Exodus - Chapters 14-18

In these chapters of Exodus, we see the crossing of the Red Sea and the defeat of Egypt. The Israelites complain and grumble while traveling in the wilderness, but the Lord provides for them. Moses stretches out his hand and the waters part, allowing the Israelites to walk on dry ground. The Lord fights for them and protects them from the Egyptians. The Israelites sing a song of praise to the Lord. They face temptations in the desert, but the Lord provides them with water and food. Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, visits and advises him to appoint judges to help with the people's issues. The Apostle Paul references these events in Corinthians, reminding us to not set our hearts on evil things. The Israelites grumble and forget their freedom, but Christ is our rock and source of life. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at bab.bc.pc at gmail.com. In these chapters of Exodus, chapters 14 through 18, we have the crossing of the Red Sea and the ultimate defeat against Egypt, the song of Moses and of Miriam in praise for their victory, then the difficulties of traveling in the wilderness, and yet the Lord provided. Now once the Hebrews left Egypt, Pharaoh and his officials came to their senses and said, what have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services, chapter 14 verse 5. Now the Lord told Moses this would happen in verse 4, and the Lord said the reason this will happen is, I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. The Egyptians pursued, and the Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord in verse 10. They complained to Moses and said it would have been better if they would have just served the Egyptians versus die in the wilderness. Moses told the people, don't 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 will need only to be still. That's chapter 14 verse 14. Then verse 15 reads, then the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? It's as if Moses put on this brave face and then he runs behind a rock and cries out, what are you going to do? Brother Jerry said, God purposefully took them to a no exit situation in order to make an exit to do a miracle. The Lord gave him instructions to stretch out his hand over the sea to divide it so they could walk on dry ground. Then we see two more reasons the Lord planned it this way. These are found in verses 17 and 18, and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army through his chariots and his horsemen, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen. When Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, a strong east wind divided the waters. The Hebrew word for wind is Ruach, which means breath or wind. This is the same word that's found in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2, the breath of God or the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. It's the same word used in Genesis chapter 8 verse 1 when God sent the wind over the earth and the waters receded for Noah and the flood. It is the same word used in Exodus chapter 10 verse 13 when the east wind brought the locusts and then here with the wind or the breath parted the waters so they could walk on dry ground. The Lord continued to fight for them and the pillar of cloud and fire moved from the front of the line to behind the line as a barrier between the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Lord also threw the Egyptians into confusion and their chariot wheels came off and the Egyptians declared, let's get away from the Israelites, the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt. Once the Hebrews were safe on dry land, the Lord ordered Moses to stretch out his hand once more and the waters went back to their place. Not one of the Egyptians survived. Verse 31 of chapter 14 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. This brought forth praise from Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. Something that is so important with regards to music is that it is a way for us to respond to who and what the Lord has done. It is a song of praise for what God had done and then it praises him for who he is. The Lord is my strength, my song, my salvation, my God and my father's God. He is a warrior, he is great in power and majesty. Verse 10 says, but you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them, they sank like lead in the mighty waters. The Lord is majestic in holiness, awesome in glory and he works wonders. Verse 11, verse 13 reads, in your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed, in your strength you will guide them by your holy dwelling. The word for unfailing love is chesed, it is described as an attitude of love which contains mercy. It is carried with it a covenantal relationship, his love and mercy and grace to us is unfailing. Verse 14 starts with looking forward to what the Lord will do. If God can defeat the Egyptians, then he can surely take care of the Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites and the Canaanites. God will surely bring his people to the place that the Lord made for their dwelling. The song ends with, the Lord will reign forever and ever. Miriam, Moses' sister who is also a prophetess, took a tambourine and all the women followed her as they sang and danced. Sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted, the horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. Now it would be so nice if the story stopped there, but that's not life ladies, it has its ups and downs. Moses led the Israelites from the Red Sea into the desert. This makes me think of Jesus' baptism and leaving the water and then immediately into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The Israelites faced three temptations and failed miserably, but Jesus defeated the devil with his three temptations. For Israel the first had to do with bitter water and they grumbled against Moses. And then Moses cried out to the Lord, this place is called Marah, which means bitter. Moses threw a piece of wood into the water and it became sweet. The Lord responded in verse 26, if you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what's right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you. During the second month they complained and grumbled against Moses and Aaron about food. Moses reminded the people that they are not grumbling against them, but against the Lord. The Lord responded with quail meat at night and manna in the morning, manna means what is this? It was like a wafer of coriander seed and honey, verse 31. In verse 12 the Lord said he gives this to them so that they will know that I am the Lord your God. There were instructions on this food. They were to take only what they needed and they were not to collect it on the Sabbath because it is a day of rest, so the day before they were to collect a double portion. Those that disobeyed these instructions their food spoiled and those who did not gather on the day before Sabbath did not have food for that day. Even before the Ten Commandments came the people still rested on the Sabbath. Chapter 17 covers the third temptation and there was no water so the people grumbled and quarreled with Moses. Moses again cried out to the Lord, what am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me. The Lord directed him to go with the elders to a rock and he was to take the staff that struck the Nile River and strike the rock. He did and water flowed from the rock. This place was called Massa which means testing and Meribah which means quarreling. The rest of chapter 17 tells of the Amalekites who were descendants of Esau, Genesis chapter 36 verse 16, and they attacked the Israelites. Here we see that Moses spoke to Joshua the top warrior and who would someday take Moses' place and he took fighting men with him. Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the mountain to watch and as long as Moses had his hands up Israel won but when his arms became weak and down Israel lost. So Aaron and Hur gave Moses a stone to sit on and then each took a hand and held them up until sunset in verse 13. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. The Lord commanded him to record it and Moses built an altar and called it the Lord is my banner. In chapter 18 we learn that Jethro Moses' father-in-law heard everything that had happened to Moses so word did spread about what the Lord did with the Egyptians. He and Moses' wife and two sons came to him and camped near the mountain of God verse 5. They had a great visit Jethro said in verse 11 now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly. Then Jethro offered burnt sacrifices to God and they ate bread together. The next day Moses was so busy dealing with issues of the people that Jethro gave Moses advice to raise up godly men to be judges over the people and divide them up into groups. They could handle the little problems and then Moses could handle the big issues. Verse 24 says Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. Shortly after that Jethro left and went home. It seems that Moses' wife and children stayed with him. Now in the New Testament the Apostle Paul talks about the Israelites in first Corinthians chapter 10 verses 1-6 and he said for I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact brothers that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Ladies the Israelites grumbled and complained. Their hearts were focused on themselves and on how good they had it in Egypt. It's funny that they forgot that they were slaves there. Sometimes it's hard to live in freedom. We keep getting pulled to go back to our old ways but the way of life is found in Christ who is our rock. In John chapter 4 Jesus said he is the spring of water welling up to eternal life. In John 6 Jesus is the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. Also in John we find that Jesus is the light of the world chapter 8 verse 12. He is the door chapter 10 verse 7. Jesus is the good shepherd chapter 10 verses 11 and 14. He is the resurrection and the life chapter 11 verse 25. He is the way the truth and the life chapter 14 verse 6. And he is the true vine chapter 15 verse 1. Jesus is all we need to live a life of freedom. There are still difficult times but he will guide the way. If you have heard his voice today please don't harden your hearts like some of these Israelites who had their hearts set on evil things. Instead let's have our heart and our eyes focused on the Lord who will guide us and give us everything we need. Until next time and thanks so much for listening.