Exodus 14

Hey, hey friends. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. That's where every day you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis to Leviticus. I'm so glad to be with you this morning. We're at Exodus chapter 14. Why don't we go ahead and get into God's word. Let's pray.
Father, you are amazing. You are the creator of all things, seen and unseen. You made all things. So you control them, Lord. We pray that you would please help us now. That you would teach us. That we would stand in awe of who you are. but more than just being amazed by who you are, that we would believe and walk in your ways in Jesus's name. Amen. All right. So we are at Exodus chapter 14, probably one of the most, one of the most, uh, recognizable known stories in the whole Bible.
Now the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi HaHivaroth between Migdol and the sea opposite Baal Zephon you shall camp before it by the sea for Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel they are bewildered by the land the wilderness has closed them in Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them. And I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am Jehovah. And they did so. Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people. And they said, why have we done this? That we have let Israel go from serving us.
So he made ready his chariots and took his people with him. So he took six hundred choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he pursued the children of Israel. And the children of Israel went out with boldness. So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them, camping by the sea beside Pi-Hahiroth. before Baal Zephon. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
And they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Is it not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For if it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than it would have been to die in the wilderness, And Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. And the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward, but lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud of darkness to the one and it gave light by night to the other. so that one did not come near the other all that night. Then 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 into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Now it came to pass in the morning, watch that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and troubled the army of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on the chariots and on the horsemen. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.
And when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered over the and covered the chariots, the horsemen. And all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, not so much as one of them remained.
But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt. So the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.
Well, We have to ask ourselves three questions like every morning. A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? In response to these words, well, what is this about? This is God parting the Red Sea. Right, they've left Egypt. They're out in the wilderness. And it's like Pharaoh and the people wake up from their stupor and they go, what in the world did we do? Man, we've really messed up. All of our slaves are gone. We've messed up. We need to change this. We need to go get them. We need to capture them and bring them back. And so they go, but it's the Lord's doing.
The Lord's the one who's hardening Pharaoh's heart one last time. It's hardening the people's heart one last time because he's going to display his might. And he's going to show how determined he is for the salvation of his people. And so the Egyptians go. And God says, why are you crying to me, Moses? Lift up your rod and go. I'm gonna do this miraculous thing lift up your rod this and and he's gonna he's blowing all night he puts a pillar of of the cloud behind the camp so there's the Egyptians and there's the Israelites and the Lord stands in the gap The Lord stands before them, the Lord protects them. He will not allow the Egyptians to attack the Israelites all night.
And he blows and he blows and he blows and he blows the east wind and the water becomes like a wall. On the right, on the left, there's a hallway, there's a chasm with dry ground in between. And the Israelites, hundreds of thousands of them walk through on that dry ground. And as they go through that hallway of water, it is God's protection, God's care for them that's keeping them safe. And then the Egyptians are finally able to go. God allows the Egyptians to go chase them down. Now imagine you're one of the Israelites here, scared to death.
Moses, why have you brought us up? Moses, why have you done this to us? Moses, why did you do this? Isn't there, weren't there enough graves in Egypt? Why are you doing this to us? But see, God is also proving himself to the Israelites. It's amazing, they had all these plagues, but they still don't believe. And he's saying, I'm gonna show you once again, when I make a promise, I'm good. And I am the God of all creation. And I'm gonna protect you.
So they go through the Egyptians are finally allowed to go through. God allows them and they're, they're flying through, but all of a sudden the Lord makes their chariot wheels start to wobble. They start to fall off and they go, Oh, Oh man, we're in trouble. They actually say the Lord's fighting for the Israelites. Let's go back. The only way that this happens where even the chariots are falling apart is that there's a God who's greater than even their God of war. But they don't get time. The water comes back in over them and drowns Pharaoh's army. The Lord gained the victory. Israelites didn't have to fight. Israelites didn't have to draw their sword. The Israelites didn't have to go after them. They didn't have to do any of that. They just had to follow the Lord. And the Lord fought their battles. The Lord redeemed them. The Lord had just brought them out of Egypt by His powerful right hand.
So this is what is this whole story about this is God redeeming his people Bringing them through the Red Sea This right that when we go through the stories of the Bible Yes, there are main characters of the story humanly speaking but The Bible is written for us to understand who we are according to what God has said and what we learn about God and His ways. And here we see that it is God who is determined to display His power, His glory, His might, and the extent He's willing to go to redeem His people.
Well, what's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I have verse four underlined in my Bible. Well, three and four. And then I also have verse 22. So the children of Israel went in the midst of the sea on the dry ground and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. But I also love verse 25. And the Lord took off their chariot wheels. There are other parts here that we could, you know, I would, you could argue that verses 30 and 31 could be the heart of that passage.
I'll let you tell me down in the comments, what would you underline as the best verse to summarize this? Well, last seat calling, what are we called to do? Well, the Lord's done miraculous things even in your life to save you. And he's done the most miraculous thing in all of human history. You raised Jesus Christ from the dead and he ascended up into heaven. And he sits down on the right hand of God, the father almighty.
Do we believe? Do we have trust in him? Do we trust that he is good? Do we trust that he redeems his people? Do we trust that he makes promises and keeps them? Do we trust that he's coming again? Do you believe in the one who is able to save you with his mighty right hand?
Trust in him. Hope him. Hope in him. Follow after him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and for the joy and blessing it is to follow you. Please, Lord, help us. Help us to be faithful. Forgive us for our faithlessness. Thank you that you saved to the uttermost. In Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.