Exodus 14:1-14
~14 min read
TRANSCRIPT
In our previous message, we have learned that God always knows what is best for us. He is always faithful to us, and He will always guide us. God had led the Israelites out of Egypt, and instead of leading them through the way of the sea, which was the shortest way through the land of the Philistines, He led them through the way of the desert or the wilderness toward the Red Sea. If the Israelites had moved along the coastal highway, they would have reached the Promised Land in less than two weeks, rather than the 40 years it eventually took them. Humanly speaking, it might not be the most obvious way; it might not be the shortest way; it might not be the most direct way, but it was God's way. It must be the best way. God would always lead us into the best way.
Remember, God was the pillar of cloud to lead the Israelites at every step of the way, and His purpose was to teach them obedience step by step, moment by moment, they must trust and obey Him all the way until they would finally reach the Promised Land. But now, all of a sudden, they were brought to a place whereby they were surrounded by the desert, and the Egyptians were right behind them, and the Red Sea was right before them. They were trapped, so to speak. What could they do? This is what we want to learn from today's passage in Exodus 14:1-4. The title of our message is "Between the Desert and the Red Sea".
I. When the Way Seems Mysterious (2:18)
Our first point is: when the way seems mysterious. Let us begin with verse one: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.”
Pihahiroth, Migdol, and Baalzephon were ancient locations in the desert region. The Israelites were commanded to turn back and encamp by the Red Sea. But this location would put them in a completely vulnerable position because they would be surrounded by the desert, and their backs would be facing the Red Sea. It would give the Egyptians the impression that these Israelites were lost and wandering in the wilderness, confused. God knew that would be exactly what Pharaoh would be thinking.
Verse three: "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in." Pharaoh would be thinking that these Israelites were so foolish. Instead of going the way of the sea, they have travelled into the wilderness. Now, they were lost, confused, and defeated. That prompted him to pursue after the Israelites. God is omniscient; He knows everything. God is omnipotent; He's all-powerful, He is in control of all things, including the life of Pharaoh. He knew exactly what Pharaoh would be thinking and what Pharaoh would do. For God said in verse four: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so."
Dear friends, we may not naturally know the will of the Lord. We may not understand why God will lead us into a particular path or allow certain things to happen to us. Like the Israelites, sometimes we find His ways seem so mysterious. It is as if God is leading us to a dead end. In difficult times, people tend to think that God is not in control or God is not there. But God is always in control, whether in good times or in difficult times. We must always bear in mind that God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways are higher than our ways, and He has a sovereign purpose in all things. Ultimately, all things work together for His glory. That is our God.
And this was exactly what happened in verse five: "And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" Without the Israelites, the Egyptians would have lost most of their labour force, their servants, their slaves. Without those slaves, who would help them to complete the massive building projects? So they decided that they did not want to let the Israelites go after all. They had no time to lose, they had to do it immediately. The Pharaoh quickly took 600,000 of his best chariots, along with the other chariots of Egypt, his soldiers, and his captains to control over all of them. So it was a huge army, and they chased after the Israelites and came to where they were located.
What does that teach us about Pharaoh? He never truly repented of his sins. He had been given so many opportunities to let God's people go. Time after time, he had refused. And when the plagues started to come, he began to negotiate. He even asked Moses to pray and begged Moses to give him God's blessing. Finally, he decided to let the people go, and now immediately, he changed his mind and he chased after the Israelites.
Like Pharaoh, very often, people would make empty promises, especially when they encounter a near-death experience. A story was told of four fishermen whose boat suddenly overturned, and they were thrown into the sea. They were miles and miles away from the shore, fighting for their lives in the deep waters. While they were struggling against the strong waves, they started to make promises. Finally, only three of them survived. Afterward, a reporter asked one of the men to share at least one of the promises he had made while he was struggling to stay afloat. With tears in his eyes, he said, ‘I am going to church from now on.’ He did attend church, but only once.
Some of us have made similar promises too: ‘Lord, if You have healed me, if You would give me a new job, if You would deliver me out of this desperate situation, if You would provide for all my needs, I will worship, serve, and glorify You all the days of my life. I will be prayerful, I will be diligent in reading the Bible, I will be evangelistic, and be active in all the spiritual activities of the church.’ But once we regain our health, once we receive those blessings, we forget. May the Lord have mercy on us. God's people must always remember. We must not be like the nine lepers. After receiving the blessings and the mercies of God, they walk away and forget all about Him. Be like the one leper who returned back and gave thanks to God.
II. When the Situation Seems Impossible (11:56)
Our second point is: when the situation seems impossible. Look at verse 10: "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD."
When the Israelites saw the world's most powerful army at that time in the ancient world, and they saw the most advanced military technology—the chariots—when they realised that they were surrounded by the desert, they were trapped between the Egyptians and the Red Sea, they were devastated. Remember, the Israelites had just been delivered from Egypt, and straight away, they faced this trouble. Oftentimes, this is what happens when God delivers His people from their sins, and no sooner have they made their commitments to follow Jesus Christ, they are plunged into all kinds of doubts, discouragement, and confusion.
You see, like the Pharaoh, Satan will never surrender without a fight. Satan will try to do everything he can to pursue after us. It is not surprising because we were once his valuable slaves. So he will hunt down his former slaves and drag them back into the plantation of sin, like the Israelites would be dragged back to the plantations in Egypt. But God, who has set us free in the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan has no right to take us back. It is very foolish of us to want to go back. There may come a time whereby we are surrounded by troubles. When we turn left, we see troubles. When we turn right, we see troubles again. When we look back, we see more troubles. When we look forward, we see an unconquerable sea of trouble. What can we do?
Remember, the Israelites had just witnessed God's power in the ten plagues, not to mention they had experienced the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. But at the first sign of trouble, they were so afraid, they panicked. Why? Because they looked at their enemies, they looked at their situations, their surroundings, they looked at everywhere, but they failed to look to one place, and that is they failed to look to God. That is what will happen to us when we look everywhere, especially at the trouble itself, and then our surroundings, the circumstances, the people, we will fail if we do not look at this most important place, most important person, and that is the almighty God. Once we take our eyes away from Him, we will surely fail.
That is what happened to the Israelites. They looked before them, it was the Red Sea. They could never conquer the Red Sea. How could they cross the Red Sea? They looked back, they saw the Egyptians now coming close to them. They looked around them, the surroundings, they were in the desert, but they failed to look to God Himself. That was why they were so afraid. They panicked. When the Bible says, "the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD", it was not a prayer, it was not a cry of faith, it was a fearful cry of desperation. They did not really believe that God would deliver them, that God would save them. How do we know? Because immediately after this, they started to blame God's servant, Moses.
III. When We Start to Blame Others (17:49)
This brings us to our third point: when we start to blame others. Look at verse 11: "And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?" Verse 12: "Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." These words were spoken at a whole new level of sarcasm. Of course, there were graves all over Egypt. Remember the great pyramids? ‘Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? We would rather die in one of the graves in Egypt, be buried there.’
When people are in trouble, they always like to find someone else to put the blame on. Isn't it true that they would often blame the spiritual leaders in times of trouble? When they face trouble in leading or organising a spiritual program, they will blame the spiritual leader for not helping them. When they are sick and afflicted with pain, they blame the leaders for not praying for them. When they are not growing spiritually, they blame the leaders for not teaching them well and not giving the spiritual support. Of course, sometimes the spiritual leaders are to be blamed, but more often than not, the people themselves are to be blamed.
One golden principle we must always remember is that when we point our finger at someone else to put the blame on, we are inwardly pointing three fingers to ourselves. We must always examine ourselves. Don't try to put the blame on someone else like the Israelites would want to put the blame on Moses. They had forgotten that Moses was with them. He was standing together with them. He was in the same predicament. If they were to die, he would also die with them. Yet they forgot all these things, and they started to blame him, as if he would be spared from death.
They were not only mocking Moses, but what was amazing was that they were willing to go right back into bondage. ‘Didn't we tell you at the beginning to leave us alone? You are the one who brought us out of Egypt. We didn't want to come out. Why did you do that? We would rather serve the Egyptians.’ Notice and take note of the phrase "that we may serve the Egyptians". Now, this is a very telling phrase. The whole point of the Exodus, the whole point of God demonstrating His power by unleashing the ten plagues, was to deliver the Israelites. The whole point of delivering the Israelites was that they would serve the almighty God. But here, they said that "we may serve the Egyptians". Can you see how, in the face of trouble, people can be so spiritually blinded that they would miss the whole point? That we would rather go back, we would rather not serve God, we would rather serve the Pharaoh? How sad.
Oftentimes people are tempted to do the same thing. God wants to bring us all the way out of our sins, but the problem is that people would only want to come halfway, and at the first sign of trouble, they get so scared that they will run back to the old ways, they will run back to the old harmful friendships, they will run back to the old sinful attitudes and habits, whatever they may be. Some may run back to alcohol addiction, others may run back to depression, to wallow in their self-pity. Yet others may run back to immorality and so forth. Like the Egyptians, they would rather run back to the familiar Egypt. So people would often throw in the towel and run back to their familiar Egypt.
So the Egyptians were behind them, the Red Sea was before them, and they were surrounded by the desert. They were in a most precarious situation. What could they do in such a devastating situation? They should remember what kind of God they were serving. Remember, God always knows what is best for us. God is always faithful to us, and He will always lead us. The Israelites should remember that God always works out everything according to His glorious plan. They should remember that although the Pharaoh was coming after them, it was not only their lives that were at stake. That was a very small thing. The glory of God was at stake, and God would never compromise His glory. God would protect His glory at all costs.
Only Moses remembered all that. Of course, we believe that Aaron would be standing together with him. So Moses knew exactly what to do when he was caught between the Egyptians and the Red Sea. And so he said to the Israelites, verse 13: "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever." Which means these Egyptians will perish and they will be gone forever. They will no longer trouble the Israelites anymore.
Notice Moses issued three commands: "Fear ye not, stand still, and see". The phrase "fear ye not" is the strongest form of negative imperative. In other words, Moses was not only telling the Israelites not to be afraid, he was not comforting them, he was actually rebuking them. He was telling the Israelites that they had no right to be afraid. The reason why they had no right to be afraid was that they had no reason to be afraid. Why? Because God was with them. The pillar of cloud was there. If God be for us, what can man do to us? So he was rebuking them. All they needed to do was to stand still, which means don't be moved by the circumstances, don't be shaken by the enemies. Stand your ground and humbly wait and see how God would deliver you.
Dear friends, in some situations, we are called to move forward, we are called to press on, fight a good fight of faith. At other times, in other situations, we are called to do this and do that. But in certain situations, we may have come to a point whereby we have done everything we can, and there is no more we can do, nothing else we can do. We are like in a situation whereby right before us is the Red Sea, behind us are the Egyptians. It could be a health issue, you have done everything you can, there's nothing more you can do. It could be a church issue, it could be a family or relationship issue, you have done your best, and no more, nothing else you can do. All you need to do is to stand your ground, don't be moved, don't be shaken, and pray, and see how the Lord would deliver you.
Like in this battle, the Israelites were not called to be soldiers, to fight against the enemies. At other times, later on, they will be called to take up arms and fight. But this time, they were called to be spectators. Just stand your ground and watch. The Lord will deliver you. And then Moses promised. Look at verse 14: "The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."
So, friends, someday, or even at this very moment, you may be caught in a situation, as we call it, between the desert and the Red Sea. There's nothing more you can do. Stand your ground. Don't be afraid because God is always with you. And pray and see how the Lord will deliver you. And remember, our God always knows what is best for us. He's always faithful to us, and He will always guide us.
Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for enabling us to consider this portion of Scripture, and we pray that we will apply this passage into our lives. We see how Thou has been so faithful in leading and guiding the Israelites. Thou has taught us that there are times when the way may seem mysterious. We cannot understand or comprehend because Thy thoughts are higher than our thoughts, Thy ways are higher than our ways. But we know that Thou art in control, and all things work together for good to those who love Thee, who are called according to Thy purpose. And everything works for Thy glory.
And there may be situations whereby, humanly speaking, it seems impossible, O Lord. Just like the Israelites, we may be caught between the desert and the Red Sea. Whatever be our struggles, we know that we ought to do whatever is right, whatever you have commanded us. But there may come a time whereby we have done everything we can to the best of our abilities. There is nothing more we can do. In such situations, we ought not to be fearful because Thou art always with us. We ought to be steadfast, not to be moved, not to be shaken, and to pray and watch. Thou will deliver us. Thou art our faithful God, and we trust and believe in Thee, we will obey Thee.
And we pray that in difficult times, we always examine ourselves and not to put the blame on others, like the Israelites at the first sign of trouble, they turned and blamed Thy servant Moses. We pray that in such times, we will always first examine ourselves, and we may look to the trouble, we may look to the surroundings, to the adversities, to the people. But if we fail to look to the most important place, the most important person, and that is Thee and Thee alone, we will surely fail. So help us to remember that we ought to always look to Thee first. Thou art our God. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF EXODUSGod’s Prophecy and Promise Had Come To PassGod’s Prophecy and Promise Had Come To PassExodus 1:1-7
From Prosperity to PersecutionFrom Prosperity to PersecutionExodus 1:8-14
God’s Protection in the Midst of AdversitiesGod’s Protection in the Midst of AdversitiesExodus 1:15-21
The Faith of JochebedThe Faith of JochebedExodus 1:22-2:10
Moses in EgyptMoses in EgyptExodus 2:11-15
Moses in the Desert of MidianMoses in the Desert of MidianExodus 2:16-25
Moses and the Burning BushMoses and the Burning BushExodus 3:1-9
Who Are You?Who Are You?Exodus 3:10-15
Who Am I?Who Am I?Exodus 3:10-15
God’s Message to Israel and EgyptGod’s Message to Israel and EgyptExodus 3:16-22
What If They Still Don’t Believe?What If They Still Don’t Believe?Exodus 4:1-9
Send Someone ElseSend Someone ElseExodus 4:10-17
Moses’ Return to EgyptMoses’ Return to EgyptExodus 4:18-20
When Things Seemed to Get Better, They Got WorseWhen Things Seemed to Get Better, They Got WorseExodus 5:10-21
When We Have Done Everything Right, and Yet Trouble ComesWhen We Have Done Everything Right, and Yet Trouble ComesExodus 5:22-6:5
Having to Learn the Same Lesson TwiceHaving to Learn the Same Lesson TwiceExodus 6:6-12
Faithful or UnfaithfulFaithful or UnfaithfulExodus 6:13-27
What God Wants Is Our Faithfulness and ObedienceWhat God Wants Is Our Faithfulness and ObedienceExodus 6:28-7:7
The First Plague - The River of BloodThe First Plague - The River of BloodExodus 7:14-25
The Second Plague - The FrogsThe Second Plague - The FrogsExodus 8:1-15
The Third PlagueThe Third PlagueExodus 8:16-19
The Fourth PlagueThe Fourth PlagueExodus 8:20-32
The Fifth PlagueThe Fifth PlagueExodus 9:1-7
The Sixth PlagueThe Sixth PlagueExodus 9:8-12
The Seventh PlagueThe Seventh PlagueExodus 9:13-35
The Eighth PlagueThe Eighth PlagueExodus 10:1-20
The Tenth PlagueThe Tenth PlagueExodus 11:1-10
The First PassoverThe First PassoverExodus 12:1-13
The Feast of the Unleavened BreadThe Feast of the Unleavened BreadExodus 12:14-28
Departure From EgyptDeparture From EgyptExodus 12:29-42
This Do In Remembrance of MeThis Do In Remembrance of MeExodus 12:43-51; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
Message 2: What is Church to you? My Covenantal Family!Message 2: What is Church to you? My Covenantal Family!Exodus 12:48-49, Colossians 2:11-12
Redemption and ConsecrationRedemption and ConsecrationExodus 13:1-2, 11-16
Precious Lord, Take My HandPrecious Lord, Take My HandExodus 13:17-22
Between the Desert and the Red SeaBetween the Desert and the Red SeaExodus 14:1-14
Crossing the Red SeaCrossing the Red SeaExodus 14:15-31
The Song of PraiseThe Song of PraiseExodus 15:1-21
Will You Obey Or Not?Will You Obey Or Not?Exodus 15:22-27
The Danger of a Complaining SpiritThe Danger of a Complaining SpiritExodus 16:1-3
God’s Response to Israel’s ComplaintsGod’s Response to Israel’s ComplaintsExodus 16:1-10
The Test of FaithThe Test of FaithExodus 16:11-20
Lessons About the SabbathLessons About the SabbathExodus 16:21-36
Do Not Test GodDo Not Test GodExodus 17:1-17
Lift Up Your HandsLift Up Your HandsExodus 17:8-16
The Blessedness of ReunionThe Blessedness of ReunionExodus 18:1-12
If Thy Presence Go Not with Me, Carry Us Not Up HenceIf Thy Presence Go Not with Me, Carry Us Not Up HenceExodus 33:12-23
