God's Leadership Exodus 13:17-14:31

Good morning and welcome to Faith Bible Church. It's good to have each of you here today. We look forward to a blessing from the Lord. We want to remind you of the activities of the week and we always encourage you to come back this evening for a time of prayer at our prayer meeting.

And if you've seen the news, all of you, you get troubled as you watch the news. You have to turn it off when you see like wars and rumors of wars as we're seeing so vividly right now. The thing that always comes to my mind is we say the Lord's Prayer.

Do you ever think about what you're saying? And this comes to my mind when I'm seeing this how terrible the world is coming. It says, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We say that and don't think about it.

What's it saying? I look forward, Lord, to the time when you're ruling on the earth, which is in the future. I want the time to come when we see peace on the earth. Peace on the earth, just like you rule in heaven.

So when you say the Lord's Prayer, that always comes to my mind. Lord, bring peace now, but it when bring peace now means the Lord has to return because there will be no peace on this earth until the Lord returns.

But on top of that, coming through the Cold War, and now that my mom's gone, I can say a word. She always worried about us because we were always under the impression. It could be dropping a bomb anytime, right?

And you're always under this and my mom worried, worried, worried, worried. And so me growing up, when I got to thinking about it, I always had to say in John 16 33, it says, these things I have spoken to you that in me, if you're in Christ, you might have peace.

In the world, you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. And that's what we need to think about. You know, in this life, you're going to have tribulation, but the Lord says, if you're in me, I'll give you peace.

The world around you is in chaos, but I'll give you peace. We need to pray for all of the people that are suffering through this time of war, especially those many, many Christians and churches over there that love the Lord.

And one of the first things that the communist government does is try to do away with churches and the things of the Lord. So let's think of them even as we pray today and think of our service. Let's remember these people.

Our Heavenly Father and our God, we come before you this morning, thanking you for the blessings that you do give to us. We thank you for the peace that you can give to us. Help us, Lord, to rest in you, even in these times of trouble.

We pray, Heavenly Father, even for the Ukraine and for especially the believers in the Ukraine at this time that you would guide and protect them. Give them your wisdom and give them your peace, even at this time.

And we would thank you. We would pray for the service today, pray for all that have come out. We pray that you would speak to each one of our hearts and we would thank you for it. Be with pastor as he brings your word.

Give him liberty to deliver the things that you've laid on his heart. We pray that your Holy Spirit might drive these things home to our hearts to remember through the week. And we'll thank you for it.

And we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Good morning.

God's Strategic Path Through the Wilderness

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 13, verse 17, through Exodus 14, verse 31. Exodus chapter 13, verse 17, to the end of chapter 14. Then it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near, for God said, lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.

So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.

So they took their journey from Sukkoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day, a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so as to go by day and night.

He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi-Hahiroth between Migdol and the sea opposite Baal-Ziphon.

You shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are bewildered by the land, the wilderness has closed them in. Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.

And they did so. Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people. And they said, what? Why has we done this that we have let Israel go from serving us?

So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. Also, he took 600 choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt with the captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel and the children of Israel went out with boldness.

So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi-Hahiroth and before Baal-Ziphon. 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. Then they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt?

Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.

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.

The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. And the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divided.

And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 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.

Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. When I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen 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.

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 made the sea into dry land and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground and the waters were a wall to them, to their right hand and to their left.

And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea. All 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.

And the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. 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.

Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea and the waters were all wall to them in their right hand and on their left.

So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hands of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptian dead on the seashore. Thus, Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt so that people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we thank you that you deliver your people. And it is not a myth, but a historical event. And Father, I pray that as we live as Christians today, that we would remember how you deliver your people and how you lead your people.

We specifically pray for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who may not be able to meet in person this morning because of the violence that's happening in their land. Father, I pray that you would be the comfort to them.

And despite what's happening there, despite all the bullets and bombs that are firing, we pray that they would trust in you and gaze at your presence and seek your word. And not focus on the circumstances they're going through, Father, I pray that you would be you would give them hope in the gospel of Jesus.

And we pray that all the people who do not have trust in you, that they would see the trust and hope that the Christians of Ukraine have, that they may believe in the gospel as well. We pray that you would bring salvation in that land.

In Jesus name. Amen. Today's text is probably the most famous portion of the book of Exodus. This is the most memorable scene for the movie and also the cartoon. This is what people remember the most of Exodus.

The thing that we do not remember is how God leads his people. We remember the big miracle. We remember the great work. But oftentimes we forget how it's done by God. We often get so distracted by the visuals that we forget what God has done and how he did it and why he did it.

Now, it is important to remember this great miracle is a historical event. It does not make sense in Israel's redemptive history to believe that it's a myth and that Israel throughout history would look back to this.

Quote unquote myth and find hope in it. People don't find hope in myth. Things that didn't happen. In fact, this event is so great in the history of Israel. Whenever they faced hardship, whether it's they got conquered by one empire to the next or the Babylonian exile, they would look back towards how God has led them out of such a distressful and seemingly impossible circumstance that they would find hope that God would do it again.

That's God would save us again. And of course, we find the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ himself. In the Gospel of Matthew, the angel tells Mary and Joseph to name Jesus Yehoshua, which means salvation, to give people hope that God will this time save his people from sin.

The greatest slave masters of all, whom no human being after Adam and Eve were freed until Christ came. So today we look at how the Lord leads his people, and it's going to be starkly different from how earthly leaders lead their people.

Unlike the earthly leaders, the Lord is with his people. The Lord's presence is among his people. Unlike the earthly leaders, the Lord's strategy is for the good of his people. It is not a cost benefit analysis of what is the best for the leader.

But the Lord places his people as the priority, and that's what we will see today. So the main point of our text is, despite our weakness, the Lord faithfully delivers us. Despite our weakness, the Lord faithfully delivers us.

The Lord's Presence in the Wilderness

The first point, the Lord's presence strategically leads his people. The Lord's presence strategically leads us. This portion of scripture. Starts Israel's journey into the wilderness. It is important to note that the one who is taking his people, the one who is leading his people is not Moses, but the Lord himself.

Verse 17 starts out with God's strategic path of choice, and verse 11 ends the section with God's very presence among his people leading the way. It's impossible to escape the Lord's presence. For his people.

First, the Lord specifically chooses not to lead Israel through the shortest and the more established path through the land of the Philistines. Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.

The choice is not because God is incapable of defeating the Philistines, but rather God's gracious accommodation for his newly freed people. After all, Israel was not a trained group of fighters. It just became a nation, a free nation.

They were slaves. That's what all they knew. They didn't learn to fight. They weren't professional soldiers. They just knew how to lift heavy stuff and make bricks. Therefore, verse 18 tells us the Lord chose to lead Israel through the wilderness.

So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. The reason for Israel going through the wilderness was not because God wanted his people to suffer in the wilderness, but he knew what was best for his people and how prepared they were in their minds and in the spirit.

They were not ready to see the Philistine army right after leaving Egypt. They would have been discouraged. They would have given up too easily. And this is important to know because God does not always choose the shortest path or the most logical path.

And if you look back into your own lives, you might look back and say, wow, during that time, I didn't know what God was doing in my life. But now it makes sense. I was not ready to go the way I wanted.

And for me personally, back in college, I did not think I was called to be a pastor. I didn't really have professional ministry in mind. But if God had revealed to me that I would be serving as a pastor in Sacramento.

I would have been extremely overwhelmed and petrified because I wasn't mentally nor spiritually ready. It was God's gracious accommodation that he took me by paths that weren't logical and that weren't the shortest path that I didn't go to seminary right after college.

It would have made sense. It would have saved time, but that is not God's path. He was being gracious to me for my sake that I I wasn't ready. And he knew that. Verse 19 tells us that this journey is centered on God's faithful promise to his people.

And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here with you. Remember from the first sermon how Exodus picks up where Genesis left off.

Again, we return back to the promise of Genesis. As Joseph was dying as the prime minister of Egypt, nothing to worry about. He tells his family that his true home is not Egypt, but the land of Canaan.

That's where he belongs. He wanted to be buried with his father in the land of Canaan. Where God promised that his people would end up at the core of Israel's identity is God's faithful promise to his people, his faithful promise of deliverance.

And Joseph, just like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, knew that the Lord will deliver his people to the land that he promised. He knew and he believed and he made his children swear an oath to take his bones back to the land.

So that he could be buried with his family. Perhaps hoping. For the resurrection. Of the body. With his family. Verses 20 through 22 tell us God's manner of leading his people. Verse 20 starts with their early encampment sites, Sukkoth and Ethem.

Now, these two locations are hard to pinpoint in our modern map because we do not know precisely where they are. Names of locations change over time. And this has been thousands of years. Now, for there are two main viewpoints of where these two cities could be found.

For those who believe that the Red Sea is the western arm of the Red Sea, those two sites would be found in the northern parts of Egypt. However, if you believe that the Israelites journeyed through the Saudi Peninsula, 150 miles, then those two cities would be found near the Gulf of Akkava, which is the right arm of the Red Sea.

And all we know is that they're at the edge of the wilderness. And both of these regions, whether it's in Egypt or by Gulf of Akkava, do consist of deserts. So they do have edges of the desert. So it's either or.

I tend to lean toward the latter. But again, it's not a matter of a huge debate. Here, it's not something we were going to take too many hours arguing about. Hopefully, God will give us more archaeological data so we can pinpoint more precisely.

Verses 21 through 22 tell us the manner of the Lord's presence in leading his people. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so as to go by day and night.

He did not take away the pillar of clouds by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. The invisible God appears before his people in a visible form to lead his people. This means at no point was Israel ever in doubt of God's presence or guidance.

They could always look outside their tent at night and see the presence of God at night in the cloud of fire. This is important because God did not just send an instruction manual. He did not send one of his angels.

God did not appoint another human being. When the Lord was leading his people to the promised land, he visibly and strategically led them himself. Day and night, and at no point was he gone from their sight.

That provided a lot of hope for these Israelites. They weren't just relying on what whatever Moses told them. They could see God's presence in the form of the clouds. Now, some of us may desire that. Man, I wish I had a cloud in front of me.

The Lord's cloud. And that would and he would tell me where to go, whom to marry, what choice to make, what to buy, what not to buy. That would be nice. However. We have to remember. Under the new covenant.

We have a guide who will lead us through the wilderness, and that's the Holy Spirit. When Jesus, during his farewell discourse in John 14, he told his disciples this in verse twenty five. All this I have spoken while still with you.

But the advocate. The Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remain. Remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. The fact that Jesus is saying this. Means that for Christians. We need not be afraid because we have the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God in us.

Paul says we're the temple of the Holy Spirit. That's really special, because God did not dwell just anywhere in the ancient days. He dwelt in the most impeccable and precisely built architectural buildings.

But with us in Christ. God chooses to dwell in us. And he's the one who guides us. He doesn't teach us some things that Jesus taught. But he teaches us all things as Jesus taught. The presence of God.

Who dwells in you, in you is better than the presence of God that Israel experienced from a distance. The Holy Spirit will guide you through scripture on how you ought to live. How to best follow Christ.

How you commune with Christ. He's the reason why we have peace. Peace that's unlike that of the world. He gives us peace that is otherworldly. So that we may not be troubled or be afraid. The Israelites, we will read, were afraid when Pharaoh started gaining ground.

But for us who have the Holy Spirit in us. We do not have to be afraid. Because God is intimately dwelling in us. He's more personal than ever. This is the Israelites would have longed for this kind of relationship.

Fearful Responses and Faithful Trust

Next. How do God's people respond to his leadership? How do God's people respond to his leadership? God's people either focus on the circumstance or focus on God. God's people either focus on the circumstances or focus on God.

Verses one through four of chapter 14 show us the next step of God's plan. Because he is omniscient, which means all knowing, he knows everything. He knows how Pharaoh and Egyptians will react to Israel wandering around the wilderness.

God instructs Israel to make a detour in the wilderness to precisely to lure Egypt. Speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi-Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Opposite Baal-Zephon, you shall camp before the sea.

These locations are again hard to pinpoint because they're ancient cities. But for those who believe that the Red Sea Crossing happened at the Gulf of Aqaba, it would be around Timna Park region, a slightly northern part of the Gulf.

They were circling around. They weren't crossing. They weren't going further toward the promised land, but they were camping there. Verses three to four tell us the reason for these detours. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are bewildered by the land.

The wilderness has closed them in. Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them. And I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.

And they did so. God orders Israel to wander around the wilderness by the sea to lure the Egyptians in order that God would deal with Egypt once and for all. When God successfully delivers his people, even the Egyptians will know whom the Lord is.

Egypt will know what kind of deity they foolishly challenged. Now, after days or weeks of leaving Egypt or walking, being led by the cloud of fire or the cloud in the morning, the Pharaoh probably heard by now of his former slaves' departure and their wandering in the desert.

He would assume that Israel is disoriented. After all, they're slaves, not navigators. And he would jump at the opportunity to recapture his former slaves, to bring them back, to work for him again. However, this is God's sovereign way of completely dealing with the Egyptians.

Egyptian slave masters. And unsurprisingly, verses five through nine tell us exactly that Pharaoh responded that way. So Pharaoh comes to his sense when he exclaims, why have we done this? That we have let Israel go from serving us?

The free labor gone, a huge amount of his GDP destroyed. Verse six shows us how urgent Pharaoh became. So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. The verb to make ready his chariot is actually to harness.

So verse six tells us Pharaoh was so desperate to get the Israelites back that he himself harnessed his own chariot. You can almost visualize this urgent king jumping out of his throne, angrily pushing aside his officers as he hastily harnesses his own chariot.

Move aside, I'll do it. He can't be quick enough. And verse seven tells us who will be involved in this mission. 600 choice chariots and captains over each of them. It is important to know that the chariots were the most advanced military technology back then.

It was fast and it was threatening. It could run over people. And it was fast because it was driven by horses. And these 600 choice chariots and captains would have been comparable to the special forces of the United States.

So imagine how desperate Pharaoh was to get the Israelites back. I'm gonna get all my special forces to come after you. Meanwhile, the latter half of the verse eight tells us that the children of Israel were marching on boldly, not knowing what was coming to them.

They were self-assured as they were only looking forward to the promised land. They were self-confident as they were only looking forward to the promised land, and that Egypt was only in their past.

However, verse nine shifts the focus to the special forces chasing after them. This is almost like a movie scene with cameras zooming to one group to the next, Egypt preparing to capture the Israelites, and then the Israelites unknowingly marching onward.

Maybe they're singing. Maybe they're just boldly, confidently walking onward. But the movie comes back to the Egyptian forces. And at the sight, as the army of Pharaoh draws near, Israel finally understands the gravity of the situation in verse 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. At the sight of Pharaoh and his army, fear overtakes Israel's heart.

And just as they did before, they cry out to the Lord. The following two verses show Israel's fearful response as they focus on their dire circumstance. Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?

Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.

The irony of the first question is almost palpable. Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? The irony is that Egypt was, and still is, known for their graves, their art of mummifying the dead, preserving the dead, building up huge structures to store the dead.

Egypt was the land of the dead, and at the sight of Pharaoh's army, the boldness of Israel, in verse eight, dissipates into thin air, and their mouths are filled with complaints and regrets. They have forgotten about the 10 plagues that wreaked havoc in Egypt, and they were protected all throughout.

They have forgotten about the Lord's presence among them. The cloud was still leading them. They could just see that the Lord was still there with them. And they have forgotten about the words of the Lord that predicted that this would happen.

After all, they were wandering in the wilderness for a reason. They have forgotten all of those. Instead of gazing at God's past faithfulness and current presence, they focused on their seemingly dangerous situation, their personal circumstance.

Instead of remembering who God is, they fixated on who Pharaoh is. And verse 13 and 14 show a totally different response, Moses' faithful response. 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. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. Moses, who has seen God faithfully keep every single word and promise, shows the opposite response.

He does not focus on the circumstance, but rather looks forward to God's fulfillment of his words. He trusts in what God has promised in verses one through four. The last verse, when Moses says, you shall hold your peace, I think it can be better translated as you shall be quiet.

Be quiet and just watch. And sometimes, often, that's what we need to do. As Israel focused on what they could see right in front of their eyes, rather than what they have seen God do over and over again in delivering them, how God has fulfilled his promise over and over again, yet in their mind is Pharaoh's army.

In their minds, Pharaoh's army was bigger than God's ability to save them. And oftentimes, in our days, we respond in a similar fashion as the Israelites did. Some may say we did not get the pillar of clouds or we didn't get to witness the effects of the 10 plagues.

I would say yes, but God has revealed to us far more of his capabilities than what these ancient Israelites knew. Christians, we know that the Lord came down to save his people, not just as a pillar of cloud, but as Jesus on the cross.

Christians, we know that the Lord delivered us from the greatest slave master of all, not just a global superpower, but sin that enslaved all humankind. And Christians, we know that Jesus did not stay dead, but rose on the third day and is reigning from his throne.

And Christians, we know what it took Jesus to deliver us from the slave master of sin, his own blood. And when we focus on how God has delivered us in Christ, we can't possibly be looking at our circumstances.

When we know who God is, how utterly faithful and protective and caring and compassionate he is, we can't focus on the circumstances. When we are driven by the circumstances that we're in, the trials that we're facing, the furnace we've been thrown into, we're implicitly forgetting who God is and what he's done for us.

We're making ourselves into little gods who need to save ourselves if we believe that it's all up to us to go through this ourselves. We must look at the true savior who can deliver us out, not from trials, but through trials.

The Lord Fights for His People

Now, how will the Lord respond to his people's fearfulness? How will the Lord respond to his people's fearfulness? Despite his people's fearfulness, the Lord faithfully delivers his people. Despite his people's faithfulness, despite our fearfulness, the Lord faithfully delivers us.

The Lord is not shaken by his people's fearful response to Pharaoh. He's not worried, oh my goodness, they're not gonna, they're not gonna be saved because they're focused on their circumstances. No, instead he immediately commands Moses in order to stop Egypt once and for all.

The Lord is the Lord of action. Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward, 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.".

Here, similar to the previous plagues, the miracle of dividing the sea also involves the rod of Moses as he stretches his arm out. Verse 17 depicts how God will harden Pharaoh's heart so that his army follows after Israel onto the ground in the midst of the sea.

After all, no sensible military leader would send chariots with wooden wheels onto the wet, muddy ground. The chariots did not have a four-wheel drive like our modern-day Jeep. They had hard wooden wheel that would run great on flat, hard surfaces, but would get stuck on the seabed.

Verse 18 tells us in the end, Egypt will know the glory of the true God. The glory of the true God not found in Pharaoh or any of their false gods, but only in the Lord. As the Egyptian force is gaining ground on the Israelites, verses 19 to 20 describes God's response.

And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud went from them 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. Here the pillar of cloud is described as the angel of the Lord or angel of God.

The angel, the word angel means a representation or messenger. So hence, God's presence as the pillar of cloud is the angel of God, the representation of God. The same pillar of cloud who guided his people in the front will now protect his people from the back.

The Lord is not just the guide, but also the protector. And this is drastically different from that of the world. While earthly leaders lead by giving orders from the safety of their bunkers, the Lord leads among his people and will reposition to protect his people, to provide separation from the Egyptian army and his very fragile, scared people.

The Lord's faithful leadership does not depend on the circumstances. It is based upon who he is. The Lord's faithful leadership does not even depend on our fearfulness or lack of fear. It's not that God will stop delivering you because you're fearful.

He will protect and deliver you because he is faithful. That's who he is. He does not leave his people when it becomes dangerous, but rather draws near to his people even more for protection. His presence is even more palpable in danger.

Now while the Lord prevented the Egyptian forces from approaching Israel, Moses obeys the Lord's command. 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 made the sea into dry land and the waters were divided.

Again, this is the most well-known miracle in the whole book of Exodus, if not the whole Old Testament. Note that it is not Moses who made the sea divide, but the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind.

The one who divides the sea is the Lord. Moses is an instrument, but the performer is the Lord. And this allows Israel to walk safely on the ground in between the two walls of sea and the Egyptian forces followed in verse 23.

Verses 24 to 25 show the further damage that the Lord did to the Egyptian army. 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.