Title: Facing New year

Scripture reading: Exodus 14:15-20
“And the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶ But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ¹⁷ And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” ¹⁹ And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. ²⁰ So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.”

Main idea: The crossing of the Red Sea is set forth as the greatest display of God’s power in the OT, but the greatest power of all time is that which raised Christ from the dead.

Introduction
As we entering the new year we facing new challenges. Some of in your life everything goes well, but others not. In this new year this Exodus record will help us. After four hundred years of bondage the Israelites had reached the Red Sea, which blocked their path, when suddenly, as if to make a bad situation worse, they saw the Egyptians in hot pursuit. They were literally between the Egyptians and the deep.

We too are on a journey. Like the Israelites, we too often are caught between the Red Sea before us, blocking our advance, and the army of the Egyptians behind. What happened in this emergency reveals several truths shining through this vivid record.

First, in our text, we see that:
1. The battle is the Lord’s (Exo. 14:13).
“And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.”

Just as the Israelites deliverance and redemption (Exo. 6:6) was entirely the work of the Lord, so their continuance as his redeemed people was something for which he took entire responsibility. What we going to face in this new year, the spiritual battle is to be left entirely to the Lord. God doesn’t always lead us through the shortest path to get to the destination he desires for us. Following God is a walk of faith. God often wants us to wait on him.

Second, in our text, we see that:
2. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still (Exo. 14:14).
“The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
Moses confidently affirms that God will once more rescue the Israelites. Importantly, Moses stresses that God alone will defeat the Egyptians, for the Israelites will take no part in the battle. They will merely be spectators. All the glory will go to the Lord.

Third, in our text, we see that:
3. Trusting God, we need to go forward (Exo. 14:15).
“And the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.”

Here was something not even to pray about. The danger could not have been more extreme, and yet it was not a matter for prayer. Revelation 7:10 declares, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” It is all of God, and he will never let his people go, no-one can snatch them out of his hand (John 10:27-30). Let us take courage and go on. The past is God’s, the future is God’s, and his power is greater than all.

There’s a time to pray and a time to proceed; a time to stand and a time to move forward. Now was the time to move forward—and it was up to Moses to set the pace.

“Be strong and show thyself a man” a dying David said to his son, Solomon—or literally, “Play the part of a man” (1 Kings 2:2).
“Put on the whole armor of God,” Paul tells us, “that ye may resist the devil… and having done all, to stand” (Read Ephesians 6:11-13).
“Don’t give in; don’t fall down; don’t go back; but stand,” Moses said to the people—even as the Word would say to us today.

Fourth, in our text, we see that:
4. Some of our greatest enemies are not those that confront us, but those that pursue (Exodus 14:10).
“And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.”

It was not so much the Red Sea in front of the Israelites as the Egyptian army behind them that created panic in the camp. This is a lesson of our situation today. We think we have escaped the enemy of last year, when suddenly we hear the clatter of their horses’ hooves and see the dust of their chariot wheels. Think of the areas in which this truth applies.

Some of us are pursued by fears, frustrations, that psychologists tell us are the results of the seeds sown in childhood experiences. We leave our childhood days behind, but these enemy out of our past pursue us.

Some of us are pursued by grief. It may be that during the past year sorrow has laid a heavy hand on us and our families. It is not some possible future grief we fear, but a past one that pursues us.

Still others are pursued by some old sin, some old temptation to which we once gave in. Like the Israelites, we have thrown off the yoke and started toward the Promised Land, but now that old temptation follows us on and on.

The Israelites left Egypt but not the Egyptians. The hindrance to our progress toward maturity of Christian character in the new year may spring not from something out in the future, but from some carryover from the past. The children of Israel lifted their eyes only high enough to see the problem. They didn’t lift their eyes high enough to see their Protector.

Fifth, in our text, we see that:
5. God not only goes before us, he is also our rear guard (Exo. 14:19).
“And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.”

The angel of the Lord is known as a “Christophany”—an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament before He came as the Babe of Bethlehem. Jesus—He who previously went before them—now went behind them to be a rear guard.

As we begin the new year, we think of God out there behind the veil of the future. But it also is true that we need a God who is not only before us but behind us as well. How profound was the insight of the psalmist as he said, “You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it” (Ps. 139:5-6).

It may be that the prophet Isaiah had the Exodus in mind as he wrote, “For you shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the LORD will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isa. 52:12).

Since our Lord is our rear guard, let us close the door on the past year. Let us trust in God, who can shut the door on the hosts who pursue.

And sixth, in our text, we see that:
6. Every experience of life has a double meaning depending on to whom the experience comes (Exo. 14:19-20).
“And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.”

The pillar of cloud that stood between the Israelites and the Egyptians caused darkness upon the Egyptians and gave light by night to the Hebrews. With faith our experiences mean one thing, without faith another. The same fire that melts wax hardens clay. The Egyptians saw only a dark cloud, but to the Israelites it gave light.

The cloud that was darkness to the Egyptians was light for God’s children. The same is true of the Word. To those who choose to walk in darkness because they love darkness rather than light (John 3:19), the Bible is confusing. But to those who seek to walk in the light (1 John 1:7), it is a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path (Psalm 119:105).

Consider this truth as it applies to the world situation. Surely it is dark enough. To take it at face value, Egyptian-like, is to see nothing but darkness, confusion, and chaos. But to people of faith, the cloud is not all darkness, because we see the reason for the darkness, and that releases a flood of light. The presence of God in history means darkness to some but light to others. People of faith know that God is at work in history.

Consider the disappointments, and afflictions that come to us. They mean darkness to the Egyptians who cry out, as did Job’s wife, “Curse God, and die” (Job 2:9). But to us people of faith, there is light shining in these dark experiences.

People of faith say, “Though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). “We know that if our earthly house . . . were dissolved, we have a building of God” (2 Cor. 5:1).

Conclusion
God used unusual strategies throughout the Bible. Remember Abraham and Sarah’s age when they had a child (Gen 21:5)? Have you heard the story of Gideon and his little army (Judge 6–8)? Ultimately, God used an unusual strategy with Jesus Christ going to the cross. Satan, like Pharaoh, must have thought that he had Jesus trapped, that He was about to die. Yet in His unusual strategy, God brought deliverance for us and glorified Himself.

God delivered His people through … dry land, while He destroyed the Egyptians in the sea; their dead bodies floating ashore were a grim reminder of the awesome power of God in judgment. As a result the Israelites … feared and trusted the Lord. The same faith that opened up the Red Sea enables us to do the impossible when we are moving forward in the will of God.

We see Pharaoh’s hardness of heart throughout this story: First, he refused to do what God wanted. Second, he negotiated. Third, he asked for prayer for blessing. And forth, when he finally let Israel go, he changed his mind.

Pharaoh stands as a warning for us today. God’s patience will eventually turn to wrath. Do not be swallowed up in Red sea. Heed God’s word and turn to Jesus. There are two ways God can be glorified in someone’s life: in His just judgment or in His saving mercy. Which way will you glorify Him? And even as God is faithful to the Jews, He will be faithful to you and me.