Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend and
I hope y 'all are having a Wonderful start to
your day. It's snowing here unexpectedly I say
unexpectedly because it was nowhere on the radar
that we were supposed to get snow today And even
when I open up like my weather apps and look
at the radar. It doesn't show that we're getting
snow Though we are I knew there was a snowstorm
that was supposed to hit more of the East Coast
It was supposed to miss us. We still have like
those 11 inches of snow that we got last week
But when I woke up this morning and I looked
out the window I could see like a light snowfall
coming down and the driveway is freshly dusted
with snow lightly covered So it's been snowing
for a minute and this is just one of those times
when I'm like, okay, well this is definitely
just an act of God. I guess I'm meant to stay
home today. I'm gonna stay home this morning
and record a podcast episode and just be rooted
in scripture and go about my day. And I encourage
you all to have a similar mindset, right? If
your day isn't going as you expected, maybe there's
a hiccup to your plans, you're having to like
rework things, consider it a blessing. Consider
it a redirection of protection from God and a
blessing and ask God what you can Learn from
it ask what he can bring out of this. That's
what I'm trying to do y 'all I'm like, okay with
all this weather and redirection of my plans
I can spend more time in the word and I can spend
more time in God's presence and when I tell y
'all I have seen him move Like this past week
and a half and just having all this extra time
with him. It's been crazy It's been crazy. So
take this as your encouragement today to just
spend some more intentional time with the Lord
getting in his presence If you're not able to
get out of the house due to weather Take that
time and spend it with God. Okay? But I'm praying
to God today. I'm like Lord. Where are you leading
me? For this podcast like what are we gonna talk
about Exodus 14? Exodus 14 we are today gonna
go through and kind of break down Exodus 14 and
there's someone a Lot I believe a lot of y 'all
listening to this are gonna benefit off of this
even if you have read The book of Exodus many
times even if you have heard many times about
you know Moses split God splitting the Red Sea
through Moses and all I I am sure that there
is Some new perspective that the Lord can give
you today I'm I'm sure of that. I'm very confident
of that that even if you've heard this story
many times There is something new like a new
way of viewing this a new way of perceiving Maybe
your own situation and how you can relate to
the story Now to give you just like a little
bit of rundown of leading up to Exodus 14 At
this point, the Israelites have just gotten delivered
from Egypt. Meaning, you know, God has done the
big one with the Passover and Pharaoh's firstborn
and all the other firstborn in Egypt have died.
And in a panic, Pharaoh says, okay, get out,
go. Finally, get out, go. Keep in mind, Pharaoh's
had a hardened heart up into this point. God
has, through Moses, spoken to Pharaoh, stop messing
with my people. Leave my people alone It's time
for them to be freed from bondage Let them go
and God was working signs and wonders God was
sending a lot of warning shots through all those
plagues And each time when God would kind of
pull back That was him showing mercy When Pharaoh
would tell Moses pray pray for me pray for me
they tell God to let up And every time God would
let up, Pharaoh's heart would harden again. It
was like Pharaoh would see God's wrath and be
like, oh, I messed up. Not every time. There
were times at first when he's like, well, my
magicians can do this too. But there were some
times when Pharaoh was like, okay, call up Moses
and tell Moses to pray for me. It was the second
though that God would pull back that Pharaoh's
heart would immediately go hard again. and he
would double down on what he was doing. And it
wasn't until that hard one hit of like the deaths
and all the people in Egypt were panicking that
Pharaoh was like, okay, fine, you can go. You
can go, just go, just go, just go. And that's
kind of the point that we're leading up to here,
right? And we do see. Right before we get into
Exodus 14 God reveals kind of like his purpose
for not taking the people straight into the promised
land keep in mind y 'all that Hundreds hundreds
of years before this happens God has already
spoken about the promised land to Abraham, right?
God is talking to Abraham and he's like, hey,
can you count these stars in the sky? Yeah, well
like your descendants are gonna be greater than
that and Abraham's like, okay, I believe you
that and God's like and I'm gonna give you a
promised land." And Abraham's like, okay, but
how? Like, how's this gonna happen? And that's
when God actually tells Abraham about the Exodus
that's gonna happen, where he's like, your descendants
are gonna be in the land that isn't theirs for
400 years. They're gonna be like working for
them. They're gonna be in slavery. But I'm gonna
come in and I'm gonna deliver them. And y 'all,
this is like the Danielle Cliff's notes version
I do recommend. Go read it for yourself. Everything
we're talking about today go read it for yourself
because I'm just giving you like the quick rundown
version I've said this many times on the podcast
before what I say on here should be supplemental
to your personal like Bible reading I don't want
my podcast to ever be a substitute for your intentional
long time with God Okay, so everything I'm talking
about today. Go and read it for yourself. Don't
read it for yourself And I am today going to
be reading from my She Reads Truth Study Bible,
which is the Christian standard Bible, so Christian
standard version. So there's a promised land
that is like the end goal, right? Like God has
made a promise to them that they're going to
go to the promised land. But before they get
there, they're in the wilderness. And we see
right before we get into chapter 14, this is
in verse 17 of chapter 13. It says, when Pharaoh
let the people go, God did not lead them along
the road to the land of the Philistines, even
though it was nearby. For God said, the people
will change their minds and return to Egypt if
they face war. So he led the people around toward
the Red Sea, along the road of the wilderness.
And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in
battle formation. So we already see God's purpose
for them being led into the wilderness, right?
God is saying like, I brought my people out of
Egypt, but I have not yet gotten the Egypt out
of them. meaning God has physically delivered
them from bondage, but he has not yet broken
the bondage out of them internally, right? So
they're not yet going into the promised land.
God takes them the long way. God recognizes,
I could take them right now. I could immediately
give them their blessing. I could immediately
give them their promise. They could immediately
walk into this, but they're going to, if they
do, there are some battles that they will have
to face that they are not yet prepared to face.
And when they face those battles, they're going
to hightail it and run back to that thing I just
delivered them from. And we talked about this
in previous episodes, y 'all, that when, I believe
it's the promise process. And I do recommend
you go back and listen to that because I believe
that's the episode where we kind of break this
down of when God gives you a promise, there are
things that have to happen before you walk into
it. Because oftentimes when he gives you a promise,
a vision, something for the future, you're not
yet ready for it. There are things he has to
do in you. There's pruning you have to go through.
There's a testing of your faith. There's a producing
of endurance. Because that thing is an increase
from where you're at now. And that increase is
going to come along with warfare. The increase
is going to come along with maybe some qualities.
that are going to be required to steward over
it that you don't have yet. So what the wilderness
season does for you is it reveals your heart,
right? It reveals your heart. It shows you the
things that need purged. It shows you the things
that need strengthened. It shows you things that
need broken down. It gives you opportunities
to do that. So that way you'll be made into a
good steward. Someone who can steward well over
the promise when it comes in. There are a lot
of things I can steward over well now that God
would have given them to me like a year and a
half ago. I would not have stewarded over them
well. Like this podcast for instance. The confidence
and authority I speak with now I did not have
even like nine months ago. I would not have been
as bold as I am now back then without some of
the seasons and some of the things I had to face
first, okay? And that is why the Israelites are
in the wilderness. They may physically be out
of the bondage. They're not technically slaves
anymore, but they're still in that slave mentality,
right? And if they go straight to the promised
land, There's battles that they're gonna have
to face that require them to have their faith
in God That require them to obey God that require
them to make some moves of faith that they're
not yet ready to make keep in mind before the
promised land happens is when they curse the
manna and They they worship the golden Catholic
all of these things happen Before they get to
the promised land all these times where they
backslide in their faith They did not yet have
the faith to go march around the walls of Jericho
and holler at it and they fall down. They didn't
have the faith to do a lot of things like that.
So God keeping them in the wilderness season
was actually a protection for them. He's like
if I give them the promise right now they're
going to blow it and they're going to go back
and we're going to have to do this whole thing
over again. So I'm going to keep them in the
wilderness where they're not in slavery anymore
and I'm going to do heart surgery on them. I'm
going to work on their heart. But the interesting
thing is God did something else with this wilderness
season While they were in this wilderness He
took out Pharaoh He took out their enemy that
wasn't gonna stop pursuing them So this wasn't
only a heart surgery for them, but this was like
an ultimate deliverance situation and that's
more what we're gonna look at today because I
have experienced it personally and I know that
there are people listening to this today too
that have experienced this when God delivers
you from something right when he removes you
from that situation when he removes you from
that relationship when he removes you from like
that habit or that cycle and you're like oh my
gosh I'm free I'm unbound and you're trying to
move forward and you're trying to like just one
step in front of the other go into the next thing
God is calling you to go into But all of a sudden
that thing starts chasing you down. Your past
comes back to try grabbing you by the ankle.
That person you thought you were never going
to hear from again all of a sudden calling you
up. That drama that you thought was done and
buried all of a sudden popping back up. That
fear that you thought you were over all of a
sudden is back. And that's what I see God ultimately
delivering them from today. Like like when I'm
reading that scripture this past week like that
has been more where my mind is at And we see
here in the beginning of chapter 14 right the
Lord is speaking to Moses and He's giving Moses
a very specific instructions and he's telling
the Israelites to camp. He's like an I y 'all
I am not going to be able to pronounce these
words. I'm going to do my best. He says, tell
the Israelites to turn back and camp in front
of Pai Harav between Migdal and the sea. You
must camp in front of Baal -Zephron facing it
by the sea. Pharaoh will say of the Israelites,
they are wandering around the land in confusion.
The wildernesses box them in. I will harden Pharaoh's
heart so he will pursue them. Then I will receive
glory by the means of Pharaoh and all his army
and the Egyptians will know that I am Lord."
This is God. God is like revealing his game plan
to Moses. He's like, I want y 'all to camp out
here. Right here. And Pharaoh, the dude who doesn't
like you guys, who wants to see you guys back
in bondage, the one who keeps attacking you,
just keep in mind y 'all, Pharaoh is the one
that had all these warning shots from God. It
was clear that God wanted his people delivered.
That Pharaoh and his hardened heart wouldn't
let them go. Can y 'all think about an instance
like that in your life? Like if it's a relationship,
if it's a past friend, if it's someone that's
jealous of you, envious of you, and you're just
like trying to go forward and do what God is
calling you to do. You're just trying to put
one foot in front of the other, and it's like
this person won't let it go. Or this thing won't
let it go. Don't know if maybe I just had like
a really bad quality and like the people I have
around me But I've experienced a lot of that
in my life growing up where it's like you're
you're trying to do better But that person from
your past is like no I'm sure there's other people
out here that can relate that is Pharaoh He had
the opportunity now that the Israelites are gone
he had the opportunity that I'm just gonna let
him go I'm gonna take the L and move on with
my life He is the one that he had that pettiness
in him that resentment that if I can't have it
no one can That's the kind of energy Pharaoh
was moving with that's the kind of person Pharaoh
was And God was telling Moses this is what's
gonna happen he was giving him the rundown I'm
gonna have y 'all camp out here, and it's gonna
expose you guys y 'all are gonna look vulnerable
And Pharaoh's gonna see y 'all camped out here
and he's gonna perceive you guys as vulnerable.
He's gonna perceive you guys as easy targets.
He's gonna perceive you guys as like sitting
ducks. And his heart's gonna harden and he's
gonna come after y 'all. But trust that I'm gonna
use this situation to show I am God and I will
get the glory. Like God was giving Moses the
rundown. So that way he doesn't have to be fearful
or worried. You may need to hear this today,
but sometimes that act of obedience to God is
going to put you in a position that makes you
look vulnerable, is going to put you in a position
that brings about spiritual warfare. That brings
about pursuit and attack a lot of times when
we think we're obeying God, right? We think okay
Well, if I'm obeying God like he's always gonna
like put me up in that safe space and like I'm
never gonna get attacked I'm never gonna get
hit I'm never going to hurt and when we obey
God I know I've experienced this firsthand y
'all of like I'm walking in obedience and then
all of a sudden I'm right in the middle of warfare
and I'm like God did I hear you wrong? Did I
do something wrong? Like Did I make a mistake?
Was this my own understanding? Did I get it twisted?
Did I hear your voice incorrectly? And he told
me, no, like, this is where I want you. I planned
for this. Sometimes obedience will actually put
you in that position, but you have to trust that
God has planned for that, right? Trust in his
character and his ability to deliver justice
and use all things for your good. And if you've
been wrestling, maybe you've had a recent step
of obedience and you're like, well, this isn't
sunshine and rainbows. And you've been wrestling
with, was this really from God? We see that with
the Israelites. Their step of obedience, their
obeying God put them in the most vulnerable position.
And we see reading on in verse five that when
the king of Egypt was told that the people had
fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their
mind about the people and said, what have we
done? We've released Israel from serving us.
So he got his chariot ready and took his troops
with him. He took 600 of the best chariots and
all the rest of the chariots of Egypt with officers
in each one. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh,
the king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites
who were going out defiantly. The Egypt, the
Egyptians. All Pharaoh's horses and chariots,
his horsemen and his army chased after them and
caught up with them as they camped by the sea
beside Phehaleroth in front of Baal Zephan. I
swear, I don't want to hear a single one of y
'all come at me for how I'm pronouncing these
words. I am doing my best, okay? But we see here
how quickly, like, Pharaoh forgot what God just
did. God literally just took his oldest son.
God literally just showed his wrath, showed that
he is with the Israelites. See how quickly in
his pride he forgets? He sees the Israelites
going away and he's like, why'd we let them go?
Why'd we release them? But this was something
that the Lord highlighted to me that I hadn't
paid attention to before. In his pride, in his
cockiness, he invested it all. God allowed Pharaoh
to invest it all. Pharaoh invested his best chariots,
all his chariots, all his horsemen. Pharaoh got
together, Pharaoh put his all, you can think
of someone putting all their poker chips in.
That is what Pharaoh just did. He put it all
in. He went all in. He perceived the Israelites
as being vulnerable and said, I'm going to go
all in on this one. God planned for that. God
allowed that. Their step of obedience, the Israelites'
step of obedience made them look vulnerable,
which was encouragement enough for the Israelites
to put it all in. For the Egyptians to go all
in I'm sorry and That's something that I want
y 'all to keep in mind Okay, I want y 'all to
keep that in mind That because of this vulnerability
There was confidence got shot up and he invested
it all in this attack in this pursuit And says
here as Pharaoh approached the Israelites looked
up And there were the Egyptians coming after
them. The Israelites were terrified and cried
out to the Lord for help. They said to Moses,
is it because there are no graves in Egypt that
you have taken us away to go die in the wilderness?
What have you done to us by bringing us out to
Egypt? Isn't this what we told you in Egypt?
Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians.
It would have been better for us to serve the
Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. Y 'all,
do you see the little faith that these Israelites
had? Like, Moses is really kind of carrying the
torch in this situation. Hearing them speak,
do you think they were ready for the promised
land? Like, they turn around and see Pharaoh
coming at him and they're already giving up on
God. They have, like, no belief that he's gonna
take them into the promised land. Like, do y
'all hear how quick they're flipping? They're
like, you brought us out here to die, we're gonna
die. They're not even... just saying, well maybe
God will save us, maybe God will deliver us,
they're already immediately saying we're gonna
die. Moses was kind of championing this situation.
I think this is a little bit of just like a confirmation
of they were not ready for that promised land.
And maybe you're needing to hear this today too
if you're wrestling with like, no I'm ready for
the promise, I'm ready for the promise, are you
though? I've been in the same boat. Like it was
right after God made some pretty amazing promises
to me that I was like, okay God Where is it at
and I was so convinced that I was ready for them
And it wasn't until like a year later a year
and a half later that he delivered on some of
them where I look back I'm like, yeah, I was
not ready like faith wise it took a lot of faith
to get to that promise and if I would have based
some of those trials and tribulations back then
I would have messed up and It wouldn't have been
pretty I feel like we can relate to the Israelites
more than we like to think like in reading this
I kind of got annoyed or I just want to be like,
okay guys shut up like You guys are complaining
too much just trusting God like it's kind of
annoying to read the Israelites talking this
way, right? But when I start to think I'm like
no, but I've been that way before I've been that
way before I've been that way It's really easy
to like look and judge the Israelites, but I
feel like each of us on our walk with Christ
has had some moments where the spiritual warfare
is popping up or some kind of opposition that
catches us off guard right after a step of obedience.
Because this happened right after they obeyed
and made camp. It says here, but Moses said to
the people, don't be afraid, stand firm and see
the Lord's salvation that he will accomplish
for you today. For the Egyptians you see today,
you will never see again. The Lord will fight
for you. You must be quiet." And some translations
say, the Lord will fight for you. You need only
be still. Meaning like, you're not going to have
to fight this. God is going to fight for you.
This wilderness season, not only was it used
to break the Egypt out of them, how we talked
earlier about like... pruning, but God was about
to use this situation to strike down their enemy,
period. Pharaoh has a track history of not letting
it go. Pharaoh has a track history of just not
taking the L and moving on. And Pharaoh had a
lot of warnings, amen. So God's saying, I'm gonna
use this situation to make sure that he never
comes at you again. He didn't learn all these
other times, he's gonna learn today. The enemy
that's coming after you today is never gonna
come after you again. I will fight for you, you
need only be still. Like God's literally saying,
if you obey me, just do what I tell you to do.
You're not gonna have to like really lift a finger.
I'm gonna do it all for you, but you have to
obey. And if you obey, you're never gonna have
to deal with this person again. I believe I'm
speaking to somebody's situation right now. And
moving on, in verse 15, it says the Lord said
to Moses, why are you crying out to me? Tell
the Israelites to break camp. ask for you, lift
up your staff, stretch out your hand over the
sea and divide it so that the Israelites can
go through the sea on dry ground. And I kind
of laughed when I was reading this the other
day where God is like, why are you, why are you
speaking in fear? Why are you crying out to me?
I've already told you what's going to happen.
I've already given you a promise. Now it's time
to move by faith. I've personally dealt with
this and there are other people out here who
have dealt with this too of when God Warns you
about something when God gives you a little bit
of like an insight Hey, I have a plan for this.
This is your deliverance. This is He gives you
a security, you know a little bit of peace a
little bit of reassurance and he gives you instruction
and now he's just waiting on you to obey that
instruction and instead of like obeying You're
like, God, please deliver me. God, please help
me. God, please this. God, please that. And he's
like, dude, I've already told you what to do.
Like, I understand your stress, but go. But move.
I believe I'm, again, speaking of someone's situation
today, are you sitting here right now saying,
God, why? God, please. God, this. God, that.
And he's like, I'm waiting on you. You know what
to do. I told you there's a victory in this situation.
Are you going to believe me or not? Feel like
I need to repeat that God already told you there
is victory in this situation Are you going to
believe him or not if you believe that there
is a victory moved by faith? And I'm not preaching
from some mountaintop y 'all there have been
so many times where I have had to do that I shared
in the last podcast episode a call of obedience.
God Called me to take We're in obeying God There
was a chance that the current provision I had
and resources were going to be ripped away. And
when I was praying to God for guidance and instruction,
God told me to stay where I was and to obey Him
and to trust that I was going to see victory
in that situation. I didn't know exactly what
victory looked like, but I believe that victory
was deliverance. Where he said even if you face
those worst consequences, like even if you face
your worst fears trust I've already planned for
it And because I believed that God had already
planned for whatever was gonna happen and not
whatever was gonna happen He was gonna use for
my good and I believed in the promises. He had
given me I trusted The Jesus Christ has already
secured victory on the cross. Amen. Here he has
a victory over Satan. Here he has a victory over
death. I know that where I'm covered in the blood
of Jesus, I'm moving out of the space of victory.
We've already won the battle. We've already won
the war. And believing that it was gonna work
out, and believing that God had already planned,
I moved by faith. I took the steps he was calling
me to take. And I'm here today speaking to y
'all that I... There has been deliverance. There
has been deliverance in that situation. There
has been major deliverance. You can see it. You
can see it in the fruits. You can see it in the
ministry that God has been bringing up. Someone
is needing to hear this today. If you believe
that God is going to deliver you, move by faith.
And that's what he was saying to the Israelites.
That's what he was saying to Moses. He's like,
why are you still crying to me? I told you what
to do. Go. In verse 17 he says ask for me I am
going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so
that they will go in after them and I will receive
glory by the means of Pharaoh all his army and
his chariots and horsemen the Egyptians will
know that I am Lord and I will receive glory
through Pharaoh his chariots and his horsemen
he didn't hide from Moses what was going to happen
he told Moses I am going to harden Pharaoh's
heart I'm going to make sure he comes after you
because this is going to be the ultimate lesson
this is how i am going to stop it all you want
deliverance i am about to deliver you but in
order to do that they're going to try to attack
you they're going to try to pursue you there's
no getting around it and that may be happening
in your life i feel like i'm speaking to a lot
of people's situations today i know i have dealt
with this personally y 'all Where you think you
get out and all the sudden you're being pursued
again. You're being attacked again But we know
it's in God's it's in God's nature to let people
fall on their own swords We hear about it a lot
in Psalms right that the traps the enemy sets
out the traps of the wicked They fall into their
own traps. They get ensnared in their own You
know the words that they they get caught up in
their own mess When they try to do harm and wickedness,
they get caught up. We see it with Saul. Saul
fell on his own sword. David had the opportunity
to take him out in the cave. He didn't. And then
Saul's own timing, he fell on his own sword.
The wicked will destroy themselves. This was
literally Pharaoh destroying himself. Psalm 25
.3, I read this to you all the other day. No
one who waits for you will be disgraced. Those
who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced.
Pharaoh pursued them without cause. They were
running away. They were doing their own thing.
The Israelites? Pharaoh was disgraced. Sometimes
in order for your enemy to be taken out, the
enemy has to pursue you again. I know a lot of
us want deliverance just like quietly and it's
like, oh, it just like pops up and there's no
action. That's always how it's going to work.
Oftentimes for the enemy to fall in their own
trap. They have to be running after you And that's
what happened here today like that we're reading
about today God said Pharaoh is going to pursue
you no ifs ands or buts about it. He's not gonna
make it out See here in verse 19 then the angel
of God who was going in front of the Israelites
horses moved and went behind them. The pillar
of cloud moved from in front of them and stood
behind them. It came between the Egyptian and
Israelite forces. There was a cloud in darkness
that lit up the night and neither group came
near each other all night long. So even though
the Egyptians were pursuing the Israelites, even
though they were in chariots and horses and all
this stuff, God had an angel protecting them.
And God made sure that they never got close enough
to each other. So sure they could see Pharaoh
coming at him, they could see all this stuff
happening, and I'm sure there's fear in that,
but they didn't get close enough. Even in that
pursuing, God was still protecting. Then Moses
stretched his hand out over the sea. The Lord
drove the sea back with a powerful east wind
all that night and turned the sea into dry land,
so the waters were divided. And the Israelites
went through the sea on dry land with the waters
like a wall to them to the right and their left.
God made a way out of no way. It didn't appear
like they're going to be able to cross the sea,
but because they were moving in faith, God made
a way for them to walk through on dry land because
they continue to trust, because they're like,
OK, God, you said to do this. I'm just going
to step out in obedience. I'm gonna start moving
forward. Moses, I'm gonna raise my hand. God
answered their obedience with a miracle. I'm
speaking to someone with this today. I know I'm
speaking to myself with this today. God blesses
obedience. It says here, the Egyptians... Oh
my gosh, y 'all, the way I just worded that,
the way I just pronounced that. The Egyptians
set out in pursuit. All Pharaoh's horses, his
chariots, his horsemen, and went into the sea
after them. During the morning watch, the Lord
looked down at the Egyptian forces from the pillar
of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian forces
into confusion. Let's pause here. So the Israelites
are walking on dry land. God has made a way for
the Israelites, and they're going through. The
Egyptians see this happening. They see God working
a miracle and doing this thing. And because Pharaoh's
heart is hardened, he's not stopping and thinking,
huh, God is clearly making a way for them. Maybe
I should stop. He looks at that situation and
says, let's follow them. Let's follow this very
path that God has paved out for them. Let's try
to tag right behind And as I told y 'all to hold
on to that part about the horses earlier See
how that's mentioned again all of his horses
all of his chariots. He invests it all into pursuing
All of them all of his resources his everything
is invested in this and God is watching and God
waits until he has invested his all and he is
in full -on pursuit and then God throws confusion
down at them. So keep in mind Pharaoh was pursuing
Pharaoh felt they're vulnerable God isn't with
them I can take them down God allowed Pharaoh
to perceive the situation that way he allowed
them to perceive it he didn't correct them Can
imagine maybe the Israelites would get like I
don't know about y 'all But there have been times
in my life and walking with the word where he
has allowed me to appear vulnerable And there
are times where I'm like kind of upset by it
and I'm like no God like I want them to know
that you're gonna defend me I want them to know
that you're with me. Like I don't want to look
vulnerable. I don't want to look weak How many
times have y 'all had to like guard your mouth
and you feel like it makes you look weak? when
obeying God and stepping away from an argument
or stepping away from a disagreement, you're
like, I look weak. But later on you see that
that was a production. Later on you see that
God spoke up for you. Later on you see that God
fought for you. I know I have been through so
many times where I'm like, God, I don't want
to look weak. Why are you allowing me to look
weak? This sucks. I imagine maybe some of the
Israelites are feeling that way, where they're
like, why'd you let us look weak? Why'd you let
us look vulnerable? Now Pharaoh's coming at us,
but if they had looked, if it was clear that
God was defending and with them, Pharaoh wouldn't
have come after them that way. God allowed the
situation of play out as it did because he knew
Pharaoh was going to invest his all. It wouldn't
have cost Pharaoh as much if he had just threw
in like maybe a hundred horses and had some of
his people pursuing. Because then later on he
would have had more resources to come at them
again. God waited until he invested his all His
everything And threw them into confusion and
it says here he caused their chariot wheels to
swerve and made them drive with difficulty So
once they were pursuing all the sudden God restoring
a wrench into their plans the sudden they couldn't
pursue correctly like everything that they up
into that point the resources I've been working
for them all the sudden weren't working anymore
The strength and confidence they had where is
it at? And they say let's get away from Israel
the Egyptian said because the Lord is fighting
for them against Egypt It was in that moment
where they're like no God is with them They're
like, oh we messed up. Oh, we messed up. We evaluated
the situation incorrectly God started defending
the Israelites when the Egyptians were already
in the middle of the sea in hot pursuit And then
they're like, oh we must So what do they do?
Then the Lord said to Moses stretch out your
hand over the sea So that the water may come
back on the Egyptians on their chariots and horsemen
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal
depth. While the Egyptians were trying to escape
from from it, the Lord threw them into the sea."
I want to pause right here, y 'all, because I
think it's very important to notice that the
Egyptians didn't start retreating until it was
clear that they didn't have victory. And what
I'm getting at with this here is it wasn't like
they were pursuing the Egyptians. It wasn't like
they were pursuing the Israelites and thought,
we're not supposed to be doing this. The Israelites
aren't doing anything to us. Let's leave them
alone. Let's leave them be. It wasn't like all
of a sudden they felt guilty. It wasn't like
they repented. They weren't turning around and
leaving because they felt bad for what they were
doing or they realized what they were doing was
wrong or they felt called to hire. They were
turning around because they knew they couldn't
win. I know I know There are people listen to
say who have experienced that too when the only
someone only apologizes because they got caught
Or someone's backtracking on their story not
because they know what they did was wrong, but
because they know they're not gonna succeed Maybe
you've done that in your life. I know I've done
that my life before grown up Being a being kid
like telling those white lies and everything
and all of a sudden you realize that it's not
working anymore So you start backtracking on
your story start backing it up Feel like we've
all experienced that at one point When you're
back and have a situation not because you don't
want it, but because you can tell it's not a
win Well, that's what the Israel that's what
the Egyptians were doing here. They weren't retreating
because they felt guilty They weren't retreating
because they repented and said I'm never gonna
do this again. This was wrong I want to serve
the Lord they were leaving because they didn't
want to die They were leaving they were turned
around running away because they saw that God
was about to take them out That's the only reason
they were retreating That's the only reason If
God wouldn't have shown up in that way they would
have gone and bound the Israelites They would
have done it point -blank period But this time
God didn't let them get away Notice all the other
times when they had the opportunity to just leave
it alone Like when the plagues were happening
they had all these opportunities to leave it
alone Each opportunity to just let the Israelites
go and live their life in Egypt and build for
themselves and do their thing How many times
were they hit with a plague? We talked about
this in the beginning of this episode y 'all
And then Pharaoh's talking to Moses, have him
let me go, have God backtrack on it, have God
stop, pray for me. And then when the suffering's
gone, he's like, okay, let's do it again. It's
like as soon as God lifts his hand, he's like,
okay. There are a lot of people who do that today.
who play on God's grace, who play on His mercy.
We see that happen with the people in the book
of Jeremiah, right? Where they're sinning against
God. They're doing things that they know God
doesn't want them to do. God is sending them
prophets saying, stop doing this. And every so
often, you know, they'll make offerings to the
Lord and go before Him and say, yeah, I shouldn't
be doing this. And then go right back to it.
There are a lot of people who do that today,
right? I was one of them before I gave my life
to the Lord. That was me growing up in the church
where it was like I would start doing something
that I know I wasn't supposed to be doing that
went against God's word or what God didn't want
me to do. And it's like you start seeing God's
hand against the situation. You start feeling
like you're seeing wrath or consequences. And
you're like, oh God, I'm sorry. I won't do it
again. I won't do it again. Forgive me. And when
you feel like you're seeing his mercy or his
grace, you go right back to doing it. There are
a lot of people who do that. It's like when the
heat gets really hot When they can tell God isn't
pleased they're like, oh my bad. I'm sorry. Please
spare me God Give me another chance. I'll do
better and then God gives them that next chance
and they're like hee -hee I'm gonna go play on
my grace of mercy Yeah, I feel like this I didn't
tend for this episode to be this like I Feel
like we're running a strict program today. It's
kind of heavy today But this is like exactly
what it looks like for people to play on God's
grace and mercy Where he's like, okay, I'll give
you another chance and they go right back to
it That's what happened with Pharaoh and the
Egyptians they didn't have to be in this situation
I Mean keep in mind like God knew how it was
gonna go. So yes, he did harden the heart of
Pharaoh Because he knew Pharaoh wasn't gonna
let them go But look at all these opportunities
they had to just say, okay, I'm gonna let these
people go and I'm gonna do my own thing. You
know, they could have repented and given their
lives to the Lord and served God. They could
have. But yeah, y 'all, they didn't. They had
all these opportunities. They had all these opportunities
to let it go. And because they didn't let it
go, they saw destruction. They saw God is truly
with the Israelites. It says here, we're going
to start in verse 28. The water came back and
covered the chariots and horsemen, plus the entire
army of Pharaoh that had gone after them into
the sea. Not even one of them survived. Every
single one of them was taken out. In this act
of pursuit, Barrow invested it all. He went all
in. All chips on the table. All in. And lost
it all. And that's a quality. That's a character.
God has. God will let someone invest it all to
lose it all. When there's someone like there
like when they when they have a hardened heart
and they're unrepentant To protect his children
to protect his own to protect the the ones who
are Just trying to live life obedient to Christ
Sometimes people are like why is God allowing
them to keep going? Why is God allowing them
to hit keep hitting at me or keep coming after
me? Have you ever thought that maybe God is allowing
them to invest at all? God is allowing them to
get to a point of when he actually delivers justice.
It's actually going to be impactful and hurt
If Pharaoh would have sent like ten chariots
and some of his horsemen That wouldn't have made
an impact he probably would have came at the
Israelites again later on But now Pharaoh was
gone Everything he had was gone They are not
able to try it again with the Israelites with
what resources? That's the thing too is because
they refused to stop God took away their resources
that allowed them to keep going Amen I know this
is speaking to someone today But the Israelites
had walked through the sea on dry ground with
the waters like a wall to them on their right
and their left that day the Lord saved Israel
from the power of the Egyptians and Israel saw
the Egyptians dead on the seashore when Israel
saw the great power that the Lord used against
the Egyptians the people feared the Lord and
believed in him and his servant Moses I've said
this before y 'all that one move of God will
do like a million different things like God will
God will make one move he will do one thing And
they'll have like a million different ripple
effects. And God allowing Pharaoh to pursue the
Israelites. Do you mind the Israelites had a
little bit of a jump scare? Probably at the beginning
they were like, why are you letting this happen?
I don't like this. But by the end of it, they
saw victory. What did God do in this situation?
God delivered them. They never have to deal with
Pharaoh like that again. Like he wasn't gonna
come at them again on that day God saved them
from the power of the Egyptians They were delivered
that enemy. They're never gonna see again and
Israel seeing that there was a faith established
in them that God goes ahead of me and God's gonna
fight for me That situation actually boosted
their faith in God and they had a fear of God
They saw how quickly God can show up and it established
a fear in them And this was one of their stepping
stones to one day entering the promise But their
faith was built on I shared with you all past
testimonies of like when I was freshly giving
my life to Christ and There were some major leaps
of faith some steps of faith he was calling me
to take and it was really hard for me because
I felt like I didn't have a lot of instances
in my life of stepping out on faith and God showing
up and I remember praying to God of like how
do other people have faith that you're just going
to show up it's like you're you're asking me
to do these things but how do I know you're going
to show up God that was me being like the Egyptians
or like the Israelites sorry y 'all And God gave
me what I needed. I heard testimonies from other
people and God gave me the faith to take a couple
leaps of faith. And then taking those leaps of
faith, I saw Him show up in amazing ways. And
that actually was like the building, the like
foundation for my faith, for God to build more
on. Because about a month later, there was a
huge leap of faith he called me to make that
if he would have asked me to do that thing just
a month prior without those other experiences
i would have been like no i'm not doing that
i don't have the faith how do i trust god's going
to show up and if you're in a position today
where like maybe you're kind of in that like
earlier stage where you're like how do i know
god is going to show up like how do i start building
that faith Take a step of obedience Take a step
of obedience Just do that thing he's calling
you to do and when he shows up because he will
You're gonna have a foundation that's gonna be
your foundation you're gonna be able to look
back Years later and say God showed up that day
and that obedience step I've had people today
like I have people today that tell me like oh
I admire your faith and like I admire But there
was a time y 'all when I was looking at other
people and saying I admire your faith. I have
your faith When I was really fresh to giving
it to Christ there were steps He's calling me
to take where I was like, how do you expect me
to do this? Like how do other people do this?
How do other people just jump and trust that
you're gonna catch them? This is a serious situation
God if you don't show up, I'm gonna die Like
if you don't show up, this is gonna be really
bad Like how are you telling me to do this and
just trust you're gonna show up? But glory be
to God I I took that jump I took that leap and
he showed up in ways that were the foundation
for my faith later on and I believe that I'm
speaking to someone with that today to just take
that step of obedience and when he shows up You're
gonna have like you're gonna have that to look
back on Glory be to God. I pray that this episode
is encouraging for y 'all And again, I know we
spoke with a bit of heaviness today But I believe
that this was kind of the authority that this
message needed to be spoken y 'all know we have
some days where it's a little bit more empathetic
and we're just we're connecting but then there
are days like this when We're run a strict program
and we got to get to the point and today's one
of those days and I pray that this gives you
the encouragement That you need and I pray that
you you have seen something I really hope y 'all
that there is something new about the Exodus
story a new way of viewing a new way of perceiving
that you've pulled out of this today and again,
I encourage y 'all to go through and Read it
for yourself read it for yourself And then if
you want like a little extra movie supplication,
I love the prince of Egypt now that one's a little
bit more like animated and there's a little bit
more light -hearted than what we see in the Bible.
But if you want like a cute little movie to go
along with it, go watch The Prince of Egypt.
If you're having a snow day, go watch The Prince
of Egypt. It's a cute little movie. All right,
y 'all. Make sure to hit subscribe wherever it
is you're listening to the podcast so you can
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you think is going to benefit and needs to hear
it today. Thank y 'all. God bless. Have a wonderful
day. Bye guys.