Crossing the Red Sea — Chuck Smith

God Guards Israel from Behind

Them. And the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.". Now God did a Cloud and God and moved and it down over the Egyptians so that the Egyptians were lost in a fog.

They couldn't see what was happening outside of that fog bank not far distant from them. They could not see the children of Israel passing through the Red Sea on dry ground. But the light, the pillar of fire, lighted the way on the other side so that they could see and all night long they made their trek through the sea on dry ground up on the other side.

But God blinded the Egyptians to what was going on so that they could not immediately pursue them. And so God became the rear guard. And it is interesting that the scripture speaks of God not only going before us but also bringing up the rear.

And it's great when you're surrounded by the Lord. He goes before you, he comes behind you, he surrounds your life, he leads you in his path. And so it came, the cloud, between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel and thus it was a cloud of 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 Crossing of the Red Sea

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and he made the sea into dry land and the waters were divided. So as he stretched out his hand God brought a strong east wind, blew all night, opened up a path in the sea.

They passed over on dry land. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen.

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 and he took off their chariot wheels so that they drove them with difficulty.

They became sleds. And the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel for Jehovah fights for them against the Egyptians. And then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians on their chariots and on their horsemen.

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea and the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh's that came into the sea after them, not so much as one of them remained.

Now if indeed there is a sea of reeds that is only a foot deep or so anyhow and the water can be driven back by strong east winds or whatever, you still have a miracle to deal with and a problem because how could God drown the whole Egyptian army in a foot of water, cover their chariots in just a foot of water?

That's a good trick. But the children of Israel have walked on dry land in the midst of the sea and the waters were a wall to them and their right hand and on their left. So that the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

Israel Believes After Witnessing God's Deliverance

And 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. Made believers out of them when they saw the power of God and they had confidence then in Moses.

You say, oh great for Moses he's now not gonna have any more problems. Oh just wait. You know the next little issue here they are again. How fickle people are you know. Things are going great. Oh praise the Lord, bless God.

Oh what a marvelous leader and then things go, oh why have you done this you know and should have died in Egypt you know better off there. So we are. So Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord.

The Song of Moses Celebrates God's Victory

I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider he is thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him.

He is my father's God and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. Jehovah is his name. Pharaoh's chariots in his army he has cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.

The depths have covered them. They sank to the bottom like a stone. Your right hand oh Jehovah has become glorious in power. Your right hand oh Jehovah has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of your excellence you have overthrown those who rose up against you.

You sent forth your wrath which consumed them like stubble. And with a blast of your nostrils, probably a reference to that east wind, the waters were gathered together. The flood stood upright like a heap and the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

Now that doesn't sound like just an ebb tide. The enemy said I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them.

And you blew with your wind. The west wind and the sea covered them and they sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like you oh Jehovah among the gods? Who is like you glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them. You in your mercy have led forth the people whom you have redeemed. You've guided them in your strength to your holy habitation, recognizing the hand of God now leading them into this land that God has chosen for his people.

The people will hear and be afraid. Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Palestina and the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed and the mighty men of Moab trembling will take hold of them and all of the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.

Fear and dread will fall on them by the greatness of your arm and they will be as still as a stone till your people pass over, O Lord, till your people pass over whom you have purchased. You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance in the place, O Lord, which you have made for your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.".

Again the reference to the land, place of God's dwelling, place for his sanctuary. The Lord shall reign forever and ever. So it's a grand and gala celebration as they see the hand of God delivering them from the trap and destroying their enemies.

Rejoicing in Tribulation

Cause for singing, cause for rejoicing, but God wants us not to just rejoice when we see the final outcome and his victory, but he wants us to rejoice in the midst of tribulations. Jesus speaks about rejoicing when you are persecuted.

When men say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my name's sake, rejoice. Count it all joy when you fall into various types of trials and tribulations. You remember Paul and Silas when in Philippi they were beaten and then tied in the stocks in the dungeon of the Philippian jail with their backs still bleeding and raw from the beatings that they had received.

No one even bothered to wash the wounds and in that rat-filled vermin cell in the midnight hour, these two guys in the stocks, what are they doing? Singing praises to the Lord. That's what God wants.

A heart that is constantly filled with songs of praises unto him. Not just in the good times, not just when we see the triumph of our God over our enemies, but even in the midst of the tribulation. And so now they are rejoicing, they are singing praises to God.

They have seen the hand of God work in a mighty way in their behalf and so they are rejoicing and praising, but soon, tragically, they're going to be murmuring again. We won't even get out of the chapter until they're back at their old game.

Miriam and the Song of the Lamb

Now it is declared, for the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

Then Miriam the prophetess, interesting title, Miriam the prophetess, you remember she was the sister of Moses, the older sister of Moses, who when Moses was placed in that little basket by his mother and floated upon the Nile River, she was hiding to find out what would happen to her little brother.

And when she saw Pharaoh's daughter fetching the basket out of the water and looking at the beautiful little baby boy, she came running up and said, would you like me to get a nurse from among the Hebrews to take care of that little child for you?

She was a sharp, clever little gal. And the Pharaoh's daughter said, oh would you do that for me? And she said, oh I'd be glad to. And she ran home and said, mom, I've got you a job. You're gonna get paid taking care of Moses.

Now Miriam, a prophetess, who is the sister of Aaron, thus also the sister of Moses, took the timbrel in her hand. Sort of a tambourine type of instrument. And all of the women went out after her with the timbrels and with the dances.

And Miriam answered them, sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and the rider, he is thrown into the sea. The first verse of this song that they had all sung, which is called the Song of Moses.

Now in the book of Revelation we find a group in heaven singing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb. So there will be a combination of this Song of Moses, of God's deliverance of his people, with the Song of the Lamb, the deliverance of God's people through the power of Jesus Christ.

The Bitter Waters of Marah

So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went for three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter.

And the word Marah means bitter. And so they came to the waters of Marah, the bitter waters. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what are we gonna drink? So he cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree.

And when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. And there he made a statute and an ordinance for them and there he tested them. And so the testing, what are you gonna do when the trials come?

How are you gonna react to them? They really failed. And he said, if you will diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians for I am Jehovah who heals you.

So God here made a covenant with them. Here at the waters of Marah. And the whole typology is how that God is able to take the bitter experiences of our lives and and bring sweetness out of them. And we often find that some of those most bitter experiences of our life become sweet because there is where we really meet with God.

And God establishes his covenant with our hearts. And how God can sweeten up the bitter experiences of life. Now this covenant that God made is an interesting covenant because we notice, first of all, that it's a provisional covenant.

The Covenant and God's Laws for Health

Provided they will keep the statutes and the commandments and the ordinances that God gives to them. Then God said that he would keep them healthy. Now herein is a hint which we will find will come to pass as later on God begins to give to them the law, the statutes and the ordinances.

We will find that much of the law that God gives to them is sanitary laws. They are dietary laws. And as we look at these laws that God gave to them, we understand the value of the washings that God required in the laws.

You know for a long time in the medical sciences, the doctors would go from patient to patient without washing their hands. And there was sort of a feeling that the bloodier the doctor's apron was, the more proficient a doctor he was.

And he would go from patient to patient and the death rate was very, very high in the hospitals as the result of the transmitting of the diseases and all from one patient to another. One of the doctors who first began to advocate the sterilizing of their instruments and their washings and soap washings and so forth, he was almost kicked out of the medical practice by the other doctors.

They were going to take his license away because of his wild ideas that they should wash after each patient, following actually what God said they should do. As we get into the dietary laws, the animals that they were allowed to eat and the animals that they were forbidden to eat, we find that those forbidden animals carry various viruses and germs that are harmful to the human body.

And so there was a reason why God allowed them to eat certain animals and forbid other animals. We'll get into that when we get into the dietary law, but God said, now look, if you'll keep my laws, then none of the plagues that came on the Egyptians will come on you.

They're healthy, they're good for you, they're for good health. And David said, blessed is the man who meditates in the law of God day and night. He'll be like a tree planted by the river water, bringing forth his fruit in his season.

His leaf also shall not wither. That is, he'll come to an old age, a healthy old man. Why? Because he kept the law of the Lord. It's laws for good health, as well as spiritual laws. And then God declares, for I am Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals, the Lord who heals you.

And so God declaring himself to his people as the God who keeps them healthy. But it comes provisionally. You've got to keep the law that I have given, the statutes and the commandments. You do your part, I'll do my part, I'll keep you healthy.

Elim and the Wilderness Journey

So they then came to Elam, which means oaks. And I don't know why they called it Elam, because there were 70 palm trees there. There were 12 wells of water, an oasis in.

The desert, 70 palm trees, and so they camped there by the waters. We'll return with more of our fascinating study of Exodus in our next lesson, as we find the children of Israel complaining about their wilderness journey.

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Again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith. May the Lord be with you, and may the Lord bless you. May the Lord guide you into a deeper, fuller relationship with Himself, a place of trusting in God, trusting in God for everything, learning to trust Him in the dark hours when you can't see any way out, as you learn that God is able to make a way where there is no way, and as God works in your behalf to bring glory to His name.

May God use you as His instrument to touch someone else this week, touching them with love in an ever-deeper relationship. May you experience that this week, God's work of His Spirit in your life, and may you respond to it and be drawn closer to Him.

In Jesus' name.

There is always an ever-present danger for Christians of being beguiled. That word reminds me of Eve. She had everything in the garden. She had fellowship with God. She had her husband all to herself, no competition whatsoever,.

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