Exodus #9: The Power of God
Text: Exodus 14
Introduction: Bragging
Rights
In New York
recently scientists dug a trench do to 1000 feet. The New York scientists found
traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years and came to the conclusion that
their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 1000 years ago.
Not to be outdone by the Yankees, in the weeks that followed, Oklahoma scientists from Oklahoma State University dug to a depth of 2000 feet and shortly after headlines in the OKC newspapers read:
"OSU archaeologists have found traces of 2000 year
copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced
high-tech communications network a thousand years earlier than the
Yankees."
One week later, Texas newspapers reported the following: "After digging as deep as 5000 feet in West Texas, Texas Aggie scientists have found absolutely nothing. They have therefore concluded that 5000 years ago Texas inhabitants were already using wireless technology."
You know who really should be bragging about their
predecessors? Christians! We have a God who has power beyond description and He
has been showing that power to our ancestors for millennia after millennia. His
power makes the most advanced scientific discovery of mankind look like
children playing with Legos. Exodus chapter 14 is the story of God parting the
Red Sea, one of the great miracles of the Bible and in that story of God saving
the Hebrews there is also a story of God’s power in saving us.
Power of the Promise Exodus 14:10-14
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. 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? 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. 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. The
LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
God’s Promise of Protection to His People
The Hebrew people call out in fear and even contempt because
of the terrible circumstances they have been brought to. Moses, however, calls
out in faith of God’s promise and power.
Fear Ye Not, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD
The LORD shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace.
In other words “Stand Still, Shut up and See God Save.
Will you believe God’s Promises today?
We could use a little more of that kind of attitude today I
think. “Stand still, shut up and See God save. We are caught up in our own strengths, our own plans and our
own power and often times even when we succeed we are actually failing because
we are not seeing that it was God hand and promises that saved us and not
ourselves.
We need to listen to the promises of God and then trust in
that which only He can do. Instead we make our own plans, use our own methods
and when those fail we somehow think God has let us down.
We need to listen to the promises of God for his people
today.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not
dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea,
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Stand still, shut up and let God save.
Illustration: Jehovah is still God
Gladys Aylward, was
a missionary to China when Japan invaded during WW2. She would not leave her work and her children
behind. With only one assistant, she led more than a hundred orphans over the
mountains toward Free China.
In their book The
Hidden Price of Greatness, Ray Besson and Ranelda Mack Hunsicker tell what
happened: "During Gladys's
harrowing journey out of war-torn Yangcheng ... she grappled with despair as
never before. After passing a sleepless night, she faced the morning with no
hope of reaching safety. A little 13-year-old girl in the group sat down next
to Gladys and as they talked she reminded her of the story we are reading
today, Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.
"'But I am not
Moses,' Gladys cried in desperation. 'Of course you aren't,' the girl said,
'but Jehovah is still God!'"
Transition:
“Stand still and See God Save” still applies because God is
still God and we are still His people. What is also true is that his presence
is always with us as the next verses tell us.
Power of Presence Exodus 14:15-20
And the LORD said
unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel,
that they go forward: 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. 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. 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. 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: 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.
God’s Presence Protects Israel
Notice what God said, “Quit praying and start moving!”
In the first place Moses tells them Shut up, stand still and
see God save, but now God says just as bluntly, “Quit praying and get moving!
I like that kind of instruction. You don’t need to study
Greek or Hebrew, you don’t need to look up the case or voice to understand what
God is saying. “Get moving, now!”
So the Israelites begin to move, but remember there are up
to a million Hebrews that are leaving Egypt, just imagine the logistics of
trying to move around a million people and no one has a smart phone to receive
a group text. It is going to take considerable time to start the move,
therefore God’s presence is needed to help and protect His people.
The presence of God, the Bible says, was a cloud that went
before them and now it moves behind them and stands between the Egyptian army
and the Israelites. Specifically the Bible says Exodus 14:19 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:
It was a cloud, and darkness to the Egyptian army but it
gave light to the Hebrews as they prepared to march and we know that the
presences of God was also the Angel of the Lord, a title in the Old Testament
almost always given to Jesus in his pre-incarnate state.
Are you moving and trusting in God’s Presence?
Did you ever think you would hear God tell his people, quit
praying? “Why are you crying to me. Get moving!” Why would He do that? Perhaps it was because
they were using prayer as an excuse for inaction. They were crying out to God
instead of going out with God.
They needed a kick in the pants, they needed a jump start
and God gave it to them. Quit praying and get going!
If there is one thing that characterized Christians today it
is the willingness to replace action with words, deeds with indecision and
faith with fatalism. I hear it and see it all the time.
I just don’t know what to do so I’ll just keep praying about
it.
God hasn’t revealed his will to me yet so I’ll just keep
waiting.
It must be God’s will for this to happen so I’m not going to
do anything about it.
I’ve seen church members stagnate in the pew and I’ve seen
missionaries go to seed on the field. I’ve seen pastors dry up in their
parsonages and I’ve seen churches die on the vine because they just won’t do
anything!
There is no sense of personal responsibility, no
understanding of loyalty, no concept of the common sense notion that if you
don’t get involved then the job won’t get done and in the end you will wither
and die.
Quit praying and start moving! And Yes, God tells you to.
And when you move, understand that you are to move in the
power and protection of God’s presence. We go, not with the unnamed Angel of
the Lord, but with the name above all names, we go with Jesus Christ the Son of
God.
Jesus said, John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I
will come to you.
The word comfortless literally means orphans, Jesus is
saying I will not leave you alone.
Do you believe in the
protection of God’s presence?
In Matthew 28:20, as Jesus give us the great commission he
assures us that we can go anywhere because He is with us always. …and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world. Amen.
That little word “lo” that begins that last phrase means,
stop and pay attention to what comes next. It is meant to emphasize what comes
next and what comes next is Jesus’ promise that He will be with us always even
until the end of the age.
It is the power of His presence that give us what we will
need to go forward in serving God. It is the power of His presence that will
supply what we lack in our own power. It is the power of His presence that will
give peace on the battlefield or comfort on our death bed. It is one of His
most precious and powerful promises and we need to move out in faith that we
might fully experience it.
Illustration: God’s Presence In the empty Chair ( a favorite story of mine)
Leslie Weatherhead
tells the story of an old Scot who was quite ill, and the family called for
their dominie, or minister. As he entered the sick room and sat down, he
noticed another chair on the opposite side of the bed, a chair which had also been
drawn close. The pastor said, "Well, Donald, I see I'm not your first
visitor for the day."
The old man looked
up, was puzzled for a moment, then recognized from the nod of the head that the
pastor had noticed the empty chair. "Well, Pastor, I'll tell you about
that chair. Many years ago I found it quite difficult to pray, so one day I
shared this problem with my old pastor. He told me not to worry about kneeling
or about placing myself in some pious posture. Instead, he said, 'Just sit
down, put a chair opposite you, and imagine Jesus sitting in it, then talk with
Him as you would a friend."' The aged Scot then added, "I've been
doing that ever since."
Later after he had
left, the daughter again called the pastor. When he answered, she told him that
her father had died very suddenly and she was shaken for she had no idea death
was so near.
"I had just gone to lie down for an hour or two, for he
seemed to be sleeping so comfortably. When I went back he was just as I left
him but he had passed away." Then she added thoughtfully, "Only one
thing was different, his hand was laying that old empty chair at the side of
the bed.”
-James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p. 416.
God’s Power Opens a Path Exodus 14:21-29
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. And the children of Israel went
into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto
them on their right hand, and on their left.
And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the
sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning
watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire
and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they
drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of
Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out
thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to
his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and
the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the
chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea
after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry
land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their
right hand, and on their left.
God Through Moses Opens a path through the Sea
Isn’t this a great story? No wonder they have made dozens of
movies about it, but I still think Charlton Heston came closest to getting it
right.
Moses stretches forth his hand and the Red Sea opens a
channel through it. The wind blows through that channel all night and dries the
sea floor so the children of Israel can pass through on dry land.
The next morning as the Egyptians begin to pursue the
Hebrews through that same passage, God knocks the wheels off their chariots and
leaves them stranded in the midst of that path in the sea.
Then God told Moses to once more “Stretch forth thine hand”
and the waters of the Red Sea piled up like great walls of a canyon then
collapsed and God’s enemies were destroyed.
Now just in case you needed a little scientific reasoning
for you faith, I have a clipping that explains just how God did this.
Sophisticated
computer calculations indicate that the biblical parting of the Red Sea, said
to have allowed Moses and the Israelites to escape from bondage in Egypt, could
have occurred precisely as the Bible describes it.
Because of the
peculiar geography of the northern end of the Red Sea, researchers report in
the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, issued today, that a
moderate wind blowing constantly for about 10 hours could have caused the sea
to recede about a mile and the water level to drop 10 feet. That would have left the land dry in the area
where many biblical scholars believe the crossing occurred.
An abrupt change in
the wind would have then allowed the waters to come crashing back into the area
in a few moments, a phenomenon that the Bible says inundated the Israelites'
Egyptian pursuers.- The Columbus Dispatch, March 15, 1992, p. 12A
Now isn’t that nice. Some nice scientist played with his
nice computer and came up with a nice way to explain away one of the greatest
miracles in the Bible with just a little wind storm.
Let me tell you what you already know, The God of the
Universe doesn’t need a weather event to save his people and the Hebrews needed
more than a little breeze to save them from sure death on the spears of the
Egyptian army. They needed a God of power to open a path through an
impenetrable Sea.
When God promised his protection and His people trusted in
that promise, then God saved them with a true miracle of super natural power
not the natural power of wind.
God through Jesus Opens a Path through Death
You had better believe in a supernatural God who uses
supernatural means to save his people because we also are facing our own Red
Sea of Death.
We are caught between the coming judgment of our sins and
the end of our life just as the Hebrews were trapped between Pharaoh and the
Red Sea.
The Bible says, Hebrews 9:27
…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
In Romans 3:23 It says, “All have sinned and come short of
the glory of God.”
In Romans 6:23 it says, “The wages of sin is death…”
We stand every day of our lives at the edge of the sea of
death and one day the coming judgment will overtake us and we will be judged
for our sin and the Bible says that judgment is eternal death.
Just like the children of Israel we need to stop and look
for the salvation of God.
Psalms 46:10 Be
still, and know that I am God:
Ephesians 2:8 For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God:
We must stand still in our own power and then through faith
we will find the salvation of God.
How will God save us from death and judgment? In the same
way He saved the Hebrews, God opens a path through the sea of death.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Romans 5:2 By whom
also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in
hope of the glory of God.
Jesus is the path that God has opened for us to pass through
the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
Jesus is the door.
And just like God told Moses, now is the time to get moving.
You don’t find salvation by standing on the shore until
Pharaoh’s army comes, you don’t find it waiting until the walls of water crash
upon your head, you find it when you step out on the path of salvation.
You find salvation when you come to Jesus Christ. You find
power when you come to Jesus Christ. You want to experience the power of a
miracle today, not just an emotional high or psychological effect but a real
miracle? Then come to Jesus and fully trusting him as Lord and Savior you will
find a miracle.
A miracle of the
emotions, a miracle of the psyche, miracle of the mind and heart but much more
than that it is a miracle of the spirit.
A miracle that takes a soul stained with sin and makes it white as snow.
A miracle that takes you from fighting against God to God fighting for you. A
miracle that walks you through the sea of death to the promised land of heaven
waiting on the other side.
Illustration: The Power of Salvation
A missionary was once asked to give a proof that the cross
would eventually triumph. This is what he replied: “When I arrived at my
mission station, the Fiji Islands, this is what I had to do first of all: bury
the hands, arms, feet, and heads of eighty victims whose bodies had been
roasted and eaten at a cannibal feast. I lived to see those very cannibals who
had taken part in that inhuman feast gathered about the Lord’s table.” Such a
miracle could be performed by no one but Jesus Christ. The products of
civilization—schools, factories, saloons, pornography—would have given them
disease and death, as they did to most of our Indians. Jesus came, and those that
used to eat each other henceforth loved each other. Well, the same cause always
has the same effects: always the Gospel changes hearts.
Transition: The story
doesn’t end here of course, look at chp 15 1-2, 11
Conclusion: Praise of Protection Exodus 15:1-2,11
Then sang Moses and
the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing
unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my
strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will
prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
Who is like unto
thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonders?
Can you sing the praises of salvation this morning?
How long since you have had something to praise God about?
How long since you stood still and saw the salvation of God?
How long since you moved in the direction God wanted you to
go?
I want to sing the praises of salvation in my life and in my
church and I believe it is as much my promise as it was Moses and the
Israelites.
Perhaps for you today is the time to see God’s salvation,
perhaps its time to quit praying and start moving. I don’t know the time and
seasons of your soul today but I definitely know it is always time to trust God
promises and power and to go in that power.
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