Day 1090: Seeing God's salvation - Exodus 14 vs 1 – 14

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3-4 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. 5-7 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

8-9 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11-12 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13-14 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus 14:1-14 English Standard Version

We don't know how much time had elapsed between leaving Egypt and now, but God brings the people to a spot that faces the sea. Meanwhile, Pharaoh and the Egyptians felt regret at having allowed the Israelites to flee. (vs 5-7) But notice again, that it was God who hardened Pharaohs heart. In fact, the text tells us that the 'mind of Pharaoh, and his servants, was changed towards the people.'

This takes us to Romans 9. Paul says there, concerning God's choices, that: “It doesn't, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?' But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” God chose to get honour and glory by rescuing Israel out of the hands of the most powerful nation in the world.

And so the Egyptians, with all their military might, pursued Israel, and found them camped at a spot where the sea lay ahead of them. The people of Israel were filled with a great fear and cried out to Moses. But Moses said to them “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.” And then he gave them God's promise that “the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

When it comes the work of salvation, we need only to stand still, and see God's great work of grace. He delivered up His beloved Son into the hands of sinful men, who nailed Him to a cross. That seemed like a terrible defeat. But God raised Him again! And His victory was seen.