The Great Escape

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A reading from the book of Exodus, chapter 14, starting from verse 1 all the way to verse 31.

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi-Hahiroth between Migdal and the sea.

They are to encamp by the sea directly opposite Baal-Ziphon.

Pharaoh will think the Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion hemmed in by the desert.

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.

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've let the Israelites go and have lost their services.

So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.

He took 600 of the best chariots along with all the other chariots of Egypt.

With officers over all of them.

The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

So that he pursued the Israelites who were marching out boldly.

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-Ziphon.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up.

And there were the Egyptians marching after them.

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?

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.

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.

The Lord will fight for you.

You need only to be still.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Why are you crying out to me?

Tell the Israelites to move on.

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.

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.

The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.

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,

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.

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,

and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground,

with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them,

and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground,

with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians,

and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.

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.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God stands forever.

Amen.

You can take your seats.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you that your hand is mightier than any Pharaoh's hand.

And we pray that having witnessed this,

in you showing up in history time and time again to redeem your people,

that you would give us that fear of the Lord,

give us that faith in who you are and what you're capable of.

God, show us your greatness, we pray,

in the preaching of your word.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

So, if I could give myself a grade on parenting this past week,

at best, I'd give myself a C-.

All right.

C-.

It was a rough week.

Every morning, a battle.

Every morning, a rush.

Hurry filled our home.

Come on.

Let's go.

What are you doing?

Get moving.

Hurry up.

Obey.

Or else.

Right.

I was loud.

I was mean.

I was forceful.

I was domineering.

This week, I cracked the whip.

Like, more than I can ever recall.

At best, C-.

Parenting.

Now, what in the world does this have to do with Moses

and the crossing of the Red Sea?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this week,

in the Ong household, I was Pharaoh.

I was Pharaoh.

Or at least, I caught myself living out the same imagination

that animated Pharaoh and his empire.

An imagination dominated by fear and insecurity.

And the sense that, man, if things don't go according to my agenda,

if I start losing the order and the security,

even just in my own household,

everything could just fall apart.

So I better control everyone and everything around me,

no matter the cost.

And if ever my control seems to be slipping out of my fingers,

more pressure, more force,

whatever it takes to get everyone, everything back in line.

That was Pharaoh's way in Egypt.

That was my way in our home this past week.

You know, I think that for a lot of us,

when we approach the scriptures,

we often only ever identify, though,

with the victims and the underdogs,

or maybe the heroes that we're trying to emulate and celebrate.

Like, we can open this book of Exodus,

and we think to ourselves,

okay, we need to have faith like Moses,

like the Israelites,

because look, God delivered the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt.

He defeated their oppressors,

and the power of God's mighty hand went on full display

when the people cried out to him in faith.

So praise God,

trust him in tough times,

and walk by faith,

because even when there seems no way,

God can make a way.

Sermon's over, right?

But what if there's something else going on in this story

that's just as important,

but way easier to miss?

What if this story invites us

not merely to identify with the Hebrew slaves

and with Moses,

but to recognize something of Pharaoh

and his ways in ourselves?

What if Exodus 14 is not just about

how God gets his people out of Egypt,

but also about how God gets Egypt out of his people?

Now, in case you're new,

last week, our lead pastor, Jonathan,

he opened up our series in the book of Exodus,

where we're gonna be giving special attention

to the Ten Commandments,

but before we get there,

we're spending a few weeks

on what happened before the giving of the law.

Because see, the Ten Commandments,

they don't start right there

on page one of the book of Exodus.

No, before God ever tells his people how to live,

and this is so key to understanding the Ten Commandments,

before God ever tells his people how to live,

he delivers them from slavery.

His main intention is not to restrict,

but to liberate and empower,

and that's what we saw last week

in the burning bush,

in the Passover story.

So coming into Exodus chapter 14 today,

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

the Hebrews, they're free now,

no longer slaves.

The incredible, the impossible,

has happened after 430 pilgrim years in Egypt,

and generations of slavery,

the journey out of Egypt has begun.

And they're being led by God himself

in a pillar of cloud by day

and fire by night.

And they're finally on their way.

But then here, in chapter 14,

in verse 2,

God directs them to do something quite strange.

Verse 2 says,

tell the Israelites to turn back

and encamp by the sea.

For some reason,

after leading them in one direction,

God's now telling them to turn around

and backtrack.

Far from the most efficient route

out of Egypt,

God directed them to take a route

that actually made them look silly

and foolish and vulnerable and confused.

And yet this is exactly his intention.

God says in verses 3 and 4,

I want you to look like you're wandering

and confused and trapped.

In fact, I'm planning for Pharaoh

to pursue you with everything he's got,

all his army, his horses, his chariots,

all the things that made him

a great and successful king over Egypt.

And it is precisely when Pharaoh comes at you

with the fullness of his power and his glory

that I will show the world

who all the power and all the glory

actually belong to.

See, the Exodus story isn't primarily

about Moses or the Israelites

and the miraculous things that happened to them.

No, it's a story about the glory of God

over all other powers.

He's in complete control of the story

and everything always plays out

exactly as he has intended.

So, just as God predicted,

in verse 5, Pharaoh is filled with regret.

Egypt's whole economic advantage,

their whole low-cost labor force,

the unjust engine of Pharaoh's empire,

the Hebrews were no longer their slaves.

And especially after 10 severe plagues

that Egypt just suffered,

Pharaoh's entire world is crumbling.

His agenda, his security, his empire,

his status, his legacy,

it's all at risk.

The control that the pharaohs of Egypt

had enjoyed for generations

was now slipping through his fingers.

So, his back's against the wall

and now what does he do?

Well, the only thing he knows to do, right?

The only thing he could ever imagine

or believe that would work,

he reaches for more power,

more force, more pressure.

The whole of his army, every horse,

all the chariots of Egypt, it says.

Because this is how you get control back.

This is how you secure

your own desired outcomes.

You crack the whip as hard as you need to

until everyone and everything

bends the knee to you.

So, even after, again,

suffering 10 terrible plagues

and being on the losing side

of this battle between

the God of the Hebrews

and all the Egyptians'

most powerful gods,

in Pharaoh's mind,

because of the success that he's seen,

the success that he's seen

in his chariots and his horsemen

and his army,

time and time again,

he believes that he still has a chance.

And because he's never known

a God like Yahweh,

he's never known a God

who is completely all-powerful,

he's never known a God

who is incapable of losing,

in Pharaoh's imagination,

he's still got a fighting chance

to regain control by force.

So, just as God designed,

Pharaoh gears up.

And with every military,

every technological advantage

at his disposal,

he goes to reacquire

his escaped assets,

the Hebrews.

And in no time,

the Egyptians are

on the Hebrews' heels.

And as they approach,

verse 10 says,

the Israelites looked up.

And they were terrified,

and they cried out to the Lord,

verse 11,

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?

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.

Did you hear that?

They are literally standing free

outside of Egypt.

And yet Egypt

is not yet outside of them.

It would have been better,

they said.

It would have been better

to live as slaves

of Pharaoh in Egypt

than to die as sons

of Yahweh in the desert.

Though no longer slaves

to Egypt,

they still were slaves

to the fear

and to the threat

of Egypt.

And although Pharaoh

no longer controlled

Hebrew bodies,

he still had a hold

on Hebrew hearts,

Hebrew minds,

Hebrew imaginations,

looking up at Pharaoh's army

in full force,

watching those unstoppable

chariots inch closer

and closer and closer,

hearing the crash

of the roaring waves

behind them,

feeling the mist

of the Red Sea

on their backs,

Israel could only conceive

of two possible outcomes.

They could only imagine

two possible futures

for themselves.

In this moment

where they were trapped

between their former enslavers

and the raging sea

behind them,

as far as they could see,

as far as Pharaoh could see,

as far as anyone could see,

either go back

and live as slaves

or go forward and die.

Slavery or the sea.

And what's so striking

is that Pharaoh and Israel,

you know,

they basically agree here

on all the possible options.

Pharaoh thinks,

I've got them.

They're trapped.

There's nowhere to escape.

And the Hebrews also think,

he's got us.

We're trapped.

And there's nowhere to escape.

The dominance,

even the apparent omnipotence

of Egypt continues to shape

their imaginations,

their sense of what is possible.

Even after witnessing

the ten plagues that God used

to free them from Egypt,

their fears and complaints,

their imaginations reveal

who they really think

is the most powerful one

in control of this moment.

Effectively,

Israel believes the same thing

about power

that Pharaoh does.

They're just on

the other end of it.

And therefore,

they believe they're doomed.

They're hopeless.

They're trapped

with no way out.

Riding his chariot,

Pharaoh says,

I have the power,

therefore I determine

the future.

And facing the chariots,

the Israelites agree.

Pharaoh has the power

and therefore,

he determines our future.

They'd gotten out of Egypt,

but Egypt hadn't gotten

out of them.

Both Pharaoh and Israel,

they were both living

out of the same understanding,

both ruled

by the same imagination.

The same imagination

that ruled me this week.

When I was screaming

at my girls

at the breakfast table,

higher volume,

more pressure,

more threats.

Why?

Because that's how

I implicitly believed

the world to work.

That's what I believed

would secure

my desired outcomes.

Pressure,

tyranny,

aggression,

the ultimate tools

for getting what we want.

In my imagination,

there was no other way.

This is the only way

to get stuff done, right?

And whether you're

on Pharaoh's side of it

or Israel's side of it,

this imagination

is just so prevalent

and influential

if you pay attention to it.

Whether it's,

I have to throw

everything I've got

at this thing

to secure my future,

to secure

my academic outcomes,

my relational outcomes,

my financial,

my career outcomes,

my health outcomes,

more effort,

better technique,

higher investment

because if I don't

concentrate everything

I've got

to make this happen,

who will?

Whether you come at it

like Pharaoh

or whether you come at it

like Israel,

like,

I'm done for.

I'm stuck.

I'm trapped.

And there's no possible

happy ending

because I have no power,

no resources,

no nothing,

no hope for salvation,

no hope for joy,

no hope for my marriage,

my children,

my broken relationships,

my health,

everything's already

been decided for my life

and every possible scenario

stinks.

See,

whether we're desperately

trying to control

our circumstances

or terrified

because of how little

control we have

before the powers that be,

we're basically still living

inside a Pharaoh's imagination

under the shadow

of his oppressive empire

where the future belongs

to whoever can crack

the whip

the hardest.

But here in Exodus chapter 14,

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

God invites his people

to expand

and to even re-imagine

our imaginations,

to inform our imaginations

by the goodness

and the glory

and the infinite omnipotence

of our holy God.

Precisely,

precisely when Pharaoh thinks

that he's got them

right where he wants them,

and precisely when Israel thinks

that Pharaoh's got them

right where he wants them,

trapped with no possible salvation,

Moses,

the prophetic mediator,

the mouthpiece of God,

he speaks to them.

Three commands

and one big truth.

Verse 13,

first command,

fear not,

do not be afraid.

Second command,

stand firm,

or better yet,

stand still.

you could translate this.

And third command,

see.

Behold,

feast your eyes

upon the deliverance

the Lord will bring you

today.

The Egyptians you see today,

you will never see again.

And then this is probably

my favorite part of the whole passage

in verse 14.

One big truth

and one requirement.

The Lord

will fight

for you.

You need only

to be still.

The battle belongs

to the Lord,

he's saying.

You cannot fight

your way free.

You cannot swim

your way free.

You cannot deliver

your own deliverance.

You must

allow Yahweh

to do that for you.

You cannot do

what only Yahweh can do.

You need not fight

or win your own battles.

You need only

be still

and know

that God

is God.

So,

God invites his people

to go from

bewildered

by the hand of Pharaoh

to beholding

the mighty hand

and outstretched arm

of God.

When in verse 10

it says the Israelites

looked up,

saw the Egyptians

and were terrified,

now here in verse 13

their Lord invites them

to look again

but now higher

toward him.

To see reality

for what it really is

at every point

held and guided

by the mighty hand

of Yahweh.

He wants to fix their eyes

on a power

and on possibilities

far beyond those

of Pharaoh's imagination.

Because,

as he said in verse 4,

he says it again

in verses 17 and 18,

he's on a mission

to manifest his glory,

to make himself known

to Israel,

to the great

and mighty empire

of Egypt

and really to all

the watching world

here between

the Egyptians

and the Red Sea

where the salvation

of his people

seems like an absolute

impossibility.

Yahweh makes himself

known as the God

who creates possibilities

that neither Pharaoh

nor Israel

nor anyone else

could have imagined.

And how?

By making a way

where there was no way,

dry ground

through the middle

of the sea.

It's incredible,

this crossing

of the Red Sea.

Now, if you are

a modern Western

scientific person,

that should sound

pretty amazing to you,

right?

That just,

that doesn't happen,

right?

And as a side note,

if you're here

and you struggle

with Christianity

because of stories

like this,

we're super glad

you're here.

We'd love to speak

to you about your

obstacles and objections

but what we also

want to communicate

to you is,

hey,

at the heart

of the Christian faith

is a crucified Messiah

who was raised

on the third day.

And Christians,

you know,

we aren't a gullible people

but what I would say

is we do have

a very expansive,

joyful,

and hopeful imagination

when it comes to

what our God

can and cannot do.

And we'd love

to invite you

to try that on

and to imagine

and dream with us.

But back to the story again,

for modern scientific people

like us,

right?

This Red Sea event,

it should sound

super amazing,

supernatural,

right?

Unnatural.

But man,

if you were an Egyptian,

if you were an Israelite,

if you were someone

steeped in the mythological culture

of the ancient Near East,

man,

this wasn't just

some unnatural,

supernatural occurrence.

This was so much

more than that.

I want you to notice

what might seem like

a minor detail

in verses 2 and 9.

Do you see where it indicates

the location of this event?

It says that they're

camped out opposite

of this place called

Baal Zephon.

If you know

some of the other parts

of your Bible,

Baal was this God

that many people

in the region

worshipped.

That's because

this was an area

where the worship

of Baal Zephon

was very dominant.

He was known

as the storm God.

Baal Zephon

was associated

with the storm God Baal

known throughout

the region

for his hard-fought

victory over Yam,

which means the sea.

Alright,

so Baal Zephon,

he's known as the storm God

who's defeated

the great power

of the sea.

And in fact,

in the world of Exodus,

across the ancient Near East,

in the stories people

told about their gods

and the ordering

of their universe,

the sea

was often seen

as a threatening,

ominous,

chaotic power

that the gods

waged violent war against,

triumphing only

through fierce

and dangerous struggle.

And they had to fight

in order

to establish

their supremacy

and their kingship.

So you think about

the Babylonian myth

of Marduk

defeating Tiamat,

right?

Or here,

Baal defeating

Yam,

the sea.

But,

in both these stories,

these are battles

where the gods

have worthy opponents.

They have rivals

and so they need weapons.

Baal has to have

another god

make special weapons

so that he could defeat

Yam,

the sea.

Marduk goes to war

with a bow

and arrow,

with a club,

a net,

lightning,

and wind.

Because these gods

are going up

against powers

that can actually

threaten them.

In the ancient

Near Eastern imagination,

the sea was a power

that threatened

both men

and even their gods.

And so,

in these stories,

there's always a struggle,

there's always danger,

there's always risk

and uncertainty

about who's gonna

come out on top.

But now let's come back

to Exodus 14

and watch Yahweh

and the sea.

Is there a battle here?

Is there a struggle?

Is there any uncertainty,

peril,

or risk?

None.

None,

because the sea

isn't another god

vying for power

against Yahweh.

No,

the sea is powerful.

Yes,

more powerful than Israel,

more powerful than Pharaoh,

more powerful than many

of the ancient Near Eastern gods.

But to Yahweh,

the sea

is his creation.

And from the very beginning

of the creation

of the world,

he looked out

upon the ominous,

threatening,

chaotic,

disorderly deep,

and he simply spoke it

into order.

He spoke life

into the world

with the holy breath

of his authoritative words.

And he does so here again.

Verse 21,

Yahweh sends the wind,

he sends his breath,

and the sea moves,

the waters divide,

dry ground appears.

And when he wants

the waters back

where they were,

they go back.

And he even uses

his human servant mediator,

Moses,

to accomplish this.

And Moses himself

doesn't even struggle.

So even as Yahweh

fights for Israel,

he is at the same time

not fighting against

the sea

or any rival.

The sea isn't his rival,

it's his servant.

And that is what Exodus

wants us to see

about Israel's God.

Yahweh isn't just

another ancient storm god

who happens to be stronger

than Baal

and the gods of Egypt.

He's not Marduk

with a better arsenal

of weapons.

It's not like he's got

better tech and gear

than Pharaoh

with his 600 best chariots.

Yahweh is simply,

he's not simply

the strongest god

in the same category

as these other gods.

No, he's in a category

all of his own.

Whereas Baal has to

defeat the sea

to establish his kingship,

whereas Marduk

has to conquer Tiamat

to establish his supremacy,

Yahweh commands the sea

because he's already king.

He doesn't become sovereign

by winning this battle.

The battle reveals

that he's always been sovereign.

Yahweh isn't merely

showing Israel

that he's a better warrior

than Pharaoh.

He's showing them

that he,

and he alone,

is the creator.

And when the creator

is in the story,

Pharaoh doesn't get

to decide

what is possible.

The sea doesn't get

to decide

what is possible.

Even the apparent limits

of creation

don't get to decide

and give the final word

because the creator

can make a way

where there is no way.

When Pharaoh thought

that the sea

was his trap,

Yahweh turned

Pharaoh's trap

into Israel's highway.

This treacherous,

threatening,

unwieldy body of death,

this raging sea,

the thing everyone thought

marked the end of the road

for God's people,

God made a way

through it.

A way to salvation

through the waters,

a way to bring glory

to himself

as the creator

and savior God

who he is.

You know,

another way you could

tell the story

of the exodus

is as the story

of the creator

bringing about

a new creation

and particularly

of subverting

Pharaoh's

anti-creation agenda,

his anti-creation

dominion.

If you think about it,

Pharaoh's really been

an anti-creator

figure from the beginning

of the story in Exodus.

If you look back

in Exodus chapter 1

Exodus 1:7

verse 7,

it says,

the Israelites

were exceedingly fruitful,

they multiplied greatly,

increased in numbers,

and became so numerous

that the land

was filled with them.

Does that language

sound familiar to you?

Sounds like Genesis 1, right?

The beginning of the Bible,

Genesis 1, 28,

God creates human beings,

he blesses them,

and he says,

be fruitful,

multiply,

and fill the earth.

And yet,

what does Pharaoh do

when he sees the Hebrews

being fruitful

and multiplying

and filling his land?

He says,

this has got to stop.

This is not good for me.

This is not good for the world,

for my empire.

So he enslaves them.

He reduces image bearers

to units of production

who make bricks

to build store cities

so that he can,

you know,

accumulate and store

and accumulate and store

and produce and consume

and produce and consume

without limit

and at the expense

of his expendable slaves.

And yet,

when slavery doesn't stop

their fruitfulness,

they continue to grow in number.

He commands

that their sons be killed.

He cranks up the oppression.

Throw every Hebrew boy

into the Nile

by violently opposing

the creator's blessing

upon the world

that his people be fruitful,

multiply,

fill the earth with his image.

Pharaoh,

as an anti-creator character,

not only hurts the Hebrews,

but he even hurts

his own empire.

Because what happens

when God looks down

upon his people

crying out

under the thumb

of this Egyptian anti-creator?

Well, creation itself

starts to come apart

in Egypt through the plagues,

right?

The Nile,

the source of Egypt's life,

turns to blood.

Fish and livestock die.

Crops are destroyed.

The sun stops giving light.

Darkness covers the land.

It's like they're going backwards

from the creation story.

And death comes upon

every household

that has not placed its faith

in the true creator God.

Under Pharaoh's reign,

within his imagination,

creation,

Egypt experiences

de-creation.

The national order

that Pharaoh was so

desperate to control

comes apart

in his bloody hands.

And all of his,

and all of this,

it reaches its climax here

in Exodus 14

at the Red Sea,

where just as Pharaoh

had weaponized

the waters of the Nile

against those Hebrew boys,

now the waters

of the Red Sea

are about to fall

in judgment

upon the warriors

of Egypt.

But you know

what's interesting

is that for God's people,

those same waters

became the place

of new creation

and life

and salvation.

They're like baptismal waters

for them.

Just like in the beginning

and just like when God

started over with Noah,

the wind blew,

the waters moved,

the ground appeared,

and God's people emerged

on the other side.

But why only for Israel

and not also for Egypt?

When Hebrews chapter 11,

Hebrews 11:29

verse 29,

it says that by faith,

the people passed through

the Red Sea

as on dry land.

But when the Egyptians

tried to do so,

they were drowned.

Did you hear the difference?

It's by faith.

By faith in God's word.

When God told them

in verse 15,

tell the Israelites

to move on,

they did.

They simply took

step by step

by faith,

walking through

the treacherous sea

between the walls

of water

that they just

had to trust

would not come

collapsing down

on them.

But Egypt,

Egypt charges in

trusting not

in the word

of the Lord,

but trusting

in what Egypt

had always put

its trust in,

in horses,

in chariots,

in military strength.

And right there

in the middle

of the sea,

that's where

Pharaoh's imagination

finally dies.

Because the chariots

can't save them.

Verse 25 says,

God jams their wheels.

Think about that.

The very technology

that made Egypt

look unstoppable.

The very thing

Pharaoh trusted

to secure

his desired future

became useless,

a hindrance to him.

And the Egyptians

finally recognize here

and cry out

what Israel should have

known and believed

all along.

Yahweh is fighting

for them.

Yahweh is fighting

for his people

and not as some

king kidnapping,

not as like a king

who's like kidnapping

some immigrant laborers

to build his own

alternative empire.

No.

He doesn't call them

to himself

to be his slaves.

Do you remember

what Yahweh told Pharaoh

all the way back

in Exodus chapter 4?

Exodus 4 · chapter mention

In Exodus chapter 4,

Exodus 4:22

verse 22 and 23,

Yahweh tells Moses

to say to Pharaoh,

Israel is my firstborn son.

Let my son go

so he may worship me.

And this is who

the Hebrews have always been

in God's eyes,

not Pharaoh's slaves,

Yahweh's sons,

Yahweh's children.

So you see what God

is doing here at the Red Sea

in the whole book of Exodus.

This isn't just God

getting his son

out of Pharaoh's house.

He's beginning to get

the mind of a slave

out of his sons,

out of Israel.

Because slaves,

slaves look up,

they see Pharaoh

and they tremble.

Slaves assume

Pharaoh gets the final word.

Slaves think the future

belongs to the one

with the most

threatening whip.

But God is teaching

these slaves

what it means

to live as sons,

to look up

and see more

than Pharaoh's chariots,

but to see the Lord

of hosts,

who is at the same time

their liberating king

and their affectionate father.

He's teaching his sons

to receive his word

and walk in his ways,

not by the crack

of the whip

as I did

with my girls

this past week,

but with a mighty hand

and an outstretched arm

and with a gentle,

patient,

and loving posture

toward his grumbly children.

See, the point of Exodus

isn't simply

liberation from slavery,

but liberation for

and unto sonship.

The point of Exodus

isn't simply,

wow, Yahweh is

a powerful God

worth trusting,

but Yahweh is also

a loving father

worth living with.

And man,

I think that's what

I was missing

when I was Pharaoh

to my daughters

in my home

this past week.

living within the imagination

of Pharaoh

and his empire.

I thought being a good father

meant controlling my daughters.

I thought I needed

to control them

with force and pressure

and more and more

threatening cracks

of the whip.

But you know,

on Friday,

after like really

just laying it

into my girls

before they hit it off

to school,

I went for my daily walk

with my dog Sammy

and with God

and my heart sank

and I had to fight back tears.

Why?

Because I knew

that the father

I had been to my girls

that morning

was so far

from the father

I've been trying

to point my girls to

in these past eight years

of being a dad.

Our father in heaven.

Hallowed be his name.

Our holy and good,

good father

who is a father

without equal.

And it wasn't even just

that I was treating

my girls like my slaves,

but man,

at the same time

that I was playing Pharaoh,

I too was treating

my own self

as a slave.

A slave to Pharaoh's imagination,

a slave to the idea

that cracking the whip

is the only way

to win in this world.

Sure,

I was holding the whip,

but I was acting

way more like a slave

than a son.

You know,

in the Gospel of Luke,

chapter nine,

Jesus is up there

on the mount

of transfiguration.

Transfiguration.

And as he's praying,

his face and his clothes

all become bright

and glorious,

and then Moses appears

with Elijah,

and they start talking

to Jesus about his departure,

or in the Greek,

his exodus.

And basically,

they're talking about

his cross,

his sacrifice,

or what Jesus calls

his own baptism.

The way he will put sin

to death

through his blood

and triumph over death

and evil

by taking upon himself

the deathly judgment

threatening all God's children.

So,

they're on this mountain,

right?

They're talking about

how he will become

the ultimate Passover lamb

whose blood will cover

and protect every child

of God from judgment.

But then Peter comes in,

right?

And he's like,

Master,

it is good for us

to be here.

Let us start building

some shelters

for you guys.

And Luke tells us

he did not know

what he was saying.

It's almost like

all Peter could think

to do was to

try to make himself useful,

to serve,

try to build something,

get something done,

bring value,

advance the ball

a couple more yards

for God.

And I wonder

if that's how so many of us

show up in the world.

We wake up every day

trying to advance the ball

a couple more yards.

And when we hit obstacles,

we get more and more forceful.

And to us,

it just feels like resilience.

It just feels like

the natural way of the world.

That's how you get stuff done,

right?

And sure,

we want to be Christians

who are diligent.

But how often

does our diligence

actually turn into

desperation

and being incredibly demanding?

How often does our diligence

come more from anxiety

and insecurity

and a slavish mindset

than from the humble desire

of a son

to honor his father

but within our God-given limits?

You know,

when Peter seemingly goes

into servant-slave mode,

it's always stuck out to me

what God says to him

at the Mount of Transfiguration.

He says,

Peter,

this is my son

whom I love.

With him,

I am well pleased.

Just listen to him.

It's like God was telling Peter,

Peter,

my son,

I didn't ask you to do anything

other than fix your eyes

on my son

whom I love.

You see this?

You see this brilliance?

You see my delight in him?

How pleased I am with him?

This is the whole thing,

Peter.

The very thing

he came to accomplish

and offer.

Peter,

you don't need to build

something for the son.

You need the son

to accomplish something for you.

Listen to him.

Look at him.

Love him.

Lean on him.

Because this son

is about to accomplish

the exodus

that none of us

could ever accomplish

for ourselves.

At the first exodus,

Israel stood between

their old life of slavery

and the seemingly

only other option,

the waters of death,

until their mediator,

Moses,

with a mighty

and outstretched arm,

right,

as if it was

the very hand of God

made a way,

a way of salvation

through the deathly waters

into life

and freedom

through the sea.

And when Pharaoh's

forces followed,

they didn't survive

the baptism

of the Red Sea.

There was no exodus

for them

because they had

no mediator

to follow by faith.

But now,

a greater mediator

has come.

And he's gone

through a greater baptism

all alone at first

to accomplish

a far greater exodus.

Except this time,

this mediator's hand

seems far less mighty.

Instead of clutching

a wooden staff,

it's pierced through,

outstretched

and nailed

to a cross of wood.

And when this mediator

is baptized

in the judgment of God,

he actually tastes

death for you

and for me

to bear the judgment

that every child of God

but him

has ever deserved

for all the ways

that we feared

and followed

the pharaohs

of this world

instead of our

Father in heaven.

And it's not until

the third day

that he emerges

from the waters

of judgment,

but emerge he does

to guarantee

resurrection life,

new creation,

to chart a new way

in our broken world

in which there often

seems to be

no good way,

no good option,

no good possible outcome.

This is what he does

and this is the gospel.

The gospel of Exodus,

the gospel of new creation,

the gospel of sonship

for former slaves

like you and me.

Slaves to sin and death,

slaves to the imagination

of Pharaoh

and slaves to fear

and terror

and insecurity.

Jesus,

the greater Moses,

Yahweh himself,

the Messiah King

has come in the flesh,

not to crack the whip,

but to bear the whip

in our place

to bring many sons

to glory.

So,

if this is our God,

why would we continue

to live with

limited imaginations

determined by the empires

of Pharaoh?

Why would we continue

to tremble before

the chariots

and keep living

like no one can save us

but ourselves

when instead

we can live

in our Father's love

and liberty

and in the fullness

and freedom

won for us

in Christ?

So,

as we move on

toward Moses' law,

this,

the gospel,

it's so essential.

The Ten Commandments

aren't new restrictions

for a newly enslaved people,

but they are the way

that liberated children

of God

live in harmony

with their Father

and with each other

after the image

of Christ.

So,

let's live that way

and trust Him.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Lord,

would you expand

our imaginations

to see the world

as you see it,

to know that

with you

and in you

all things are possible

and all things

turn out for good

for those who love Christ.

We thank you

for our better

mediator Christ,

for His baptism,

for His exodus,

and that you have

graciously invited us

to join Him

in that baptism,

in that exodus.

God,

let us set our eyes

on Jesus

and would He

prove Himself

to be the author

and perfecter

of our faith

and would our lives

demonstrate to the world

all the possibilities

that are in you

and only in you.

In your Son's name we pray.

Amen.