Into the Hand of God, Ex. 14:10-28, 11-4-01, AM EBBC
Intro. A careful study of the life of Moses reveals how that he had to trust God throughout the entire ordeal of leading God’s people the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. What it required was that he place himself totally and completely in God’s hands. He had to do that in order to accomplish what the Lord wanted him to do. Now, there is a lesson here for us; in order for us to accomplish what the Lord wants us to do we must be willing to place ourselves into the hand of Almighty God.
What does that mean? It means that we trust God completely, surrender our will for His will, put our faith totally in Him. It means that we take an attitude that says, "Lord, my life belongs to you; my life and all that I have are in your hands; do with me what you will and help me to do your perfect will." Psalm 103:2 says, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits." There are great benefits in putting ourselves in the hand of the Lord. What are some of those benefits? -Placing ourselves in God’s hands:
1. Drives out fear
2. Drives out doubt
3. Helps us to overcome worry
4. Helps us to get our priorities straight
5. Helps us to do God’s will for our lives
6. Empowers us to move forward
7. Is a requirement for the follower of Jesus Christ
Placing our lives into the hand of God is an awesome and wonderful thing for a person to do. It is what Moses had to do to accomplish the will of God.
I. A Moment of Panic, vv 10-12
It is amazing to me to think that after all the people had been through with Moses in Egypt that they would panic when they came up against yet another difficult time. But that is exactly what they did. They panicked when they came to the Red Sea, saw the army of Pharaoh approaching, and did not believe that there was a way out. They went into a panic. V 10 tell us that they were sore afraid. Do you know what that means? It means that they were terrified. Sore afraid means that they believed their lives were over and that they were going to die. What is interesting about this and applicable to us is that sometimes we do the exact same thing. Despite what we have seen the Lord do in the past we come up against something new - some new problem and what do we do? Do we say, "Well, the Lord led me through this past difficulty; this new one will be no different." Is that what we say and think and do? Unfortunately it is not. All too often we do the same thing the Israelites did; despite what we have seen God do in the past we come up against some new struggle and we panic – fall apart in a big way.
They were sore afraid, and they fell apart. V 11, their backs were to the sea and the attacking army was coming at them, and they cried out to God and turned on Moses. They said, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, thou hast taken us away to die in the wilderness?" Moses, they said, were there not enough graves back in Egypt? Is that why you brought us to the seashore to die? They not only got upset, worried, fearful, and panicked, but they did something else; they got sarcastic. Great going Moses – fine job, there were not enough graves back home in Egypt where we were slaves, so you brought us out here to die.
Sometimes when I get upset I get sarcastic and believe me it is not a pretty sight. Be honest; have you ever gotten sarcastic with the Lord? Most of us have at some time or other. We face a problem and we think, great going, Lord, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten me into. Placing ourselves into the hand of God relieves the fear and worry that comes when we face a new problem or challenge.
II. The Salvation of the Lord, vv 13-14
How did Moses respond to the panic of the people? Did he lash out at them, get angry with them, and accuse them of being a people of little faith? While he would have perhaps been justified in doing any of those things, he chose not to do so. Instead he simply pointed them to God.
A godly leader does that; when the people get upset, disgruntled, or in this case, panicked, the spiritual leader will point them to the salvation that comes from the Lord. If we as a church go through a difficult time my number one priority as a pastor is to point us toward Jesus Christ with the reminder that He will, as long as we trust Him, guide us through the present difficulty.
It seems that the people would not have fallen apart so easily. Think of what they had been through already; Pharaoh would not let the people go; he insisted on keeping them in bondage and slavery. So God brought plagues down upon Egypt because of Pharaoh’s disobedience to the Lord. Ex. 8 though 13 records those plagues that the Lord brought down upon the nation of Egypt. Plagues of the Nile turning into blood, frogs, flies, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness. But each time Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he said, "No, I will not let the people go; they are my slaves and this is where they will stay. That sounds to me a lot like what Satan says about us.
Pharaoh kept offering compromises to Moses and the people, but one cannot compromise with God. Finally Pharaoh did let the people go, but in chapter 14 it says that he regretted doing so, and decided to destroy them as they encamped by the Red Sea. So this is where we are now; the people saw the army coming and they fell apart. They forgot that God is able to deliver them. Moses said stand back and see the salvation of the Lord. These Egyptians you see today you will never see again (v 13). God will do the fighting for you, v 14, all you must do is place yourselves in His hands.
III. A Leap of Faith, vv 15-18
The outcome of this, what happens here, ranks right up there as one of the most dramatic events in the Bible; the crossing of the Red Sea. God told Moses in v 16 that He wanted him to lift up his staff, stretch his hand out over the sea and divide it – part the water. And the people would cross over on dry ground through the midst of the sea. Vv 21-22 in ch. 14 tell us that this is just what happened; a divine miracle took place. God parted the sea in order for His people to cross over to the other side.
Many have tried to explain away this miracle by saying that the water was only ankle deep, or that the shallow water was driven back by some strange freak of nature such as a great wind. But these silly explanations fly in the face of what the Word of God says actually happened, and if we believe the Word of God to be reliable and trustworthy, then we can know that it is a factual event. V 22 says that the people crossed over on dry ground and that there was a "a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." Also, we see that when the Egyptian army pursued the Israelites into the sea that once God’s people were safely on the other side that God closed up the parted sea and drowned Pharaoh’s army (ch 14:23-28).
What strikes me here is that these same people who were in a panic only moments before were now faced with a decision; either be destroyed, or take a leap of faith and place themselves in the hand of God. I honestly believe that if I did not daily place myself in the hand of God that I would not make it through the daily pressures and troubles of life. It is a leap of faith to be sure, but one that brings life and victory.
My friends, do not panic when trouble comes, but do as Moses told the people; when hard times come stand back and see the salvation of the Lord. Take that leap of faith and trust Jesus Christ as Savior and make Him lord of your life.
The Bible says in Rev. 3:20, that Jesus stands at the door and knocks, and if anyone will open his heart and let Him in, that He will come in. Open your heart today and let Jesus Christ come in and give you new and eternal life.
Amen
