The Lord Fights for You
Notes
Transcript
Handout
If you have your Bible and I hope you do… turn with me to Exodus 13. Exodus 13:17. Today, we are going to see three commands to see victory over the enemy but before we get there we have to go on a journey… you see… the Hebrews have been walking for a while now. Since the Passover, I would guess they left around 12:30am, they have been walking. Journeying and we’ve taken a little detour in the narrative to talk about what the Lord requires, what is the sign of the covenant, what does it mean to be redeemed.
Today we are going to pick up while the Hebrews are leaving and I’m oftentimes reminded of the Lord of the Rings. I’m a big nerd by the way in case you don’t know. I love watching the Lord of the Rings, and I think of Frodo Baggins leaving Rivendell on the start of their journey and right when they leave the gates Frodo says, “Gandalf, which way do I go, left or right?”
I think in a lot of ways Moses was hoping they would go left but as we will soon see that while Israel was leaving Egypt, it would take another generation to get Egypt out of Israel. Let’s stand in honor of God’s Word:
Exodus 13:17-14:14
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
READ. PRAY.
Let’s talk about God for a bit… I mean that’s why we’re here right? In this passage we learn at least four things about God. First thing is that
God has a plan
. We oftentimes think that God’s plan for our life is going to be like this right? Smooth sailing baby! But it’s more like the pic on the bottom. Let’s look at the passage. “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.” Now… the Philistines are going to be a thorn in Israel’s side in the future but what do we know about the Philistines? Well… the Philistines were a seafaring race that lived on the Southern coast of the mediterranean for around 600 years.
They were hardened warriors who controlled lots of these areas right here. After Egypt rebuilds we know that the Philistines tried to attack Egypt several times. They were skilled in sea warfare and in the field. If I were a Hebrew…and I was trying to get to Israel because God promised it to me I would try and take the shortest, best, most direct path possible. But alas, shorter and easier isn’t God’s way.
But why wouldn’t God lead them in that direction? “For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” If they go along this path right here, this is called the Via Maris or “the way of the sea” then they will not only run into Philistines but Egypt controls all of this land. They have dozens of watchtowers and fortresses all along the coast with hundreds of soldiers in each one.
The Egyptians are west, the Philistines are east, the Mediterranean is north and so God leads them south into the Sinai. Notice
God has all wisdom
here guys. God’s ways are so much better than ours. If we lean on our experience, our wisdom, our talents then we will always fall short of what God wants for us. If we rely on Him, follow His ways and walk in His steps then we will see God do some truly amazing things! Isaiah 40:28 says “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
God was leading Israel into the wilderness, through the sand and dust and rocky terrain so that they would not be able to flee back to Egypt as easily. Israel will get to the promised land but they won’t be able to enter because of their lack of faith and in Numbers 14:3-4
Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
God knew that the Hebrews would want to return to the only life they’ve ever known. This is why the call of Christ is a call to die. Luke 9:23-24
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Look how
God is also leading
, “But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.” So they are going south toward the Sinai Peninsula.
“For us we need to be following God’s leading. He might lead us into a hot, dry wilderness. It may be a deep, dark valley. It may be on a mountaintop with a glorious view! As His followers we have to be following Him. That’s the meaning of following Christ! He leads we follow and He is worthy of following regardless of how we feel.”- Pastor Cody
God is leading each person here who is a Christian to serve in a ministry here at this church. We have needs in student ministry, children’s ministry, nursery ministry, worship ministry, greeters ministry, A/V ministry, Sunday school leaders and a director. We have a lot of needs and you are called to serve by following God’s leading. Here’s how that looks: (Guiding illustration)
But you know there’s a lot more we can learn in this passage about God. Look
God Keeps His Promises
. Look at the passage. “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” This fulfills what Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50 and what’s interesting is that Joseph is given the whole Egyptian burial. Genesis 50:26
So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
So, these bones that the people took up probably weren’t just the skeletal remains but what would be a mummified Joseph. But God fulfilled His promises and that’s why Joseph was such a great and righteous character in the Bible. He believed and trusted the Lord. He believed His goodness, His promises, and His faithfulness. From the prison to the palace Joseph trusted the Lord.
The next thing that we learn about
God is self-revealing
Romans 1:19
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
God isn’t represented by the fire and cloud. It’s not a symbol of Who He is. God was really there with them and revealed Himself to the Israelites. “the Lord went before them by day… and by night”
Let’s see what else we can learn about God here. You know… I love this because it is through the knowledge of God that our hearts get united in love. God tells them, okay, you’re heading this way, now turn around. “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth”.
“Have you ever felt like the Lord was sending you back where you didn’t want to be? Don’t be afraid of that because it may be a part of His plan!”- Pastor Cody
Now… no one knows exactly the route of the Exodus. Part of that is that many of these towns, villages, markers, and springs are gone now. But we do know that the Israelites have been in the wilderness for a little while but they are still in land under Egyptian control and they can’t get away, the wilderness has shut them in.
God knows that’s what Pharaoh is thinking and God isn’t done with Pharaoh yet. “I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them,”-
God is Sovereign
. We’ve seen it over and over and over again throughout Exodus but here it is again and it’s still just a true today. God is sovereign. He hardens whomever He wills and has mercy on whomever He wills.
Look at what else we learn about God here “I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.”
God is jealous for His glory
. Exodus 20:5 “I the Lord your God am a jealous God”, Exodus 34:14 “the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”. Deuteronomy 4:24 “the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God”. Deuteronomy 6:15 “For the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God”. God is jealous. Jealous has it’s roots in Latin zelasous or the 13th century “zelous” or as we would say zealous. Passionate. Annoyed with someone who doesn’t prioritize. To get passionately heated about something. This is how God describes Himself and God has received glory over the Egyptians but He is not satisfied.
Now… I also want to point out one last thing that we learn about
God here: His Grace
. God doesn’t have to lead the Israelites, He doesn’t have to reveal His very presence to them. Think of how amazing it would have been to see the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He doesn’t have to explain His plans but here He does. God is a God of infinite grace and He will have grace toward you.
Now God knows what is going to happen. He has revealed what will happen to Moses. Pharaoh and his advisors have realized that work in Egypt has come to a halt. They’ve let their workforce leave and they’re scared, right? The Philistines and other enemies may see Egypt in turmoil and decide to attack! So Pharaoh decides to get back his slaves and his advisors and the people are all for it. The military is mobilized. 600 chariots lead the way with thousands of others that travel toward the nation of Israel. They are on the coast, the very edge of Egyptian Territory! Freedom is close!
“The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.” Now… let’s take a look here and do a quick case study on Pharaoh. If there is anyone that should have been broken over his sin it was Pharaoh. But if someone is infatuated with sin it’s a sign of their doom. Pharaoh loved loved loved being king and worshipped as god. He refused to humble himself and do what the Lord requires.
“What does God want from you? Total commitment. Right here, right now for the rest of your life.”- Pastor Cody
Well Pharaoh rebelled and we’re going to learn something about the Israelites which… listen in the Bible we’re not the heroes. Okay? We’re not Abraham, Moses or David. Jesus is the greater Abraham, the greater Moses, the greater David. We’re the annoying, hard hearted, complaining, scared Israelites right?
Look at what is happening: “they feared greatly”, “cried out to the Lord” and they complained ““Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Here’s the nation of Israel, then we have the pillar of cloud and fire which was a true sight to behold, and then Pharaoh bearing down. The people were afraid that they were going to be slaughtered but Pharaoh wants his slaves to serve not to be slaughtered.
“Take note that Satan doesn’t care if you serve him or are slaughtered. Just as long as you don’t follow God passionately. Satan won’t give you up without a fight either.”- Pastor Cody
But the Israelites are full of fear. Fear for their lives, their children’s lives. They’re scared. Their cry is to the Lord but it’s full of despair rather than hope. Don’t be anxious! In our world today… now more than ever we must be people of hope and courage!
Why were the Israelites full of fear? Well, they stopped looking to the Lord. The Lord was leading them, right? They took their eyes off the Lord and looked at the enemy’s power. Satan has power… you know that right? He can appear as an angel of light who deceives and lies so so well. He has thousands of years of experience deceiving the nations. If we were to encounter Satan then we would probably despair…. That is unless we keep our eyes focused on the Lord. Peter began to sink because he looked at the waves instead of our Lord.
Don’t be full of terror and notice here: don’t complain. If you complain you have a job, right? The Israelites were complainers and we’re going into a new series in a couple weeks calls Grace & Groaning so I won’t talk too much now about it except to note that this isn’t the first time Israel complained. They complained back in chapter 5 about harder work. Here is their second complaint and it will be a habit. “Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Are you a complainer? Do you lack contentment?
“If you lack contentment then it’s because you lack Christ!”- Pastor Cody
Let me say that again, if you lack contentment then it’s because you lack Christ! The opposite of complaining though isn’t contentment- the opposite is celebration and endorsement! The poor Israelites were doing what all of us do when the present time is unbearable, we think to the past and how much better it was. But the future God has planned is so much better isn’t it? It’s better to walk in His way and obey His Word than to live in the past.
I said we are going to see three commands to see victory over the enemy and here they are:
Don’t be afraid
“Fear not” is Moses’ exact words. 131 times this phrase appears in the Bible in different forms. Don’t be afraid. This is a word from God for us today in the Generation of COVID-19. Don’t be afraid. How can you tell if you’re afraid?
There is a lack of peace in your life
Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” 2)
You lack growth in your walk with the Lord
Psalm 56:3 says “When I am afraid, I put my trust in God.”, Hebrews 13:6 reaffirms it by saying “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear, what can man do to me?” 3)
You lack the power of the Spirit
. Remember 2 Timothy 1:7 says “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Moses says Fear not and then
2) Do Stand Firm
. Think of this… were the Israelites in any real danger? I mean… for Christians we literally have nothing to fear because Christ is the one who holds us! Do you honestly think that the One Who upholds the universe by the word of His power is going to forget about you? The one who causes the sun to set, who sends lightning and thunder, and every drop of rain falls wherever He wills! God is strong and mighty and we should not be afraid of anything! I don’t fear death but I do fear not living for the glory of God.
You know… we are called as Christians to stand for God in this world. The term for that that is used in the Bible is ambassador. We represent Christ and we push His agenda and more often than naught those agendas collide with the world. We’ve talked a lot about a Christian worldview and how a worldview needs to answer 4 key questions: Origin, Meaning, Morality, and Eternity. Where did I come from, What is the purpose of life, what is right and wrong, what happens after I die. Only in the Christian worldview do we find a consistent and logical worldview that functions in reality.
For example: Secular Humanism believes that all truth is relative. Since all truth is relative they may not make any absolute statements. So if they cannot make any absolute statements they cannot make any meaningful stances on any pertinent issues in our world. They cannot say that violence is wrong, that oppression is wrong, that sex trafficking is wrong. Did you know that every year 8,000,000 children around the world go missing? 8,000,000! 800,000 of those (10%) happen here in the U.S. in the foster care system, homeless and inner city kids who are regularly trafficked and sold to the highest bidder.
I hope that disgusts you because it disgusts God! These are things our church MUST take a stand on and talk about regularly.
Men, Women, Children, take a stand for the Lord and live your life with meaning not in some ignorant way… I’ve seen your Facebook posts guys- the language, the derogatory name calling, the contention without substance. If you want to debate on Facebook, please represent Christ better and take a stand on His Word.
1 Corinthians 16:13 says “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Don’t be afraid, do stand firm, and do open your eyes. See the salvation of the Lord. Here you have the enemy bearing down on the people of God. Remember we’re not the hero, Jesus is and we serve a God who has already wiped out the enemy. Just like Satan thought that he had Jesus right where he wanted Him in actuality God is in control and has Satan and Pharaoh right where He wants. In both the coast and the cross we see God’s power and victory over Satan, death, and fear where God reveals his sovereignty, salvation, and superiority.
What must we do? “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Head: I want you to know that when you are in a battle it is first and foremost spiritual.
Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”.
Satan and demons will disguise themselves in all sorts of ways, so take heart when you’re in the battle- it means the Lord will fight for you.
Hand: I want you to do this: Spend time in silence this week meditating on God’s Word and goodness.
Take time to think of the salvation you have in Christ. You could do this in the morning or at lunch… sometime and take 5-10 minutes and just think about God’s Word. You might need to embrace the fact that the Lord fights for you, you just have to be silent.
Heart: I want you to believe the goodness of God.
Think of all that God reveals Himself to be in this passage: A God with an unchangeable plan, full of wisdom, leadership, and keeps His promises. He reveals Himself and is Sovereign and is jealous for His own glory but full of grace for sinners like me and like you.
Pray
