Lesson 57 - Junior

Memory Verse

"By faith they passed through the Red  sea as by dry land" (Hebrews 11:29).

Notes

The Exodus Begun

The Children of Israel started their triumphal march to the Land Of Canaan. It was not a great distance, because we remember that the sons of Jacob had gone from Canaan to Egypt to buy corn twice; and when Jacob died, Joseph and a great company of his family and servants returned to Canaan to bury his father. If the Israelites had followed the instructions of Moses and had trusted God implicitly, they would no doubt have come into their inheritance in a short time. But because of unbelief and disobedience, they wandered around in the wilderness for forty years, until all the people, except Caleb and Joshua, who were over twenty years of age when they left Egypt, had died.

God had worked great miracles in order to induce the Egyptians to let His people go, but a greater triumph was sty ahead. No sooner had the Egyptians recovered from the shock caused by the death of their first born than they decided they had done the wrong thing in freeing their slaves. After all, the Jews had done a very great amount of work for their cruel masters, and their absence would be keenly felt.

When Pharaoh saw the direction they had taken (a company of about three million people with all their flocks and herds could not hope to cover their trail), he ordered his army to pursue them with horses and chariots. There was a more direct route which the king probably expected them to take; but because it led through the land of the Philistines who would no doubt declare war against them, God had directed the Children of Israel to take the route toward the Red Sea. God did not feel that His people were prepared to fight so soon after being freed from slavery when they had never had the opportunity to assert their rights nor defend themselves. Pharaoh probably thought they were lost when they pushed their way into this narrow passage between the mountains with the Red Sea in front of them. Perhaps he laughed at them, and considered that it would be easy to go after them and make them return to Egypt.

Divine Guidance

But God was leading His people. During the day a pillar of cloud went before them to lead the way and also as a covering from the hot sun (Psalm 105:39). At night it was a pillar of fire, which led them if they marched, and was a light to them. God Himself spoke to the people from the pillar, showing that He was right there with them ([EXO:16:10-11]; [EXO:33:9]). He had brought them into this narrow place that He might once more show His mighty power.

When we get into hard places we should not murmur and say that our God does not take very good care of us. We should trust that He knows best, and be submissive to His will so that He can get glory from our lives.

The Children of Israel should have learned to trust God by this time, after all the wonders they had seen Him perform in Egypt; but as soon as they saw the Egyptians coming after them, they became frightened. They thought they were going to die, and considered slavery in Egypt better than death.

The Lord's Battle

Moses did not condemn them for their cowardice, for he realised they were weak. He encouraged them with those beautiful words: "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD . . . . The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. " Would it not be wonderful to stand still and watch God do their fighting for them? We have just that same privilege today. God wants us to stand still and let Him solve all our problems for us. We are not to worry or fret when things go wrong; but if we take our cares to Jesus He will make all things come right.

Surrounded

Try to imagine the position of this great company of people. There were mountains on both sides of them, the Egyptian army behind them, and a great body of water in front of them. Remember that they were on foot, with no weapons of war to fight with. They had nothing with which to make rafts or boats to cross the sea. But they had God! God was their shield and their weapon. All they had to do was stand still and see His power.

The pillar of cloud had led the people this far, but it lifted itself and stood behind the camp of Israel so the Egyptians could not even see them. But to the Israelites it was light. Just so is the Word of God today: to the Christian it is light and a guide to Heaven; but to the sinner who refuses to heed it, it is stern judgment and darkness. All night long the cloud was so thick between the Egyptians and the Children of Israel that they could not see each other.

The Israelites were hemmed in on all sides, and then God told them to go ahead. Was that unreasonable? Maybe we sometimes think the commands of God are unreasonable, but He always makes the way for us to do what He asks us to do. God told Moses to stretch out his rod over the Red Sea, and the waters would separate so the people could walk through on dry land. Wouldn't you be surprised to come to a lake and have the waters suddenly part and pile up on each side of a passageway through the middle? But that is just how powerful God is. This must have been a wide path because all those people and their animals had to get through in one night.

Broken Chariots

When God saw the Egyptians following the Children of Israel into the Red Sea, He made the wheels come off their chariots so they could not catch up. Imagine all the confusion on the sea bed: some chariots stalled because their wheels were off; the horses excited and prancing around with impatience because they could not go forward; other chariots not able to pass those in trouble; and everyone shouting at everyone else to do something.

As soon as the Israelites had made the crossing, the waters returned, pouring right over their pursuers, and drowning them all. Not one escaped. When daylight came, God's people could see the dead bodies of the Egyptians being washed to shore. "Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians."

The Song of Moses

How happy were the children of God! They had been delivered from the bondage of Egypt, and their oppressors had been destroyed. Moses led the people in a beautiful song of praise, one of the grandest poems ever written. It was their song of deliverance through the mercy of God. We have an account in the book of Revelation of another group who sang this song, which is called the Song of Moses, and they added, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest" (Revelation 15:3, 4). The power of the wicked one has been broken; the judgments of God have been shown to all people. As Israel was brought out of Egyptian bondage, so we are brought out of the bondage of the devil when we are saved; and so we will be taken out of this world of sin into Heaven when Jesus comes. The passing through the Red Sea is a type of our water baptism ([1CO:10:1-2]).

Questions

1. Did Pharaoh let the people go in peace after they started?

2. Whom did he send in pursuit?

3. What did the Israelites do when they saw their pursuers?

Is that what they should have done?

4. How were the Children of Israel led by day? By night?

5. What happened to the cloud when the Egyptians came close?

6. What did God tell the Israelites to do?

7. What happened when Moses stretched out his rod?

8. How did the Israelites go through the Red Sea?

9. Did the Egyptians go through? Why not?

10. What was the song that Moses sang?