April 26, 2020 Bible Study
Exodus 14:2
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.’
ENCAMP - settle in or establish a camp
CAMP-a place with temporary accommodations
God spoke to Moses, to tell the Israelites to camp, temporarily, by the sea so that later He could deliver them from the wilderness miraculously. God also told Moses that Pharaoh would pursue them but He would gain honor over Pharaoh & his army, so that the Egyptians will know that “I am the Lord”. They did camp but when the Egyptians came after the children of Israel, they were afraid.
Exodus 14:11,12,13
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!”
Here the Israelites told Moses, due to lack of faith, that they would have rather served in bondage to the Egyptians then to die in the desert (wilderness). What ye of little faith? The Israelites did not understand why they were taken out of what they knew their whole life, as normal, to go out into the unknown, possibly to their death. They did not have faith in Moses, who was a servant of God.
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 again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Here Moses tells them to not be afraid but to stand firm & be still! GOD’S GOT YOU!
And what did God do? God thru Moses, parted the sea and allowed the children of Israel to walk on dry land and then defeated the Egyptian warriors that had followed them into the midst of the sea. The Bible says not so much as one survived, the defeat was total.
Exodus 14:31
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.
AMEN!
Between a Rock and a Hard Place refers to a dilemma, a situation offering at least two possibilities, neither of which is acceptable.
I hear this common phrase said a lot- between a rock and a hard place. I have heard some reference this time for the Israelites as such, but I don’t totally agree with that. To the Israelites, it did seem like a rock and a hard place being as they did not want to be enslaved by the Egyptians but they did not want to die. However, the TRUTH here is, God removed them from slavery and then placed them in the (desert) wilderness to prepare them for what was to come. All that the Israelites had known was slavery and viewed that as normal, so to them the wilderness (desert) was a time of uncertainty. But God delivered them from bondage and uncertainty; to a land overflowing with milk and honey. So, this now is not “between a rock and a hard place”, but rather between a rock and a saving grace!
Exodus 3:8
8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
And even though, the Israelites had little faith in Moses, they did encamp; settle in, as God thru Moses instructed them to. God carefully planned this miracle to show that when we are in the wilderness, lost and confused, if we will just be still, God will fight the battle for us. We must have faith & allow God to fight the battle in His way & His timing. We cannot lean on our own understanding therefore we must trust in God.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.[a]
In telling of this great miracle of God, I encourage you to look at this time we are in now as a renewing of the mind. This is the time between; the rock (our past) and our saving grace (what is to come). There are some in the world that think this is God’s way of punishing people, but God does not punish us, the enemy does. Our world unfortunately thrives off sin and what may have seemed normal in the past, for some may have been bondage, just like the Israelites. Even though we may have thought what we were doing was ok or normal, some things may have been a type of bondage that the enemy had over us.
The scripture states in Exodus 14:13- The Egyptians you see today you will never again, therefore, the bondage needs to be left behind (the Rock), to never be seen again. We cannot be certain if God did or didn’t cause this virus to happen, but He does allow such things to see where our Faith lies. In this between time, I encourage you to be focused on what God may be showing you as bondage (from the past) & pray and seek His guidance over it. I encourage you to stand firm on God’s promises and God’s Saving Grace because it is coming! AMEN! I believe if we put our trust in God and know that He is allowing this time for us to let go and give it to Him, our future of true freedom is coming. We often times want to DO and sometimes we just need to be still. DOING could be a type of bondage especially if God is saying be still. God told the Israelites to camp by the sea, settle in, sit for a bit, before he “saved them”. Even if we cannot FEEL GOD, that does not mean He is not fighting for us! I know we have done a lot of studies during this time on FAITH, but if we do not have FAITH in HIM, how will HE fight for us? We have to BE STILL, STAND FIRM, HAVE FAITH and know that GOD’S GOT US!
I encourage you to ask for a renewing of the mind and spirit & let GOD LEAD! Release the worldly bondage & receive God’s renewing!
Romans 12:2
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
One last scripture that I believe we can all learn and apply to our lives. This version is from the Amplified Bible and I love the wording.
Ephesians 6:13
13 Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].
I encourage you to Pray, put on the complete armor of God & stand firm between
The Rock and the Saving Grace!
Lenora Vance
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