Exodus - Following God into Freedom: Week 8
Opening Prayer:
Lord God,
You are the God of freedom.
You bring freedom to all who are trapped, enchained, bowed down, without hope.
Your saving power is the most transformative force there is.
Help us never forget this in our own lives, so that we might work to see your power change all lives and the world with it.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Key Scripture:
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, 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.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”
20 After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
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. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
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. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Exodus 13:17-14:31
Sermon Summary:
The Exodus suggests that God aligns Himself with the poor and does not rest until the world is put right. He is about bringing freedom and justice to the poor and the oppressed. It is not just a story from the past, but also a sign of what God is actively doing in the world right now.
This passage is the point where the Israelites cross through the Red Sea and their freedom finally comes to fruition. They escape captivity – but not on their own. They needed God’s help. The story of the Exodus and the Israelites being freed from slavery is found all throughout scripture, as these events were the key foundational events of the people of Israel. Core to the gospel message is that God is at work in the rescue and redemption of the poor.
The Israelites leave Egypt – not as happy, rejoicing people, but as a weary, harassed people, who have been oppressed and ground down. Even the leaving wasn’t straightforward; after setting them free Pharaoh realises that he has made a mistake in letting the Israelites go – the Egyptians will no longer have captive slaves to do the work for them. So, he gathers his armies, and they go after the Israelites, to beat them and bring them back to him as his property once again.
Trapped by the Red Sea, the Israelites cry out against Moses, blaming him for bringing them out of Egypt only to die in the desert. God miraculously parts the sea and creates a barrier between the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Israelites pass through safely, but the Egyptians do not; they are swept away as God allows the parted waters to wash back together over the Egyptians.
God brings freedom to the Israelites. This story illustrates who God is. It is a story of the transition of power in our world. Pharoah was in charge. He was the final authority, he was the ruler, he was all-powerful (or so he thought). But he ended up being swept away and became nothing but a drowned corpse.
And God goes from being ignored to being the central Deliverer of His people. The Israelites had forgotten Him – they had forgotten their God in their captivity – and the Egyptians, Pharaoh especially, were ignoring Him, refusing His commands to let the Israelites go.
This is the ongoing reality coming to birth in our world. Destructive and malicious rulers will pass, oppressive systems and structures will fall, and God will transform the slave into the free. Power is not what we think it is or where we think it is. It resides in the God who sets captives free.
This is also the story of God’s miracle in the face of human hopelessness. It seemed like there was no hope for the Israelites, even once they had been released. In front of them, the impassable Red Sea, behind them the Egyptian army. Their situation seemed hopeless. But God steps in and acts on behalf of the people and performs a miracle that sees His people liberated. God is in the business of liberating people. He hears the cries of the poor and He rescues them, bringing down the systems and powers that oppress people.
Finally, this is the story of the transformation of a people into God’s people. God takes a ragtag group of weary, beaten down, hopeless people, and begins the process of transforming them into His people – His chosen people, called to be His own for the sake of the world. The Israelites were not a mighty people, they were not a well-known people, they were not a feared and powerful people. They were poor, they were prisoners, they were unknown, they were weak, they were simply human assets, good for nothing other than being worked to death. Yet this was the people God rescued, called His own, and formed into a new community.
God is still active in these same ways today. He is still, through the power of the resurrected Jesus, setting people free – from poverty, oppression, sin, addiction, loneliness. God, through His Spirit, is still bringing transformative freedom today. Some people’s Exodus story is still to come. So many are still waiting for their Red Sea to part. They wait for a called, chosen, empowered people to come alongside them and share the world-changing, life-altering good news of Jesus with them.
Questions to Consider:
Read Exodus 13:21-22. Why did God lead them like this?
Where do you sense God’s leading in your life at the moment?
What practices help you stay aware of God’s leading as a community?
Read 14:10-12. What are the things you are tempted to run back to when life gets hard? Why? What happens when you do?
How does fear distort our memory of the past, or our hope for the future?
What does salvation mean? What does redemption mean? Where do you see them in this passage?
How can we better celebrate and remember God’s redemption?
What can we do to bring God’s salvation to others?
Response:
Share in your group the things you are grateful for about God’s redemption and salvation.
Where have you seen God bringing freedom to people in your community?
Prayer Prompts:
Pray for freedom for all who find themselves enslaved in our world today.
Spend time thanking God for all he has done for you.
Additional Resources:
Further Study Resources:
Bible Project - Exodus Scroll
Bible Project - The Exodus Way
Find the full sermon recording here
For a printable version of this guide click here