I’ll never forget the first fight I got in.
It was in third grade and it was with a kid who lived down the street. His name was Chris, we we’re in the same grade in school, and he had just gotten a new paintball gun and wanted to show me. I thought it would be cool and that he might let me shoot it, so I ran down to his house and was excited to see it. Here’s what happened. I get down the street, and he's there at the end of his driveway with the gun. I got closer and he held it up for me to look at and it was cool. I had never seen a paintball gun, never held one, and here one was, and it was cooler than I thought it would be. All was well so far, until he asked if I wanted to see him shoot it, I immediately said yes, which prompted him to point the gun at my arm and pull the trigger. Now, it was just a paintball gun. It shoots little plastic balls of paint, nothing too crazy. But I was in the third grade, and he just shot me with the barrel of the gun touching my arm. It hurt, it left a scar, which I still have, and it made me furious. So I grabbed the only thing within reach, which happened to be a wet newspaper on the ground still in its plastic bag (they had just been delivered and it had just stopped raining), and I hit that joker across the face as hard as I could. He ran back inside his house screaming, and I walked home holding my arm.
That was my first fight. It was quick, I got a scar, I found out I couldn’t trust Chris, I discovered what uncontrolled anger can do, and I realized how much my Mom doesn’t like me getting in fights. I learned a lot from this small fight.
Now, in our text today Israel gets into a fight, and they learn a lot too. They learn about themselves, they learn about their enemy, and most importantly they learn about God. And the crazy thing is, they never would’ve learned these great lessons if they weren’t in the fight. If their life was all roses and rainbows they wouldn’t learn about God as much as they did. Open up, Church, to Exodus 14.
As we come to the text, we pick up right where we left off last week with Israel entering the wilderness. As Exodus 13 ends we saw God’s wisdom, God’s faithfulness, and God’s providence on display, as He came down to protect and provide for His people in the great pillar of cloud and fire. How wonderful to see that into all that confused and scared Israel, they could rest because God was there, always there, caring for them and leading them to exactly where they needed to be.
That same pattern continues as we begin Exodus 14. I was greatly encouraged in this passage this week, I pray you are as well. See first…
The Plan (v1-4)
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.”
This is an unexpected beginning. In the end of chapter 13 Israel had entered the wilderness for the first time, and even though God isn’t taking them the short way, Israel most likely thinks they’ll be in the Promise Land soon. Yet, what happens in v1-2 here? God tells them to do a U-turn, and to go back where they just came. Specifically, He tells them to go through Pi-hahiroth (canal opening?), Migdol (tower?), and Baal-zephon (pagan site?). Once they go through these places Israel ends up camping right in front of the Red Sea. Why does God tell them to do this? Great question! You better believe Israel’s wondering that very same thing too right about now. You don’t have to be a military strategist to understand that this looks like a terrible plan. Why? Israel just traveled backwards closer to Egypt, the very place they had just run out of as fast as they could. The Egyptians just so happen to be the most powerful superpower on the earth at the time, which means they’ve got a massive army…and Israel, at least at this time is a bunch of scared grumblers who aren’t ready for a fight.
Here’s the dilemma: what’s going happen if Pharaoh changes his mind and comes out after them? They’ll be sitting ducks! It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel. Yet, God led them here, so God is saying, ‘You’re exactly where I want you to be.’
That’s v3, see it? God placed Israel here to dupe Pharaoh. Pharaoh no doubt has spies out there watching Israel, and he would’ve got the report that Israel looks all lost and confused in the wilderness, and that right now they’re just camped on the beach of the sea. Now look at v4. God will harden Pharaoh’s heart once more, and Pharaoh will choose to go back on his word and come out after Israel to re-enslave them. Yet, God is not only is duping Pharaoh, He’ll defeat Pharaoh out here, and prove once for all that He alone is God, by getting glory over Pharaoh and all his host.
This is the plan.
Now in v1-4 Israel learns how all this will play out, so they know the plan, nothing that’s about to happen should surprise them. But as the passage continues in v5-14 the text slows down and we see more detail from a variety of viewpoints. From the Egyptians, from Israel, and from Moses.
The Enemy (v5-9)
“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.”
Here we see how this all looked from Pharaoh’s perspective. To him, things are looking pretty good. He’s about to go get his work force back! And he’s thrilled that Israel is so dumb to get themselves stuck in such a defenseless position.
Notice in v5-9 the actors we read of. Pharaoh here acts of his own accord and God acts on him too. Or we could say, Pharaoh has a change of heart in v5-7 and God hardens his heart in v8. Both are true, and both are real. Well, in this change of heart Pharaoh believes he made a mistake in letting Israel go and decides to go after them. How will he go after them? He gets his army and gets 600 chosen chariots ready to go after Israel to bring them back.
This is an interesting detail to read. I think the reason we get the details about the ‘chosen chariots’ is to let us know how powerless Israel is against these Egyptians.[1] They are, after all, the greatest military force in the world at this time, and the soldiers coming after them are Egypt’s finest. It’s like an Egyptian seal team six coming after Israel right now. And once they set out, it doesn’t take long for them to reach Israel, see how v9 ends? It says Pharaoh and all his army overtook Israel. This doesn’t mean they defeated them, no, it means they caught up to Israel and boxed them in. So to them, this looks like it’ll be an easy victory. They’re in front, the Sea is in back, Israel caught in between.
The Fear (v10-12)
“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.”
Here we see how this all looked from Israel’s perspective. To them things are looking pretty bad right? Even though God told them the plan in v1-4 they’ve really got no idea why God is leading them so strangely, first heading out to the wilderness but now coming back to camp by the sea, so close to Egypt again. We (as readers) know the end of this story, that God will part the Sea, save them, and destroy their enemies, but they don’t know that! They should rest in God and His word to them in v1-4, but the Egyptian special forces in front of them causes sheer panic to spread throughout the Israelites. Once again, Israel must not trust what their eyes can see and lean on their own understanding, no, they must trust the Lord.
We get it though, right? Such a scene would cause the bravest among us to tremble. In v10 it says Israel feared greatly and cried out to the Lord. We don’t get to read exactly what they cried out to God in these prayers, but we know what they sounded like, don’t we? ‘God what’s going on?’ ‘God I thought you were leading us?’ ‘God don’t give us up!’ ‘God what are you doing?’ ‘God do you see what’s happening?’ ‘God where are you?’
After crying out to God in v10 they lambasted Moses in v11-12 in their fear induced panic. These comments we do get to hear. Let me read it again, in v11-12 Israel says, “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.”
Goodness. Faced with what they thought was sure and immediate death, Israel reinterpreted their centuries of slavery in Egypt and said they wished they never left. Israel was in a life or death panic, they aren’t thinking clearly, so they blame Moses for bringing them out of Egypt in the first place. They accuse Moses of wanting to kill them in the wilderness. And they even tell Moses it would’ve been better for them to stay in Egypt, sure they’d be enslaved and oppressed, but at least they’d be alive.
As understandable as this is, they are ridiculous for saying such things. They experienced so much already, they saw the signs and wonders from Moses, they saw the plagues, they saw God destroy Egypt, and they knew God did all that in order to save them! You notice the small detail we passed over in v8? Israel walked out of Egypt defiantly, with their heads held high! But see them now. Deathly afraid, panicking, and full of fear. It’s like the moment in the old movie Kingdom of Heaven, you guys see that? It’s a brutal movie to watch about the Crusades, and at one point when the Muslim armies are about to capture Jerusalem someone turns to a priest and says, “Father what should we do now?” He answers, “Convert to Islam, repent later!” Fear, panic, and doubt, have caused many to do the craziest of things.
But, praise God, into their fear and panic comes the Lord of hosts. What a moment were about to see here.
The Call & Promise (v13-14)
“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.”
Here we see how all this looked from God’s perspective. To Him, all is well, everything’s working according to plan. He’s hardened Pharaoh and crushed the gods of Egypt before in the plagues, now God has set the stage for the final blow, where He will be glorified once again. Why did God place His people in such treacherous and dangerous conditions? To dupe Pharaoh, draw out Pharaoh, and to defeat Pharaoh. And all the while, God’s using Israel as bait!
Moses is wonderful to see here in v13-14. It might in fact be Moses’ finest moment so far as a leader. He has eyes to see what’s going on. He hasn’t given way to panic or fear, no. In great confidence he gives Israel simple commands: ‘fear not, stand firm, and watch. God is about to save you, He will fight for you, you only have to be silent.’ I actually don’t like how the ESV puts it in v14, I think the NIV does better when it says, “you need only to be still.”
What a word from God, right?! God doesn’t dismiss their fears, God doesn’t say they’re making it up, and God doesn’t lie to them about the danger. Not at all. The danger is very real, but God says, ‘In order for the Egyptians to get to you, they have to get through Me first!’[2] Why? Because God fights for His people. This is the reason why Israel, after the Red Sea affair, will sing and praise God calling Him a “Man of war” because that’s who He is. God is a Fighter, and on one is stronger than Him! He can dispel all fears, deliver from all distress, defeat the strongest enemy, and save His people. How crazy is it to realize that Israel was never in any real danger at all. This is playing out exactly as God said it would. He is fighting for them, they don’t have to lift a finger. They’re not soldiers here, they’re spectators in this fight.[3]
Israel must learn this, and how instructive for us to see that God places them in the exact position they need to be in order to learn this.
Conclusion:
There is so much to learn here Church. As Israel is in this passage, so often are we. Trials and struggles arise for us where we quickly lose sight of who God as a deep fear and panic swells up in us. We know the Lord is with us, we know the Lord is leading us, and we know He always knows best…but sometimes in life, we’ll have no idea what God is doing, no idea where God is leading, and no idea how God will save us from our plight. But He does, He always does.
As He fought for Israel of old, so too God fights for us!
What do you make of that?
Some of you don’t get this, because when moments of great distress come and fear swells up you don’t look to or trust the Lord, no, you look at the storm swirling all around you and say the three most dangerous words you can, ‘I got this.’ Church, hate to break it to you, but you don’t got this. We like to think we’re strong and stable, brave and steady, but when the storms of life come and the enemy seems to have us trapped, we don’t got this, we’re all like Israel, terrified and full of fear. Church, none of us got this…
But it’s ok. Because there is One who does got it, One who stood firm for us, One fought for us all the way to death. Of course I’m speaking of Jesus. He faced the greatest storm anyone ever could and He looked it right in the face and said, ‘With My father’s help, I got this.’ And because He does got it, we get it. The life He lived - He lived for us, the death He died - He died for us, and when He rose He broke the Devil’s grip on all of us.
Christ fought for us, Christ fights for us still.
This is deeply comforting. Many of you know this and you’ve seen this. And now you know that when those times come in life when you have no idea what God is doing, you can trust that He does, that He has all things in control, that He has led you and is leading you, and that because of this you’re always exactly where you need to be in His sovereign plan. Israel needed to learn all of this so God put them in a treacherous position to learn it, so too He does the same with us.
So here it is Church. Perhaps the biggest lesson of this passage: we are safer in a raging storm the Lord allows than any other peace this world can bring.
Thus, we can sing in the storm, because the Lord fights for us, and He never loses.
[1] John D. Currid, Exodus 1-18 – EP Study Commentary (Welwyn Garden City, UK: EP Books, 2000) 281.
[2] Victor P. Hamilton, Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011) 216.
[3] Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory – PTW (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015) 355.
