Exodus 14:19-23(NKJV)
19And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
22So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
In our look yesterday at this scripture we considered the motivation we need in order to “go forward” and win wars. God took care of Israel. He delivered them by his great power. However we see in verse 18 that the motivation was the glory of God. It was important for the world to understand who God really was. It still is.
When we are focused on self and not on the Kingdom of God, we are in a weak position. If we don’t get what we are praying for we are easy prey for the thinking that God doesn’t really love us. However when the Kingdom of God is foremost in our thinking we are in a position where that attack of the enemy will bounce off us like the attackers who came against the shield wall of the Roman army.
That was the position of the three Hebrew children who faced the fiery furnace in Babylon.
Daniel 3:16-18
16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
These three men had a real need and they had confidence that the Lord would deliver them, but even if He did not they were going to put the Kingdom of God first. We need that attitude to win our wars.
Today let’s finish this up by looking at a couple of more things from Israel’s deliverance. In verse 19 we see the first thing the Lord did in to rescue Israel. The pillar of cloud moved behind them to become a shield between them and the enemy. It blinded Egypt and gave light for Israel. Throughout the process God protected Israel.
We need to understand that sometimes it will take some time for us to see God’s full victory in our lives. At no time was Israel more vulnerable than when the Red Sea was in the process of being parted. Sometimes we feel vulnerable when God is working out the problems we face, but remember that in the time of vulnerability God is protecting us. What a powerful and comforting thought.
The bible tells us that God would not allow the two to come together until he was ready to win the victory. Learn to trust in God’s protection. Don’t run in to confront the problems until God is ready. He will never be late. He does often seem to be last minute, but never late. Usually he is last minute because at that point the enemy can do nothing to get out of the trap God has set for him.
In verse 21 Moses obeys the command of the Lord and the waters part. If we want to win wars we are going to have to obey the command of the Lord. Sometimes it will seen ridiculous. How could holding up a shepherds stick get them out of this mess? Of course Moses had seen God do some mighty things through that stick, but it was still just a stick.
It might have seemed to make more sense to point it at Egypt’s army. After all the staff had been a type of great weapon in Moses’ previous encounter with Pharaoh. Instead he must point it at the sea and “divide the waters.” No one had ever seen this before. “God, couldn’t you just send the angel of death to deal with the rest of the Egyptians like you did the first born?”
We must learn to trust God and obey him. If we do we will see the victory in the best way possible. God had a plan. He was the one who was carrying out the plan. It had to be done the way he directed or it would not be done at all.
Remember, we are not depending on our wisdom, our ability or our resources. We are looking to God’s wisdom, God’s ability and God’s resources. Moses had no power to divide a sea. He didn’t need to. He had God. God’s direction might seem like foolishness at times, but what do you have to lose. God is the one that will make the difference.
Also remember that we are not just concerned with our need being met. We are concerned with the greater plan of God. There is much happening in the earth today and without the Lord we are all going to be in trouble. Thank God we are not without Him. In our daily trials we must remember that God is not just meeting our needs, he is also working out a great plan that will bring the Kingdom of God to the earth. Sometimes our needs are just our needs, but often what God is doing for us fits into that great plan.
The bible says that God knows “the end from the beginning.” He knows things we don’t. He sees the whole picture we see our little part. When we trust him and obey him even when it does not look like a smart thing to do, we put ourselves in a position to win wars not just battles. That’s what I want and it is what we need.
As you read the rest of the chapter you can see the result of trusting and obeying God. You can see what happens when we “fear not, stand still and see God’s salvation.” Everything happened as God said it would. They got to the other side, the Egyptian army was defeated and they continued on toward their destiny. It is unfortunate that the first generation never got there. I don’t want to be like them. I want to go all the way into my promised land. I know that God will protect me, deliver me and cause me to win great wars. More important I know that I am playing a part in the great move of God that will bring blessing to my whole world.
Put your trust totally in Him and see what He will do.
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