My favorite verse today: "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”  THANK YOU, LORD, for FIGHTING FOR ME while I keep silent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent (Exodus 14:14).

The history of Israel in the Exodus is filled with grumbling and complaining. They grumbled because they felt they would be overtaken by Pharoah by the Red Sea. They grumbled because they could not find drinkable water. They complained for want of food. They complained because they wanted meat. They grumbled over Moses taking too long to come down from Mount Sinai. They grumbled over the giants and fortified cities in the land that God commanded them to take. Even after seeing God's great wonders and power, they persisted in their grumbling and complaining. All of these stubbornly rebellious Israelites died in the wilderness without gaining the promised land or heaven:

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:16-19).

Now, I am not mentioning these things to say that we would have acted any differently. Most, if not all, of us would probably have been in that grumbling and complaining crowd. We too would have perished in the wilderness of unbelief, rebellion, and sin except for the grace of God. 

Friends, let us not make light of the grace of God. We are saved purely and wholly by that grace. We are recipients of a gift that words cannot adequately describe and that even the most dedicated among us find trouble comprehending its value and significance. Many Old Testament saints anticipated it (though most people did not believe it then), but we have actually received it (though most people do not accept it today).

When we understand what the Lord has done for us and is doing for us, we will, as Moses commanded the Israelites, "be silent", and as the Psalmist declared, "be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). 

We will not complain because of difficult circumstances. We will not fret over hardships. We will not persist in anger toward anyone. We will not allow any anxiety or discouragement to linger with us for long. 

Consider this. The Lord has saved us, He has given us the dignity of being a fellow heir with His Son, and He has guaranteed a place for us in His eternal kingdom. What is more, He has said that this is nothing of our doing but His alone, and He alone sustains this promise to completion. What have we to complain about? What is there to fret? For what reason would we have to remain angry with anyone? So close are we to embrace this forever and perfect hope, why would we be anxious about anything or allow discouragement to persist any longer than a moment?

Remember, my friends,

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Exodus 14
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Richard Gabriel, a professor in the Department of History and War Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, commented that during this era to move an army during the day a smoke pillar would be lit and fire by night so the whole army would follow 'the beacon.'

A possible effect for the pillar of fire moving to the rear would be to give pause to the advancing Egyptian army. They would perceive the army of Israelites to be turning around to engage them.

Unlike the Charlie Heston movie (and the new Disney version) the fire doesn't necessarily have to have been a fence like barrier but a tactic to make them pause - you'd think the a cylinder of fire might cause an army to think again, but perhaps it was as not like this.

 
Something else, these Israelites were afraid but not helpless, we are told they left Egypt ready for battle - an advancing army may want to prepare and organize before engaging this group who a) caused internal tactical concern in Egypt b) had God plague them into submission c) left ready for battle

Exodus 13:18
8 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

Lastly, Richard pointed out that the fire, gave time, but also blinded the Egyptian forces. You don't face brightness when advancing it causes blindness to the areas past it - beyond the light in the darkness.

Some versions give the impression the pillar of fire was very bright, with "it lit up the night":

20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Lastly the wind!

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

The pause gave time. The light gave cover. The wind that must have been wailing all night long muffled any detection of a crossing. They did pursue, but surly not till after some time. Moving children and animals would be a slow process compared to chariots and horseback soldiers. It wasn't till morning God hit them again.

23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,

Wonderful! Rather than speak "die!" God just orchestrated miracle after miracle; Dominance after dominance; Providence After providence.

As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.” (Exodus 14:17-18).

It is hard for me to fathom Pharoah, with all his chariots and his entire army, going into the Red Sea after the Israelites. Consider this. They have witnessed ten terribly destructive plagues from the Lord, so that their entire way of life has been devastated and even Pharoah's firstborn was killed. Even in chasing after the Israelites, they saw God's pillar of cloud and pillar of fire leading Israel. Then, they witnessed the parting of the Red Sea. After such displays of divine power, who in their right mind would continue pursuing the Israelites?! Now, we might simply conclude that Pharoah was primitive and dumb, but it would be more biblically accurate to say that he would not have followed them into the midst of the waters if it were not for God's prompting. Thus, we read,

"I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them." (Exodus 14:17). 

God hardened Pharoah's heart so that God might multiply the destructive plagues against Egypt and bring glory to His Name. God even led Israel into a trap, so that they faced Pharoah's army on one side and the Red Sea on the other, so that God might again display His power to them. So also He hardened the hearts of Pharoah's entire army so that He might drown them in the Red Sea and bring glory to His Name.

Now, one might just conclude that they were a hopeless bunch anyway, and that is why God destroyed them all in one fell swoop. Then, I suppose this can be said of the Canaanites as well, since He commanded that every one of them, every man, woman, AND CHILD be destroyed without mercy. Perhaps this can be said of all Buddhists in India, Muslims in Indonesia, Hindus in India as well. The truth is much harsher than this. The truth is that we, you and I included, are all a hopeless bunch. We are all by nature sinful and worthy only of condemnation. As the Scriptures teach, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...for the wages of sin is death" (Romans 3:23; 6:23).

Friends, this is sovereignty at work in the Old Testament. God has chosen Israel over the nations. And, as we will discover, even within Israel, God has chosen to save only certain invidividuals from among them. Biblical salvation history is the history of a remnant, who are rescued by the grace of God, for the sake of His Name. Biblical judgment history is the history of the masses, who are destroyed by the wrath and justice of God, also for the sake of His Name.

Greater size does not make something right. In biblical history, the majority are usually on the wrong side of God. While we often say that if you find something wrong with everyone, it is most likely that there is something wrong with you. This saying is not well-supported with respect to the Chrisitian faith, where the faithful have always been in the minority and often found themselves standing alone with God. And when they started to become a majority, it is then that they started to veer away from God and His Word.  

So, friends, don't despise the small churches that struggle with finances and have only a few "ministries".  Remember, the churches that Christ most highly commended in the Book of Revelation were not the rich and popular churches but the poor and "unpopular" ones (e.g. Churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia). They were the ones that barely stayed alive in the face of persecution and financial distress. And if these churches, as some commentators suggest, are representative of churches for all time, we should not be so quick to despise the small, poor, and ministry-weak churches, nor should we be too quick to esteem the larger, richer, and ministry-strong churches. Oftentimes, the big churches are big and grow bigger because they cater to popular interests rather than preaching the Word of God.

So if you find yourself among a small group of believers, who are intensely devoted to God's Word but ostracized by the majority, don't be distressed. It may very well be that you are among that chosen minority of true believers that God has set apart for Himself from the masses of unsaved, nominal believers, who simply go through the motions of religion or invent their own spirituality through their dreams, experiences, and pagan-like rituals.

It is time for all of us to do some self-examination (2 Corinthians 13:5-8). In our day, I have heard people call those that seek to bring the church back to the Word of God as being "divisive" and those that introduce strange doctrines, experiences, and rituals as "Spiritual." Aren't we calling black white and white black. When people are seeing wrong as right and right as wrong, we are in serious trouble. This was the condition of Israel at the end of the Book of Judges, when those who broke the Law thought they were following it. This was also the condition of God's people in the time just before God judged them in exile, when they could not discern the true prophets, who preached God's Word, from the false ones.

Paul too, at the end of his life, gave this warning:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:1-4).

Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other (1 Corinthians 4:6).

Friends, the very people that were singing God's praises in light of His wonderful deliverance through the Red Sea would later turn away from the Lord in rebellious unbelief. Except for Joshua and Caleb, the great majority of the adult Israelites would perish in the wilderness just like the Egyptian army. They would perish not in natural death but because of their unbelief, for even after seeing all the wonders and miracles God did for them, they ultimately failed to trust God and obey His Word.

Therefore, if you are among the ones that steadfastly hold to God's Word, know that you are in the very small minority even among professing Christians. Yet, perhaps, like Joshua and Caleb, you will be among those that make it to the Promised Land - not the land of Canaan but heaven itself.

I am so glad that God made a covenant with us. This covenant requires something of us: all of us, and something of God: every member of the Trinity. In every covenant, there is something required. The first covenant is marriage. Something is expected of the man: he is to become the leader and provider, and the woman is to become his help meet, his partner, and walk beside him wherever he may go, and they are both required to give reverence to each other and to remember God in their covenant. In Exodus 13-15, the firstborn child is required for consecration, and God institutes a feast called Passover so that Israel will not ever forget how He brought them out of Egypt. The Israelites had to eat their bread without leaven for seven days straight, and they couldn't have it anywhere in plain sight in their homes even. 

So why does God institute a feast, and begin to give the Israelites laws that they should follow? I believe that there was a lot of pantheistic worship, after all they lived in Egypt, a pagan land where anything went, and they had forgotten who God was and how powerful He is. Im sure, that day in and out, all they heard was about the tiny Egyptian gods and how powerful they were. So when their One God had just OWNED the puny dead idols of the Egyptian gods, it was something to celebrate.

I believe that when God got them out of Egypt, out of their comfort zone and their comfortable pantheistic religion, He wanted them to relearn who He was. He wanted them to know that he was to be the only God they could turn to. Sure, he had demonstrated his power to the Egyptians and Pharoah, but he wanted the Israeli people to learn to depend only on Him. This is why Pharoah and his army drowned.  This is why the Red Sea parted. This is why there was a pillar of fire and cloud, a physical reminder of who was really leading them. This is why the bitter waters of Marah were made sweet. This is why manna rained down from heaven.

V 8. And you will tell your son on that day, "This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. It will be a as a sign to you on your hand, and a memorial to your eyes, so that you may remember the Lord's statutes, for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt."

This verse makes plain God's plan. The feast of Passover was a visible, spiritual, celebration that God had brought them from a place of slavery, to a place of freedom. The first true freedom the Israelites had had in a really long time, and they had to acknowledge that their freedom did not come from them, or dead pagan idols, or their actions, but by a God who had compassion when he heard their cries in the bitter throes of slavery.

Did you also catch where God avoided taking the Israelites through the Philistine lands and war in 13:17-18? He didn't lead them right to the Promised Land. He knew they did not have their faith in Him, and like a dog to their vomit, it would be easier for them to return to Egypt if they realised they would have to fight for their land. God wasn't just going to give it to them. They had to earn it. In a roundabout way, they were going to get to the Land they were promised, but they had to be tested first. God knew how faithless they would be, but he had to make them understand that He was their sole provider, protector, and guide through that forty years. 

Did you also catch that the Lord was IN the Pillar of cloud and fire (v. 20) ? As long as He moved, they moved, and as long as he stopped, they stopped. Also, THE Angel of God, who was in front of them, moved to the rear, and the pillar of cloud also stood between them and the Egyptians, so they couldn't get to the Israeli camp before they all crossed. And I believe, with over 1.2 million people, animals, and plunder, that would take at least a day or more to accomplish.

Friends, I encourage you to try to stay aware of the different regulations that God assigns to the Israelites as they make their way to the Promise Land. These would be the reguations that they were expected to practice after God had fulfilled His promise to them in giving them the promised land of Canaan.  

In chapters 12 and 13 there are at least two that God assigns so that future generations might remember God's mighty deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery. 

Passover (Festival of Unleavened Bread)

First, there is the Passover, or the Festival of Unleavened Bread. It is first practiced in Exodus 12 on the occasion of the tenth plague, where God killed all the firstborn of Egypt. The name "Passover" was probably given to represent the Angel of death "passing over" the homes of the Israelites. 

It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians (Exodus 12:27).

Notice that along with the Passover the Jewish calendar is established in the Exodus event:

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year (Exodus 12:1-2).

So then the Passover celebration is the very first religious festival ever instituted and the first to be celebrated by Israel in their new year. After they came into the Promised Land, every year in the first month the Passover was to be celebrated from the evening of the 14th day to the evening of the 21st day, so seven days. On the first and seventh day of the Passover there was to be sacred assembly and no work was to be done:

This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance... In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day...On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.... You must celebrate this event in this month each year after the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Exodus 12:14,16,18; 13:5).

The key component of the Passover Celebration was unleavened bread (i.e. bread without yeast). Yeast is the ingredient that makes bread rise. Without it, the bread is like a flat wafer. The absence of yeast was to represent the haste with which the people left Egypt. During the seven days of the Passover celebration, the Israelites were not allowed to eat anything made with yeast.

The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing... With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves. (Exodus 12:33-34,39).

Along with the unleavened bread, at the outset of the Passover week, on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight, the people sacrificed and ate the Passover lamb. This lamb (i.e. a baby sheep) or goat, which had to be one-year old and without defect, was to be selected (i.e. enough to feed each family) on the 10th day of the month, then sacrificed and eaten on the 14th day. The animal was to be roasted and eaten the same evening. Anything left over had to be burned up. This is all described with greater detail in Exodus 12:5-11. 

On the first occasion of the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb, some of the blood from the lamb was put on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses of the Isrelites. The Angel of death saw the blood and passed over these houses:

Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.... The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt (Exodus 12:7,13; cf. Exodus 12:21-23).

While the sacrifice and eating of the Passover Lamb extends even to the time of Christ, the practice of applying the blood to the doorframes seems not to have continued beyond the first occasion. Nevertheless, the Passover was to be an enduring memorial for future generations of Israel:

Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians" (Exodus 12:24-27).

(In Exodus 12:43-49 certain other restrictions are given with respect to the celebration of the Passover.)

 Dedication of the Firstborn

God preserved the lives of the firstborn of Israel in the tenth plague, while He took the lives of the firstborn of the Egyptians. Therefore, God commanded that every firstborn (male) among the Israelites would be dedicated to Him, whether human or animal:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me" (Exodus 13:1-2).

Every firstborn male animal, thereby, had to be either killed or redeemed (i.e "bought back") from the LORD. And every firstborn son had to be redeemed from the LORD:

A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the LORD by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son (Exodus 13:13).

Later on, the tribe of Levi (i.e. the Levites) would be chosen by God to replace the requirement of the dedication of the firstborn sons of Israel. These Levites would serve as priests to God in the tabernacle and later the Temple of God. 

Like the Passover, this dedication of the firstborn was to serve as a memorial of God's deliverance of Israel out of slavery to Egypt. It was particularly to remind future generations just how God delivered Israel, namely, through the destruction of all the firstborn Egyptian males:

And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the LORD brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery. Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, so the LORD killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both people and animals. That is why I now sacrifice all the firstborn males to the LORD—except that the firstborn sons are always bought back.’ This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the LORD’s mighty hand brought us out of Egypt" (Exodus 13:14-16).

Understanding these first two regulations for the generation of Israelites coming out of the Exodus will not only help us to understand the origins of Israel's worship of the LORD, it will also help us to understand the significance of Christ, our Passover sacrifice, who is our righteousness, holiness and redemption (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:30; 5:7-8).

Friends,

If you notice on the blue bar, there is a link entitled "Invite a friend". We have around 170 people (now 267 people) registered on the site, but there are nearly 300 adults in our church and over 3000 in our organization. While I consider myself a kind of "evangelist" for daily Bible reading, I realize that my voice is limited in its effectiveness. In many cases your voice is greater and reach more people than mine. This site was created so that people would be drawn to God through His Word. Won't you join me in bringing glory to our God by inviting everyone you know to participate in this daily quiet time?

My thoughts on today's reading:

If there is one word that is emphasized in both the Old and New Testaments that is most helpful for believers in their walk with God, it must be this one: REMEMBER. Throughout Genesis there were monuments, altars, markers and pillars of stone to serve as memorials. Beginning with Exodus, there would be an even greater emphasis on story-telling, rituals and written laws that would serve the same purpose. They would remind Israel of what God had done and what God requires of His people. We may be familiar with the memorable injunction in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (cf. Deuteronomy 11:18-21),

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

But over forty years earlier Moses spoke to Israel concerning the rituals regarding unleavened bread and the separation of the first born: "It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt." (Exodus 13:9; cf.Exodus 13:16). So both at the beginning of their journey and at the end, Moses wanted Israel to remember the greatness of their God and what He required of them.

The great need today is for God's people to be reminded of God's works and words, to be reminded of His greatness and His righteousness , to be reminded of who He is and of what He requires of us. Every day is filled with distractions that keep us from "seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). But it is in our daily and unceasing meditation upon God's Word that we will find wisdom (cf. Psalm 119:105; 19:7-9), purity (cf. Psalm 119:9,11), faith (cf. Romans 10:17), sanctification (cf. John 17:17) and everything we need to do every good work (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). If there is any wisdom in my sharing, it is because of the Word of God. If there is any effectiveness in my ministry, it is by the grace of God. And this is my prayer for you...

If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11).