Crossing the sea

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." The Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen." Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. - Exodus 14:5‭-‬31 ESV

Rev. Ryan Egli

Missing the bigger picture

The Pharaoh was utterly humiliated and done with the people of Israel. He sends them away. But God leads then through the wilderness. This is not a quick route, it is slow and would've taken weeks and months. Meanwhile Pharaoh's heart hardens again and he takes hundreds of chariots from his personal guard and hundreds, if not thousands from the nation's military, then goes to pursue the slaves, the nation of Israel.

Israel is between a rock and a hard place. The military might of Egypt is coming after them. They start to grumble and complain. They forget about who had started their release from slavery. They forgot about God and all the power represented in those plagues. Often it is the same with us when times gets tough, when we are not #blessed or living Instagram perfect lives. We forget God and His mighty works.

God's agenda

God is here to show his power. He is protecting Israel with the pillars of cloud and fire. He then opens a path across the sea. There is a wall of water on both left and right as Israel crosses. God then defeats the entire army without the Israelites lifting a single weapon. He brings the entire sea down upon the Egyptians and not one survives. The people of Israel look upon the army one minute and then nothing... utter anhilation.

From deliverance to doxology

After Moses sees this, he praises God. After him, Miriam lifts the tambourine and sings a song to God. These glimpses of joy are so fleeting here. But in heaven, the songs are the norm. We shall sing of the salvation of God. We will continue to sing about Jesus coming and saving. Praise and worship are the right response to salvation & deliverance. So what about today? We can only identify as one of two camps, either the oppressor, hard hearted Pharaoh or the enslaved Israelites. If the first, we should be afraid and turn to God. If the second, we should remember how God has saved us, we should respond in praise and thankfulness rather than grumbling and complaining.

Exodus: the struggle

Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord , that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord , and moreover, I will not let Israel go." Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword." But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens." And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!" The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, "You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, 'Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.' Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words." So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, "Thus says Pharaoh, 'I will not give you straw. Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.'" So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent, saying, "Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw." And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, "Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?" Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, "Why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, 'Make bricks!' And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people." But he said, "You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord .' Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks." The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, "You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day." They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, "The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us." Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all."

But the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land." God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord . I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the Lord , and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord .'" Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. So the Lord said to Moses, "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land." But Moses said to the Lord , "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?" But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. - Exodus 5-6:‬13 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Struggling Against

Moses asked for Pharaoh to let the people of Israel to go. The pharaoh refused. Moses asked again in the name of the Lord. Then Pharaoh makes Israel pay for the request by no longer providing straw. He did this to drive a wedge between Moses and the people of Israel. But there's a greater struggle. Pharaoh considered himself a god and Israel was to serve him. The Lord considered Israel His as well. So there is another battle between God and the rulers of this world. God wants the people of Israel for the salvation and blessing of the world. Pharaoh wanted the Israelites to slave for him instead. 

So it is for us, God wants to rule over our lives, but sin is also there. We will read later about God hardening Pharaoh's heart and also Pharaoh hardening his own heart. This is a picture knowing that the true enemy is Satan, not each other. We are called to love our enemies, not hate those who holds differing opinions or worldviews.

Struggling In

Moses finds that the foremen of Israel rebuke him for putting that request to Pharaoh. They are saying that Moses had just made their lives harder. Moses was living in the gap between promise and reality. We are given freedom by Christ, but we only experience struggle. This is the gap that Moses sits in and often where we will find ourselves during times of intense trial. We can find it hard to trust in God's promises. This is not the struggle of a non-believer, but of the believer. We need to go to God.

Finding strength for the struggle

When the foremen of Israel were oppressed, what did they do? They went to Pharaoh their oppressor. So often we find ourselves going to our oppressor for salvation and help. We go to false gods. And just like the foremen, we find no help. And sometimes we may find more trouble rather than help. Often God allows our circumstances to go from bad to worse to show us who our true enemy is and what kind of oppressed life we walked. God brought Israel out of Egypt but then made Israel wander the desert. God wanted to bring Egypt out of the Israelites. So God wants to do with us. He brings us through the gap to show us our false gods and His faithfulness to us.