Setup for Victory - Exodus 14:1-22

[0:00] Open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 14. If you remember, we've been traveling with Moses and the Israelites. They've just left Egypt.

[0:11] We said last time that they removed from Sukkoth to Etham. Just stepping across that border, just stepping outside of Egypt. It seemed like a small step, but it was a huge step.

[0:24] Well, the thing is, nobody really knows where Etham is. It also looks like it could be all the way over on the other side of the Sinai Peninsula. So they either left Egypt and encamped in Etham just across the border, and then traveled across the wilderness, or they left Egypt, traveled across the wilderness, and then camped at Etham.

[0:44] I don't know, and it doesn't really matter for the text, but you will see on different maps, like as I was looking, that nobody's quite sure where it is. If you remember back in chapter 12, I think it was, verse 13, verse 18, it says, God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.

[1:06] Well, the way of the wilderness is an actual route. It's actually still there today. There's a road that cuts across the Sinai Peninsula, and it would have been a trade route back in the day to get from Egypt to the lands further east.

[1:19] And it is still there. There's actually a road that if you wanted, and you wanted to go travel on that route, you could to go across the way of the wilderness. So Israel has left Egypt and is traveling across this way, the way of the wilderness, as we get into the text today.

[1:36] At the end of chapter 13, if you remember, it told us that God did something very special for Israel. He gave them His presence in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to lead them in the way and to be with them.

[1:54] And He took not away, it said in verse 22, He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of the fire by night from before the people. And we saw that how God gave His abiding presence to lead and to give light.

[2:06] As He tells us in His words, Psalm 119, 105, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. For what purpose? Well, to lead us and give us light. It's not just a light for reading or a light for my past.

[2:21] It's a light for my path, a lamp to my feet, because I'm moving forward. I need that if I want to have a walk. I need to know where I'm going. And so God gives us His presence to do that. Psalm 23, you know, it's a pretty famous psalm.

[2:36] We know that psalm, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me to beside the still water. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

[2:48] Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I don't fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemy. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

[3:02] And I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Very well-known psalm. But there's two verses in there that'd be nice to cut out. Psalm 23, verses 4 and 5. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me.

[3:16] Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I don't want to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I want God's comfort. I want His presence. But can we do it somewhere else? Can we go back to those paths of righteousness and the green pastures?

[3:27] Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. It anoints my head with oil and my cup runs over. Man, I want to feast at God's table, but I don't want to do it in the presence of mine enemies.

[3:39] And we're going to see here as God is leading Israel, as He's leading His people through the wilderness, we know He's not taking them up. I'm going to put that map up one more time here. He's not taking them.

[3:51] The shortcut, the quick way would be to stay along the Mediterranean. That body of water that's right above the way of the wilderness, that's the Dead Sea. You're up into Israel. It'd be so much easier to just take them right up there. But He didn't, because He didn't want to take them through the land of the Philistines, unless they'd be discouraged.

[4:05] And also, He had to take care of a problem that still existed that He didn't know of, which was the enemy that was still in their past coming to get them. If they had gone right up into Canaan, and He takes them on the east side of the Jordan, they're going to come across that.

[4:22] Well, in front of them is the giants of the land, and behind them is what? The Egyptians still. Well, how are they going to fight on two fronts like that? And so God takes them through the wilderness at this point.

[4:34] It doesn't always look like what we would expect, the way the Lord takes. I don't want to go through the valley of the shadow of death, but that's the path the Lord has led me through. And we see that victory, it's not a matter of power, we think it is.

[4:47] Yes, we're going to see Pharaoh and all of his army and all the chariots come, but it's a matter of presence. Yea, they're going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Well, what's the victory there? It's that God is with me. God has given His presence to Israel in that pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.

[5:03] And because of that, they are going to see a victory. Verse 1 of chapter 14, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, boom, and then we're into verse 2. Why just verse 1?

[5:13] Why just stick that right there? Do you realize that from chapter 16 on, every chapter has begun with some form of the Lord spoke to Moses. The Lord said to Moses, the Lord spoke to Moses.

[5:24] Moses has never left to himself to accomplish the impossible tasks that God puts in front of him. All the way back to the burning bush, he comes and speaks to him. He gets into Egypt. Every single chapter begins with Moses.

[5:37] I'm going to speak to you. I'm going to tell you to do this. After the speaking, after Moses spends his time with God, then it's the impossible things. Then God works. God wants to do the same thing for us.

[5:48] Every day, every beginning should start with God's voice. Every beginning begins with, and the Lord spake. Out of that, then I go and act. You know, we can focus on the, and we have, the plagues, the ten plagues, all the amazing things that happened, the just incredulity, oh boy, incredulity.

[6:08] Yeah, I got it. The incredulity of all of that, how incredible it was that all of these things happened. And yet every single chapter started with this, you could pass right by it. What's it, God spoke to him?

[6:19] Okay, God spoke to Moses. Let's get to the big things. But none of those things would happen if it wasn't for God speaking to Moses, and Moses responding. Speak unto the children of Israel.

[6:30] God speaks to Moses, and Moses then speaks with an understanding of God's word. Now, he doesn't necessarily know the reason for God's word, but he does speak from an understanding of God's word.

[6:42] He knew what God had said to him, and God said, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihiroth, between Migdal and the sea, over against Belsiphon.

[6:55] Before it shall you encamp by the sea. They're going to come, and they are going to set up camp, you know, right there by Belsiphon. You all know where that is, right?

[7:06] Well, that goes back to where we were just talking about up here, this way of the wilderness. As they were traveling across, the most logical thing would be to continue off the north end of the Gulf of Aquaba.

[7:22] So the Red Sea is a very large body of water, and at the north end are these two kind of chutes, these two fingers, and in the middle of that is the Sinai Peninsula. Even though Mount Sinai is not there, they call it the Sinai Peninsula.

[7:36] We'll get to that eventually. You have these two fingers. The one on this side is the Gulf of Aquaba, and the one on that side is the Gulf of Suez. The easiest thing is you just cut across the top of the Gulf of Aquaba, go around it to Mount Sinai, back to the Mount of God, where God had promised Moses to go.

[7:54] But instead, where God says to Moses here in verse 2, speak unto them that they turn and encamp, well, that's this little jog right here that we see.

[8:05] Instead of going across the north end of it, God tells them to turn and go south, and to go down into this encampment. That encampment will end at a place called Nuebe Beach.

[8:20] It's this little spit of land, and you can kind of see where those arrows are, and it goes down through what's called a wadi. And all of those crisscrossing-like scars are because when it rains over there, there's no water, there's not a lot of rainfall.

[8:33] And when it does, it rains en masse, and it all pools down in these little narrow canyons and cuts these channels. Israel is following now this wadi, and I didn't get it set up.

[8:44] I was going to bring it up on my Google Maps. It's just, there's a road there now, and it's snakes and snakes and snakes and snakes and snakes and snakes. And I was just thinking, if you are two million people, and you've got your kids with you, or, you know, your wife with you, or your whatever, and you go around and turn, there's another one, another band, and another one, and another one, and another one.

[9:01] It's like, where are we going? It was a straight shot. We were in the wide open, going across the wilderness, following this road, and God says, turn. Now, God told Moses. He's going to tell Moses why, but he's not going to tell the people.

[9:14] And here you can see this beach, and you can kind of see that snaking path as it comes out, and it empties onto this beach. This beach is massive. All along the water's edge are resorts today, and it could easily hold millions of people, a massive spit of land.

[9:30] But these two names that we have here, the names, as he says, are three names. Camp Before Pihiroth, that is the actual name of what they called that beach at that time, and it means a cavern, the mouth of a cavern.

[9:44] Between Migdal and Belsiphon. Migdal means tower. Belsiphon, Be-el, Ziphon, is the place of Typhon. He was a serpent god of the Egyptians.

[9:56] One side, one peak was Migdal, and one peak was Belsiphon. It's a snake, and you're opening up, like this mouth. And here they are. They're coming out into Belsiphon, coming out next to Belsiphon and Migdal, and camping in this place, and camping in the mouth of the cavern.

[10:14] But if you were Israel, and you had walked through there, you've been in the desert, and you come out, and in front of you is the Mediterranean, or the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Aquaba, man, you must have been so excited to see that.

[10:26] You must have been thinking that, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. We've been in this wilderness. Your kids run out. They're in the water. It's just, you're having a fantastic time.

[10:38] This is a good place to be. Speak that they camp before it. Moses understood God's word, but he didn't necessarily know the reason for it.

[10:48] But Moses' success as a leader was directly tied to his decision to continue to follow God's word, even when he didn't understand why. God, why did you take this turn here? I wasn't expecting a turn. I mean, you said we were going to the Mount of God.

[11:01] It's over there, and you just turned me over here. What's going on? Following God's plan, we're going to see, or God's word is going to do a few things here. It's going to put Israel, it's going to lead them to a dead end.

[11:14] While this at the moment may look like a resort, God is leading them. His following God's word will lead them to a dead end. Following God's word is going to place them in an impossible situation.

[11:26] At the moment, they don't realize that. And then following God's word, place them in the presence of their, wow, you can tell I was typing that fast. That's still not right.

[11:46] We keep it pretty real here. If you would like help with math, see me afterwards with spelling, go talk to someone else. But it places them in the presence of their enemies.

[11:58] You know, we follow God's word, and we want to be delivered from our enemies. We want to be led in a right way, and we don't want to be an impossible situation. This whole thing seems like a setup.

[12:10] And Moses now hears this from the Lord as he gets ready to turn. The Lord says to Moses in verse three, for Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.

[12:22] Here you can see that fact, that once you get into this dead end, you're not going anywhere. You're not going to travel north or south. This is the only place you're going to be. And Pharaoh says, hey, the land's entangled them.

[12:36] This was so foolish. Can you believe what they did? They just turned into the middle of nowhere and a dead end. What the world will see is foolishness and a dead end. God sees as an opportunity for deliverance.

[12:48] God sees this as a setup for victory and deliverance. The wilderness had shut them in. Why? That God might deliver them out because God was going to do a work. They were shut up for deliverance.

[13:01] You know, when you look at this beach, it's really funny. You back up even further and you look at a satellite view, there is no place along this entire west side that a million people could sit except right there.

[13:13] It's almost like God made it for it. Almost like specifically he made this for that. We'll look more at that next week. But our reality is determined by God's word. God's word defines reality. Will we accept that?

[13:23] That in the beginning, God spoke into creation. He spoke creation into existence, I mean. Well, God is continuing to shape creation and continuing to shape reality. Reality never affects God's word.

[13:34] What we perceive is reality. God's word shapes reality. That beach was made and designed specifically for the deliverance that God had in store. There are things in our future that we don't even know about that God has specifically made for one purpose only, for us to be led through to victory.

[13:51] But Pharaoh is gonna say, these guys are a bunch of fools. And the Lord says, well, I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And here we see again, this idea that God's hardening Pharaoh's heart.

[14:02] But what's already happened? Pharaoh will say, well, God's simply ratifying Pharaoh's will. God didn't make Pharaoh say that. God said, well, I'm gonna harden Pharaoh's heart only after he said this and has decided this, and he will follow after them.

[14:16] And I will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon all his host that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. They did so. I will harden Pharaoh's heart. Moses, I'm gonna harden Pharaoh's heart and he's gonna come after you.

[14:28] Great. Thanks, Lord. It does not appear that Moses went and told the people this. There are some things God reveals to us that it's not always timing to reveal that to someone else. Sometimes being a good follower of the Lord is knowing how to lead others in a way that's not gonna get them all stirred up.

[14:45] I don't know how this is gonna work out, but I know what God's word says. I don't know how God's word's gonna play out in your life, but I can tell you God's word, confidently what God's word says, because we have his word. And for us, it's never for us to choose the path.

[15:00] It's just to walk the one that God puts in front of us. We don't get to pick it. We just get to walk it. No matter how seemingly unreasonable, never turn to another path that God's not led you in, right?

[15:12] So they're walking through this. What if there's a little, oh, we can get out of here. Let's go this way. Well, that would interrupt God's whole plan. That would put them in greater danger. They're gonna be face to face with the enemy.

[15:24] They're gonna be terrified out of their minds. And yet they're never safer than if they were a hundred miles from the enemy because they're in the path God had placed them on. For Moses, his ability to lead was not based upon his good ideas or what seemed reasonable.

[15:38] I mean, there are so many people as we go through this that are gonna try and challenge his leadership because, well, Moses, we've watched you. You don't have any qualifications. I mean, what, how did God train you?

[15:50] Well, I used to keep sheep in the desert and that's about it. We could, you don't have any resources. We are better equipped, better trained, better able to do this.

[16:02] And Moses would say, you know, you're right. You're right. But there's one difference. God's called me to do this and I'm just responding to his word. For Moses, it was not that he was, had good ideas or was reasonable, but that he depended upon God's word.

[16:16] He had God's word, God's leading and God's presence. This word where he says that God says he'll be honored upon Pharaoh, we're gonna look at that a little later. By the way, we will not get through the whole chapter. Hopefully we'll get down to verse 22.

[16:28] It's just way too much. You know, I mean, all of God's word is epic, right? I was talking with Eddie ahead of time about Leviticus, how exciting it'll be once we get to Leviticus. But it will be because God's word's exciting.

[16:39] But there are just some passages in scripture that are like, we're gonna settle into this one a little bit. This is one that's worth taking our time on. God is honored.

[16:52] How does God get honor? Well, God is honored, I think, when God is made known. He says, I will get honor upon Pharaoh and on all his house, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.

[17:04] And so then God's people did so. They turned and they followed. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled. Didn't he already know that? What does this mean?

[17:14] Well, if you remember when Moses first came to Pharaoh, he's like, let us go three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice unto our God. And Pharaoh had all those conditions. Well, you can go without your sheep and your goats. Well, you can go without your wives and your children.

[17:26] Well, you can, all of these conditions. So originally it was, we just wanna go three days in the wilderness to journey. But if you remember when Pharaoh called Moses in, he said, get out from among my people and get out of my land, all of you.

[17:38] There were no conditions. He said, just go. So it was told Pharaoh, the people fled. Hey, Pharaoh, remember, like you thought maybe they're just gonna go three days? Like they have, they're across the Sinai Peninsula. They're gone.

[17:50] 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. Why have you done this? Pharaoh, your oldest son is dead.

[18:01] Why have you done this? Egypt's destroyed. Hell has wiped out your crops. Why have you done this? The word there where it says, Pharaoh and his servants, their hearts were turned. It literally means to flip.

[18:12] Their hearts were flipped. It made me think of in James chapter one, verse eight, that a double-minded man, a man who's flip-flopping, is unstable in all his ways. There's no stability there.

[18:22] Constantly flipping. And here Pharaoh and his heart, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants, they flip. Proverbs 26, there's a pretty well-known verse in there.

[18:34] As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly. But that's couched, Proverbs 26, between verses 10 and 12, is that verse that we know, verse 11.

[18:47] But picking up in verse 10, it says, the great God that formed all things, both rewards the fool and rewards the transgressors. As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.

[18:59] You see, a man wise in his own conceit, there's more hope of a fool than him. What's he saying here? Well, he's saying that a fool looks at something that is worthless and rejected and gross and thinks there could still be value in it.

[19:13] God says, you know what? And yet as horrible as that is, there is, there is more hope for that fool than someone who's conceitedly wise, someone whose wisdom is in their own conceit.

[19:25] Better to be a fool who's going to run back to his own vomit than to be someone who's wise in your own conceit. And that's Pharaoh. Pharaoh is beyond just being a fool. Pharaoh is a conceited fool.

[19:36] But Pharaoh is flip-flopping here. Why? An unrepentant heart quickly forgets the pain of correction. Proverbs 15, 5, a fool despises his father's instruction, but he that regards reproof is prudent.

[19:51] A heart that is not willing to repent will quickly forget the pain of correction. I was one of those as a kid. Man, I feel like I got spanked every day. My mom said, no, he didn't get spanked every day.

[20:02] Just felt like that. The correction's over. My heart wasn't repentant. You go right back to it. You get in trouble again. You eventually realize, maybe I should change my course of action here.

[20:15] But Pharaoh's heart was quick to return to the foolish, worthless ways that he had chosen to live that brought such destruction on Egypt. The ways of the enemy, they may seem reasonable on the face, but in reality, they're only foolishness.

[20:32] This seemed very reasonable for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. You know what? We're just going to go get them. I mean, we've got this huge army in verse six. And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him.

[20:45] And he took 600 chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and captains over every one of them. So, in warfare, where face-to-face combat, personal warfare, the chariot was like an unstoppable weapon.

[21:03] It created a stable platform instead of the back of a horse for them to launch javelins and arrows off of. And if you're a man with a sword and a shield and you've got a chariot coming at you with two horses, it's just going to run you over.

[21:17] Pharaoh was taking the full might of his army. This is what had made Egypt great. This is one of the things that had caused them to be one of the dominant nations in the world that they could just go out and conquer. Pharaoh is getting ready, but he doesn't know he's getting ready for his own destruction.

[21:32] This is just a setup. The enemy always runs to his own destruction. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel went out with a high hand.

[21:44] So the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, but only after Pharaoh's heart has flipped. High hand, that word just means with a lifted hand or exalted. They didn't go out quietly. They didn't go out. They didn't sneak out.

[21:55] They went out with a high hand. I like that. It makes me think that they went out with their hands raised to the Lord. They went out with a high hand. Colossians 2.15 tells us Jesus did the same thing.

[22:06] That on the cross, he spoiled principalities and powers. He made a show of them openly. He triumphed over them in it. And on the cross, Jesus with a high hand said, I got you.

[22:17] This was a setup. The enemy will always despise the freedom that God's people has. They always despise the freedom and favor of God's people.

[22:27] What is it, man? At Pharaoh, your nation's destroyed. They're hundreds of miles across the desert. Let him go. No, I can't have them living in freedom. I can't have them under the favor of God's people.

[22:39] I have to do something about this. And so the Egyptians pursue them. They go all the way across the way of the wilderness. They pursued after them, all their horses and chariots of Pharaoh and all the horsemen in his army.

[22:52] And they overtook them and camping by the sea beside, where they found them camping by the sea, beside Pihiroth before Belsiphon. And here again, we see them hemmed in by the mountains.

[23:06] He overtook, the word overtook, it means to come within reach. The Pharaoh's army comes within reach. This is where we get back to our other verse from Psalm 23. The help prepare us to table before me in the presence of mine enemies.

[23:18] Enemies in reach. Enemies right there. And when Pharaoh drew nigh in verse 10, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes. They lift up their eyes and what do they see coming out of their mouth?

[23:30] You know, I mean, if you've been traveling through a dusty desert forever, where are you going to be encamped? I know where my wife would want to be encamped. Can we get as close to the waves as we can? I want to be able to sleep at night to hear the waves. And so here comes Pharaoh.

[23:41] Maybe they had some sentries posted up in here. Here comes his men out of the mouth of this thing, out of the mouth of the place of the serpent. And Pharaoh drew nine, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them and they were sore afraid.

[23:59] The children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. Imagine that moment. You're like, I don't know why we're here. I guess God's just giving us a little vacation. This is fantastic. And then here comes the enemy. And the closer the enemy gets, the bigger he always seems.

[24:14] You know, one chariot comes out, two chariots come out. They're spreading across the plain. They're getting closer and they lifted up their eyes. And what did they see? They saw the enemy. They looked with the eyes of fear, not of faith.

[24:28] Sight will always lead to fear. When we view things with sight, it will always lead to fear because we can only see things that are far beyond our capacity to deal with them. But God's word leads to faith.

[24:40] Remember when Elisha, who was the prophet after Elijah, we watched Elijah go to heaven in the whirlwind and then he receives the double blessing and anointing. Elijah's ministry was, if you look at his ministry, it was filled with a lot of death.

[24:53] A lot of the miracles he did led to death and judgment. Elisha's, he had a double portion. There was no death during his ministry. That was a result of his ministry. But the king of Syria continued to try and oppress Israel.

[25:07] And at that time, it was the two nations, Judah and Israel. Israel was ruled from Samaria. Remember when Jesus travels from Jerusalem up to Galilee, he says he must needs go through Samaria.

[25:19] Samaria was smack in the center of Israel and the Jews would travel around it. No one would go through Samaria because they weren't true Jews. But at this time, the nation was being ruled from there. And every time the king of Syria would attempt to attack the Israelites, they'd know his plans.

[25:36] It was like they had a secret spy who could tell them the plans of the enemy ahead of time. And they found out eventually it's Elisha, that God was telling Elisha and he's going to the king of Samaria and saying, hey, by the way, he's going to come up from the south.

[25:49] He's coming from the east. He's coming from wherever. And so they said, well, we're going to change our tactic. We're not going to attack Samaria and the kingdom or the king of Samaria, the king of Israel. We're going to attack Elisha. We're going to take this guy out.

[26:00] And so they do that and they surround the city. And the next morning, his servant wakes up and looks out and they're surrounded. And he comes and he wakes Elisha and he's like, we are done for.

[26:11] And Elisha answered him in 2 Kings 6, 16. And he said, fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. It's him and Elisha.

[26:22] He's looking around. Elisha, I know you're probably losing your eyesight. You're an old man. But there's nobody here. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see.

[26:33] The problem wasn't that Elisha couldn't see, but that this man couldn't see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

[26:47] And here as Egypt and Pharaoh are pouring forth from these mountains, God's going, gotcha!

[26:59] As Israel is crying out unto the Lord. Israel, their words were for Moses.

[27:09] It says that they cried to the Lord, but their words were for who? They were for Moses. They turned to Moses and they say to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, you've taken us to die in the wilderness?

[27:22] Why have you dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? But yet the end of verse 10 says they cried to the Lord. Well, I think their words were for Moses, but their hearts were for God. God heard their heart.

[27:33] You know, we're told in Romans 8, 26 that the Lord does the same for us by his Holy Spirit. That when we pray, the Spirit helps our infirmities. For we don't know how we should pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

[27:46] How many times have you prayed a complaint? Lord, Lord, I don't know how you're going to fix this. This is just a miserable situation. I can't believe you left me in this long. Lord, I know you can do all things. Would you please help? Well, those are our words, but the Holy Spirit knows our heart, that our heart's crying out to God.

[28:01] May God give us ears to hear the hearts of his people that cry and not just their words. It's very easy to take personal when someone comes and says, why? It's you.

[28:12] In reality, their hearts are just crying out to the Lord because they're desperate. Do you remember when Samuel was rejected by Israel to be their judge?

[28:23] And he was upset about that because they wanted a king. And God told him, he said, Samuel, don't hearken to the voice of the people. Or he said, hearken unto them, like do what they said, but don't take it personal. They've not rejected you, they've rejected me that I should reign over them.

[28:35] When we are rejected, God is the one standing behind us, kind of with his hand on our back, going, it's all right, it's all right, they haven't rejected you, they've rejected me.

[28:46] Now their words say, their words are accusing Moses, Moses, this is your fault, we told you not to do this, it's the choices you've made, but God knows, behind that is a heart crying out to him.

[28:58] So because of fear, what happens? Well, we walk by what? We walk by faith, not by sight. So faith leads to a walk, fear just leads to a bunch of talking, right?

[29:09] Fear talks where faith walks, and they're just talking and talking. They said, is not this the word that we told you in Egypt? Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to have served the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.

[29:24] Is that true? Is a life of bondage really better than death? God is very patient with our immaturity. God is long suffering with our immaturity. He had delivered them by a high hand.

[29:37] He'd given them all the resources of Egypt. He destroyed the nation and brought them out, and at their first roadblock, this is it. It's over. We're done for. But God is very patient.

[29:49] It is not better to be in bondage. It is much better to die in deliverance than to live under bondage. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4.11, For we which live were always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

[30:07] Yes, much better to die, to die to myself, to die with Christ in deliverance, man, than to continue to live under bondage. Much better. And Moses said unto the people, Fear you not.

[30:21] Fantastic verse. This one, I was going to say, tattoo it on you. Don't tattoo yourself. Put it on your fridge. Because then eventually, it'll, you know, things will sag, and it'll look misspelled like all of my slides.

[30:32] And Moses said unto the people, Fear you not. Stand still. And see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today.

[30:43] For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will see them again no more, forever. Moses tells them to stand still because fear was resulting in the wrong type of action.

[30:54] Fear results in action, but the wrong type. Moses said, be still. The action of fear leads to panic. Right? The action of faith, rest, stay still. It's really cool as I was going through this.

[31:09] The Lord showed me this. You know, we walk by faith, not by sight. Well, look at their response to when they saw the enemy. They're walking by sight, right?

[31:19] What did they do? They saw, and then what they saw, they feared, and after the fear, they spoke. Well, look how God comes with his word. Look at walking by faith in verse 13. Moses said, well, it's the reverse.

[31:33] First comes the speaking. First comes God's word. Moses said, fear not. So instead of see and fear, it's hey, he speaks and no fear. And then comes sight.

[31:45] The Egyptians whom you see today, you'll see them again no more, forever. Exact opposite. We walk by sight, we see it, we fear it, we react, we speak. God's the opposite.

[31:56] God speaks, and his word says, no fear, no fear. And then afterwards, we will see the result of that. It's amazing. I mean, who doesn't love the Old Testament? Israel's response to God's word would determine if they would see and experience that salvation, though.

[32:14] It was there. They said, no, we don't want this. We're going to go and battle the Egyptians, or we're going to try and head north and south along the shore. And then lastly, this verse right here, deliverance, when was deliverance? And what, was it for tomorrow?

[32:25] Was it for next week? Deliverance is for today. Deliverance is not for tomorrow. It's now. We walk in deliverance. Behold, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.

[32:36] And if you do that, Israel, you will see this enemy no more, forever. The enemy once defeated, and he's defeated forever. Hebrews 10, 12, and 13, but this man, Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth, expecting till his enemies be made his footstools.

[32:58] One deliverance, one defeat, it's over. The rest of this, he's just like, yeah, this is just kind of like gathering in the enemies, you know, bringing in the stragglers until they're made of his footstool, until the fulfillment of every part of that is accomplished.

[33:15] And Moses says to them, this is why you can stand still, guys. This is what's going to happen. The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Literally to dig in, to hold fast, when you hold your feet, or you hold your feet, hold your peace.

[33:28] It's like to dig in. It's like to hold tight. It's like when Paul is going up to Jerusalem, and he says, you're breaking my heart as the prophet Agabus comes down, and he says, he takes his belt, and he says, and ties Paul's hand, he whose hands are tied with this belt, in the same way he'll be bound when he goes to Jerusalem.

[33:49] And they're saying, don't go, don't go. And he's like, you're breaking my heart because none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself, that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I've received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

[34:03] Paul was dug in, like these things aren't going to move me. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to hold my peace. I'm going to stand fast, because there's absolute confidence in victory. Victory is assured, but we still have a part to play in it, don't we?

[34:18] Is the battle ours? No. The battle's the Lord's, but the victory is ours. Paul writes in Romans 8, 37, he says, in all of these things, either height or depth, nor angels, principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord.

[34:35] In all of these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. How do you be more than a conqueror? Well, what's a conqueror? A conqueror is the one who goes in and battles and wins.

[34:46] Well, to be more than a conqueror is to just take part in the victory. You don't have to do the battle. The victory is ours. You see, our part in the battle is just to stand still and let God do it.

[34:59] Our part is the victory. But we have a part to play in that victory. As the enemy drew near, the temptation is to either try and battle yourself, hide, run.

[35:11] But the nearness of the enemy, as much as it's tempting to be moved by that, and the prospect of the coming battle, our place is to hold fast, to dig in. Excuse me.

[35:25] There is an enemy, but he's not yours to defeat. There is a battle, but it's not yours to fight. That's the Lord's. That's what he speaks to us today.

[35:36] As David, as a young shepherd boy, a young man, goes to the battle where Israel is arrayed against the Philistines at the Battle of Elah, at the Valley of Elah.

[35:48] And here's Goliath, and David responds to that. And he runs towards him with his sling in his hand, and he said, in 1 Samuel 17, this day will the Lord deliver you into my hand, and I'm going to smite you and take your head from you, and I'll give your carcass and the carcass of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

[36:12] And all this assembly, the Philistines and Israelites watching, they will know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear, but the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.

[36:23] What was David's part? David's part was same as Moses. Moses, what's in your hand? I got a staff. David, what's in your hand? I got a sling. Just run towards the enemy. And as he closer got to the enemy, the bigger the enemy seemed.

[36:35] His part? His part was to do what he could do, and God would take care of the rest. He could have thrown that stone straight up. He could have, like, tripped and the thing fallen out, and God would have sent that sucker right into Goliath.

[36:48] There is an enemy, but he's not ours to defeat. And there is a battle, but it's not ours to fight. The Lord said unto Moses, you know, Moses just says this remarkable thing to the people.

[36:58] Stand still. See the salvation of God. In the next verse, the Lord says to Moses, why are you crying unto me? We don't get that, where he goes, oh Lord, I don't know how we're going to do this. I just told the people you're going to do this. How's this going to work out?

[37:10] Why are you crying unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. Our part in the battle is not to fight, but it is to have faith. We stand fast in victory. I mean, in the battle, we stand fast because it's God's battle, but we move forward in victory.

[37:24] God said, I'll defeat them. Moses, go forward. God said, Galatians 5, 1, stand fast, therefore, and the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

[37:35] We don't need to go back to bondage. We stand fast in the battle, but we move forward in faith. We don't just do nothing. Moses, in essence, was crying to God for victory, and God was telling Moses, go forward in the victory.

[37:48] It was already there, Moses. I've already declared it so. Don't cry unto me for victory. Move forward in victory. But you, Moses, here's what I wanted you to do. Here's your part in victory, Moses.

[38:00] Here's your part in deliverance. Lift thou 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. All right, you're Moses, and you hear God's voice come to you.

[38:13] Moses, lift up your rod, stretch out your hand, and divide the sea. And what's your first thought? How? How? God just told me to divide the sea? Moses was being tasked with the impossible by being asked to do the possible.

[38:30] Moses, divide the sea. How? Well, just do the possible part. Just lift up your staff. Lift up your hand. Can you do that, Moses? I can, but I don't know how I'm gonna...

[38:40] When the Lord was calling us to move to Charlotte, we'd come and visit it, and we... I mean, the Lord was just confirming we need to move here. And one of the scriptures he gave us was in Ezekiel, where Ezekiel, the Lord speaks to Ezekiel to move, and he says, oh, son of man, prepare you stuff for removing, and remove by stuff, and remove by day in their sight.

[39:00] So prepare you stuff to remove. God, we need to get ready to go. That was the possible part. The impossible part was, we don't have anywhere to live, we don't have a job, I don't have a job, and so, like, I became focused with the eyesight of fear.

[39:15] Well, how is this gonna work? I need to find a job. And we completely stopped doing the part God had asked us to do as we focused on how's this gonna happen. We came down and visited again, and the Lord convicted us really strongly, and we went home, and we hadn't even unloaded the truck.

[39:28] We got back in the house, and Sue was emptying the cupboards and boxing stuff up as I'm unloading the car from vacation, visiting, and we were just like, all right, we need to do the possible part.

[39:40] We need to do what God told us to do. He didn't tell us how. He just said, do this. And we did, and we ended up selling the house before we had moved and before we had a place to be, and then God took care of everything, quite miraculously and amazingly.

[39:52] But naturally, you know, just like he provides, oh, here's a job opportunity. Moses was tasked with the impossible, but he was only asked to do the possible. His capability to lead God's people would be directly related to his capability to follow what God said.

[40:08] Moses, how well are you gonna lead God's people? You know, we looked at that. Hunter, I appreciate you wearing that shirt. We looked at that at the men's conference. 1 Corinthians 11, 1, follow me as I follow Christ. Well, how can I ask anyone to follow me if I don't know where I'm going?

[40:21] If I'm just wandering around the wilderness? This looks like a good path. We gotta be following Jesus so I can say to anybody else, hey, I'm heading towards Jesus. Come with me. Moses' ability to lead was directly related to his ability to follow.

[40:35] The other thing we see here is that the effect of obedience, oh, my slides just messed up on me. The effect of obedience is completely disproportionate to the act of obedience.

[40:50] Remember the Philippian jailer after the earthquake and he's standing there and he says to Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? And he said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. What a small act.

[41:02] Just give a mental ascent with your heart, soul, mind, and strength. I believe in Jesus. That one little act of obedience, you're now seated in the heavenlies. You've been born again. You have the spirit of God residing in you.

[41:14] You have eternity with Jesus and his people. All of that at your disposal because of just that one little act of obedience. Moses, all I want you to do is just take what's in your hand and lift it up to me.

[41:27] God will lead us through ways that we would prefer to go around. Moses didn't, you know what, God, let's make an impossible situation today and see what you want to do. Right? Moses would have preferred to go around and God said, no, we're going to go through this.

[41:43] But that's an opportunity for deliverance. When the path ahead is impossible, it's just an opportunity that God is setting us up for, for deliverance. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

[41:58] We would go around but if we didn't go through, we would have never experienced the presence and the comfort of God. We would never have known that there is nothing to fear. in that valley. The enemy behind, impossibilities in front, and God in the midst, this sounds like a perfect setup for victory.

[42:19] Psalm 116, verses 8 and 9, for thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Well, that means my soul must have been at a point of death for him to deliver me from it.

[42:33] My eyes must have been filled with tears. I must have been stumbling. So that God could deliver me. That I could walk before him in the land of the living. God places us in impossible situations never to overwhelm us, but simply to deliver us.

[42:46] And behold, the Lord says to Moses, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them, God's people, and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh and upon all his hosts, upon the chariots and upon his horsemen, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh and upon his chariots and upon his horsemen.

[43:08] God left, God leaves it, and no doubt, who is the one doing the work? Moses, you're just lifting your hand. I'm the one who's going to do all of this. Don't fear the enemy. We put our trust in the Lord.

[43:21] So here we have this idea of honor. Again, the word honor here, it means kabod. It's the Hebrew word for kabod, if you've heard that word, the honor, the glory. It means weight or glory. It's something that to place upon one or to ascribe one that which is due.

[43:35] Like you put a crown upon a king, you put a robe, you know, you're placing upon them that which is due them. To dishonor is to withhold what is due or to withhold what is ascribed to another.

[43:48] God is saying that Pharaoh has withheld what has been, should be ascribed to God. One way or another, God will get glory in Pharaoh's life.

[43:59] Now, Pharaoh could experience that through God's mercy or he could experience that through God's judgment, but every life will give glory to God. Every life will place that glory and that honor where it should be.

[44:10] Proverbs 16, 4 says the Lord made all things for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil. That God has a purpose even in Pharaoh or whatever modern day Pharaohs we live with.

[44:24] And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, it now does something very remarkable and moves and went behind them and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them.

[44:35] This must have been a very scary moment for Israel as they see the cloud they've been following all of a sudden move behind them. Does God want us to run towards the Egyptians? But the presence of God was shielding his people from the enemy.

[44:47] He was moving to a place where no matter how close the enemy got, God's presence would always be closer. So when God places himself, his presence, between us and the enemy, the enemy presses in and presses in and presses in.

[44:59] All he's doing is pushing God's presence closer to us. All he's doing is giving us an opportunity to come into God's presence in a way that we hadn't before without the enemy being there. The enemy was close but God was closer.

[45:13] Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemy. The enemy's close but God's so close he's anointing my head with oil. God's so close that he's right there at the table with me. And that cloud came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel and it was a cloud and darkness to them to the Egyptians but it gave light by night to these to the Hebrews so that the one came not near the other all night.

[45:40] Psalm 36 9 For with thee is the fountain of life in thy light we shall see light. And so it's now nighttime and on this beach on Israel's side is light on the Egyptian side is darkness.

[45:50] What's that going to make them think? Wait, this happened in Goshen. Remember? Remember when we were in Egypt and God was delivering us the plague of darkness it was dark for the Egyptians and it was light for us and God delivered us.

[46:01] Let's not forget God's deliverance. He can deliver us again. No matter how close the enemy draws he can never penetrate God's presence. The enemy could be seen the enemy could be heard and the enemy was close by and yet he was completely incapable of reaching God's people.

[46:20] No matter how close he gets he can never get us because we have God's presence between. And Moses now obeys and he stretches out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and he made the sea dry land and the waters were divided.

[46:39] Now where it says he made the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night the idea is that however this happened and it was miraculous it's not a natural phenomenon he used that wind then to dry up the seabed that they could walk across.

[46:52] We'll look at more of that next week as they actually cross. But for Moses this must have been quite a moment a very lonely moment as he walks out everybody's watching him and he stands there and lifts his staff.

[47:12] What's he doing? I don't know. He's crazy. I knew it. Does he want us to swim across? Is he calling like the porpoises? He stood alone.

[47:24] He probably looked very foolish but Moses had believed God's word and Moses was expecting great things but he was also willing to wait for them. Didn't happen in an instant. The wind begins to blow but you know there were some there that were standing and going shh God's going to do something great.

[47:40] He just lifted that staff. Remember what that staff did? God has trained Moses from day one to this point. He didn't say Moses go and stand before a million people with the enemy behind you in an impossible situation in front of you and lift up your staff and I'm going to do something great.

[47:53] No way back by himself at the burning bush he said Moses what's in your hand? Oh it's just a staff. Watch what I can do with it. And he walked him through this process one step at a time.

[48:04] One impossibility at a time until he came to this point and God's people are watching this. God's people are watching us. How are we going to respond to the impossible situation he puts in front of us?

[48:16] Are we going to just say I'm going to lift this up to the Lord and I'm going to trust him to do great things and God is preparing Moses for a future he doesn't even know about. When they're traveling through the wilderness after this point on the way up to the promised land they will be attacked by other entities.

[48:31] Amalek will come against them and we read in Exodus 17 11 that for as long as Moses held up his hand Israel prevailed and when he let it down Amalek prevailed. Moses at that instant and right now he was to continue in his part for as long as it took God to do his.

[48:47] How long did Moses stand there before the thing part? I don't know. You know what? It's been 10 minutes. All right guys let's reconvene and see if we can figure out a plan. It didn't work. God didn't come through. Galatians 6 9 and let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

[49:05] How long do I have to continue in the part God's given me? I don't know. I don't know. But we continue in that until God accomplishes his part. Our last verse for today and the children of Israel men they went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground and the waters were a wall into them on their right hand and on their left and if I was a little kid at that time I would have been over next to the wall of water going and my mom would be like get away from that.

[49:28] Can I put my arm in it? Like is it going to suck me up if I do? This is amazing. They went forward. The world says there are many ways to God. There's many paths to God.

[49:39] Every road leads to God and they're 100% accurate. Every path leads to God but only one path leads to victory and deliverance. Only one way leads you to God and deliverance. Every road will lead to God.

[49:51] Every person will stand before him. Well I followed Buddha. I followed I just was an atheist. You'll get there. Every path will lead to God but there's only one that leads to victory and deliverance and that path is unmistakable.

[50:05] That path is like a wall of water and there's only one way through. Hebrews 10 20 tells us that by a new and living way has Jesus consecrated for us that is through the veil that through his flesh.

[50:17] There's only one way. It's a very obvious way. There's no mistaking it. God didn't leave us to guess. God had led his people into a dead end where they were pressed from behind by the enemy.

[50:29] They were faced in front with an impossible barrier. Why? Because he has set them up for victory. The horses prepared for the day of battle.

[50:41] Pharaoh and his chariots they were prepared for victories of the Lord. I just love that rendering because it makes Moses look so small and what God's doing so big.

[50:51] His part. For us what enemy is pressing on us? What enemy presses in? What enemy is so close you can hear him? You can smell him. His presence is so close.

[51:03] He's pressing in and what's in front of us? Man there's an impossible situation. What do I do? You do your possible part. What part has God given you?

[51:14] What possible part did he give you? I don't know how this is going to turn out. I don't know how I'm going to fix that situation. I don't know how I'm going to find the finances. Well what possible part did God give you?

[51:26] We were talking yesterday some of the guys and I were together and just the practical walk that we have. Now the outworking of that like we said that is to disproportionate.

[51:38] The disproportionate results that result from our simple acts of obedience. I don't know how that all takes place and I don't know how we get there. I don't know how I get from studying God's word to the growth and maturity that happens in our lives spiritually.

[51:52] I don't know. But I know that if I do my part if I'm in the word if I'm doing the part that's possible if I'm here with you if I'm seeking the Lord and the things he's given me to do he will do the impossible part.

[52:06] And lastly as we look at those things as the enemy is behind and the impossible situation is before are they eyes of faith or eyes of fear? Have we heard God's word and we're willing to respond to his word and move forward in victory?

[52:20] Or do the eyes of fear look at the battle and go I can't even enter into that. And think of where Jesus said love your enemies pray for those who curse you bless those who despitefully use you.

[52:31] Well how can I do that? How's that going to help anything? How's that going to fix anything? I don't know but what's the possible part? Well I can pray. I can say a blessing. No I I can do good.

[52:43] I can do that. I don't know how that's going to go from here to the other side. I don't know. But I do know this that when we walk in the possible God removes the enemy.

[52:55] Pharaoh will follow hit God's people down in but he will not come out the other side. When we walk in victory the enemy's left behind. What enemy is pressing?

[53:09] What impossibility lies in front? Does you feel set up? Sometimes I feel set up. God this is a set up. He's like yeah I need to I need to once again remind the enemy is defeated.

[53:19] I need to declare my name to all those that are watching and I need to deliver you. I need you to walk in victory. I can't have you wandering about in a wilderness. So I'm going to give you one small part.

[53:32] If you do that I will do great things. Father do those great things in our lives Lord. Lord do the great things Lord that just build upon the great things you've already done Lord. We stand in victory a defeated enemy and Lord even though we didn't come back around to it here's your people Lord at the mouth of this serpent-like canyon the place of the opening of the mouth of the cavern the place of the serpent god Belsophon about to be swallowed up and in the last moment you open a path forward.

[54:06] And that path forward defeats the enemy. Lord here we are because you've done that in our lives. Jesus you are that path forward. You stepped in and you allowed yourself to be set up for our deliverance for the defeat of the enemy and Lord you took that enemy down into death but he didn't come back up.

[54:25] You did. And you've given us life victory and deliverance and we get the joy of walking in that. And Lord as impossible as all that is as big as all that is well we're like that little picture of Moses just standing there with our hand raised with a high hand lifting up to God what he's given us in our hands to do.

[54:44] Lord I pray for my brothers and sisters that this week Lord you would give them something very possible for them to do in faith that the result might be the impossible deliverance and victory of God.

[54:59] In your name I pray. Amen.