Pastor Jacob Birch and Lessons from the Red Sea

Philipians 2:27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.

Last night at JUMP we talked about the boldness and the timidity of the Israelites in Exodus 14... how in one moment Moses could recount that the Israelites were "marching out boldly" while pursued by Pharaoh but then only a few moments late recount that these same folks were whining to him "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out into the desert to die?" 

I am learning and being challenged SO much by God's Spirit through Exodus in so many ways. One of them is just the stark realism of the stories and how true a portrait of humanity these stories paint. In fact i find the humane realism of these stories a very powerful argument for their veracity and the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. 

I and people are JUST like they are portrayed in this grand narrative of redemption. One minute trusting, the next doubting. One minute marching, the next retreating. One minute praying and praising to God's glory, the next looking to appoint someone the idol-carver in chief. 

If they paint such a real and believable portrait of people, do they not paint a real and believable portrait about God by extension? 

An inescapable truth from this passage is that God was interested in saving the Israelites FOR SURE... but He wanted to do so in a way that brought glory to His name and - as Denzel Washington says to his team in Remember the Titans - He wanted the Egyptians to "Remember the LORD". 

He specifically put his people between a "rock and hard place". He led them "back" to the near side of the Red Sea and specifically told them to camp where no military leader would ever have allowed himself to camp... with their backs to the water. The Battle of Marathon in 590 BC was lost by the Persians for many reasons not the least of which was Datis allowed his army to get boxed in between the sea and the much smaller Greek army come to thwart his invasion of the peloponnese. 

Furthermore his people were not warriors. They did have chariots like Pharaoh did. They were laden down with children, old women, the bones of Jacob and their plunder. 

It was shaping up to be a massacre. 

But instead of a massacre of the Jews, the sea opens the pillars of cloud and fire block the way of the Egyptians and God's people walk through "on dry ground". But amazingly enough when the Egyptians head down into the same trough in the sea, the ground has re-liquidfied and their chariots bog down, losing their wheels and all of Pharaoh's army drowns. 

In fact crustacean covered wheels that look an awful lot like chariot wheels have been found in the Gulf of Aqaba between the Sinai peninsula and Saudi Arabia. Experts note that the wheels are 8 spoked and unusual configuration in the ancient world that was only used... you guessed it... in Eqypt around 1400 BC just at the time of Moses. Their locations poses other problems, but their existence is interesting none the less. 

Like Paul's admonition to the Philipians at the very top, the story of the Exodus is meant to instil exactly what it did in the Israelites... a fear of the Lord due to his holiness and power, a trust in Him because of his loyalty to his covenant and a belief in his leaders who speak to Him and for Him in our day. So lets not just marvel at the stories of the Bible but let us take inspiration from them to realize if our enemies have us in an untenable situation... don't worry... God has gotten his people into and out of those places before.