EXODUS 14 TRUST GOD WHEN YOU FEEL TRAPPED2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Exodus 14 Trust God When You Feel Trapped

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018.

This morning as we look at Exodus chapter 14, we're looking at a very famous chapter, a famous passage, because the amazing crazy miracle that takes place here in chapter 14 is reviewed and reminded of and reiterated all throughout the Old Testament as for the rest of their history. Israel will look back at this time when God brought Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. And

And as we look at this chapter this morning, it's a great reminder for us of some things that God wants to speak to our hearts about trusting Him. And I've titled the message this morning, Trust God When You Feel Trapped.

Trust God when you feel trapped. Do you ever feel trapped? Do you ever feel like you're stuck in a spot? You're stuck in a situation? You're in a place where there is no escape and everywhere you look and every means that you could think of to try to resolve the pressure that you're facing, it's met with resistance. There is no way that way. There's no way that way. You can't escape that way and you can begin to feel trapped.

I don't know what it's like to be claustrophobic in the physical sense. Maybe you do. I'm pretty sure Pastor Sisko does, right? That closing in of the walls. Pastor Sisko, if you want to describe that for us, you can. But I've seen people...

who are claustrophobic. And I've seen the way that they respond when there is that, you know, close proximity, you know, of walls around them or lots of people packed in. And there is that tension that mounts, that pressure that begins to increase more and more and more within as, you know, things outside get closer and closer and closer. And you may or may not know what that's like in the physical sense of feeling claustrophobic, but I think we all know what it's like

to feel claustrophobic in the sense of the pressures of life. And there's a variety of things that, you know, we might be experiencing pressure on. And it might be, you know, in one aspect of our life or sometimes and many times it's like everything hits at once, right? And you're feeling financial pressure and you're feeling family pressure and you're feeling, you know, peer pressure. You're feeling this kind of pressure. And there's all these things that are just kind of encircling you to the place where you feel trapped, right?

And there's an intensity that develops within us, a panic sometimes that develops within us. And this morning, as we look at chapter 14, I want to encourage you through this chapter to remember to look to God and to know that you can trust God

when you feel like that, when those things are happening in your life. I like what G. Campbell Morgan said about this. He says, Talking about this chapter and talking about the trapped situation they were in, G. Campbell Morgan says, It's a great truth.

There is nothing that could stand between you and God's plan for you when you're walking with God. When you're walking with God, there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome. Every obstacle is overcomable because you're walking with God, and God is big enough to handle the situations that you face as impossible as they feel. And so this morning, we are reminded that we can trust God.

in those times of pressure, in those times of great intensity, when we are trapped and there is that desire to flee, the panic that seizes us and that rises up within. But in the midst of that, we can trust God. There's four points I'd like to walk you through as we go through this passage. The first point is found in these verses we read, verses one through nine, and that is trust that God has a plan. When you feel trapped,

When you, you know, are facing this situation and that situation and the walls, there's obstacles all around you. We need to be reminded that God has a plan. And here in these first few verses, in verses 1 through 4, God lays out the plan for Moses.

Now, we always wish that we had God's plan ahead of time, don't we? Like what God lays out here in these verses, we're like, yeah, God, give me that. It's not every detail that God gives to Moses, but he gives them the overview. Okay, Moses, here's what's going to happen, and we're going to do this, and then this is going to happen, and here's the general things that are going to take place.

And I would love that, right? Wouldn't you love that for God to say, okay, next five years, here's, you know, what's going to happen. Here's just the general overview. Year one, this is going to happen. And then year two. And, you know, sometimes God gives us that kind of direction and that kind of insight into what is to come. Many times, right?

We don't have that information. We don't know what it is that God is doing. But whether or not we know is not the point. The point is we can trust that God has a plan. Whether or not we know the plan, God has a plan.

a plan. Let's check out God's plan again. In verse 1, it says,

First thing I'd ask you to note as we look at these first two verses is that God is the one who's in charge, and he is giving very clear and specific direction to Moses and the people of Israel, and he tells them exactly where to camp. He tells them exactly where he wants them to be. And notice the clarity that God provides here in verse 2. I mean,

We talk about like triangulating position, right? With GPS coordinates and stuff or cell phone towers. And, you know, all you need is like three points and then you can intercept and triangulate. And I'm using words that I don't actually know what they mean. But you get the point, right? That we have that technology and you can be, your location can be pinpointed very accurately as a result of those things. Well, here we have a similar situation. God says, I want you to camp before Pi-Harath.

or however you pronounce that. Now, today, we don't know exactly where that is, but it doesn't matter because Moses knew where it was. That's what really matters. God knew where it was, and Moses knew where it was, and God says, I want you to camp right there in this place, but then he gets more specific, between Migdal and the sea.

So I want you to camp in this place, but specifically this place in between. Well, there's the Red Sea there. And then there's this other place called Migdal. And so in between those, then there's this other place, Piharoth. And I want you to camp right there. And then he gets even more specific. He says opposite Baal Zephon. And so now there's four points from all sides. God's saying, you know, from here, from here, from here, from here, right exactly there.

Here is where I want you to be. God gives them very specific and clear instruction on where to camp. Verse three, for Pharaoh will save the children of Israel. They are bewildered by the land. The wilderness has closed them in. Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them. And I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

And so God gives all this specific detail about where exactly he wants them to be. And then he tells Moses why. I want you to be exactly right here in this place because here's what Pharaoh is going to say when you camp there. Pharaoh is going to say they're bewildered by the land. They're stuck in a bad place. It's a bad location to camp. They've put themselves in a bad spot. And so Moses,

Well, Pharaoh is going to mount up to try to take out Israel and bring them back into captivity. And so here God gives an overview of the plan. Tells him exactly where to camp. Tells him why to camp there and what's going to happen when they camp there. He gives the overview. It's not every detail, but he gives the basic elements. And so I would remind you this morning, as you consider that, God knows what will happen. He's putting this plan together because he knows everything.

Camp right here because then here's what's going to happen. And then after that, here's what we're going to do. And God is laying out this plan because he knows what is to come. He knows the details of what will take place. His plan is based upon what he knows about the future. But not only that, but God's plan is based on what he knows could happen in the future.

You know, there are some circles within the church, within Christianity, where they would say that God doesn't know everything about the future. Where God, they would say that, you know, God doesn't know the possibilities of what could happen, or that God has a good idea about what the future holds, but he can't, you know, know it for certain and for sure. And, you know, although they say they, you know, believe the scriptures and everything, they don't believe that God knows to that degree and to that level. But

I think as we look at this, it's quite clear. God is saying in advance, this is what's going to happen. And his plan is based upon what he knows, not just about what will happen, but what could happen. And let me illustrate with the geography of what we're looking at here. So on the top left here, you have the region of Egypt. And so this is where Israel has been for 400 years,

But where they came from was there in the middle, right on the top where it says Canaan. That's where you have the land of Israel. The little body of water there that you see is the Dead Sea. And above that, it's off the screen, but is the Sea of Galilee. And so that whole region is where Abraham was and his family was. And they moved there.

from Canaan, from Beersheba to Egypt under the life of Joseph. And they've been now in Egypt for 400 years, but God has said, I'm bringing you back to the land of Canaan. And so they're in Egypt. They're going back to the land of Canaan. You can understand as you look at that, you know, what route would you take? How would you get there? If you had to go from Egypt to Canaan,

Which way would you go? Which direction would you go? And I'm not talking about, you know, north, south, east, or west, but basically, very simply, you know, a straight line across takes you from Egypt to Canaan, right? And that would be the normal path. That was the route that they took going to Egypt. That was the route that, you know, people have come to Egypt and gone back to the land of Canaan, you know, for many years. That was the route that they took. It was a common route, right?

That would be the route that you would expect to take for the children of Israel leaving Egypt to go back to Canaan, their promised land. But God knows the possibilities as well as the certainties. He knows the what-ifs. If you'll turn probably about one page back in your Bible to Exodus chapter 13, verse 17, here's what it says.

God explains why he doesn't go that route. He says, although it's near, this is the quickest route, it's the shortest route.

Other passages describe it as an 11-day journey. That's how long it would have taken to get there. Although it's the shortest route, that's not the route that God took them. And God explains why. Here's why. Because that route would take them right through the land of the Philistines.

Now, the Philistines are the perpetual enemies of Israel for the rest of their history, really. That, as we see, you know, we're going through 1 and 2 Samuel on Wednesday nights. We're seeing, you know, that conflict with the Philistines. It goes on for a long time. And the Philistines are advanced in warfare. They have iron chariots. I mean, you know, they're pretty fierce warriors. And God says, you know, if we go that way...

Israel is going to turn back to Egypt and return to Egypt. They're not going to press forward into the promised land like they need to. God knows what would happen, what could happen if they went that direction. And so God, he has a different plan. Because of what he knows, because of the possibilities that he knows of what could take place, he instead takes them a different route. And so instead of staying north and, you know, going across, he says, go south.

But it's like not the right direction, Lord. I mean, it's not a straight shot. It doesn't get me there. God says, this is the direction I want you to go. So he has a plan because he knows what would happen and he knows what will happen. And he tells them very specifically, I want you to camp exactly right here. Now, although I have an arrow leading to a specific point on a map,

that's not meant to actually say this is the exact spot where it was. We actually don't know. There's been a lot of research and a lot of scholars have tried to figure out exactly. But you can see the Red Sea extends down. Actually, the real Red Sea is the big body of water that extends down below that. And then there's these two fingers that come up.

But it could have been anywhere along that. And even some suggest it was more at the base of where those fingers break off that they crossed over. But anywhere along that is where they could have been. The point is not exactly where on the map it was, but the point is this location where God leads them is a place that, well, it closes in the children of Israel so that they're right at the sea,

They have mountains on either side. So you picture like, you know, walking into a valley and you're walking into the valley and there's these mountains on either side. Hard to navigate, hard to, you know, go across the mountains, especially with your families and your flocks and your, you know, all of your goods. So there's no way to go along the mountains. You're walking down the valley and then all of a sudden the valley dead ends. It's like a cul-de-sac, you know. So here's the Red Sea at the end.

And the Red Sea is significant in such so that it's not easy. Like we can't just wade across it. We're not going to swim across it and try to bring all of our herds and flocks across it that way. No, that's impossible. That's not going to be safe. And so we can't go forwards because there's the Red Sea. We can't go to the right. There's mountains. We can't go to the left. There's mountains. The only direction to really navigate for them is back the way that they came in. And Pharaoh, well, he's going to see that opportunity soon.

And he's going to come and close that gap. In verse 5 it says, Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people. And they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. Also he took 600 choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them.

And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he pursued the children of Israel. And the children of Israel went out with boldness. Verse 9. So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them, camping by the sea beside Pi-harath before Baal-zaphon. Pharaoh hears about where they've camped. And he says, I know that spot. Boy, that's a bad spot to camp.

They're trapped. There's only one way out of that valley. And Pharaoh says, that's my chance. Why did we let them go again? He looks around at his servants. Why did we let them go? The servants are like, yeah, why did we let them go? Well, I can give you 10 reasons why they let Israel go. Plague number one, plague number two, plague number three, right? It was not that long ago. It was only a few days ago, but...

Suddenly they're like, we lost our labor force. Why did we let them go? That was a bad idea. Why did we do that? Let's go get them back. Now that they're in this compromised situation, they're trapped. We can take advantage of that and force them back to be our slaves, to be our servants. And so Pharaoh goes and catches up with Israel. And he's convinced Israel is trapped.

But as the situation unfolds, as the rest of the chapter, you know, you'll find that the enemy is convinced it's his trap, but actually he's in God's trap. And it's the trap that God has set to take out Pharaoh and his army for good. God tells Moses, you're not going to see them again forever. It's God's trap because it's God's plan. And that's why you can trust God when you feel trapped.

Because everybody around you could look and the enemies around you could look and say, boy, that was a bad move. You're in a bad spot. And you can feel very trapped at that moment. But if you're walking with God, if you're responding as God is moving upon your heart, as you're responding and moving according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, you can trust God has a plan. And even though it looks like a really bad plan at the moment, even though it looks like you're trapped, it's not the end of the story.

And God hasn't finished his work. When you are walking with God, there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome. I think it's really important for us to consider these things because, well, many times we have these like, kind of like false idea in our minds. Like, hey, I'm going to start walking with God.

I mean, I'd known about God. I'd believed in God for a long time. But man, I really just want to serve God. And we set out to really do well in walking with God. And we kind of anticipate, we kind of hope and maybe expect that, well, now that I've made a really serious commitment to really follow the Lord, man, things are going to go really well. I mean, I'm just doing what God told me to do. So

Home run, right? No problem. What do you mean I struck out? Like, that's not possible. God told me to go up to bat. How could I strike out when God told me to go to bat? I'm expecting a home run. And sometimes we can be shocked and we can forget. Sometimes God's plan is not just for everything to be easy and everything to just be given to us.

But as we walk with God, you know, sometimes there's going to be situations where you feel trapped, where there's real pressure upon you, where there's real tension within, where there's real panic that is tempting to just allow to take over your life and to cause you to run away. And so we need to be reminded that God has a plan. You can trust God.

Man, Lord, I was walking with you. I'm here. I'm camped in this exact spot because that's what you told me to do. And now look at the disaster. Trust that God has a plan in the midst of that disaster. God's not done with it yet. Trust him. He has a plan. He knows everything.

what will happen. He knows what could happen. He's worked out. Remember a couple weeks back, I shared the illustration of a chess master and looking at the life of Joseph, right? And the chess master, like he thinks 20 moves ahead. And then he said, the real trick is like thinking about the possibilities, you know, at that last move, that 20th move ahead, you know? And you think about God and that's what he has done.

All right, and that's like mind-boggling for me, but like you think, okay, if I move here, and then they move there, then I move there, and then they move there, and then, okay, now the board looks like this. All right, and now what's going to be the best move? 20 moves in, you're like, I don't know, God knows.

I said, well, went through all this. Okay, now that's not the best move. Rewind it all. Okay, now what about this? And then this, and then this, and then this, and this, and this, this. No, that's not the best move. No, okay, now what about this? We try this, this, this, you know what I mean? Like God's worked out all the possibilities. He knows all the possibilities and not like he's doing math, okay? I'm not saying it's hard calculations for him, but he knows what would happen. And we could try to project and try to think all those things out. God's already done all of that. And he's chosen the best route.

He's chosen the best plan. You can trust that God has a plan when you feel trapped, when you feel those pressures rise, that tension that is right there upon you. Well, moving on to verses 10 through 18, here we move to point number two. And here we learn to trust God to give direction.

Trust that God has a plan. And because God has a plan, he's able to tell you, all right, now here's the next thing to do. Here's what's next. Here's the steps you need to take after this. Verse 10 says, and when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Here we find Israel freaked out.

Wouldn't you be? I mean, they are scared. They realize we're trapped. And Pharaoh and his army is right on top of them. This isn't, you know, Pharaoh and a couple bodyguards. This is Pharaoh and all of his army and all of his chariots and all of his horsemen. I

But there are a massive amount of people and he comes out to bring them back. And so he's serious about taking Israel back to Egypt. And Israel sees this army and they're freaked out. And they cry out to the Lord because they're very afraid, it says. They cry out to the Lord. It's the right thing to do when you're very afraid. Cry out to God. But just like us, Israel...

They face a range of emotions as they face the situation. You know, when you're going through circumstances and situations, when you feel trapped, it's not just you feel one thing. We're not just like, you know, two-dimensional type of people and personalities. Like either you're scared or you have faith. And that's it. Like you're scared or you have faith. I mean, many times you're scared and you have faith and you're freaked out and you're trusting God and you're emotional about it.

And you're going to have waves of emotion that go along with that. And so you feel a variety of things about it. But sometimes you feel more one thing than you feel another thing. And it comes in waves and it comes and goes. And you're facing a variety of emotions when you feel trapped. And you're going to have moments of great faith.

And in the midst of horrible storms, you're like just strong, like, yes, I believe God. I'm trusting in God. And, you know, God has my back and I know, you know, God has a plan in this. And then 30 seconds later, you're going to have moments of great fear, like, what is going on? I don't know how we're going to get out of this. And we're going to go through that whole range of emotions, just like Israel does. Notice in verse 11, then they said to Moses,

Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. Notice we see Israel very afraid in verse 10. They cry out to the Lord in verse 10. And then...

They say, Moses, this is all your fault. We told you to leave us alone. We are to be better off as slaves in Egypt than dead in the wilderness. They're starting to call out to the Lord. They're starting to look to God for guidance, for instruction. But then, wait a second, it's that guy Moses' fault. Man, Moses, we told you to just leave us alone. Why did you have to interfere? I mean, we were better off enslaved, right?

The whip is better than a grave, Moses. Why did you get involved and mess with us? Now, rationally, you wouldn't expect, you know, them to be so upset with Moses for bringing them out of slavery, right? For bringing them out of bondage. Remember when God first appeared to Moses, the Lord told Moses, I've heard the grumblings of my people. So the people have already forgotten that

They didn't have it so good in Egypt. It's only been a few days, but they've already forgotten. And they're looking back and they're thinking, boy, I mean, it was bad, but it wasn't that bad. I mean, it was pretty, it was better than this. And so now they're blaming Moses, freaking out, crying out to the Lord, then, you know, yelling at the people around them. Anybody know what that's like? Feeling trapped, emotions are high, things are intense. And so you're lashing out at people. You know, it's not really their fault, but...

You're lashing out because you feel trapped, because the emotions are high and you're experiencing these waves and you're crying out to God and you're like, oh, I'm sorry. I don't really mean that. I'm sorry. You know, I know God's doing the work. Man, you stupid fool. You know, like it's, you're back and forth and you're wishy-washy and you're experiencing all these things. Trust God to give direction in the midst of that. Even though you're all over the place, the pressure's on and you're just like, you know, scattering everywhere. Trust God.

They did the right thing in crying out to the Lord and the Lord's going to answer them in just a moment. But Moses answers them first in verse 13. And Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you will see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.

The people, they start lashing out at Moses, and Moses says, don't be afraid. I know you're afraid. I know it looks like we're trapped. I know you're feeling all kinds of things. Don't be afraid. Stand still. Now, that command to stand still, it kind of stands out a little bit to me. And it perhaps gives the implication, gives us a little bit of indication here that Israel is, well, they're not...

prepared to stand still. They're getting ready to scatter, right? If you were there, you're there in the midst of the congregation, and you see the situation, and here's the nation of Egypt, and you're there looking at your family like, hey, every man for himself, man. There's no way out of this, but we can't take the congregation over the mountains, but hey guys, you got kids, you bring your hiking boots, okay, good, we're going. I mean, you know, forget these guys, we're on our own, we're gonna get out of here.

You bring your snorkel and swim gear kids? Okay, good. We'll get in the Red Sea. We're going to get out of here. There was this moment where everybody is looking to scatter, to go on their own, to take matters into their own hands. And Moses stands up and says, stand still. Stop your planning. Stop your running. Stop your escape route options.

If you want to see God work, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He's going to accomplish a work today and you're going to see the Egyptians no more forever. What God has in store is a plan to deal with the Egyptians in such a way that they will never harass you again. The Lord's going to fight for you. And such an important reminder for us.

As we feel the pressure, as we're freaked out, as we're looking for all the exits and looking at all the possible avenues and the ways that we might be able to escape what it is that we're feeling and the situation that is unfolding. And we need to trust God to give us direction and to stand still and wait to not just go where we want to go and do what we want to do, but to stand still and wait, trusting God to give us the direction that we need.

I think David Guzik broke this out really well for us. He says, stand still is often the Lord's direction in a time of crisis. And he gives other options. What is other options besides standing still? He says, despair will cast you down, keeping you from standing. Fear will tell you to retreat. Impatience will tell you to do something now. But as God told Israel, he often tells us to simply stand still as he reveals his plan.

Stand still. It's easy in those times of great pressure to despair. And so you're not standing. You're just giving up. It's hopeless. And there's that despair that sets in, that discouragement, that depression that comes because of, well, the feelings, the pressure. We're trapped. Or there's the fear.

The fear that says, run away. Whatever it takes. It doesn't matter if that's what God has planned or not. It doesn't matter if that's the best or that's the wise. Just get out of there. Whatever it takes, run away. Impatience, you know what that's like. It's like, okay, I know what God wants. I know the direction we're supposed to go. I'm going to get there now. And running ahead of God is

Because I got to do something right now. And so many times it's so hard for us, isn't it, to just stand still. But every moment I stand still, Lord, Egypt is catching up with us. The walls are closing in. I can't just, I got to do something. But you need to trust God to give direction. Stand still and you will see the salvation of the Lord. Verse 15, and the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me?

Tell the children of Israel to go forward, but lift 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. And 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. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.

Israel cries out to God. Then they blame Moses and yell at Moses. And Moses calms them down and says, stand still. And then Moses cries out to God. And God says, why are you crying out to me? It's not a rebuke. Here God is saying, tell the children of Israel to go forward. It's the right thing to cry out to God until God gives you the direction that he wants you to go.

And when God gives you the direction, then the time to stand still is over. And now it's time to go forward. And so you wait until God speaks. And then when God speaks, then you go forward. Trust God to give direction. And so Moses cries out to the Lord. And the Lord says...

Good job. You look to me. Okay, now it's time to go forward. And so he tells them how to do it. Lift up your rod, stretch out your hand, and the sea will divide, and you're going to go across on dry ground. It's a great plan that God has. Not a plan anybody would think of. You know, you wouldn't think of that as a strategy method. Okay, so what we're going to do is we're going to go in this valley. It's going to look like we're trapped, but then what we're going to do is we're going to part the Red Sea. You know, only God could come up with this plan.

Only God could accomplish this plan. It's just not something that we would come up with. But God has a plan. He knows what it is. And so you can trust him to give you the direction that you need, to tell you which way to go. Even the ways that look impossible, even the ways that look crazy from perhaps your perspective or the perspective of people around, trust God to give you direction. When you're walking with God, there are no obstacles that cannot be overcome.

Even a massive Red Sea that cannot be crossed can be crossed when you're walking with God and He wants you to cross the sea. Stand still and trust God to give you direction. Again, you're going to feel a variety of emotions in that place of being trapped. And it's going to come in waves. And sometimes you're going to have great faith and sometimes you're going to have great fear. In the midst of that, you need to hold on. Trust God.

The waves are going to come and try to push you one way or the other way, and you need to come back to holding on. It's kind of like the father in Mark chapter 9 who told Jesus, Jesus said, hey, if you believe, anything can be done. He was wanting his son to be healed, and the father said in Mark chapter 9 verse 24, I believe, help my unbelief. I believe, help my unbelief. I believe, and I also struggle with unbelief. That is a reality. Again, it's not just one thing or the other.

Either you have faith or you don't. Well, no, I have faith and I also have fear and I also have anxiety and I also have pressure and I also have, you know, and we have all of this. But in the midst of it, we can trust God to give direction. Don't rush ahead, being impatient. I think I know what God wants. I'm going to go do it. Don't lag behind. I don't know. That doesn't seem like a good plan, Lord, you know. Let God direct. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And then when God says, go forward, go forward.

then go forward. Trust God to give direction. Moving on to verses 19 through 27, we get point number three, and that is trust God to deliver in time. And you can think about that in two ways. Deliver in time in the sense that deliverance may not be as immediate as we would want, but in time, God will bring the deliverance. But also, God delivers, well, within 30 minutes, or your money is, your pizza's free, or whatever it is.

No, God delivers at the right time. It's not too late, in other words. You can trust God to deliver in time that it's not going to be too late when God brings the deliverance. Do you ever feel like it's too late when you're faced with these kinds of trapped situations? You ever feel like God waits until the very last second to bring deliverance? I think we've all felt that way for sure.

Sometimes it feels like, man, if God waited 30 milliseconds more, it would have been too late. But God brings deliverance at the exact right time. Here's Egypt coming from behind. They're trapped with nowhere to go. And it's at the very last moment that

That God intervenes. Check out verse 19. And 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. So 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.

As Israel was marching out of Egypt, they had the cloud above them. It was a cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. It was by that that God was leading them. And at this moment, the clouds overhead, causing them to camp exactly where they are. And now the cloud moves. As Egypt comes from behind, the cloud becomes a wall between them. And God prohibits and prevents Egypt from

from entering into the camp of Israel. There's a clear implication here from these verses though. If God had not stood between them, Egypt for sure would have overtaken Israel. This is something I think it's good for us to consider. You know, God's God and he can do whatever he wants, right? He's got all power. God could have taken Egypt out 50 miles away, but here's Egypt right in their face.

right on their heels, right up on them, so close that if God hadn't moved and put himself in between them, Egypt would have caught up with them and taken them. It's something for us to consider. Sometimes it's a rude awakening for us. We forget. We need to be reminded that God allows the enemy to get a whole lot closer than we're comfortable with.

I mean, it's one thing. I understand there is an enemy. I understand there are difficulties in life. I understand there are challenges in life. But Lord, couldn't you just kind of like keep them at arm's length? Like see those challenges over there? Yeah, man, that's difficult. Wow, look at that. That's how I would prefer it. But then God brings the challenge right here. Now, it's still God in control. He's still the one on the throne. He's still got the reins and the chains, right? I mean, he's still, but I can believe that a whole lot easier when the enemy is over there.

It's like, I like your, you know, pit bull chained up in your yard, you know, across the street. I'm not going to stand right at the end of the chain, you know, like face to face. Same chain though, and same way, you know, God's still on the throne. He's still in control either way. But boy, we wish God would just keep those things at a distance. Could God keep them farther away? Absolutely. He could. Why doesn't he? I don't know, but I know you can trust him. You can trust him.

He's still got a plan. He's going to deliver. He's going to protect. And here at the last moment, he sets himself in between Egypt and Israel. Verse 21, then 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. So 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.

Do those verses describe how you normally picture this scene? I don't know about you, but I picture the crossing of the Red Sea, you know, Moses on the hill, like right over the sea, he lifts out his staff and the earth trembles and everybody's like, ooh, you know, and then all of a sudden, you know, and it's like God's hand just like parting the sea and pulling it back and whoa, like this massive, awesome power right in front of them. And they start walking in as God's parting the sea. It's just like this awesome scene, right? Well,

What it says here though is there was a strong east wind all that night and it made the sea into dry land. All that night? It was windy? So we're talking about like eight hours of wind? So here's Israel camped. Egypt catches up with them and God moves and they're like, whew, but they still have nowhere to go. And then the wind starts to blow.

And they're waiting and they're waiting and they're waiting. And the night's going further and further. And they're waiting and they're waiting. Ten hours later, finally, there's dry land. Does God need that time? Could God do it the way that I picture in my head? Absolutely, He could. He doesn't need eight or ten hours of wind to accomplish this. So why doesn't He do it immediately? I don't know. But I know you can trust Him. God will deliver in time.

It will be right on time, but also sometimes it takes time. And God allows time to pass. And you're just like watching slow progress. I'm sure those hours of the wind blowing and the sea slowly parting, it probably felt like forever. I'm sure it was torturous for them, but God was delivering them in his time, in the process of time, at the right time. You can trust God to deliver in time. But look how close...

God continues to allow the Egyptians to get, verse 23.

And the Egyptians pursued and went after them in the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Now it came to pass in the morning watch that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he troubled the army of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels so that they drove them with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians."

Israel begins to go across the sea. It's on dry land. There's walls of water on either side for them. They're crossing over. But then what happens? Pharaoh and his army enters into the sea and they're on the dry land with the water of walls beside them. God allows... Now, how did they get there? Wasn't there a wall blocking them? Where'd that cloud go anyways? Like, hey, what happened here? Where's the cloud? How did they get past that into the Red Sea? I guess God lifted the cloud.

Why would he do that? I don't know. But I know you can trust him. I mean, I imagine Israel thinking like, God, you had them. Why, you know, don't change anything. We're not done yet. Like, let us get through first and then seal it off. And then you can, you know, move the clock. Like, no, God, you're moving too fast. But God lets Egypt get close. And as Egypt gets close, well, God intervenes again, but a different way. He starts flicking their chariot wheels off. Messing with them. Giving them mechanical failure.

And the clear implication here is if God hadn't done that, they would have caught up with Israel. But here they are. They're right on their heels. God's keeping a close eye on the situation. In verse 24, it says, God's watching. Sometimes it feels like in those situations, like God doesn't know what's going on. No, no. God's got a close eye on the situation. He knows exactly what's happening.

but he allows the enemy to get so much closer than we're comfortable with. God's not uncomfortable. He's not freaked out. And it's not that the enemy is getting this close because, well, I tried my best, but I could only keep them back that far. That's not where God's at. God's doing a work. This is part of his plan. We have to learn to be comfortable with the reality that God, he's able to do what he wants. And sometimes what he wants is not

what we would want or ask for or prefer. Verse 26, This kind of changed my perspective a little bit on this whole scene and scenario.

I think all my life I've kind of pictured it as Israel crosses through the Red Sea, Egypt comes in behind them, they're chasing them. They don't quite get to the other side. They don't quite get to Israel and then boom, the waters go back over them. But verse 27 is a little bit interesting. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. When morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So think about this with me. They're fleeing into the sea.

They're fleeing into the sea, not out of the sea. They're fleeing into the sea. It kind of gives us the picture. Egypt made it across the Red Sea as Israel made it across the Red Sea. That's when God gave them the mechanical failures and the chariots falling apart and they're like giving up. God's fighting for them. We better get out of here. Let's get back to Egypt. And they have to go back through the Red Sea to get back to Egypt again.

And it's as they're running from God into the Red Sea to get to the other side when God turns the water back. Now, I say all that just to say, man, God let Egypt get right up on Israel. Like, they're just barely crossed over, and Egypt is on the other side with them. That is too close for comfort, right? That is not where we would want the enemy to be. But God delivered them at the exact right time.

So that while they were fleeing, the deliverance came. You can trust God to deliver in time. He's going to come through, but it might be a whole lot later than you would ask for. And the situation might, I mean, the disaster might just be like right up on you. It might be much farther along than you would want or you would ask for. But regardless of how close the enemy gets, you can trust God to deliver in time.

God has a full victory planned, not a partial victory, not a little victory. He's keeping a close eye on the situation, and he's going to accomplish something great. The Lord in this situation lets them see what he's capable of. Well, finishing it up in verse 28 through 31 for point number four, we'll finish up fast. I'm sorry, point number four is trust that God has good reasons. Verse 28,

Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work with

which the Lord had done in Egypt. So the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. Trust that God has good reasons. Why would God allow Egypt to get so close? Why would God lead them into a trap? Why would God do it this way? Why would God do this? We have all the questions that we could ask. And we could have all the thousands of possible scenarios that we could imagine. Wouldn't it be better if we did it this way? God would say, look, I've already thought through all of those.

This is the best way. That's why I told you to camp here. That's why I sent you in this direction. This is the best way for you. This is the way that you get a full victory. Yeah, but couldn't you just wipe them out some other way? Yeah, God could wipe them out a different way, but this is the best way and for good reason. And we may or may not know all the reasons why it's a good reason and why it's the best way. We will in eternity. But on this side of eternity, I would suggest we have a hint of why God chose this way in verse 31. Verse 31.

It says that the, so the people, as a result, they feared the Lord and believed the Lord. The people were able to believe God in a different way because this situation happened right in front of their face. Again, it's one thing to believe that God can work when things are way off in the distance, but they believe God now because they see it right in their face. They were face to face in the midst of the situation and God delivered them.

Now, if you're reading with us in the Bible in three years, you might read in the next couple chapters and go, wait, are you sure they believed? Because, I mean, Exodus chapter 15, it's the very next chapter. They're complaining against Moses and saying it would have been better in Egypt. What are we going to drink? We're thirsty. And then in chapter 16, hey, we're starving. It would have been better for us to die in Egypt. We should just go back to Egypt. We're hungry. And then in chapter 17, we're thirsty again. It would have been better for us to die in Egypt. That was the only song they knew. They just kept singing it over and over again. It would have been better in Egypt.

And we think, wow, how could they not believe God and trust God after all of that? But I would ask it the other way. Can you imagine how they would have been had they not had this encounter with God and come to believe God at this point? God allowed Egypt to be this close. He allowed it to get this dangerous. He allowed it to get so close so that they would believe because God was interested in their soul.

So that they wouldn't just, oh, the Philistines, and run back to Egypt and stay in disobedience to God's plan for them. He was bringing them along, even though they're going to have their struggles after this. Even though they're not even going to make it into the promised land, but they still make it into heaven, right? They're still God's people. They're still walking with God, although they have their struggles after

But it comes from this point where they believe, and there's some great symbolism here with baptism as they crossed over the sea and great pictures there that this is conversion for them. Now they believe, I believe that God is with us, that God will save us. God has good reasons for the things that we face, the areas in our lives where we feel trapped, the pressures that we face. God has good reasons. We may not know them, but we can trust that God has a plan.

And it's our best interest in mind. It's our soul that God is caring for. It's our soul that God is concerned with. Trust God and his plans. Trust him to give you direction at the right time when you need it. God will show you what to do. Walk with him and trust in him knowing that

that he wants what's best for you. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us. The pressures that we face, Lord, the situations that unfold around us and the areas where we feel claustrophobic and there's the temptation to run, to flee, to despair. Lord, I pray that you would help us to instead stand still, to cry out to you and to trust in you and your plans. God, I pray that you would help us to hear your voice, to walk step by step as you lead.

Lord, that we would allow you to be Lord of our life in that way. Help us, God. We do believe. We wrestle with unbelief. We wrestle with the other waves of emotion that come through. But Lord, help us in the midst of all of that to hold on to you, trusting in your goodness, in your grace, in your mercy towards us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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