Every week, I do a minimum of two preparations to teach Bible content to children. Currently that means I’m preparing a Bible lesson from the Old Testament book of Esther for a little group of neighbor children who come to “Good News Club” at my house every Wednesday after school. Also on Wednesdays, I coach a Bible quiz team. They are currently finishing up their season of studying and quizzing over the Old Testament book of Exodus.
I have found that I have to guard against coming to God’s Word only for the sake of lesson prep. This morning, I was rereading the chapters in Exodus that we will be reviewing at quiz practice this week; we are at the end of our season, so all our material in these weeks is review. As I opened my Bible, I asked God to teach my heart in a fresh way, to show me Himself. A few minutes later, I found myself with tears of joyful discovery in my eyes.
Just after the Israelites had made their nighttime exodus from under the oppressive hand of Egypt’s Pharaoh, God did a gracious thing for them: he led the people a longer way around so they would not immediately face the doubt and discouragement of having to do battle with the Philistines. Then, he told their leader Moses to have them camp near a place called Pi Hahiroth. He told them exactly where to bed down: “…by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon”. Then He told what was going to happen–Pharaoh and his Egyptian army would have second thoughts about having let their slave labor force leave the country and would pursue them.
It happened just as God said–you can read the whole amazing story in Exodus chapter 14. But here’s the thing that struck me this morning: To the Israelites’ eyes, they were in danger. Pharoah’s hoardes were closing in on them from behind, the Red Sea was impeding their escape in the other direction. Imagine your heart beating faster and faster with the sound of every pounding hoof and thundering chariot getting ever louder in your ears. The “fight or flight” response has kicked in big time, but you seem incapable of doing either of those things.
But, remember–they were right where God had told them to be. If ever there was a moment for the “WHY, GOD?” question, this was it.
In what must have been nothing less than a situation of sheer terror as “the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them” (Exodus 14:10), Moses told them, “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. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Through obedience they were exactly in the place God intended them to be. Their doubts got the best of them; before Moses’ imperative, their terrified, desperate complaints betray their inability to trust God in crisis. This is in stark contrast with Moses’ confident words to them.
It may be simplistic to think this, but when I look at the scenario, I sense that Moses learned something from the previous 13 chapters’ worth of events that the Israelites as a group missed: As one of God’s children, my job is to trust and obey; God’s job is to work out the details for my good and His glory. Sounds so easy on paper–but the practical begins with the theoretical.
I am going to think of the Israelites encamping at Pi Hahiroth in the months to come. Our family is in transition, not knowing where the job journey after May 31 is going to take us. But I want to be at our “Pi Hahiroth” when the “Red Sea” parts so we can walk through to the next part of the adventure–even if the Egyptians are on my heels when the time comes.
Scary stuff, being trapped between the Egyptian army and the sea. But this turned into a banner event in the life of this people, that in the future they could look back on and know that God would deliver them. My prayer is that you guys will see this event in the same way in coming years!
Amen, Amen!
Thanks so much for sharing. We were just talking about something related to this last night at Campus Crusade (I went for he first time last night, and it was great! 
). We were discussing how we as Believers need to be falling down before His throne, saying that we choose for Him to have His way in us and choose to trust Him, especially when we don’t have all of the answers (or even a single answer, for that matter). It’s amazing how powerful the Holy Spirit is – it convicts, comforts, and challenges multiple people in multiple ways, custom fit to their individual personalities and needs, and all of this happens at the same time from a single message. If there ever was a time when I’m excited about something being beyond my comprehension, it’s when Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, chooses to wHiSpEr to people when 2 or 3 (or more) are gathered in His name!
Amy,
I am studying the life of Moses in Bible Study Fellowship this year and I have felt the same way through reading His word. The simple words of “trust and obey” are at the heart of what God was trying teach the Israelites! I love the chapters on the tabernacle and how God is evident in every little detail of the building. And, how God is evident in every detail of my life. I am praying for you; that you will see God in every little detail of this transition!
Thanks for the prayers, Jim and Becky. Thanks, Emily and Becky, for sharing what God is teaching you…one of the things I love about the blogging community!