Coming to the Red Sea is just as much a part of God’s plan as crossing it.
Sermon Title: GOD AND YOUR RED SEA
Sermon Text: EXODUS 13-14 (NIV)
Sermon Series: MOSES: LIFE LESSONS FROM THE HESITANT HERO
By: PTR NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
EXODUS 14:21-29 NIV
21 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. 23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.” 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen--the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. 29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
We will all have Red Sea moments.
I. A DELIBERATE DIRECTION
EXODUS 13:17-18 NIV
17 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 armed for battle.
EXODUS 13:21-22 NIV
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 14:1-2 NIV
1 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.”
EXODUS 14:5-9 NIV
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, horsemen and troops--pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
Sometimes God leads us to a dead end, to teach us to trust him for the way out.
II. THE DARKNESS OF DOUBT
EXODUS 14:10-12 NIV
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.
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!”
We forget the things we ought to remember and remember the things we ought to forget.
Remembering God’s faithfulness gives us strength for the present and hope for the future.
III. THE DELIGHT OF DELIVERANCE
EXODUS 14:13-14 NIV
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.”
If the Lord is to get the glory, he must do the fighting.
EXODUS 14:17-18 NIV
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.”
When I panic, I run.
When I run, I lose.
When I lose, God waits.
When I wait, God fights.
When God fights, he wins.
And when God wins, I learn.
Red Seas open and close at the Lord’s command, and not until.
“The delay that instructs and prepares us saves time, never loses it.”
Raymond Edman
Coming to the Red Sea is just as much a part of God’s plan as crossing it.
EXODUS 14:21-22 NIV
21 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.
I. Deliberate direction – a call to trust
II. Darkness of doubt – a call to remember
III. Delight of deliverance – a call to stand still