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| Exodus 14:15-20 |
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Lesson # Exodus 14:15-20 Study Material - Exodus 14:15-20 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Ex. 14:15-20 15 Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16 And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17 And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.' 19 And the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. If a person is so rigid, refusing to bend, then God and life will break that person. The Egyptians were a greedy lot, anxious and hungry for slaughter and loot. How do we know this? Look ahead at verse 9 in the next chapter, ' pursue, overtake, and divide the plunder ..... take out the sword and destroy ...' The option of returning to Egypt as slaves and back to the work they once knew, was not available. The Israelites cried out loud from the source of their fear. Moses was poised and commanded that they stand fast (regain their composure) and wait for Gods instructions. And those instructions came. There is a time to pray and a time to act. The instructions came. Advance to the shore and wait. Hold out your staff over the waters. Watch the waters divide, and then cross over, on dry land, to the other side of the sea, then turn and look back, once on the other side, and watch the destruction of Egypt. Thus God is glorified for accomplishing His work against the enemy of truth, against the enemy who would reject God and enslave peoples (not just Israelites), but everyone to whom they feel superior. The Israelites cried. God cannot have fellowship with people out of fellowship, though He is able to extend grace to them especially when they cannot possibly deserve anything good. No man can earn or deserve anything from God. All have failed. The Israelites have lived in sin for over four centuries. They have failed miserably, and even now, in the face of overwhelming miracles and deliverance they are about to fail this first of ten tests - they cried out in fear. 'Did you bring us out here just to die???' 'Silence,' says Moses, 'Stand fast and wait and watch.' The God takes action. The huge cloud, a pillar of smoke and fire, the cloud that led them, and probably was hovering on the shore where they were to begin their crossing, that cloud rose up and traveled over the top of the Israelites. One can just imagine the scene. All eyes were looking upward. The roar of the cloud probably sounded like a freight train traveling at extreme speed, and immediately above them. The cloud came to a halt at a place between the Israelites and the Egyptian army. Now God has everyone's attention. All eyes are focused on the cloud. Bright light on the Israelites side. Thick darkness on the side of the Egyptians. The light directed toward the chosen of God and the darkness, the back of God, turning away from the evil of Egypt. The light to guide the path of the Israelites. The dark to confuse and disorient the Egyptians, and to separate the two. There is no middle ground between good and evil. We either live in the light, in Gods favor, or we live in the darkness outside of Gods will. In the light we are guided to safety. In the darkness we cannot make the proper decisions, being strongly influenced by our sin nature, therefore destruction not only awaits us, we rush directly into its teeth. The light is given at night. This is the time of crossing - in the dark of night. God is not limited by the waters of the sea, nor the time of day, nor the power of Pharaoh's army. Neither group could approach the other. Of course the Israelites were not about to move toward the Egyptians to engage them in battle. They were too busy clutching their newly acquired gold and silver trinkets, wide eyed with fear, and probably in need of a clean pair of under shorts. Moses is standing on the shore, probably on an elevated position on some large flat rock, readying to hold his staff out over the water. The Israelites were moving toward the sea. Remember there were two million of them plus herds, flocks, carts, and such. So it is a huge crowd. And now they wait to see what will happen next. They are surrounded on three sides, with only one choice of directions to go, and that is directly into the sea to the east. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
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