Missions Paul

There’s a difference between the first time God asks you to obey and the tenth. That’s where Moses stood at the Red Sea. Maybe you’re not new to obeying God. The question is whether you’ll do it again, now that the sea in front of you is bigger than anything you’ve faced.

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” (Exodus 14 v 21-22)

Moses stretched out his hand. Pause for a moment. Remind yourself of these verses we read weeks ago.

“Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. (Exodus 4 v 2)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” (Exodus 8 v 5)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” (Exodus 8 v 16)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” (Exodus 10 v 21)

So when, in v16 of this chapter, the Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand, it was something Moses had come to understand.

This act of obedience while the biggest army in the region closed in behind him and a wall of water stood in front.

God didn’t part the sea before Moses moved, but as Moses moved.

They walked through a wall of water on the right, a wall of water on the left, and dry ground under their feet in between.

Egypt was still coming, and the sea was still there. Can you picture it?

The problem was still there, chasing them from behind, with no path in front. Moses stretched out his hand, and Israel walked straight through the middle of it.

The threat wasn’t removed, but a road was created right through it.

God can do it again for your situation. He can make a road where there is no road.

We’ve all been chased at some point in our childhood, even in our adulthood! A particular fear is attached to the experience. Of course, some are facing this experience, which is far more than a childhood game. But 1 John 4 v 4 says: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world”.

In a couple of verses, we see how God had already moved before they even realised it. His move was their protection.

^“ Then the angel of God, who had been travelling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.” (Exodus 14 v 19-20)

We all know the feeling of the enemy pressing in hard. We wonder if we will be caught, overtaken and destroyed.

These 2 verses describe a God who has got your back. You don’t have to keep checking over your shoulder.

God stands in the gap and protects you even when you are sleeping.

God doesn’t ask you to defend yourself but to trust that the one who has been guiding you for years will also guard you when it is needed.

Remember the old hymn, ‘Because He lives’? Jesus Christ is alive, and because of this, your future is not to be feared, whatever future that is. The God who has already conquered doesn’t need you to win the battle. He needs you to trust him with it.

God stood between His people and everything that threatened them, and He didn’t move until morning came.

He hasn’t changed.

Do you know the feeling of running out of options? Then you know the Israelites’ experience here. The Red Sea is in front of them, and behind them is the army of Pharaoh. There isn’t a third option; this is it.

 ^“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” ¹³ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹⁶ Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.” (Exodus 14 v 10-18)

When we’re frightened and wonder whether we’ll survive, we often look for someone to blame for leading us here. Moses gets it in the neck from the same people he had rescued.

Already the people are thinking of returning to be slaves. “Better to be a slave …” Really? Fear often gives short memories.

Now look at v13-15 again.

Which is it? Standing firm or moving on?!

I believe we can be still and move. Stillness is the posture of trust. It is walking without panicking. They would be about to do something quite miraculous, and it needed steady legs.

The glory of God would be seen through what He does to the enemies. Another way of saying it is this: the enemy becomes the stage for God’s glory. What looks like the end becomes the place where God is most clearly seen.

Are you between a sea and an army right now? With no third option in sight.

Don’t just stand there, but don’t just run either. Be still enough to trust and move enough to obey. Watch what He does with the very thing that terrifies you.

If you’re hemmed in right now, desert on one side, sea on the other and something bearing down behind you, it might not be because you’ve wandered off course. It might be because you’re exactly where God put you.

The place with no way out is where God specialises.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. ³ Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ ⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this. ⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” ⁶ So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. ⁷ He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. ⁸ The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. ⁹ The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemenand troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon. ¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. “ (Exodus 14 v 1-10)

God doesn’t always lead you away from trouble.

Israel is free, and Egypt is behind them. Then God says: turn back. Camp at Pi Hahiroth, hemmed in by desert, mountains, and sea. It looks like Moses got the map wrong.

It wasn’t a mistake. It was a trap that God set Himself.

“Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.'” The plan was to let Pharaoh think they were lost.

Why? So Egypt would know, once and for all, that the Lord is God.

Six hundred of Egypt’s best chariots and horses, an overwhelming force, bearing down on a people with nowhere to run. Sea in front and the enemy behind, oh, and mountains on either side.

That’s the exact position God placed them in.

Maybe that is how you describe your situation today? In verse 10, we all recognise these words: “They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.” Before the miracle, there is usually a fearful cry. Today you may not be stomping the ground in faith. Instead, you may be shaking with fear of what is and what might be. It’s okay; God can work with either attitude.

Could you describe a situation you are in as a ‘waiting period’?

Not every delay is a denial; sometimes it’s direction we need to trust.

“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. ¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” ²⁰ After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. ²¹ By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” (Exodus 13 v 17-22)

God didn’t choose the short way. His wisdom is always greater than ours. The shortest route would mean war with the Philistines, and His freed ones were not yet an army.

There are times in your life when things take a long time, and the only explanation is that you or ‘they’ are not ready yet.

The longer way isn’t always punishment; sometimes it’s protection. So, if you are waiting for something to happen, trust that God sees the whole terrain of possibilities, and though you cannot see the reason now, the longer route is the right way.

Two more things: Joseph died without seeing the Promised Land; it is possible to die with faith, believing in something not yet seen. Secondly, notice who is leading this generation out of Egypt. It isn’t Moses; it is the God of Joseph. Our constant God spanning the generations, the same yesterday, today and forever.

Every family has practices nobody remembers starting. Then a certain generation asks the question, ‘Why?’

God doesn’t just tell Israel to remember the exodus; he tells them to expect a question about it.

“In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ ¹⁶ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” (Exodus 13 v 14-16)

The hope is that future generations will ask – ‘why do we do what we do?’

Our prayer is that this young generation will be inquisitive about the faith.

The question “what does this mean?” doesn’t threaten the story, but it’s the story’s whole purpose. If our children, or the people we lead, never ask why we do what we do, it may be because the practice itself has stopped being visible enough to provoke the question.

Where in your life is the story still visible enough to be asked about?

Keeping memories alive sometimes needs discipline. A regular visit to a gravestone. A celebration of an anniversary. The list can continue in many forms. Israel had just walked free from Egypt, and before God gave them anything more, He made sure their next generations would never forget the story of their rescue.

 “The Lord said to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.” ³ Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. ⁴ Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. ⁵ When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month: ⁶ For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. ⁷ Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. ⁸ On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. ¹⁰ You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year. ¹¹ “After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, ¹² you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. ¹³ Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.” (Exodus 13 v 1-13)

Commemorate. That’s the word Moses used. It is more than just to remember. But you build a ritual around it. Moses doesn’t tell them to remember the exodus; he tells them to commemorate it, which is really an instruction to keep making the choice to not forget.

What do you commemorate? An anniversary, the day of your baptism or the moment you knew God had called you. There are many special moments, aren’t they? They are not only precious memories, but they keep us held to the truth that even though the present chapter may feel like a wilderness, Egypt, our past, was not actually smelling of roses either. The Lord had to bring us through those chapters of our lives with a mighty hand.

He brought me out. Let us never forget this truth. God doesn’t want us to.

That’s why He initiates a practice of the Passover. He wants it to be a sign on the hand and a reminder on the forehead.

He brought us out.

What do our hands do, and what fills our minds, that would tell someone watching, ‘this person was bought out of something, and they haven’t forgotten it?’

And the firstborn? This isn’t God being greedy for the first cut. It is this:

“On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me.'”

The point is the sentence a father says to his child, so the story never dies.

What has the Lord done for you? Have you told anyone lately?

The Israelites carried their memory on their hands and their foreheads. How do we carry our story?

I’ve just found myself scrolling Facebook and came across a member of my church that I pastored. I am so grateful for having known him. His name was Steve. He died on my birthday in 2012, and I was with him and his wife, Janet, when he passed into heaven. The year before, in January 2011, Steve presented the Church with leather bookmarks and key fobs he had made with the words of our preaching theme that year, “The time is near: this is my time”. When Steve died, I couldn’t accept the timing. It still looks wrong from my earth. Like a picture of bread without yeast, Steve, for me at that time, hadn’t risen to his full potential. However, though it was hard for his wife, beautiful girls, and family to accept, and perhaps still is, when God saved Steve from his ‘Egypt’ on February 22, 2012, the timing was perfect for him. For he entered into a perfect life of no pain, simply perfection.

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt (v1) … On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. V12) … With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.” (v39)

 430 years is a long time to be without arriving at your true destination.

 The children of Israel’s destination was Canaan, the Promised Land. As you know, symbolic of our destination being heaven. The world and all that it offers is our Egypt. Yet it is what happens here that is so important for our Canaan. For it is here:

 * That God speaks and at the right time (v1).

 Today, in the place of limitations, sorrows, and difficulties, listen: God is speaking to you.

 * That God sees and at the right time (v12).

 How many of us are so thankful that the important matter is God seeing the blood of the true Passover lamb, His Son, Jesus Christ, in our lives? Sometimes we don’t feel Christian. Sometimes other people don’t see us in a good light. We are imperfect. But what God sees counts.

 * That God saves and at the right time (v39).

 The day we are rescued from this Egypt world of ours, the timing will be perfect from God’s side but not necessarily from our perspective.

 The time is near: this is my time.

For Steve. Not forgotten.

The Exodus story isn’t always chronological, and this is a good example. Exodus 12 tells us the Passover instructions were given first (12:1-28), then narrates the plague and Israel’s departure to Succoth (12:29-42) and only then comes back to add this second block of regulations. These aren’t new words spoken on the road; see v. 51. They are the last words given to Moses and Aaron, spoken before anyone flees Egypt, the final regulations for a meal that hadn’t been eaten yet.

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal: “No foreigner may eat it. Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it. “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.” All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” Exodus 12:43-51

The Passover lamb’s blood on their door frames would save them. It would be the foundation for the important Passover meal that would be regularly shared together throughout history.

Before they even step over the border of Egypt, God gives them instructions on who and how to eat the Passover meal.
So, who may participate?
No foreigner unless all his household are circumcised.

No temporary resident, unless he is circumcised.

No hired worker, unless he belongs to the household.

A slave may eat it but only once he is circumcised.

In a nutshell, “The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.”

The exclusion line was never drawn around nationality or birth. Anyone could come to this table if they had been marked.

Then, almost as an aside, tucked into the regulations, *do not break any of the bones.*
Remember this? When the soldiers came to the crosses to break the legs of the crucified, they found Jesus had already died. So they didn’t break his. John looks at the Passover instructions and connects the dots. “So that the scripture would be fulfilled: not one of his bones will be broken.” (John 19:36)  A regulation about a lamb, kept perfectly, in the body of a man.

So we have the gospel, and it really is good news!

The Passover asks this: who is marked enough to belong?

The cross answers the question for good, but it changes what the mark is. What Christ does is cut by no human hand at all. Paul calls it “a circumcision not performed by human hands” in Colossians 2 v 11-12.

The knife becomes the cross. You are found in Christ, or you are not.
Gentiles who were once “foreigners to the covenants of promise… far away” are now “brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2 v 12-13)

The very language that shut people out in Exodus becomes the language that lets them in at Calvary, again, by blood that isn’t their own.

The Passover meal still has a restriction. But it is not determined by birth but by whether you let yourself be marked.

 

God is never late. He is always on time. Even after over four centuries. 

“The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves. Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.” Exodus‬ ‭12‬:‭37‬-‭42‬ ‭

Six hundred thousand men on foot, plus women and children, plus flocks and herds too large to count. A whole nation on the move. Don’t underestimate this. Try and picture the chaos. They had left with dough that hadn’t risen because there wasn’t time to wait for bread.

But look at the detail: “the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.”

To the very day.

You and your family may have been held in difficult circumstances for a long time. You may be waiting for God to change the landscape of your life. We can all wait for something to change for so long that we begin to feel that our predicament is permanent, no matter the promises of God we may have had. Have you resigned yourself that the next chapter you long for is just not going to come?

God is on time. 

The delay is never neglect.

God’s timing simply arrives, exactly on schedule, and only in hindsight do you see that it was never late at all.