Exodus 14:13 (NIV) "Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today."
In 1998 my wife, Patty, and I had accumulated a bunch of airline miles, so we took our two children on a wonderful adventure to Europe for four full weeks! We did a lot of camping and last-minute, drop-in bed and breakfasts. We’ve got lots of fun stories; our kids to this day refer to this as the most memorable family trip we have ever taken.
About two weeks before we took this trip, the famous war movie Saving Private Ryan hit the theaters. It’s one of the most famous movies in the “war movie” genre. The opening scene follows Allied forces invading the European continent by storming the beaches of Normandy and attacking the Nazi army head on. It is a gruesome and horrifying scene of soldiers who faced obstacles, destruction and death for every foot of ground they gained. Three weeks after seeing that movie in the theater, our whole family was standing on those same beaches of Normandy, not as soldiers, but as tourists. We actually camped in a tent right next to a German gun battery. We ate pizza from the small café where they had transformed the WWII war zone into a state park of sorts. While standing on the beach and while strolling through the American cemetery there, I tried to get a handle on the world-altering historical event that had happened in that place on June 6, 1944. As powerful as being there was for me, I did not experience it personally. It was a stroll through history.
Exodus 13-15 –
Crossing the Red Sea on dry land
This Sunday, November 13, we are going to study a similarly famous story from the past. About 3500 years ago, a large group of Hebrews who had been slaves to the Egyptian Empire and the Pharaoh were released from bondage, set free to go worship their God. Egypt had seen nine plagues in their land from the hand of God; then came the final, tenth plague of death at Passover, and Pharaoh said, “Enough! Go!” But then Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he changed his mind again. When the Hebrews got to the edge of the Red Sea, Pharaoh’s best chariots were coming down on them. At their back was the world’s best army, and at their front was an ocean they could not cross.
As you prepare for this Sunday morning, read all of Exodus 13-15. Read it slowly and highlight those things that stand out to you.
No, you and I did not personally experience crossing the Red Sea. That was ancient history. But what does this famous story tell us about who God really is? What can I know about God from this old story? What can I experience for myself?
I will give you a bit of a heads-up about something I am learning from this. Even though we learn about God from old stories and other people’s testimonies, God is a God of personal engagement and personal experience. The Hebrews had watched Moses interact with God, and they had some pride in their history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob interacting with God. But it was at this moment in time, standing on the sandy beach of the Red Sea with an army attacking them, that they experienced the great God of Deliverance in a real and personal way.
See you Sunday morning at 10 a.m. as we explore knowing God together.
