Practical Wisdom from the Word of God

Exodus 14:15-18(NKJV)
¹⁵And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶But lift 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. ¹⁷And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Yesterday we summarized the process outlined in this story. This process was given to the children of Israel to win their war against the Egyptians. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us that all that happened to them was to be an example for us. If this process would enable them to win wars I believe it will enable us to win them as well. What does this mean to us? I believe it is God’s desire that, in 2011 we learn not only to win battles but to win in such a way that we don’t have to fight the same ones again and again.

The process they were given involves three steps. Two of them we have looked at extensively. They needed to eliminate fear from the equation and they needed to stand on the promises of God. We have begun to examine the third step, the need to go forward.

First of all they could not go forward until it was time. Moses told them to fear not and stand still. God told them to go forward. Fear will keep us from hearing God. When we don’t know the promise or we are not really standing on it we will often miss the will of God.

God told Moses what to do, but I doubt it had ever crossed his mind. He had used the “Rod of God” to bring judgment on Egypt, but he had never used it to part the waters. God had to remind him, “Hold out the Rod and part the sea.” It was obvious to God but not to Moses.

When God tells us to go forward it is usually in ways we don’t understand. We need to be in a position to hear what He says and we need to obey. Often the solution to the problem will seem ridiculous. However if we obey God we will see the miraculous released in our lives. I am sure this was not the solution Moses would have come up with, but what tremendous results he saw.

That said, we cannot come up with those kinds of solutions out of our imagination. There is a principle in James that says, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:20) The amplified says “faith without corresponding action is dead.” Faith always requires an action, however there is a difference in acting to get faith and acting in faith.

If Moses had lifted up the rod to try to get God to move, it would not have worked. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing the word of God. God spoke to Moses. That action was a result of hearing the word of God. Therefore it was an action that corresponded to what he already believed. This is the power of any faith action. To go forward requires faith. Faith requires the Word of God.

I don’t believe this means we have to have God speak to us as he did to Moses. I believe it does mean that the Word of God must have become real in our hearts. It must have produced something in you that you are responding to. Sometimes it will be a specific direction. Other times it will simply be a response to a scriptural promise or directive that has come alive in you. Either way, going forward is a response to the Lord, not a way to get him to do what you want him to.

Another aspect of this is that the Children of Israel had to trust that Moses heard from the Lord. In our personal lives we have the responsibility to hear God’s word and obey it. Leaders are there to help us. However the church also has a corporate destiny. I believe that this corporate destiny is very important for the world right now. For us to fulfill that we must trust the leaders God places among us.

We are not called to blindly follow nor to be gullible. Hebrews 13 tells us to watch their faith. If their personal faith is not producing a life of consistency and integrity, we should not follow them. If it is we are going to have to trust them.

The generation we are studying never really entered into the promised land. The reason they could not is that they constantly complained against Moses. The devil has not changed his tactic. Complaining against leadership, or one another for that matter, is a cancer that will keep us from our destiny.

Let me give you just one thing to watch for that I saw as I studied this story. Whenever they complained against Moses it was always about his motives. Moses was not perfect. He made some very bad mistakes, but his heart was right.

You don’t know your neighbors heart. You don’t know the heart of those called to lead you. If you find yourself judging motives, please look again We can call into question outward things that may bother us, but if we choose to believe in each other’s motives we will never find ourselves in a conflict that we cannot resolve. This is true in church, but it is also true in work, marriage and any other area of life.

What if a person does have bad motives? The bible tells us their fruit will expose them. Let us be ready to hear the voice of God. Let us be in one accord, flowing together and with Godly leadership and let us “Go Forward” into a great victory for the Lord in the earth.