Beginning of Freedom

November 17, 2013 Background Scripture: Exodus 13:17 – 22; 14 Lesson Passage: Exodus 14:13, 14, 21 – 30 Our lesson today marks the beginning of the birth of the nation of Israel from the oppressive womb of Egypt. When the family clan of Jacob (Israel) entered Egypt as honored guests, they were numbered as seventy souls. In other words, when the family entered Egypt and joined Joseph and his family, they were a family of average size. The events in today’s lesson took place about four hundred years later when the family of Israel numbered over six hundred thousand war-ready men. When the entire family is considered, the total is estimated at between two and four million strong. This is no longer a family but rather a nation of people. As we noted in previous lessons, through a series of ten plagues, God convinced Pharaoh that resisting Him was futile. Pharaoh relented and allowed the nation of Israel to leave their Egyptian bondage and follow Moses into the wilderness. Israel was now out of Egypt but they were not out of danger. Their past would still haunt them as they looked over their shoulders in anticipation of the pursuit of the well-armed and trained militia of the Egyptians. Perhaps every time they saw a cloud of dust over the horizon, they would again fear their captivity and return to Egypt as they imagined that this cloud was an Egyptian pursuit. They would not be truly free until the strong arm of oppression that once held them was broken and utterly destroyed. They could count on God to ensure that this would happen. God set the stage for this ultimate beginning of freedom for Israel. God led the nation with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This is significant because it shows that God was ordering their steps. They did not come into this situation on their own but as a result of following God. (This is worth noting for Christians today. If we find ourselves in a situation we don’t want to be in, it would serve us well to ask if we got there on our own or did we get there by following God. If God led us there, then He has a purpose for us even in the midst of situations and circumstances we would rather avoid.) God was doing more than delivering Israel. He was also clarifying His sovereignty and dominion for the Egyptians who did not worship Him. God could have sent the death angel through Egypt as He did before and destroyed the entire host of Egypt. Instead, He chose a method that would become a testimony for Israel throughout their generations. God used the nation of Israel as bait to lure Pharaoh and his army into the trap set for their destruction. Israel was afraid but God had it all under control. God used Moses to part the Red Sea that once stood as a formidable obstacle to them. Israel crossed through the midst of the Red Sea on dry ground while the waters were being held back by God. The water stood in heaps as a wall on each side of the pathway created through the sea. Pharaoh, with his chariots, horses, and men of war, pursued after Israel into the dry sea bed. When Israel was completely out of the sea and Pharaoh’s army in it, God caused the waters to return to their full strength thus drowning Pharaoh and his army. The children of Israel saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians washed upon the shore of the Red Sea the next morning. Their enemy was defeated and destroyed. Israel no longer had to worry about looking over their shoulder in fear. This was the beginning of their freedom. Robert C. Hudson November 8, 2013