(Exodus) Exodus 13:14-19 — J. Vernon McGee

Israel's Redemption and the Passover Memorial

Now, he goes on to talk to them along this line. And let's look at this because it's extremely interesting. It shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this, that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt from the house of bondage?

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males.

But all the firstborn of my children I redeem. And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes. For by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt. Now, this is to remind them that God had delivered them out of the land of Egypt, and therefore the firstborn of their sons had to be redeemed by silver.

We are told today that we're not redeemed by silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Now, verse 17, And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the children go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.

God's Detour Through the Wilderness

For God said, Let peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. Now, these people are just out of slavery, and they're not prepared for warfare at all. And the short way into the land, if you get your map and will note it, would be up the seacoast, would be up by the Mediterranean Sea, and that would take them right into the land.

You remember in the Six-Day War, when Israel, you will recall, moved to the seacoast, and they moved the Egyptians out, they just came right down the seacoast. Well, of course, they were prepared. They had the tanks and the planes to do it.

But these people are just out of slavery, and they do not have any instruments even to fight with. So God, very graciously, notice how good He is to them. He takes them through the wilderness. It's a long route, but it will spare them from warfare.

They'll not have to face an enemy until they do get into the land. Well, in 40 years, they will be equipped. They will have an army, as we're going to see, and they'll be prepared. But they're not prepared at this time.

God's Timing and Preparation for His Will

And somebody says, but God by miracle could have delivered them. True. But you see, there is today... I can't help but be sick when I see the attitude of some Christians. They feel like God's got to perform a miracle every minute for them, and that you have a right to demand of the Lord that He intervene for you if you're sick.

He has to heal you and all that sort of thing. Well, my friend, He can do it. It's not a question of God's ability. It's always a question of the willingness of God and whether this is the way God wants to do it.

Now, God could have brought them through the land of the Philistines, but He didn't want them at this time to be engaged in warfare and come up against it for the very simple reason they were not equipped for it.

He could have delivered them. And when it's necessary, God's prepared to perform a miracle for us, but only to accomplish His will and His way in our lives. How we need to keep that in mind. Now, notice verse 18, "...but God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.".

Israel's Orderly Departure from Egypt

Now, that word, harnessed, is a very interesting word. I guess in the Elizabethan days that it probably was quite meaningful to those people, but harnessed to us just means that they really were put under a yoke again.

But that's not it. The whole thought is they went up orderly. They did not come out of Egypt as a mob. They were organized. They came out. They didn't have an army, but they certainly were organized, and it means by five in a rank.

They lined up, five in a row. And if you had seen them going through the wilderness, you'd probably seen the most orderly group that you've ever seen. Now, there's something else that's quite interesting here.

Moses Carries Joseph's Bones

It says, "...and Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.". Now, you will recall back in the book of Genesis, in fact, it's in the last part of the book of Genesis.

It's the 50th chapter, and at that time I called attention to it that Joseph, when he died, he said unto his brethren, I die, and I'm reading now Genesis 50, 24, "...and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of the land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob.

Joseph's Prophecy and God's Faithfulness

And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.". Now, that time has come. Quite a few years have gone by. At least 200 years have elapsed.

And now there has arisen a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. He's no longer the national hero in the land of Egypt. He was at the time he died, but he's not now. Joseph knew that that would be true. They couldn't take him out of the land of Egypt and bury him at the time he died.

So Joseph said, I want to be buried in that land. Now, Moses took up the bones of Joseph to bury him in that land. Why remove his bones? What difference would it make if he's got a hope someday of being raised from the dead and taken up to heaven?

Resurrection Hope and the Promised Land

Why, it wouldn't make any difference whether your launching pad was in Egypt or up in the land of Israel where he's buried up in the Ephraim country. Well, the fact of the matter is, he expects to be raised in that land, for that land, for there is to be a resurrection of these people in that land for the millennium and then for eternity.

That will be heaven for them. And that was the hope of Joseph. And this is the hope of Moses, you see. It's by faith that he does this.