Go ahead and turn with me again
tonight to Exodus chapter 13, if you would, please. I want
to consider two verses tonight, beginning in verse 17, Exodus
13, 17. It says, and it came to pass when
Pharaoh had let the people go. I just want to pause there for
a second because I know you know this. And I know this, but you'd
be amazed at how many don't. All things come to pass because
it is God that brings all things to pass. Every time we read that
in the scriptures, we ought to be reminded of the sovereign
providence of God. He brings all things to pass. And as I read that phrase again,
and especially in this context, in this verse, I couldn't help
to think back on the first time that Moses and Aaron came to
Pharaoh and Pharaoh in Exodus chapter five. Why don't you go
ahead and turn back there with me. We're real close. Pharaoh
in Exodus chapter five, verse one said this, We read, and afterward
Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast
unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, who is the
Lord? Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
let my people go. Who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. Then we find in our text a complete
turnaround. And it came to pass when Pharaoh
had let the people go. And again, my mind immediately
ran to the verse found in Romans chapter nine, verse 17, that
we've quoted so many times in our studies, especially of the
plagues. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, that's the same as saying for God saith unto Pharaoh. God
said unto Pharaoh, even for this same, what? Purpose. Have I raised
thee up that I might show my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. And it came to
pass, and it came to pass. Let me say it again, all things
come to pass by the sovereign purpose of God Almighty. All
things come to pass because God brings them to pass. And he brings
them to pass just exactly as he desired and purposed. Look at verse 14, back in Exodus
chapter 13. In verse 14, we read, and it
shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying,
what is this? And that's speaking of the Passover
feast. Thou shalt say unto him by strength
of hand. Now look at this. The Lord brought
us out from Egypt. Who brought them out? The Lord
brought them out. Brought them out from Egypt from
the house of bondage and it came to pass. When Pharaoh, now look
at this phrase, would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew
all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn
of man and the firstborn of beast. Now, what does that phrase, Pharaoh
would hardly let us go mean? Does it mean that Pharaoh almost
let them go, but didn't? No, I don't believe it means
that. You cannot partially let someone go, can you? You either
let them go and free them or you don't let them go and you
keep them enslaved. But you can't partially free
someone. So it doesn't mean that. But
that word hardly there in the Hebrew language means too hard
to. Too hard to. For Pharaoh, it
was too hard to let Israel go. I think we know something about
that. It's hard for us to be free from this flesh. We want
and desire to do right, but we don't. And the things that we
loathe and hate, that's what we do. That's what Paul said
in Romans 7. Now, Pharaoh had been basically
destroyed. The powerful land of Egypt was
now in shambles. Death and destruction was everywhere,
and Pharaoh looked all around him. He knew that his hard heart
and his rebellion against God had been the cause of all that,
but it was still too hard for him to let Israel go. And because
of that, it came to pass that the Lord slew all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both of man and of beast. The very thing
that God had told him from the very beginning would happen if
he didn't obey. But I'm telling you, friends,
by nature, it's just too hard to bow to a sovereign God and
His Christ. We can't do it in and of ourselves. Can't do it. But God has a way
of getting His way, doesn't He? Boy, I think we've learned that
in these studies. He always gets his way. There's
none that can stay his hand. There's none that can question
his sovereign will and work. And verse 17, one more time,
and it came to pass when, not if, but when Pharaoh had passed
tense, let the people go. God's will is always accomplished. God has mercy on whom he'll have
mercy. And men say, well, then why does
he yet find fault? If God saves one and passes by
another, how can he blame the one that he passed by? We don't
have the right to even ask such a question. Paul said, nay, but
old man. And you look that word up, man,
in the original Greek, and it means fallen, fallible, frail
man, human. fallen man, who are you to reply
us against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why have you made me this way? And here's
the question really that settles all dispute on the subject. Hath
not the potter power over the clay? Does God, the sovereign
potter, have the power of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor? Absolutely he does. And I know
these are things that we talk about and look at. Often, but
I'm telling you, it's the foundation of knowing God. If you don't
know God is in control, and that He does what He wills, and the
armies of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. Our God's in the
heavens, David said, and He's done whatsoever He has pleased.
Do you believe that? If you're ever going to have
a true understanding of God, you're going to believe. God
says, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? Yes, you can. Behold, as the
clay is in the potter's hands, so are you in my hand, O house
of Israel. God can do what he wants to with
you and me. He did with Pharaoh, and it was
on purpose. And it was so, according to Romans
chapter nine, that everyone everywhere might know that the Lord, He
is God. It's He that has made us, not
we ourselves. Somebody's in control of things
and it's not us. It's God. Pharaoh was born. You think about this. I don't
know. I mean, he was at one time a
baby, young boy. He was raised and he was born,
raised and groomed for the throne. But it was for the purpose that
God's name might be declared throughout all the earth. Here's
the next thing that I want you to see. When it comes to the
good of God's elect, God always, always, always does what is best
for them, even though it might not seem like it to them. I think
you can relate to that. Still verse 17, and it came to
pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them
not. Look at that. God led them not
through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that
was near. For God said, lest peradventure
the people repent or change their mind when they see war And they
returned to Egypt. The way that all would have expected
to go, God didn't lead them that way. The quickest, easiest way
to Canaan was through the land of the Philistines. But God said,
no, not going that way. Google would have suggested that
way. Your GPS would have taken you that way. All the professional
travelers would have said, that's the way to go. That's the way
you want to go, right there. Now, have we figured out that
God's ways are not our ways? First, let me say the Philistines,
they posted no threat against the God of Israel. He had just
left Egypt, the most powerful nation in the world, in ruin.
God had, with no more than just his word, The Philistines were
no threat to the sovereign God of the Bible, and God later proved
that with a shepherd boy and a slingshot and a stone. Philistines were no match for
God, no more than Egypt was. But everything that God does,
now this is what I want you to see. Everything that God does
is according to His will and purpose, and our God does what
He will, and He works all things after the counsel of His own
will, Ephesians 111. But, if you belong to Him, it's
going to be for your good, somehow, someway. Now God, knowing that
the Philistines, they were a cruel, fierce, war-like people, and
knowing what Israel's reaction to them would be, God led them
out another way. He tells us that. You have to
remember that these folks had been in bondage and slavery for
over 400 years. They were afraid of just about
everybody. They had no confidence, and you wouldn't have either.
These Philistines, these men of war that they were, would
have scared them right back into Egypt. And God knew it. So he
led them another way. Now Israel didn't know, they
didn't have any idea, but the Lord was also taking them a different
route, not only to keep them from returning to Egypt, but
to also prove his providential care of them in another miraculous
delivery. The crossing of the Red Sea hadn't
happened yet. Turn over a page to Exodus 14. Let's look at this. Pharaoh had
let them go, but God had hardened his heart once more, and this
time it was to his own personal destruction. But look at Exodus
14, verse 8. And the Lord hardened the heart
of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children
of Israel. This is after he'd let them go.
And the children of Israel went out with a high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after
them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and
his army and overtook them in camping by the sea. Verse 10,
and when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up
their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they
were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried
out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, because
there was no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die
in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is that your purpose
in all this, Moses? Is not this the word that we
did tell thee in Egypt, saying, let us alone that we may serve
the Egyptians? Well, it had been better for
us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.
And of course, you know the rest of the story. Again, God miraculously
delivered them, and they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. And
as the armies of Pharaoh pursued and followed, God drowned them
all. We'll talk about that more in
a future study. But what I want us to see here
is their reaction at the Red Sea. And it's here that we find
Israel was still very much a cowardly and unbelieving people. After
all they'd seen in the land of Egypt, they said, you bring us
out of here. Were there no graves there to
bury us in? You brought us out here for us to all die out here
in the wilderness. Now the Lord knew that Israel
would repent, that they would change their mind, as verse 17
says back in chapter 13. And it says, when they see war
or the war-like Philistines who would have more than likely come
out against them, he said, you'll want to go running right back
to Egypt. But God took them a different way. And don't you know, and
we do, that when they went that way, they began to complain.
I can just hear them. I know because I know me. Why are we going this way? Why
are we going this way? You know, it's closer and easier
to go that way. It doesn't make any sense to
go this way. It's a lot rougher road. But
there's one thing they didn't know. You know what it was? This way was a way of mercy. Truly, we don't know what's best
for us. Have we figured that out yet? I don't know what's
best for me. But God does. We think we know what's best
for us, but we don't. How many times has divine providence
led us a different way than what we expected? How many times has
God's divine providence led us a way that we didn't desire to
go, a different way than what we wanted to go, and we complained
and we grumbled the whole way? But we, just like Israel, either
we forget or we don't believe, one, that God has our best interest
at heart because God will always act in mercy and kindness toward
His elect. He's got their eternal good at
heart. Some of you are old enough to
remember that old television show called Father Knows Best.
Well, as a father, I can say that that's not always true.
But I will say this, with our Heavenly Father, He always knows
what's best. Why? Because He works all things
together for our good. And He can do that because He
works together all things. I wonder sometime, really, if
we really believe that. I'm talking about me. God did
not lead them the way of the Philistines, through the land
of the Philistines. Do you know what the word Philistine
means? It comes from a word that means
to wallow in self. That's a place we need to avoid. That's a place we need to avoid.
You know, many today ask things like, why is life so difficult?
Even believers question, why am I going through this trial? Why am I going through this wilderness?
these hard times. Well, I can tell you this much.
If you belong to Him, He puts you there for your own good.
The Lord knew Israel's heart and He knows ours. Not leading
them through the land of the Philistines was a great, great
mercy to them. How many times do we complain
about the road we're traveling and all the while God is dealing
with us in mercy and grace and we don't even know it. Like Israel, we often say, if
not audibly, we say it in our heart, for it'd been better for
us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.
And the whole way, God's dealing with us in mercy and grace to
bring us to our predestinated end. Lord, help us to trust him. If you belong to Christ, there's
no doubt that you are where you are at because of the mercy and
the grace of God. And this is something that we
must bow to by faith. The Lord took them not the fastest
way. He didn't take them the easiest
way, but he took them the best way. Though it was the hardest
way in the wilderness by the Red Sea. Now was the Lord being
cruel to them? I'm sure there are some of them
that thought that was the case. What have we done to deserve
this? But no, the Lord wouldn't be cruel to them. They didn't
know it, but it was a way of mercy and grace. The Lord will
always lead his people the way that is eternally and spiritually
best for them, every single time. Sadly, they'll complain along
the way, but in the end, they're gonna see that it was for their
good and for God's glory. Now look at verse 18 here in
chapter 13. But God led the people about through the way of the
wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up
harnessed out of the land of Egypt. Let me say this to you,
the believer. Your journey to the land of promise
is gonna be by way of the wilderness. That's the way you're gonna go.
That's the way God's gonna lead you. God's gonna see to it that
you know that this world is not your home. Most of you my age
and older have figured that out. We know this ain't home. And
we're glad about it, happy about it. It's just a wilderness. It's a wilderness that we endure
and we sojourn in until we go home. Did you notice in the last
part of verse 18 here that it says that the children of Israel
went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. That word harnessed
is only used this one time in all the scripture. And the word
harnessed is taken from a word that means stout or thick, a
strong, able body. Now we just read how cowardly
and unbelieving Israel still was. How is it that we read here
that they left Egypt harnessed or able-bodied, strong and stout? We see the answer in the first
part of verse 18. But God led the people about. Their strength was found only
in Him. only in the Lord, only in Jesus
Christ. As weak, cowardly, and unbelieving
as they were, God calls them harnessed, armed, stout, strong,
able-bodied people. Isn't that amazing? Nehemiah
chapter nine, verse 21 says this. Yea, 40 years did thou sustain
them in the wilderness. Who did? God did. So that they
lacked nothing. Their clothes waxed not old,
and their feet swelled not. Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter
two. Hold your place in Exodus 13.
Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter two. Look at verse seven. Deuteronomy 2, verse seven. For the Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thy walking
through this great wilderness these 40 years. The Lord thy
God hath been with thee. Thou hast lacked nothing. Look over a few pages to Deuteronomy
chapter 8, verse 2. And thou shalt remember
all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in
the wilderness, to humble thee. and to prove thee, and to know
what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments
or no. You know, the Lord's gonna humble
his people. The Lord is going to prove them, not prove them
to himself, the Lord's gonna prove them to themselves. He's
gonna make his people know what is really in their hearts. When
the Lord revealed to me what was truly in my heart, I knew
that I needed a savior. Look at verse three, and he humbled
thee, and he suffered thee to hunger, he allowed you to hunger,
and he fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did
thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. and thy raiment
wax not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these 40 years. Now here's a people, a nation
of slaves, weak, cowardly, unbelieving, and yet he describes them as
harnessed, strong, stout, able-bodied people as they go out of the
land of Egypt. How can they be described that
way? Well, how can you be described as righteous? How can you be
described holy and just and right in Christ? Back in Exodus chapter
13, verse 18 says, but God led the people about. That's how
they walked out of Egypt so strong. Now listen, this was very interesting
to me. The word, that little three letter
word led here in verse 18, is a completely different word than
the Hebrew word translated led used in verse 17. Now in verse
17, it says that God led them not the way of the land of the
Philistines. That word led there simply means
to guide or to lead. But the word used and interpreted,
led, in verse 18, it's a completely different Hebrew word. It means
to surround. Sometimes the translators use
an English word that's the same as another, but it really, in
the Hebrew or the Greek, it means something totally different.
And that's the case here. The word led here means to surround. You can read that verse, but
God surrounded the people about through the way of the wilderness
at the Red Sea. Dear believer, you're surrounded
by God Almighty. Is His surrounding presence enough
to make you strong? You better believe it is. And
wasn't it Paul that proposed the question, if God be for you,
who can be against you? If God surrounds you, who can
get next to you to do you harm? Is there anyone who can? If God
is with you, you're harnessed, you're armed, you're stout, you're
strong, you're able-bodied. And here's another reason why
God's people are strong and harnessed. Christ. Christ. We say with confidence, I can
do all things through Christ that strengthen me. Only through
Christ. No other way. But I can do all
things through Him. Our Lord said, without me you
can do nothing. And yet He also said, but with
God all things are possible. Jesus Christ is God. Without
Him we can do nothing and with Him we can do all things. Child
of God, you've got omnipotence behind you. Here's another reason
why they were harnessed strong and made able. Grace. The grace
of God is given to us freely. Isn't that what Paul told Timothy?
He said, now therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. Strong in Christ. Strong in the
grace that's in Christ. Strong in His grace. When I am
weak, it's then that I am truly strong. in the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. Greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world. That word harnessed also means
armored. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
six and I'll begin to wind this up. But I do want you to see
this. Harnessed. Ephesians chapter six. Look at
verse 10. Ephesians six, verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole
armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil. But we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities and against powers and against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore. And then he
begins to talk about the armor of God. He says, having your
loins girt about with the truth. Jesus Christ is the truth. The truth is that salvation that's
in Him and not me. The truth is that I am complete
in Him. The truth is the gospel. Having
your loins girt about the truth. Read on. And having on the breastplate
of righteousness. This is the armor that protects
Our hearts, the breastplate of righteousness, which is the very
righteousness of Jesus Christ. Christ's righteousness is now
my righteousness. And Christ's righteousness, believer,
is now your righteousness before God. I've been made the righteousness
of God. Where? In Him. Isn't that what it says? That's
why we preach Christ. Verse 15, and your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That word preparation
kind of just stuck out to me today as I was looking at it.
You see, it's the gospel that prepares us. Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God, doesn't it? We grow in the grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord through the preaching of the
gospel. God's wrath has been appeased.
His law has been fulfilled. His justice has been satisfied. And because of this, Christ has
gone before me and he says he's gone before me to prepare a place
for me. There's no chance of failure
if he's the one that's gone to prepare it. I think about all
the brothers and sisters, the saints of God that have left. We've lost some in the last six
years that I've been back from Texas. Every single one of them
had hope and confidence that Christ had gone before them and
prepared a place for them. That's our hope. That's our confidence. That's our assurance. It's who
that's gone before us to prepare a place for us. And if He goes
to prepare a place for us, He will come again and receive us
unto Himself that where He is, we shall be also. Now that's
what I hang my soul upon. The only thing that gives a believer
real peace is the gospel of peace. And knowing that Christ has lived,
died, and risen, and gone before us, and prepared us a place,
and we're harnessed together in that wonderful truth. It's
not my strength. It's not by power, might, or
mind, no. But by the work and the perfect
righteousness of my Savior. And look at verse 16, and above
all, taking the shield of faith, faith believing God, His word
and what Christ has done, is everything in our salvation.
Is it hard to trust Him? If you see that you're nothing
and that you can do nothing to save yourself, it won't be hard
to trust Him. That's the only thing that you
can do. Oh, I've got to have Christ. If you still think you
can do something to save yourself, it may be hard to trust Him because
you're too occupied with trusting in yourself. But when you see
that you are nothing, you have nothing, that you can do nothing,
and that He is everything, He's made unto you everything, wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption, everything that God
requires from you, it won't be hard to trust Him. It's your only hope of redemption. And it's with the shield of God-given
faith wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked. And then he said, and take the
helmet of salvation, verse 17. Do you know what the protection
for my head is? Salvation is of the Lord. I think
about that all the time. Salvation is of the Lord, period. Nothing added to that. It's of
the Lord from beginning to end. He's Alpha Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. And knowing that salvation
is God's doing is what protects my head, my understanding against
doubt and unbelief. It's easy for me to doubt me.
But when you see who Christ is, you won't doubt Him. Not if you
really see who He is. Because He's God. What's your
opinion of God? Is he a little pygmy god trying,
wanting to do something, or is he God? Big difference. Big difference. And then lastly,
our only offensive weapon and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. Israel walk out of Egypt a strong,
stout, armored, able-bodied people for one reason and one reason
alone. It was God that led, surrounded,
armed, equipped, protected them, and was out to do them good.
That's the only reason. God was with them. Who could
be against them? Same with us. As we walk through
this wilderness of the world to the land of promise, that
place that God has prepared for us, We're strong in Him and only
in Him. In Daniel chapter 11, verse 32,
it says, but the people that do know their God shall be strong. I like that. If you know your
God, you shall be strong. We're only strong in Him. Okay,
we'll look at verse 21. I feel like I need all to read
these verses because it's so applicable. And the Lord went
before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way. And by night in a pillar of fire
to give them light, to go by day and night. And he took not
away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire
by night from before the people. Oh, he should have. They grumbled,
they complained, they loathed the light bread. They just, we
don't have anything to drink. You brought us out here to let
us die in the wilderness, but he took not away. What a God. Lord, I would clasp
my hand in thine, nor ever murmur nor repine, content whatever
lot I see, since tis my God. And when my task on earth is
done, when by thy grace the victories won, even death's cold wave,
I will not flee. Death won't cause me to flee,
since God, through Jordan, flees me. That's my strength. That's my hope. That's my assurance. And I may not always understand
why he leads me where he does. But I can be certain that where
He does, it's for my good and for His glory. And what a lesson
we have here. How about we trust Him? How about we trust Him? He never
takes away that which He gives. May God enable us to believe
on Christ and trust Him for His sake.