Strathalbyn Church of Christ

Exodus 13:17-15:21 Theme: The God who Fights for us! Sermon by Pastor David Williams. Strathalbyn Church of Christ. 20 June 2021.

What happens to your faith when all goes wrong – are you ever tempted to throw it in? When health suffers; when tragedy strikes; when problems turn up in the family; when your finances or ambitions go pear shaped. Do you turn to other helpers? Do you doubt God can help or doubt that he is willing to help? Knowing what God is really like will help us in tough times.

What is God really like? Not what you imagine him to be – but as he really is. We learn what he is really like by what he does. “You know them by their fruits”, Matt 7:16 – well, we know God by his fruits. One of the best places in the Bible to see God in action is in the Exodus story. Who is the Lord? One who fights for us. That is what the Exodus story shows.

This sermon has 3 parts: 1. God fights for Israel; 2. Jesus fights for all; 3. Our response.

1. God fights for Israel.

If you’ve been here in recent weeks, you will remember that God’s people were slaves in Egypt. God sent 10 plagues to make Pharaoh release them. In the Exodus out of Egypt, they headed off towards the promised land. But Pharaoh, true to form had a change of heart and decided to get the Hebrews back, “What have we done, letting all those Hebrew slaves get away?” Ex 12:5. So a great battle was looming, but the odds were stacked against Israel. The battle had 3 scenes:

_Scene 1: disaster looming _(Ex 14:1-14)

1. Their leader: Moses had never led a mass migration, much less fought in a war. As for strategy, his elders must have been shaking their heads. Just when he was gaining some distance, he stopped and turned back in Egypt’s direction, and they camped where they were wedged in, with the sea behind them (Ex 14:2). There was nowhere for them to escape!

2. They were hardly in a fit state to engage in battle. They left Egypt in great haste – with their flocks and herds (Ex 12:38), pots and pans on their back (Ex 12:34), women, children, old folks – carrying what they could. They didn’t even have time to prepare provisions (Ex 12:39).

At the sound of the Egyptian army advancing, Israel is utterly terrified (Ex 14:10). Their faith – so often fickle and hesitant – now vanishes altogether. Eight complaints they make to Moses – all saying, “Why did we leave Egypt?”

“Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 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!’”, Ex 14:11-12.

Before we judge them too harshly, just consider the position they were in: Picture it, 600 chariots racing towards them, Pharaoh’s crack troops, with thousands of fully armed warriors marching relentlessly onwards. They were sitting ducks. They were on the verge of annihilation or slavery. Israel was tired and hungry after their escape from Egypt. They were in a flat panic, willing to surrender before an arrow had been fired. All hope was lost.

Their response was all so human. Too human – for they entirely forgot about God – the God who had set them free from slavery by ten miraculous plagues, the God who even now was with them and led them in a cloud by day and fire by night. The God who promised to lead them to a new land.

So how does Moses respond? How would you respond – to this imminent threat, and to this collapse of faith? Moses doesn’t say, gird yourself for war – nor does he chide and criticise their faithlessness. What he says instead is incredible:

“Just stand still and watch”. That’s right – do nothing. Don’t fight, don’t flee, don’t surrender. He said, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today… The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm”, Ex 14:13-14.

See how the Lord fought for Israel.

_Scene 2: God protects _(Ex 14:15-22).

The creator used his powers of creation in saving his people. As creator, God divided the land from the sea (Gen 1:9). As saviour, he again does this. Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground (Gen 1:9; Ex 14:16, 21-22).

Picture it, a powerful East wind – the breath of God – is blowing, separating the waters (Ex 15:8). The Hebrews start heading into this wind, through a wall of water on either side. It is still night, before dawn.

Military terms are used for God. Like a scout he went ahead of them, like a general, he guided them, Ex 13:21. He planned the campaign, directing their movements, Ex 13:17; 14:1-3. He looks down on the Egyptians Ex 14:24. Like a general, he is watching over his people and watching the enemy’s movements. The Lord became their rear guard. The pillar of fire and cloud that had been leading them changed position to become their rear guard – separating them from the Egyptians and protecting them (Ex 14:19).

As it was in his act of creation when God separated the light from the darkness, so here in his act of salvation, God gave light to the Hebrews so separating them from the Egyptians in darkness (Gen 1:4; Ex 14:20).

_Scene 3: God conquers _(Ex 14:23-30)

The Egyptians followed through the walls of water. Let’s zoom in as the chariots are getting bogged. One calls out, “Let’s get out of here! … The Lord is fighting for Israel against Egypt!” Ex 14:25. So even the Egyptians realised that the Lord was fighting for his people. Initially, it was the Hebrews who panicked (Ex 14:10). Now it’s the Egyptians who panic.

Panning out again, we hear the Lord commanding Moses “Raise your hand over the sea again.” And “the waters rushed back and covered … the entire army of Pharaoh … And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore”, Ex 14:26-28, 30. This was all achieved by the LORD without any help from Israel. God fought for Israel. Moses describes him as a “man of war”, Ex 15:3.

Does that sound too gruesome? Not if you were a Hebrew! We have not experienced war in our country. But looking at the bodies of men who had come after you with war machines to rape your daughters and kill your sons, dragging any survivors back to pitiful slavery, you would have felt immense relief at the sight.

**_Why did God bring about the Exodus? _**God explains why, and his reasons are very surprising. First, why did he plan the Exodus? It was not to save Israel. Rather, it was to display his glory. Twice, in Chapter 14, he said, “My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his army”, Ex 14:4, 17-18.

Second, who did he display his glory to? To Israel of course. No, look again – to the Egyptians, his enemies! When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory, Ex 14:18. Why is God so concerned at showing his glory, his majesty, to his enemies. Is he intent on rubbing it in. Showing off like a big bully?

No, the reason he displays his glory to them is even more of a surprise. Again, it’s not what you would expect – he displays his glory to the Egyptians, not so that Israel may know the “I am the LORD”, but that Egypt will. And the name by which God will be known to Egypt is the real shocker – it sounds heretical. It is not just that Egypt will know him as God almighty. God had let his people in on a secret – through Moses, he let them know him by his special name – as Yahweh, usually translated in our Bibles as “LORD” in capitals. It is so special that Jews are forbidden to pronounce his name. Yet God says that his enemies “will know that I am the LORD” – they will know him by his special name, “LORD” (Ex 14:4, 18). Eight times he says this in Exodus (Ex 7:5, 17; 8:10, 22; 9:29, 11:7, 14:4, 18). As Moses was later to discover, to know God as LORD meant knowing him as the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Ex 34:6).

Is your head doing somersaults at this point? On the one hand, we have God, described at the Man of War, the God who fights for Israel, at the same time being known to his enemies as the compassionate God, abounding in love. How do you figure that out? This only makes sense when we look at the cross. For on the cross, God rescued his enemies to make them his own people.

2.Jesus fights for all

The Exodus is a preview of the cross. It helps us grasp what happened on the cross. There are four parts to this

a. Israel was first was identified as God’s son in the Exodus, when Pharaoh was told, “Israel is my firstborn son … if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son”, Ex 4:22. Jesus was also identified as God’s firstborn son. When? When Jesus went through the waters for baptism, God then said, “This is my beloved Son”, Matt 3:17.

b. Immediately after going through the waters, Jesus was sent into the wilderness for 40 days – Israel spent 40 years there. (Mt 4:1-2; Nu 32:13).

c. Jesus talked with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration. About what? About his “exodus” (Greek: ex + ‘odos = way out) on the cross (Luke 9:31). Some bibles call it his “departure”. Moses’ Exodus was the way out of slavery; Jesus’ exodus was the way out of the slavery of sin and death.

d. The prophet Isaiah wrote hundreds of years after the Exodus, but before Jesus came. However, Isaiah picked up the language of the Exodus in predicting Jesus. Isaiah wrote four Servant Songs. These speak of the Servant of the Lord, meaning Jesus. In one of them – in Isaiah 52, Isaiah used the language of the Exodus to predict our exodus, through Jesus.

So he wrote, The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of the nations, Isa 52:10.

And again: “Depart, depart, go out from there”, Isa 52:11.

But there is a difference now: In the Exodus, they left in haste (Ex 12:11, 33). But in the new exodus, Isaiah 52 says, you shall not go out in haste … for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard, Isa 52:12. Remember, God’s cloud changed position and became Israel’s _rear guard _(Ex 14:19). He was light to Israel and darkness to the Egyptians (Ex 14:20). He stood in the breech between them. He fought for them. How will the Lord be our rear guard? How will he fight for us? Isaiah continues in the next verse: “See my servant…”, Isa 52:13. That is, he introduces the Servant, the one who will be the LORD’s rear guard, the one who fights for us. But as we read on, this Servant is a helpless victim. How could he possibly fight for anyone?

Here we see a staggering difference. At the Red Sea, God – as Israel’s rear guard, brought a mighty victory, totally wiping out the enemy.

But now it is God’s servant – again, his rear guard, who is about to be wiped out by God’s enemies. They seem to have the victory. For we read

- His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, Isa 52:14.

- He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief, Isa 53:3.

- He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, Isa 53:7.

So this servant is our rear guard? Our protector? How will he fight for us? It was through his suffering and death that he won the greatest victory. He defeated the ultimate enemies: Satan, sin and death.

So this is how our God fights for us – He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Isa 53:5

So Jesus is our captain, but what a captain. He fights for us by dying for us.

3.Our response

How should we respond – to this God who fights for us? We can learn how to respond by looking at how Israel responded – to the God who fought for them. Israel did four things: they saw, they feared, they believed, and they sang.

Once we have seen the work of the Lord – the one who fights for us by dying for us - the right response is to fear and to believe in the Lord and his servant, and to sing.

When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they feared … and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. And they sang, of the LORD’s glorious triumph, Ex 14:31; 15:1, 21.

We see God’s power at work in defeating sin and death and raising Jesus from the dead. Our response is rightly to fear and to believe. As believers, we fear – not because we are in terror of God destroying us – but in due respect of his awesome power. We should never presume on his grace. For those who do not know his grace, then terror is the right response, Ex 14:25; 15:14-16.

Seeing the Lord’s work, fearing and believing him, our natural response is to sing. After the Exodus, Moses compiled a great psalm in chapter 15. The LORD fights for us. Moses could hardly restrain himself: he sang

“Who is like you among the gods, O Lord - glorious in holiness,
awesome in splendor, performing great wonders? (Ex 15:11).

And God’s glory is especially seen in his steadfast love. As Moses sang,

“With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed.
In your might, you guide them to your sacred home (Ex 15:13).

Lord Jesus, thank you that you rescued us, your enemies by dying for us. Thank you that with your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed. In your might, you guide us to our sacred home.

Sources:

· Conversations with Rev Chris Jolliffe, Trinity Aldgate.

· Fretheim, T. E. (2010). Exodus. Louisville, Ky: Westminster.

Series: Exodus