DIVINE DELIVERANCE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen."

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses his servant.

Exodus 14:10-31

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Israelites thought it was all over.

They had fled Egypt and followed Moses who was leading them to the Promised Land using the God’s divine cloud by day and fire by night as their navigation aid.  But Pharaoh decided to try and recapture them for slave labor and set off in pursuit of God’s people with his Egyptian military forces. This caused great fear to come upon the Israelites who began to feel that Moses had led them to their execution, complaining about what had happened.

We should notice one key thing here. For the Hebrew people were criticizing Moses, not God. They still didn’t get it that God was the One responsible for everything that was happening to them but as we see in today’s passage, events unfolded that let them know that their Lord was at the center of it all as He puts His full power and might on display.

First, God made sure that the Israelites were shielded from the Egyptians.

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then, God divided the great sea in front of the Israelites so they could cross on dry land with a wall of water on either side of them, nothing short of a miraculous, awe-striking sight.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Imagine for a moment that you were one of the Israelites who had just been complaining about Moses leading you to your death. Now, you see him simply raise his staff and the body of water that was once a barrier to cross becomes parted with a pathway created to walk to the other side.

As you start to walk this new, amazing trail, you suddenly remember the words of Moses:

"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

As these words rush back into your mind, suddenly things begin to make sense. You finally realize that God is indeed with you, wanting to deliver His people just as He said He would, and He was willing to do something spectacular to show it, something that would draw everyone to respect and fear His power.

Well, as soon as the Israelites had cleared the divided sea, God still had one order of business to take care of and this was the eradication of Israel’s enemy. We read in great detail how He made it happen:

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt."

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen."

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

So how did the Israelites respond to after witnessing this mighty act of God, one steeped in divine deliverance?

The scriptures give us the answer.

...when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses his servant.

At least at this moment, the people of God were all in with Him and they were ready to continue their exodus toward the Holy Land, fully trusting God and His appointed leader Moses.

Friends, I think everyone has gone through times in life where they may have wondered if God was really with them while in the midst of difficult life circumstances. In a place where deliverance is needed, even the most steadfast faith can be challenged.

Maybe you can relate or maybe you are in that place right now.

This is why this passage is so important for any believer for in it, we find the Lord revealing His true character to us, showing us that He really does care for His people. Out of His deep love for us, He truly does want to deliver us from our hardship but He will only do this in accordance with His will and perfect timing.

And so, we need to trust Him, knowing that only He knows what’s best for us. We need to maintain our faith and persevere through hardship, seeing that it’s actually good and spiritually healthy for us as we learn to rely on the Lord. We also need to gain a full understanding that no one has the strength or power to escape life’s difficulties on their own but through God, a person or people can make it through anything.

In the case of the Israelites, it was a great sea of water dividing in two for them to cross safely to the other side, an act that no mere human power was capable of doing. Only God could make that happen. They also saw how that same sea came crashing down on the enemies they feared most, completely eliminating their threat. At that point, the Israelites realized they were fearing men (Pharaoh and the Egyptian forces) when they should have been fearing God.

As I get set to close, a couple of questions for self reflection:

Have you seen the amazing works of power that God has done in this world? In your life? In the lives of others?

As you read the scriptures, have you really grasped how God has shown His awesome might over and over and over again?

Finally, in considering this, have you come to the conclusion that anything is indeed possible with God, that nothing is beyond the works of His almighty Hands?

Hopefully, we will be able to say, “Yes!” to all these questions, finding ourselves in the same spirit of the Israelites as they learned to "fear the Lord and put their trust in him." For the Bible tells us this:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise. Psalm 111:10

The Word of God calls all believers to be wise and to have a full fear and respect of God, complying with His expectations so to gain good understanding. For if we do, then we will have faith and trust in what He can do through His might and power, and in doing so, know He loves us and desires to provide divine deliverance when needed.

Today and every day, let us give thanks to our God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com