INTRODUCTION
A. God has revealed Himself. Why?
- To make Himself known.
B. Why? Why would God want to make Himself known?
- One word — RELATIONSHIP.
- God wants to be known because He wants a genuine relationship … and that requires that we know Him.
C. Over the past few weeks, we have been reflecting on the story of the Israelites in Egypt.
- Joseph had ended up in Egypt … and become a good friend to the Pharaoh.
- Joseph’s brothers (forefathers of the Israelites) joined him in Egypt.
- While in Egypt, the Israelites became a people … and lived comfortable lives, largely because of Joseph’s relationship with the Pharaoh, who loved Joseph.
- But, then, that Pharaoh died, and things took a turn for the worse.
- The Pharaoh that succeeded that loved Joseph disliked the Israelites because he feared them. One could say he was concerned about the “immigrant crisis” that was looming. The Israelites ended up being treated as slaves.
- So the people cried out … but there was no deliverance … There was no miracle … There was no prophets … There was nothing to assure them that God had heard their cries. God was silent.
D. However … as we saw a few weeks ago … The fact that God was silent didn’t mean He was absent.
- As we saw, God was working in the background … protecting the male Israelite babies … by giving courage to women to resist and disobey the edict by Pharaoh.
- We saw, also, that, at the right time, God decided to intervene … and He came down Himself … to deliver the people … but that involved sending Moses to Pharaoh.
- Last week, we saw that on the eve of the exodus, God instituted a ceremony – the Passover – that was to be a memorial of the exodus, their deliverance, and who delivered them and what it cost.
E. Today, as we recount a turning point in their journey, we will see that God made Himself known … by revealing Himself in a most memorable way.
Exodus 14:19–31 ESV
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
THREE THINGS TO NOTE …
- Exodus 14:19-20
- 19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. The cloud moved … and settled between the Egyptians and the Israelites
- The cloud moved and settled between the Egyptians and the Israelites.
- God was protecting the Israelites, supernaturally.
- Exodus 14:21a,b
- Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
- Moses stretched out his hand … and … the Lord drove the sea back
- Moses and the Lord were working together … the crossing was a joint-venture
- Exodus 14:21c …
- 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
- God made a way where there was no way
- God was providing for them, supernaturally
THREE THINGS WE COULD TAKE AWAY
- God protected His people
- God worked with Moses in delivering His people
- God provided a way for His people
BUT, I WANT TO FOCUS ON TWO …
- God revealed Himself as PROTECTOR
- God revealed Himself as PROVIDER
THAT WAS TRUE, then, for the Israelites … BUT, IT’S ALSO TRUE, now, for us in the Church.
- Matthew 6:11 11 “Give us this day our daily bread ….” >> God as PROVIDER
- Matthew 6:13 13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: … God as PROTECTOR
WHAT IS THE MAIN TAKEAWAY from the passage for today?
GOD REVEALS HIMSELF … what He is like … BY HIS ACTIONS.
and HE REVEALS HIMSELF BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BE KNOWN.
Notice the two verses that precede our text for today …
- Exodus 14:17-18 “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.”
Notice, also, a few verses later …
- Exodus 14:24-25 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
So … God did what He did to make Himself known to the Egyptians
But He did what He did so that the Israelites, His people, would know Him, as well …
- Exodus 14:30-31 30 So the Lord saved[g] Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.
- Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
GOD REVEALED HIMSELF … TO MAKE HIMSELF KNOWN … to Egyptians, as well as Israelites.
BUT WHY?
BECAUSE HE WANTED A RELATIONSHIP …
- John 17:1-3 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that Heshould give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
CONCLUSION
A. When God makes himself known, we are called to respond. When we come to know God in all his glory, we share that knowledge with those who do not know him. We remind one another of who God has revealed himself to be.
B. The Father is still drawing people to himself, the Son is still revealing the Father, and the Spirit is still at work in human hearts.
C. This is the continuing work of Jesus by the Spirit that the Church is privileged to participate in. To share with one another, by way of worship, the reminder of who God is. And by way of witness, to worship our Lord by sharing him with others who have yet come to know him. In so doing, we join all the freed Israelites on the shore of freedom, singing songs of praise and thanksgiving. Amen!