No Way!

GETTING STARTED

During the summer after fifth grade, I saw the movie Jaws. It was not a good idea! For about a week afterward, I dreamed that there was a giant shark swimming under my bed. I woke up each night convinced I was going to be eaten alive. It was only when my dad turned on the light that I saw reality and relaxed enough to go to back to sleep. The switch in my head would go on with the light: “Oh yeah, I’m safe. There is no shark, and my dad is here.” In today’s passage, God makes a way where there was no way, and the lights go on for the people to see.

  • What in your life makes you feel unsafe? What would make you feel secure in that situation?

READ THE WORD: EXODUS 14:15-31 (ESV)

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

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. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being ta wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 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, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. Make a list of everything that happened to the Israelites in this passage. How did it come about?
  2. Make a list of everything that happens to the Egyptians in this passage. How did it come about?
  3. What all did God do in this passage? Why did he do it, and what was the response of his people?
  4. Before this event, the people of Israel grumbled and whined. Afterward, they “feared the Lord and believed” (vs. 31). Would you say that you are more like the pre-Red Sea people or the post-Red Sea people? What would help you grow in awe and trust of God?

RESPOND TO GOD

God is in the business of getting glory for himself, but not because he is vain or power hungry. God’s glory is for our good. When God’s glory is revealed, God’s people grow in appropriate fear and faith. It is right for us to stand in awe (fear) of God when we see him as he really is—in his sovereign power and love. It is right to grow in trust of God when we see him move in power as he faithfully keeps his promises. When God gets glory, God’s people grow in hope. And God’s glory is never made more clear than when he does for us what we could never do for ourselves. He made us forgiven children of God with hope and a future. He made a way where there was no way.

  • Ask God to give you a glimpse of his glory today.
  • Thank God for the ways you see his glory revealed in and around your life.