Fear God

"Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses." -Exodus 14.30-31

Israel has watched God part the Red Sea before them while He guarded their back with the cloud and angel that has been leading them. They cross on dry ground, and then as the Egyptians begin to pursue them the sea is closed over them and they drown. Israel is saved, once and for all from Egypt, and finally they begin to fear Him. They believe in God and also in Moses.

Why was this act so powerful? Why does this one finally hit home with them in a new way? I think because they are finally free from Egypt. The Red Sea is now separating them, and the bodies of Egyptian soldiers are washing up on the shore. The enormity of God's power becomes reality, and suddenly they begin to feel very small in the presence of God. They have seen His power build, and now culminate here. They fear God, as they should for He is all powerful. They believe that He is God, and that Moses is His chosen servant.

Men, do you fear God? Not this reverent respect that people want you to think it means, do you fear God? Have you grasped the fullness of His power, or at least as much as is possible for our finite human minds? Have you come to the realization of all that God is capable of? We must fear God, if we don't we cannot humbly respect Him. If we don't grasp what He is capable of we cannot fully surrender to Him. It isn't until we realize that He is all powerful and the terror and dread of all that He can unleash, that we can truly submit to Him. And when we come to see this and do this, we can begin to hear Him say "Fear not", but more on this at some point in the future."

Let us fear God, this is where it all begins.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Do Something

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 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.'" -Exodus 14.15-16

Pharaoh is ready to charge. The people are freaked out. Moses is calm and collected. God is wondering why Moses hasn't done anything yet. That's the scene we find here. God's response to Moses is one that calls him to simply step out in faith and act in the best interest of the people. God straight up asks, "Why are you crying out to me?" He tells him to life up his staff and divide the sea. Back in Exodus 4 God told Moses that with his staff he would perform the signs of God.

Here at the Red Sea, in a moment of need God says to Moses, "Stop asking me to work, and use the tools I've given you. Put them to use, and watch what I'll do." God tells him to stop praying and do something. The time has come for action. God is on his side and has equipped and empowered him to deliver His people, now Moses simply needs to act on that empowerment.

Men, God has empowered and equipped you to serve Him. Prayer is important, and while it is always essential to pray to strengthen our relationship and deepen our intimacy with God, there comes a time when it's time to stop praying for God to use us and get going with the tools He has given us. We can waste our time praying for an opportunity to be used and miss it when it comes. Sometimes we need to take a step in faith and lift our staff out over the sea to watch the water separate and reveal dry ground.

Prayer is important, but there comes a time for action. God doesn't want us, and didn't create us, to spend our lives in prayer seeking how to serve. He made us to act in faith, trusting in what He has given us to get the job done. May we not fail to act. Let's do something.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Remind Others to Watch God

"But Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.'" -Exodus 14.13-14

The people are afraid, Pharaoh is on the west side, the Red Sea is to the east, they are trapped. They cry out to God momentarily, but then turn their full focus to blaming Moses for getting them into this. They say that it would been better for them to be slaves in Egypt than free dead men in the wilderness. And as they get done with their rant, Moses reminds them, "Don't be afraid, watch what God is about to do for you. God will take care of you."

Moses has come to trust God. We've seen him go from a shepherd asking God to send someone else, to a man who is able to perform the works of God before one of the most powerful man in the world. He's seen God come through time and again. He's seen God's power unfold. He's come to trust in Him fully and depend on Him. He knows what God has promised, and he knows that God will deliver on it. And as the situation looks bad, Moses reminds them to watch God.

Men, are you watching God? When the situation seems darkest are you focused on the light of God to guide you through it and guard you? And in those times, are you reminding others to watch God? If you aren't doing the first one, you can't do the second. But if you are fully trusting God, if your life reflects that action, then it's instinct to remind others to do the same.

Moses saw the panic spreading, and immediately he works to calm it and bring order. God was about to fight for Israel, all they had to do was keep silent and watch Him work. He reminded them, are you reminding others?

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Quick to Forget

"As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, 'Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, "Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians"? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'" -Exodus 14.10-12

Free at last and on the way to the land of promise. But God isn't done with Pharaoh or Egypt yet. He still will gain honor from them and show them still further that He is God. He has Israel turn back and camp by the Red Sea, and then He harden's Pharaoh's heart. He organizes a group of soldiers and heads into the wilderness after them.

As he approaches Israel becomes afraid because they are trapped against the sea. They cry out to God initially, but then quickly turn to Moses and accuse him of leading them into death in the wilderness. They say that they never wanted to leave Egypt, they were happy as slaves, and prefer bondage to death. Oh how quickly they have forgotten.

God just performed ten wondrous plagues on the Egyptians and brought them out of that nation rich. He has led them in wilderness constantly by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He has never left them, and He displayed His power to protect and provide for them. But now that they are free maybe they thought life would be simple and carefree. Maybe they thought that once they left Egypt their troubles were over forever. After all they are on the scenic route avoiding battle with the Philistines.

Men, how quickly do we forget how God has delivered and provided for us? We witness God come through and provide finances, and then the car breaks down and we forget to turn to God and trust in Him. God provides an incredible job in answer to prayer, and then the kids get sick, and we forget to turn to God and trust in Him. God does ... and then ... happens, and we forget to turn to God and trust in Him. It's almost as if we expect God to fix everything at once and make our lives problem free from that point on. That isn't the way it works.

God shows up and provides the little things to build our trust in Him, so that when the big things come, we remember how He has come through, and look to Him to come through again. You know what Israel's response should have been when they saw Pharaoh and the Egyptian army charging down on them? Something along these lines, "Oh snap, I feel bad for him. Didn't he learn his lesson the last ten times? Boy I wonder what God is about to do to him, let's watch and see how He takes care of this one." They had every reason to respond like that, and not a single one not to. And yet they are quick to forget all that God has done to bring them to this point.

Coming to God, having Him come through and provide, does not mean that all of our problems are over. It doesn't mean that there will be no more trials or battles in our lives. But it does mean that God has come through for us in the past, and we know that if we simply trust Him, we can watch Him do it again. This doesn't mean sit back and do nothing. It means have faith in God to come through. Let us never forget.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor