"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
I left you yesterday with Exodus14:10 -12 which says, "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."
Remember what I shared about the Israelites mindset of captivity and how they had made captivity their home? This passage of Scripture shows just how bound they were to believing the lie that life in bondage to the Egyptians was better than the freedom they had just been granted. They knew this life and wanted to return to it out of fear. They said "Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians" because they knew what serving the Egyptians required. Bondage and slavery were familiar while freedom was unfamiliar. This is a similar response that many people have today who come to the revelation knowledge of God's grace and then try to return to the bondage of living under the Law. In Galatians 5:1 Paul warned us about this. He said,"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." We have a free will choice to live in liberty or bondage but no matter what choice we make; God's love for us never changes, just like it never changed for the Israelites when they were afraid and wanting to return to Egypt.
Do you realize that at this moment in the wilderness God could have struck all of them down for their unbelief and fear but He didn't. Why? Because He loved them and had a plan for them and that plan led to His plan of salvation for us. The entire story of the exodus out of Egypt and the journey to the Promised Land has many lessons for us to learn if we are willing to let the Holy Spirit teach us. This first encounter in the wilderness is truly a beautiful picture of God's love and grace in operation because instead of striking them down for their unbelief and fear; He rescued them by providing a way of escape. To verify this look at what transpired right after they made the complaint against Moses."And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Standstill, 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." (Exodus14:13-14)
Moses' words to the Israelites are very similar to Paul's words to us in Galatians 5:1 in regards to not putting ourselves back under the yoke of bondage to the law. Standfast! Stand Still! Moses was saying don't go back to living in bondage to man while Paul is telling us not to go back to living in bondage to the law that Christ fulfilled when He died and then rose from the grave. You have been liberated and set free! Hold your peace in the finished work of the Cross!
Now in reply to Moses'exhortation here is what God said, "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 divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. (Exodus14:15-16) Can you see it? God extended grace, because of His incredible love for them, in the midst of their unbelief and fear. We have to remember that God's grace is always in place and not dependent on what we think, say, or do. God never changes no matter how far His people stray. We don't move God by our wavering and unbelief. No, His love moves us as He instructs the Spirit to speak to us in the same way He instructed Moses to speak to the Children of Israel, "Go forward" and do not be afraid for the Lord God is with you! You might read the Old Testament and think that God was a mean God but that is not true. God was a loving God whom the people failed to acknowledge many times and because of His Word to them He had to follow through on what He said. At any point the people in the Old Testament could have repented and been restored but many chose not to and as a result they suffered grave consequences. Aren't you glad we live under the New Covenant and God doesn't deal with us the way He did with the people under the Old Covenant? "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" so that we wouldn't have to do right or be right through our own efforts in order to be in relationship with Him anymore.
Now let's look at what happened next to the Children of Israel so we can see God's love and grace in operation. Exodus 14:30-31 says, "So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 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." One would think that experiencing the deliverance out of Egypt and then experiencing the parting of the Red Sea would have shocked the Children of Israel's mindset of bondage and slavery right out of them; but it didn't! Even though in the next verses of Scripture the Israelites praised God and gave glory to Him as their deliverer; they were still controlled by their mindset of captivity and it wasn't long before they grumbled and complained once again to Moses for taking them out of Egypt. In fact it was only three days before they displayed their dissatisfaction in being set free verbally to Moses once again.
Exodus 15:22-24 says, "So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went 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. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" Once again God could have struck them down for their unbelief and fear but Hedidn't. Verse 25a says, "So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet."
This is another picture of God's love and grace for His people but then in the second part of the verse and in verse 26 it says, "There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, 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 the LORD who heals you." This is the passage of Scripture I want us to meditate on today as we prepare for tomorrow's study because this truly is the passage that ushers us into the understanding of why the Law came into existence and why God gave it to the people as an act of love. It is also a beautiful picture of what Jesus did for us on the Cross so that we would no longer have to do this in our own strength like the Children of Israel and the people after them had to do.
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