<\/p>\n
\nExodus 14:1<\/b>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0Then the LORD said to Moses, \u00a0\u201cTell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. \u00a0For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, \u2018They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.\u2019 \u00a0And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.\u201d And they did so. \u00a0When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, \u201cWhat is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?\u201d\u00a0So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, \u00a0and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.\u00a0And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.\u00a0When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.\u00a0They said to Moses, \u201cIs it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? \u00a0Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: \u2018Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians\u2019? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.\u201d And Moses said to the people, \u201cFear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. \u00a0The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.\u201d \u00a0The LORD said to Moses, \u201cWhy do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.\u00a0Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. \u00a0And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. \u00a0And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
God Instructs the Israelites as to Their Journey.God commands the Israelites to encamp at Pi-hahiroth,<\/p>\n
Pharaoh and his servants repent for letting the people go<\/p>\n
Pharaoh pursues and overtakes the Israelites<\/p>\n
The Israelites are afraid and murmur against Moses<\/p>\n
Moses encourages the people with a promise of deliverance<\/p>\n
God encouraging Moses,\u00a0bids the people go forward<\/p>\n
God defends the Israelites with a pillar of cloud<\/p>\n
Egypt will know \u201cI am God over all\u201d<\/p>\n
God led the people in such a way that it seemed as though they were wandering without purpose or lost or both. When this was communicated to Pharaoh both he and his servants hardened their hearts toward Israel and were filled with anger, purpose, revenge, and obviously no thoughts about the previous 10 plagues displayed by God.\u00a0 <\/span>Pharaoh and all the Egyptians, with urgency, fueled by the report and their want to deliver revenge, immediately prepare and held out to do just that. I can imagine their thoughts; Their God destroyed all of our crops, killed our livestock, caused us to break out with boils and sores, frightened us with utter darkness, killed our firstborn both of human and livestock, and we willingly gave them all of our gold, silver, and jewels – Are we just going to let them go???? Shouldn\u2019t they be required to pay severely for what their God has done to us? What can they do to us, they have no weapons and no means to fight against our greatness. The more these thoughts ruminated in their minds the more confident and committed they were to their purpose. They were of one mind to exact revenge and bring them back into slavery, at least those they allowed to live.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
God led the Israelites on a path with no escape. They could go neither to the left nor the right and the Red Sea was before them and Pharaoh\u2019s army closed in fast behind them. It would be encouraging to have heard that the Israelites stood firm in their faith and were not afraid, but this was not the case. Though they had seen the miracles, signs, and wonders that God had performed, not to mention the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night \u201cGod-Guiding\u201d them in their escape, they immediately lost all hope. We are surely going to die. Why didn\u2019t you listen to us before and let us remain servant slaves to the Egyptians? The Israelites witnessed what God had done with His All-Powerful hand and at the first sign of trouble were afraid, worried, discouraged, and hopeless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
We look back at this historical event and marvel at the lack of faith they had.\u00a0 <\/span>I presume we even harbor thoughts that we would not have acted like this. We would have been strong and courageous trusting in God. When things are going in our favor and life is easy we certainly have a seemingly strong faith and convince ourselves that we are firm and steadfast. Let us not be fooled by these thoughts and think we are stronger than we think.\u00a0 <\/span>Nothing tests the hearts and minds like that of trials, troubles, sickness, death, poverty, chaos, disasters, etc\u2026.. We associate a flat tire, broken appliance, lost internet connection, natural disaster, or any other inconvenience as a major trial that tests our faith.\u00a0 <\/span>Oh great day, what foolishness is this? How shallow is our thinking to think that this is a faith-testing trial?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Would our faith build an ark for a rain promised to come in 100 years?<\/p>\n
Would our faith place our firstborn son on an altar?<\/p>\n
Would our faith place blood on our doorposts?<\/p>\n
Would our faith part the Red Sea?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Would our faith heal the sick?<\/p>\n
Would our faith stand strong being nailed to a cross?<\/p>\n
Would our faith call down fire?<\/p>\n
Would our faith believe in rain during a drought?<\/p>\n
Would our faith stand firm in the threat of being thrown into a fiery furnace?<\/p>\n
Would our faith face a giant warrior with only a sling and a stone?<\/p>\n
Would our faith face an army of thousands with only 300 men?<\/p>\n
Would our faith walk around Jericho for 7 days?<\/p>\n
Would our faith stand strong in any of these?<\/p>\n
Listen carefully. Unless you are growing in your understanding of God\u2019s grace, mercy, and love through an intentional commitment to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all you think, say, and do. With a soul-deep hunger and thirst for God\u2019s Word to direct you in this purpose, you will not mature in faith, trust, or reliance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Faith grows deep and wide when God\u2019s grace, mercy, love, and holiness expose the sinfulness of our sins in our hearts. Oh, that you would see the importance and urgency for honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ more than the shallowness of faith that snares so many.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exodus 14:1\u00a0\u00a0Then the LORD said to Moses, \u00a0\u201cTell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. \u00a0For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, \u2018They are wandering in the land; the … Continue reading “42.h. “Let My People Go” – 10.e. Exodus – we’re trapped”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1531,4403,3956,7368,16459,291,3805,530,6344,829,1600,15843,7369,796,219,5879,5418,2991,3916,16460,878,16462,16461,3675,701],"class_list":["post-162933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-army","tag-chariots","tag-cry-to-me","tag-egyptians","tag-epypt","tag-fear-not","tag-feared-greatly","tag-glory","tag-graves","tag-hardened-heart","tag-i-am-lord","tag-isreal","tag-leave-us-alone","tag-lord","tag-moses","tag-officers","tag-pharaoh","tag-pursue","tag-sea","tag-serving-us","tag-stand-firm","tag-stretch-out-your-hand-over-the-sea","tag-the-lord-will-fight-for-you","tag-wandering","tag-wilderness"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162933"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163062,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162933\/revisions\/163062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}