Exodus 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
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.
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?
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.
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.
14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
We want to acknowledge the fact that Queen Elizabeth II died yesterday. She was 96 years old. Reports suggest she was the longest reigning monarch ever. Her son, Charles is now the king of England. Some reports are suggesting she was a Christian leader. She was the head of the church of England. She was the supreme head of that church. There was no higher head. Jesus Christ was never the head of that church. Henry VIII started that church to allow him to divorce and remarry. The Catholic cult would not allow him to do as he pleased so he began his own religion. The tragedy is that many people over the ages have been more interested in religion than in truth. Those who are saved need to pray for the new king and his family. They are all lost people who need to be saved. The hope of man is not found in man. It is found in knowing the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our text we have been observing how the Pharaoh in charge of Egypt at this time, assumed that he was all powerful. He rejected the true God and was quite angry with Moses and Aaron, for “interfering” in his plans for the nation of Egypt. He had just lost his own firstborn son, as had every household in Egypt. The firstborn among the cattle were also killed by God. Now Pharaoh was going to go after the children of Israel that he had just commanded to leave Egypt. He wanted them back to continue his building projects. He claimed them as his slaves and did not want to give that up. He came after them with quite the show of force. As we noted yesterday, all the force he had, meant nothing to the LORD. The children of Israel were intimidated by it, but the LORD was not impressed, nor was He afraid.
We see in verses 10-12 the children of Israel were quick to complain to Moses about what they perceived as bad judgment on his part. They claimed they were quite content to go back and be slaves to Pharaoh. It was not that long ago that they had cried out to the LORD for deliverance from the heavy bondage they were under in Egypt. The LORD heard their cries and He raised up Moses to be His spokesperson to Pharaoh. Moses reminded Pharaoh often that the Hebrews belonged to the LORD, not to Pharaoh. Pharaoh never accepted that fact.
The children of Israel would rather live in bondage, than to be set free to serve the true and living God. The LORD was not a cruel taskmaster as the Pharaoh was. The LORD is a loving and merciful God Who would bless the nation of Israel in ways they could not imagine. However, they refused His leadership and they suffered as a result of that rebellion. The LORD would not let them go back to Egypt. They were done with that. However, in their minds and hearts, they were still living in Egypt. The love of the world was very evident in their lives. They would suffer greatly for their own rebellion. Many would perish in the wilderness due to their rebellion.
In verse 13 Moses sought to encourage the people. He told them not to fear.
I John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Israel needed to understand that God loved them. He had already demonstrated that over the years in many ways. He would continue to show them this. Their fear was unfounded. Their fear was due to the fact they did not have the love of God in their hearts.
Moses told the people to stand still. The normal tendency is to run when in great danger. It is normal to try to find a place to hide, to find a “safe” place. There is no safer place to be than in the hand of the true God. We have noted this before.
Moses told the nation to witness the salvation of the LORD. The salvation offered here was that deliverance from the clutches of Pharaoh, once and for all. The spiritual salvation they needed was also being offered to them, but they had no interest in that. They saw the physical “danger” and that was all they wanted resolved. Sadly, they wanted it resolved in their way, which would be useless.
The children of Israel were just as blind as most Gentiles are today. Most people just want to get rid of the virus and get back to “normal”. The P.M. stated early on that the only hope was a vaccine. Most believed that lie and most have since received at least two shots. The government is now trying to deceive the majority into getting the “booster”. They have not had as much success, but the P.M. is threatening further restrictions if he does not get his way. The fact is that the “virus” is not nearly as deadly as we were told it would be. The effects of the shots are far more destructive and deadly than the “virus”.
Few are looking at the real need of man. The real need of man is God’s salvation. The fear of death is removed when a person knows the fear of the LORD in their heart. Those who trust in the LORD know they have a home in heaven. That is the destination of every true child of God. That is the hope of every true child of God.
The LORD was going to show the children of Israel that what they saw as an insurmountable threat, was nothing. What they refused to see was their real problem. They refused to see their need for salvation.
John 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
The Jews in Jesus’ day were just as blind as the Jews of Moses’ day. They did not see the real issue. Most Gentiles are in this same situation. The assumption is that most are “good” people. All they want is a little fine tuning and everything will work. They refuse to see that they need a change of heart, which can only come through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
In our text, Moses continued to try to calm down the people by telling them that this army they were watching would be destroyed that very day and they would never see them again. This may have seemed like an impossibility to the children of Israel. They had no weapons. They had no horses or chariots. How could this massive army be gone in one day? They failed to recognize the power of the LORD.
In verse 14 Moses declared that the LORD would fight for them. They would not need to do anything except trust Him. This is a very clear picture of salvation.
Salvation is a gift of God. The force and power of sin is great in every person’s life. Many have redefined sin to suggest they are not in sin. You may be able to fool yourself for a time, but God has many ways to show people that their deceptive minds are just that, deceived. Troubles come that people try to just grit their teeth and fight through. In the meantime, they do not know the joy of the Lord. They have no peace in their hearts. They do not know the way through. They try their best to tough it out.
Moses was directed by the LORD to tell the children of Israel to stand still. He told them to hold their peace. Stop complaining. Stop fighting against the LORD. Bow down and surrender to His leadership and His salvation.
God would provide great deliverance for them in very short order. That is what salvation is. It is a great deliverance that only God can provide. It changes the person’s life immediately and permanently. The Egyptians would no longer be there to trouble Israel. That entire army would be destroyed. Israel would be on the other side of the Red Sea and they would see the dead bodies of the Egyptians floating on the water and dead on the shore.
When the Lord Jesus Christ saves a person, they are forgiven of all their sin. They are given a new heart with the power to follow the Lord and say no to sin. That is what God’s salvation provides. That is not what most professing Christians experience. God does not lie. Trust Him and know His peace and joy.
Pastor Bartel
