2. Call to Worship
Come people of God; come and celebrate God’s gift of
salvation.
We come without fear. We come trusting in God.
Hear God’s promises and witness God’s mighty deeds.
In hearing the promises, in witnessing the mighty
deeds of God, we are strengthened for all that lies
ahead.
Let us worship and praise God by shouting aloud and
singing for joy, for God truly is in our midst.
3. Opening Prayer (Isaiah 65, Luke
21)
Our loving and caring God, we need this time
together to be united with our sisters and brothers in
the faith; we need this time of worship to be
comforted and strengthened in your presence.
We hear of wars and rumors of wars. We read of
persecution and oppression.
Remind us again of your vision, that all might live in a
world of peace and justice and love.
May this time together imprint this vision and
promise on our hearts, that we may live into this
beloved community. Amen.
4. Context
Last week we reviewed the institution of the Passover
meal when the Israelites prepared to leave their
bondage in Egypt. With the death of every firstborn
Egyptian, Pharaoh relented and gave permission for
God’s people to leave.
As they did, the presence of God went before
them, visible in a pillar of cloud and of fire (Exodus
13:21).
5. Opening Prayer (Isaiah 65, Luke
21)
Our loving and caring God, we need this time
together to be united with our sisters and brothers in
the faith; we need this time of worship to be
comforted and strengthened in your presence.
We hear of wars and rumors of wars. We read of
persecution and oppression.
Remind us again of your vision, that all might live in a
world of peace and justice and love.
May this time together imprint this vision and
promise on our hearts, that we may live into this
beloved community. Amen.
6. Context
Last week we reviewed the institution of the Passover
meal when the Israelites prepared to leave their
bondage in Egypt. With the death of every firstborn
Egyptian, Pharaoh relented and gave permission for
God’s people to leave.
As they did, the presence of God went before
them, visible in a pillar of cloud and of fire (Exodus
13:21).
7. Opening Prayer (Isaiah 65, Luke
21)
Our loving and caring God, we need this time
together to be united with our sisters and brothers in
the faith; we need this time of worship to be
comforted and strengthened in your presence.
We hear of wars and rumors of wars. We read of
persecution and oppression.
Remind us again of your vision, that all might live in a
world of peace and justice and love.
May this time together imprint this vision and
promise on our hearts, that we may live into this
beloved community. Amen.
8. Context
Last week we reviewed the institution of the Passover
meal when the Israelites prepared to leave their
bondage in Egypt. With the death of every firstborn
Egyptian, Pharaoh relented and gave permission for
God’s people to leave.
As they did, the presence of God went before
them, visible in a pillar of cloud and of fire (Exodus
13:21).
9. Context
God told them to take a most unlikely route. He
directed them toward the Red Sea rather than going
northward on the Via Maris through the land of the
Philistines (13:18). Their circuitous route made
Pharaoh conclude that they were confused and in
disarray.
Soon the Israelites were terrified when they learned
that the Egyptians were now coming in pursuit of
them. From a human perspective, things looked
hopeless. They had no “escape route.” The sea was
ahead of them, the Egyptian army behind them.
10. Context
Peter Enns declares, “This is no word of comfort but
an angry denouncement of Israel’s paper-thin faith.”
Despite their miraculous release from slavery in
Egypt, they were already complaining to the Lord.
Moses told them that God would fight for them that
very day.
11. Context
God used the pillar of cloud to separate the Egyptian
army from them, leaving their pursuers with no
available light.
12. ‘
Exodus 14:21
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the
sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a
strong east wind all night, and turned the sea
into dry land; and the waters were divided.
13. ‘
Exodus 14:21
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, regretted that he had let
God’s people go to worship the LORD; so, he sent his
army to bring God’s people back to Egypt to once again
serve him as slaves.
The battle Pharaoh planned would be a battle between
himself as a god, with the supposed gods of Egypt
helping him, against the LORD as the true God and
Creator of all.
14. ‘
Exodus 14:21
The LORD had promised to fight for Israel (see Exodus
14:14); so, once again God used Moses, His prophet, and
commanded Moses to turn the Red Sea into dry land.
We might picture Moses with one hand raised with his
staff in his hand and with his other hand raised without
also holding his staff. His power came from God and not
from his staff, and the Bible seeks to make that fact clear.
15. ‘
Exodus 14:21
The Hebrew word kedem, however, rendered in our
translation, "east," means, in its primary
signification, previous; so that this verse
might, perhaps, be rendered, "the Lord caused the sea
to go back by a strong previous wind all that night"; a
rendering which would remove the difficulty of
supposing the host of Israel marched over on the
sand, in the teeth of a rushing column of wind.
16. ‘
Exodus 14:21
Lesson: The Lord has already arranged for our obedient
response to His leading.
Though God (I AM) is waiting for us in the future, He is very
much present with us now and has been busy preparing
events, people and circumstances for our positive faith.
Though God is prepared to make good even on our
mistakes, He stands eager to honor our effort of faith in
ways we cannot imagine.
No higher honor can He give us than to say, “Well
done, good and faithful servant.” No greater pleasure can
we give Him than to do what we believe He is guiding us to
do. Our eyes need to be not so much on how events turn
out here but in consideration of what pleasure we are giving
to Him in our humble obedience.
17. ‘
Exodus 14:22
The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the
waters forming a wall for them on their right and on
their left.
18. ‘
Exodus 14:22
God parted the waters using a strong east wind to blow
a path in the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through to
safety on the other side. When the wind blew the
path, the waters formed a wall for them on their right
and left.
Since there remained a wall of water on each side of
them, the Israelites needed faith in God to step onto the
dry ground and march across the sea without fearing
that the water walls would collapse upon them.
19. ‘
Exodus 14:22
Some Bible scholars suggest that the dry land was likely
an entire mile in width. Rabbinical writers say that the
waters were divided into twelve parts, grounded upon a
passage in Ps. 136:13 and suppose that each tribe took
its particular path.
It evidently was still night as the Israelites crossed, since
God did not destroy the Egyptians until the last watch of
the night (v. 24).
20. ‘
Exodus 14:22
Those who did not have faith in God would have crossed
fearfully and with renewed complaining, even as some
wished they could go back to Egypt and be slaves rather
than face Pharaoh’s army (Exodus 14:10-12).
21. ‘
Exodus 14:22
Moses had to work hard to build up the people’s faith in
the LORD, so we know that their eventual faith was
based on many great experiences with God and His
saving them from disaster and death.
Because of lack of faith, most of those who left Egypt
would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land.
22. ‘
Exodus 14:23
The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea
after them, all of Pharaoh’s
horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.
23. ‘
Exodus 14:23
Some suggest that from the darkness caused by the
intercepting cloud, it is probable that they were not
aware on what ground they were driving: they heard the
sound of the fugitives before them, and they pushed on
with the fury of the avengers of blood, without
dreaming that they were on the bared bed of the sea till
too late.
24. ‘
Exodus 14:23
More likely the Egyptian forces rashly assuming the
parted waters would remain parted because of the
power of the wind or the power of Pharaoh and the
gods they worshiped. They would do whatever Pharaoh
ordered them to do as their king and god.
25. ‘
Exodus 14:23
Pharaoh’s army entered the sea, but the Bible does not
tell us that Pharaoh also entered the sea; so, we may
assume that Pharaoh himself did not perish in the battle.
However, Egypt was destroyed as a world power for
many years after this event.
26. ‘
Exodus 14:23
Lesson: Never underestimate the vengeance of the
enemy nor the protection of our God.
Israel had reason to fear. The greatest army on earth
was pouring down upon them bringing a fate worse than
death. They had no means of escape. We come to
points in our life where we are besieged by our enemies
and mistakes.
Like the Israelites, all we can do is continue forward with
what God has shown us. When can pursue His will and
leave our backs to the care of the Lord. He will fight our
enemies for us and move heaven and earth to keep us in
His will.
27. ‘
Exodus 14:24
At the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and
cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw
the Egyptian army into panic.
28. ‘
Exodus 14:24
Once again, the Bible reveals the awesome power of the
true God, by saying God “looked down” upon Pharaoh’s
army.
The LORD spoke to Moses from the burning bush, and
the Bible says the LORD was in the pillar of fire and in
the cloud.
29. ‘
Exodus 14:24
Here we glimpse a picture of God the Judge meeting out
His punishment. Rabbinical writings suggest that God’s
presence reigned down powers of physical destruction
from lightening to hail in such force that this massive
army broke in panic.
30. ‘
Exodus 14:24
Later, the LORD would enter the tabernacle that He
commanded Moses to build and even later the LORD
would enter the temple that King Solomon built;
however, we know that God is everywhere present and
greater than His creation; furthermore, the Bible
says, “The Most High does not dwell in houses made
with human hands” (Acts 7:48).
31. ‘
Exodus 14:24
Some commentators believe that the LORD in this
account is the LORD Jesus, the Son of God, before He
came to earth in human flesh.
32. ‘
Exodus 14:24
No man made structure can completely contain the true
God. Some commentators believe that the LORD in this
account is the LORD Jesus, the Son of God, before He
came to earth in human flesh.
33. ‘
Exodus 14:25
He clogged their chariot wheels so that they
turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us
flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting
for them against Egypt.”
34. ‘
Exodus 14:25
God filled the minds and the hearts of the Egyptian army
with fear and panic. He returned the water and clogged
their chariot wheels in the seabed mud, and as they sank
in the sand they “turned with difficulty.”
The Egyptian army recognized how easily the Israelites
had crossed over, and how difficult the crossing was for
them.
35. ‘
Exodus 14:25
Some commentators suggest that God reign such
destruction upon them that their chariot wheels were
struck off and the chariots had to be dragged.
They recognized that the LORD was greater than the
Pharaoh they had worshiped as a god, and they
recognized that the LORD was fighting for the Israelites.
36. ‘
Exodus 14:25
Soldiers of Pharaoh’s army shouted, “Let’s get away from
the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against
Egypt.” These were the last recorded words of the
Egyptians (14:25).
Some of them may have come to faith in the true God as
God fought against Pharaoh’s army.
37. ‘
Exodus 14:26
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your
hand over the sea, so that the water may come
back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots
and chariot drivers.”
38. ‘
Exodus 14:26
As the prophet of God, Moses obeyed God by merely
stretching out his hand. The “staff of God” is not
mentioned here, perhaps to show that the staff was not
essential to God’s performing miracles, but Moses as the
prophet of God was essential in this instance.
39. ‘
Exodus 14:26
The Israelites should not come to think that the staff of
Moses was “a magic staff,” though Moses may have used
it once again (God’s command in Exodus 14:16).
The Egyptians had trusted in their manmade idols and
their Pharaoh who claimed to be a god, and these false
gods failed them.
40. ‘
Exodus 14:26
Lesson: God’s intervention may not be so much for us as for
those who watch us.
We have a tendency as humans to view all things from our
perspective. How is this affecting me? What we need to see
is that our journey or travail is a witness to our God. Others
we may know even be aware of are watching the events of
our lives.
When they witness our obedience and faith, they glimpse
what the Spirit can do and are forced to recognize that favor
follows us. Even in our trouble, they observe what God can
do. No wonder Paul rejoiced for hard times. They were the
greatest witness to Him.
41. ‘
Exodus 14:27
So Moses stretched out his hand over the
sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal
depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the LORD
tossed the Egyptians into the sea.
42. ‘
Exodus 14:27
In faith, Moses obeyed God and stretched out his hand
(perhaps using his staff too). Immediately, the waters
returned. As the Egyptians fled, they drowned in the sea.
God was glorified because the Egyptian people and the
Israelites learned the truth about the true God and His
character and nature.
God used the powers of the nature He had created with
perfect timing in order to save the Israelites and destroy
the Egyptian army.
43. ‘
Exodus 14:27
James E. Smith notes, “At daybreak, when the Israelites
could witness the miracle, God ordered Moses to stretch
out his hand over the sea. When he did so, the waters
rushed back together.
Not one member of Pharaoh’s army which followed
Israel into the sea survived . . . The people feared
Yahweh, and put their trust in him and his servant
Moses.”
44. ‘
Exodus 14:28
The waters returned and covered the chariots
and the chariot drivers, the entire army of
Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea;
not one of them remained
45. ‘
Exodus 14:28
All those who obeyed Pharaoh and entered the sea died.
For Pharaoh to rebuild his army, he would need to build
new chariots and train new chariot drivers. Pharaoh was
so totally defeated, along with all the false gods of
Egypt..
46. ‘
Exodus 14:28
Remembering the power of God in the Exodus and the
weakness of Pharaoh’s army, later Israelites should have
known to trust in the LORD and not trust in the
Egyptians or false gods when they were threatened by
their neighbors or other foreign enemies.
Unfortunately, later prophets had to warn continually
the Israelites not to trust in Egypt or idols, but trust in
the LORD.
47. ‘
Exodus 14:28
Lesson: The judgment of the Lord can be complete and
without redemption.
We are conditioned to seeing the works of our Lord used to
redeem nations and men. What we may forget is that there
comes a time when God pronounces a final judgment upon
a people or place. That judgment can be total and beyond
our comprehension.
There is good reason to fear our God No greater sorrow will
afflict the soul than to go before God unprepared and
unbelieving. No greater anguish exists than to know that His
judgment is final and there is no escape. That should give us
pause.
48. ‘
Exodus 14:29
But the Israelites walked on dry ground through
the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on
their right and on their left.
49. ‘
Exodus 14:29
God inspired Moses to emphasize the fact that the
Israelites had crossed on “dry ground,” not in mud from
a job half done.
Now the Israelites understood what the Lord had done
for them and why he led them on this unusual route to
the Promised Land.
50. ‘
Exodus 14:29
Lesson: God can give us firm footing in the midst of the
storm.
God may require us to follow Him into the storm and
trust His provision. What we may not see is that His
provision is so complete that even our steps have been
secured in ways not contemplated.
For everyone who has walked in the mire, steps can be
labored and exhausting. What God grants us is aid in
taking the next step and refreshment to our weary souls.
Each step becomes lighter and more secure when they
are taken in obedience to Him.
51. ‘
Exodus 14:30
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the
Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead
on the seashore.
52. ‘
Exodus 14:30
We might wish that the LORD had chosen a different way
to save the Israelites and not destroy Pharaoh’s army.
However, “will not the judge of all the earth do right?”
(Genesis 18:25).
Certainly! God did what was a wise, right, and necessary
not only then but as an example for others to consider in
the future.
53. ‘
Exodus 14:30
“Egypt has finally paid the ultimate price for the ultimate
transgression,” says Peter Enns. “Their king has been
contending with God, thinking that he was his equal. He
set out to destroy God’s beloved son, Israel.
Now, finally, once mighty Egypt understands that this
was a mistake.”
The Israelites needed to only look at their feet and the
drowned bodies to know their God.
54. ‘
Exodus 14:31
Israel saw the great work that the LORD did
against the Egyptians. So the people feared the
LORD and believed in the LORD and in his
servant Moses.
55. ‘
Exodus 14:31
This extremely important verse indicates the
consequences in the lives of the Israelites after they saw
how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt and the
Egyptian army.
They saw that God has the power to do great works.
They learned greater truths about God. God has the
power to defeat their enemies, no matter how powerful
they are. God is worthy to be reverenced. And God is
just and God will execute just judgments, so He is worthy
to be feared.
56. ‘
Conclusion
The crossing of the Red Sea has special meaning for
Christians.
The apostle Paul uses this event to teach about baptism.
“Our forefathers were all under the cloud and . . . all
passed through the sea. They were all baptized into
Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Corinthians
10:1, 2).
57. ‘
Conclusion
Just as the Israelites submitted to Moses as their
deliverer and leader, even so the believer submits to
Christ as Savior and Lord.
Just as the Israelites had water all around them and
were covered by a cloud above, so the immersion of a
repentant believer pictures his burial with Christ in
baptism into death (Romans 6:1-4).
Now he is ready to begin a new life in Jesus.
58. ‘
Blessing (Isaiah 65, Luke 21)
Go into a world that needs new visions.
Bring the message of hope and love, of justice and
peace, to all you meet.
Live the dream. Make it reality.
Celebrate endings and new beginnings, challenges and
promises.
Live the new creation which you are.
59. Benediction (Isaiah 65, Luke
21)
For these words of challenge and of hope, we give you
thanks and praise.
May they enable us to lead lives that embody both
challenge and hope, bound together by your love.
AMEN
60. ‘
Blessing (Isaiah 65, Luke 21)
Go into a world that needs new visions.
Bring the message of hope and love, of justice and
peace, to all you meet.
Live the dream. Make it reality.
Celebrate endings and new beginnings, challenges and
promises.
Live the new creation which you are.
61. Benediction (Isaiah 65, Luke
21)
For these words of challenge and of hope, we give you
thanks and praise.
May they enable us to lead lives that embody both
challenge and hope, bound together by your love.
AMEN
62. ‘
Blessing (Isaiah 65, Luke 21)
Go into a world that needs new visions.
Bring the message of hope and love, of justice and
peace, to all you meet.
Live the dream. Make it reality.
Celebrate endings and new beginnings, challenges and
promises.
Live the new creation which you are.
63. Benediction (Isaiah 65, Luke
21)
For these words of challenge and of hope, we give you
thanks and praise.
May they enable us to lead lives that embody both
challenge and hope, bound together by your love.
AMEN