Hope in God, our Savior.

Exodus 14:10~14

Hope in God, our Savior.

 

[A] We must hope in God, our Savior(v. 10).

 

◎ Peace in the Lord be with you all. Today is the first Sunday after Christmas and also the last Sunday of the year. This morning I want to share the message “Hope in God” from the book of Exodus 14:10~14.

 

◎ God leads the people of God to the land of salvation. We must believe in God, our Guide and our Savior. And we follow Him. Do not rely on the power or wealth in the world, but place our hope for salvation in God. Only God can save us.

 

◎ Psalms 146:3 says, “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” and the verse 5, “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.”

 

◎ The Corona Pandemic during this year still has depressed our society, our nation and our entire world. It has made us all exhausted. We can recover this situation only if God helps us. We have limitations in overcoming this epidemic crisis. It is in God’s hands, the restoration of our life.

 

◎ So we hope that God our Savior will rise and work. Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Like that we must believe this promise and hope in God our Savior.

 

[B] The problem is that we stay in human thought(v. 12).

 

◎ OK. Let’s read today’s text verse 10, “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.”

 

◎ It’s a crisis! The Israelites who went out of Pharaoh’s hands were led to way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea and camped at Pi-hahiroth Beach(v. 9). But when the Israelites looked back, Pharaoh’s army drew near, there were the Egyptians advancing on them. There was the sea in front, the army in the back. They were in a dilemma. The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that led them until then, however, they did not see them. They were very afraid to see the Egyptian army(v. 10).

 

◎ The Israelites were afraid of the Egyptian army. Then they complain to Moses(v. 11). Finally, they said, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”(v. 12).

 

◎ They were in despair in the face of the crisis. They complained to the leader. They did not see the guidance of God and thought humanly. Human thoughts can never outpace God’s thoughts. In Isaiah 55:8~9, The Lord declares “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” and “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

◎ It was God’s intention that God did not lead Israelites to a fast and easy coast way, but to return to a far wilderness way. In Exodus 13:17, “God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” In times of crisis, we are more likely to choose humanly judgment. But at the moment of crisis, we must seek the will of God.

 

[C] Stand firm on the side of God(v. 13).

 

◎ Moses commanded the Israelites to stand firm. Let’s read the verse 13. “Moses answered the people, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.”

 

◎ We need to focus on the word “stand firm”[stand your ground, GNT] in the verse. In here, “stand firm”(yatsab) means “take one’s stand, maintain one’s position.” Therefore, we can interpreted this passage that we should act on the side of God.

 

◎ Salvation is God’s work. All we have to do is stand on God’s side. We must speak for God’s position. We must support God’s will. We must judge on God’s side. We must work on God’s side. Then God will be with us.

 

◎ God struck Jacob on the hip socket and made him live as Israel(Genesis 32:28). This story give us a precious lesson that we must live on God’s side, not by using a human trick. We must let God reign us. When we are on God’s side, God will be with us.

 

[D] Those who hope in God will experience miracles(v. 14).

 

◎ OK. Let’s read the verse 14. “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” God promised that if we were on God’s side, God would work. God who rescued Israelites from Pharaoh’s hand, led His people during the wilderness journey. God gives salvation to the people who hope in God.

 

◎ As God said, when Moses held out his hand over the sea. Then what happened? The water was divided(v. 21). Even if the way are blocked in the east, west, north and south, when God helps us, the door of heaven will open(Genesis 28:12).

 

◎ God transcends human thoughts, common sense, and imagination. God will open the way of salvation by God’s own method. The gospel according to John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” God opened the way of salvation for all people by God’s own method.

 

◎ Let’s hope in God, our savior. Stand firm on God’s side. Work with God. Then God will show the way of salvation. We believers must persevere to the end and keep our hope in God. Then we will experience miracles of God.