In the Book of Exodus, God’s chosen people, the Israelites, are delivered by God out of the hands of the Egyptians by the faithful actions of Moses. Although Pharaoh allowed the Israelites to leave his country, the Israelites had to make haste in case Pharaoh changed his mind. The Israelites kept moving forward by following the presence of the Lord who was leading them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). The Israelites trusted the Pillar that they were following and in turn the Pillar never left its place in front of the people (Exodus 13:22).
Although God was with the Israelites on their exodus out of Egypt, that did not make the road a smooth and easy road to follow. The Israelites had to keep their faith that God would fully deliver them if they continued to follow Him. God had a plan to not only deliver the Israelites but to also gain glory for Himself through Pharaoh and his army (Exodus 14:4). God told Moses to encamp by the Red Sea to make it seem like the Israelites were confused and just wandering. God then hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he decided to pursue the Israelites with his best horsemen and chariots. Exodus 14:10 says, “ as Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.” To the Israelites it had seemed like God had led them into the desert to die at the hands of the Egyptians; however, that was far from the truth. The Israelites couldn’t see God’s full plan and didn’t understand God’s ways. They complained to Moses who told them to stand firm, to not be afraid, and to trust in the Lord. Moses said to them, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent (Exodus 14:14).” The Lord was on their side, the Israelites just needed to trust Him in the midst of the storm.
The Lord told Moses to tell the people to “move forward” (Exodus 14:15 AMP), and that’s when God made a way where it seemed there was no way. Through the outstretched hand of Moses, God divided the Red Sea so that the Israelites could cross on dry land. The Egyptians followed the Israelites across the dry land of the Red Sea, but God kept the Israelites protected. Once the Israelites were safely on the other side of the sea, God told Moses to once again stretch out his hand so that the waters would flow back over the Egyptians (Exodus 14:26). So the water flowed back, and all of the Egyptian horsemen and chariots were swept into the sea and not one of them survived (Exodus 14:28). The Lord had delivered the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians and they put their trust in Him.
Despite the way the circumstances looked, by standing firm the Israelites saw the mighty hand of God at work as He delivered them across the Red Sea. They didn’t have to understand God’s methods or way of doing things. They just had to trust and have faith that God had a plan and that His plan was better than what they could have devised on their own. Despite the bumps along the way, God was always ahead of the Israelites moving them forward as they followed Him.
God still wants us to move forward by following Him today. He made a way for us already through His Son Jesus. In the New Testament Jesus tells us countless times to follow Him. In John 8:12 He says, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” Like the Israelites following the pillar of fire, we can move forward by following the Light and by standing firm in the victory Jesus died to give us. We do not have to continually look back in condemnation at who we were when we walked in the darkness because we are no longer that person. If we are in Christ we are new creations (II Corinthians 5:17) and we can forget what is behind and move forward to what is ahead. We can know for certain that moving forward by following God will always lead us on a better path than what we could make for ourselves.
The Truth in Action – One way the enemy stops us from moving forward in Christ is by keeping our minds focused on who we were before we followed Jesus. This is meant to condemn us for our previous/current actions so that we stay in bondage to our sin. How can you move forward today in the freedom Jesus died to give you? If you are feeling condemnation, repent and move forward by following Jesus’ example. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
Meditate on Scripture: Proverbs 4:25-26 (NIV) – Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.
Further Study: Although God delivered the Israelites out of the hands of the Egyptians, they were not always faithful to God. They discovered that life was not easy, even life with God, and rather than remaining faithful to God chose instead to focus on other means for deliverance. But God remained faithful and showed them mercy, and will always show us mercy as well. Find an account of God’s mercy in the Old Testament and study that account. What does it teach you about our good Father? How can you apply the lessons learned to your everyday life?