Our journey with God can get very troublesome. I've come to believe that the final question God poses to each of us is, "Will you trust Me?" "Even when you don't understand? Even when life gets hard? Will you trust Me?" I think that if you look back on your journey with Him, you'll see that that's the driving theme. He yearns for us to come to the place where, no matter what, we will choose to trust Him. This passage makes it clear.
The story of The Exodus begins here, in 12:29: At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. (ESV) Note who it is that does the striking down, the killing of the firstborns. It is the LORD. This is not the gentle God so often heard about in our churches, some modern day, politically correct and green God, palatable to the ladies and children, and gelded from anything resembling masculinity. This is a God who personally intervenes in the lives of His own, to protect them and fight for them, fiercely! He doesn't even send an angel for this one, as He does in other passages. He does it Himself. God is a warrior.
Finally, it's time for His people to go, to leave Egypt for freedom from slavery. v 40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. Why so long? Do you ever wonder that? The people had endured suffering as slaves, and had surely been crying out for some time. Yet God waited. (Please note that silence or "No" doesn't mean that God didn't answer. "No" and "wait" are answers.) Perhaps you've been waiting. Perhaps you've been under hardship for a very long time. Perhaps you have a wayward child. Or spouse. Or an illness, or financial messes not of your own making. Or perhaps you've just grown impatient in having a dream realized, or having children, or finding a spouse. And God has been silent, seemingly saying "No". Without an explanation. It hurts and haunts us, being caught in that wilderness.We begin to doubt the Heart of God. We wonder if He cares, if He even notices, whether we matter at all.
There are some clues here that may help us better understand our own story. Remember how this whole Egypt thing started? There was a famine, which lead Jacob and his sons, except for Joseph, to Egypt for food. And surprise, who is there to receive them? Joseph, the one sold into slavery, intended for death. And so the 12 tribes remain in Egypt, 12 brothers, wives, children. Perhaps 100 of them. Now, back in Gen. 15:13-14 And God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendents will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions." (NASB) Now you may think that they were in Egypt for 400 years because God said that they would be. That's true, of course, but hides the real reason. Think of this, if you wanted to take 100 people and make them into a great people who would one day become a great nation, how would you do it? You really can't just have them move to the first vacant lot and set up camp, for surrounding peoples will come and destroy them as soon as they see what's going on. What chance do a hundred or two people have against mighty armies? You'd have to protect them. But how do you protect what turns into 600,000 men of warrior age, which is likely 2-3 million total with the other men, the women, and kids. Where do you hide that many people? God's answer: as slaves, where they can safely outnumber the host country, who will protect them! And when they leave, the Egyptians hand over the goods as a parting gift! Amazing. A people protected, and now enriched, and how could it happen any other way? If you're one of the Jews in Egypt, did you see that coming? Could you trust His purposes and His heart that there might be something bigger going on than you can possibly imagine? Could you endure a bit more suffering if you understand the larger story to unfold?
Gen 13: 17-18 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. It's easier for us to take comfort, when things are hard, in wondering if we've made a wrong turn, or suffer for our own sinful choices, or whether someone else is trying to hurt us, or even, if our spiritual eyes are open, to say that this is spiritual warfare which we must fight. But what do you say when it is God Himself who has led you to this place? There is no mistaking this story. God is leading. By day and by night. And we get a clue about His purpose: He isn't leading them in a straight line path since He knows their tendency. At the first sign of trouble, they'll bolt. He knows our tendencies, too. And sometimes He leads us into places where there is only one option: to trust Him. There is no other way out.
So where does God lead them? 14:1-4 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. 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. A bit of geography, as I understand it, shows that God led His own people into a trap. On either side are steep mountains which 2-3 million people aren't climbing. In front is the Red Sea. Coming from behind? Keep reading...the Egyptian army! There's literally no way out, and these are God's people. Led directly by God to this place! Will you trust Him now? Seriously? When all other hope is gone? Because what we also learn in this passage is that God has another agenda: He wants Pharaoh and his army! What does this say? It says that He is using His own people as bait in the trap to accomplish His purposes. And we wonder why life is hard sometimes. Sometimes, it's because He made it that way! Sometimes, the story isn't even about us at all.
You know the rest of the story. He indeed destroys the Egyptian army, and rescues His people in a way that didn't make the list of "a hundred ways to escape this trap". After swimming, boat building, bridge building, even fighting back....parting the waters just never came to mind. But God's ways are not our ways. His purposes are way beyond us, and often, the story is not merely about us, but about others around us. Will we trust Him? No matter what?
No comments:
Post a Comment