. It’s not an easy walk. It’s a dangerous walk. It’s a scary walk, but you just keep on going. The Lord has designed that path for you.

Some of you have been through a path like that. You’ve been in that scary place where there was danger all around. You had a wall of water on the right and another one on the left and you had the enemy chasing you down from behind. You kept on walking even though you weren’t sure. You didn’t know if you could make it all the way but you decided to take one more step anyway. You didn’t know if you were going to survive but you kept on going. And you made it. You made it to the other side!

You know the rest of the story. The Lord told Moses to stretch out that staff again and the enemy was destroyed. The people of Israel got to the other side and they praised God for their deliverance.

In Exodus 15, you will find the people singing a song of praise to God. Miriam even picks up a tambourine and starts beating on it in praise to God and the other women join in. They sang things like

I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted;

The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.

Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?

They praised God because they’d been through some things. Some of you this morning have been through some things.

Psalm 34:17

The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 34:19

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Psalm 34:4

I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 32:7

You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.

I’ve been through some things. I’ve seen the deliverance of an Almighty God. You might look at me funny when I raise my hands or shout hallelujah. You might not understand my praise, but I’ve been through some stuff. I’ve seen the deliverance and salvation of the Lord. If the Lord doesn’t do anything at all, He’s still worthy of praise, but I want to tell you that He has delivered me from some things. He has taken me through some of those waters that I couldn’t cross on my own.

If the Lord has brought you through some stuff, can you just give Him your best praise.