We think it's all about us but God's plans are bigger than that.
12 Didn’t we tell you this would
happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be
slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in
the wilderness!’”
13 But Moses told the people,
“Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The
Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.
We saw in the previous post that God saved his people from the sting of death and the world reacted by sending them away. The Egyptian people had enough of God's power being used against them but they were not ready to change their ways. They chose to stay with their powerless gods that didn't do anything to protect them from the real God.
It didn't take long for Pharaoh to get over the death of his firstborn son
and think about what he had just allowed to happen. The Egyptians asked each other "What have we done?" but they are not the only ones asking this question, God's people also had their share of regrets for leaving. (Exodus 14:5, 10)
When the report came in that the Hebrews were in a vulnerable position that Pharaoh could use to get them back, he thought it was all about him, he didn't realize that God allowed him to see this irresistible opportunity for a bigger purpose.
When God's people saw that Pharaoh was coming after them and they saw their helpless position between the mountains and the sea, they thought it was all about themselves. Just like Pharaoh, they saw their circumstances from a selfish perspective, but that's exactly what we all would do.
It isn't natural to view our trials and suffering from God's point of view, we think about our safety and our chances of survival just like they did, but God allowed his wrath to be seen by his children as he judged the world to teach them some lessons that they would never fully embrace.
God's people need to learn that:
1. God is sovereign over all things, including the trials that come into
our lives, it is difficult to understand that not only does he
allow trials, he also sends trials.
2. God sends trials and difficulty so that he can show his glory to his people and to the rest of the world. The supernatural way that God saved his people, proved that the little gods that man creates are nothing compared to the strength of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob's ancestors.
3. God ordains trials so that we will trust Him to deliver us. God
wants us to cry out to him in faith, but sometimes he wants us to stop crying and get to work. Just like God told Moses to end his
prayer meeting and get to work, we can also be slow to put our faith into action. (Exodus 14:15)
Exodus 14:30-31 That is how the LORD rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore.31 When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the LORD had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
God revealed himself to the Egyptians in a very special way but as plain as the evidence is, most of them were still blind to the truth, they rejected all of the obvious displays of God's power that should have proved to the Egyptians that he alone is God but they still rejected him. (Exodus 7:5, 9:16, 14:4, 14:18)
Satan is happy if we have a god or two just as long as it isn't the God and only the God. Satan is pleased that most people believe in the idea of God as long as they don't believe in a biblical view of God. We try to change who God is and what he requires of us so that we can feel comfortable about our lives and our destiny after death but God is perfect and therefore he is unchangeable. (Psalm 53:1, Romans 1:18-19, Hebrews 1:10-12)
Philippians 1:28-29 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.
We have been saved from the kingdom of darkness and evil to live as pilgrims and ambassadors that represent a better country that will be our future home for eternity. (2 Corinthians 5:20, Colossians 1:13-14, Hebrews 11:13-16)
We have not been saved from the trials of this life. The same God that asked Abraham to leave home is the same God that asked Noah to build a huge boat and he is the same God that led his children to Egypt to suffer for hundreds of years.
Exodus 18:10-11 “Praise the LORD,” Jethro said, “for he has rescued you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Yes, he has rescued Israel from the powerful hand of Egypt! 11 I know now that the LORD is greater than all other gods, because he rescued his people from the oppression of the proud Egyptians.”
My rescue is a testimony to the rest of the world. Moses left his father in law on a mission from God, after the mission was completed Jethro told his son in law that he was convinced about God because of the display of God's power in the lives of his people. When God's glory is displayed in our lives, some people will react like Jethro but other people will be more like the Egyptians.
Through all of our difficult and challenging situations God reminds us that he created us for his glory and he saved us to display his glory to the world so that all of mankind will know him.
All of the glory for my salvation goes to God. If I can help God in the process then I can share some of His glory, but he came to give me the rescue that I couldn't possibly achieve on my own. The possibility of me saving myself are no better than what God's people had as they were camped out by the Red Sea with Pharaoh coming after them.
Thank you Lord for my rescue from the kingdom of this world. Help me to show your glory to the world as I wait patiently for my ultimate rescue when you take me to the Promised Land.
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