Come this time forth and evermore, His wisdom be your guide. Amen. Let us turn to the word of the Lord, Exodus chapter 13. We'll begin reading at verse 17. That's page 70 in the Bible's Under the Seats, Genesis, Exodus. Exodus chapter 13 and we'll read from 13 verse 17 to 14 verse 14. Let us hear the Word of God. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea, and the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here. And they moved on from Sukkoth and encamped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-Hahiroth, between Migdal and the sea, in front of Baal-Zephon. You shall encamp facing it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, they are wandering in the land. The wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.' And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people. And they said, What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us? So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them and camped at the sea by Pi-hahiroth in front of Baal-ziphon. When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt? Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians. For would it have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness?" And Moses said to the people, Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you. and you have only to be silent. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, According to Egyptian theology, there are many gods and goddesses and the character of the gods, the character of divine beings is impulsive and unpredictable. The conservative scholar Douglas Stewart once summarized the common view of divine beings in this way, quote, the gods and goddesses that control the world were seen as arbitrary and capricious, quick to change their actions and attitudes, constantly vying with one another for power. not omnipresent but manifesting themselves at given locations and then leaving those locations unpredictably." End of quote. You see, false theology is often deeply ingrained in the hearts and minds of individuals and of a culture. And so despite all of what just happened with the 10 plagues. And despite how plainly Yahweh, the God of Israel, has revealed there are not many gods, there is only one God, and my character, my being is not at all like that. Because of their false theology and their unbelief, Pharaoh and his servants are still trapped in this way of thinking. This is how They think about any god. Brothers and sisters, today, in some ways, our false theologies are the opposite. Instead of many gods, there's no god. Instead of many gods who are arbitrary, quick to judge, unpredictable, fickle, instead of that, if there is a god, then that god must If he's loving, he must not ever judge anyone at all. We kind of have the opposite false theologies ingrained into our cultures. But Satan does not care where our false theology goes. He does not care how we misrepresent or deny the one true God. And any misrepresentation of God takes us away from from the truth, the truth of the one true God who has revealed himself in scripture as the Belgic Confession summarizes he is, eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty, completely wise, just and good and the overflowing fountain of all good. That is God. and who God is. God is not fickle. God has a wise and eternal plan. And this leads to our theme this morning. Yahweh does not lead in random circles. And we'll look first at how Israel is led by the Lord's pillar. And we'll just, as we're introduced to the pillar, we'll speak about it a little bit, even as we'll talk about this pillar more as we continue through Exodus. The Lord willing is with them constantly. and then we'll look at Israel led to the water's edge and then we'll look at Pharaoh led to the water's edge. Well our first point is again Israel led by the Lord's pillar. This supernatural pillar, it's a pillar of cloud by day and then when night comes you can see the fire which is within this pillar and it lights up the night. This is God who is invisible manifesting, displaying his visible presence in a special and supernatural way. Indeed, so closely is God associated with this special manifestation of his power that sometimes the text simply calls the pillar the Lord. Look at verse 21, and the Lord went before them. He went before them in a pillar of cloud. But there's this sense in which the language of the text refers to the cloud as the Lord. Or if one of the texts much later in the history of God's people, Isaiah described this cloud in this special way. In Isaiah chapter 63, looking back at the history of God's people and this pillar, this special pillar which was with them constantly for, if we read ahead a little bit, a few books of the Bible, 40 years. Isaiah looked back at this time and at this pillar and he called the pillar the angel of God's presence. Isaiah chapter 63 verse 9. This is God's special presence. This is God visibly going before the nation of Israel and showing them the way to go. And where is God taking his people? Well, we will look in our second point at where God is taking them But here, the first thing we see about the pillar is where God is not taking them. God is not taking them by the way of the land of the Philistines, middle of verse 17. What is that way? Well, he's not taking them northeast. He's not taking them on that major trade route, which is still a major coastal highway along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It's still a major coastal highway to this day. It was a significant trade route and has now been a significant road of travel for millennia. This is one of the most famous roads in the history of the world. The Roman Empire called it the Via Maris, the way of the sea, the way of the Mediterranean Sea, along the Mediterranean coast. The promise is to go into the promised land, and that is the shortest way, the most direct way. It's a huge road. This is a place where a nation could travel. You're going along the coast. You've got what you need. This is the way to go, right? Well, the problem with going this way is that the Philistines occupy that road. Its short distance between Egypt and Canaan is occupied by the Philistines. And while it is true that the Philistines are another idolatrous people which the Lord will eventually judge through his servants such as Samson and David, at this time the Lord has not ordained to punish the Philistines. God is patient. The Philistines are allowed to remain. And now if we move back and if we think just in terms of the people's power and their own might, what's going to happen if the Lord is not fighting for Israel? What's going to happen? Well, they're a nation now. They're two million plus strong, probably. They have these hundreds of thousands of men of fighting age. Couldn't they probably take on the Philistines? The Philistines weren't a great nation yet. Well, here's the problem. The problem is they were slaves. They were slaves. How many of them know how to use a weapon? They are going out in some way like a marching military. Look at the end of verse 18, they went out from the land of Egypt equipped for battle. We know that they had some weapons, specifically short swords are mentioned in Exodus chapter 32, but this is not a trained army. It was in the interest of the Egyptians that their enslaved people would not know how to fight on their own strength. So what is God saying? God is saying, well, there's the short route. There's the direct route. But I'm not going to fight the Philistines for you. The time for any judgment upon the Philistines is not yet. So we're not going to go that way. We're not going to take the short, easy, direct way. Now, people of God, there are many applications when we think about the pillar of cloud and fire. But we can begin with a couple of applications right here in the very first thing that the pillar of cloud and fire does. It does not go by the Via Maris. It does not go by the way of the Mediterranean Sea. The implication is they begin by going south into the southern wilderness. What is God showing us here? What is this a picture of in Old Testament terms? Brothers and sisters, it's a reminder that God will not always lead us on the path which seems obvious to us. This is a biblical truth. It's vividly pictured here by an entire nation moving by the direct guidance of the pillar of God's fire. But it's a picture of what we might call a rather straightforward spiritual truth that God does not always do what seems straightforward to us. Let's take the short road. Let's take the big road. God, you just defeated the Egyptians. You can wipe out the Philistines too, even though they're way more military trained than we are. This is it, right? Boom. Short route. We're done. End of story. And in our life, we say, this is the way we're going to go, right? We're going to take the coastal road along the Mediterranean Sea. It's going to be short and it's going to be beautiful and that's it. And God says, we're going to go that way. It's an Old Testament picture vividly showing us the truth that God's way is not our way, not the way that seems obvious. At this point, brothers and sisters, notice that This is where Joseph is mentioned in the text. Verse 19, that the bones of Joseph were taken with him as they went. And isn't this the place where Joseph should be mentioned? Because isn't Joseph the Old Testament saint who stands as a picture of one who trusted in God even though he was not taken on the obvious path? even though he was taking on the winding road, even though he was taking on the road of suffering. But what lesson did Joseph know so well and profess with his faith so well? Though you meant it for evil, God meant it for good. He trusted that the shortest and direct route was not always the best route. He trusted that the Lord would lead him according to the Lord's plan and the Lord's way. In New Testament terms, the Apostle says it this way in Romans 8 verse 28, and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. This is an Old Testament text which gives us a vivid and nationwide picture of that truth worked out. I'm not gonna take you the short road. And then second, God will not take his people into a battle or hardship they are not prepared for. Remember that in pure military terms, if they go on their own strength against the Philistines, even if they outnumber the Philistines, it is not going to go well. They do not have the most advanced military technology. Again, the only mentioned weapon is some short swords that probably part of the plunder that they took on the day of Exodus. They do not have the most advanced technology. And even if they did, they wouldn't know how to use it. They probably didn't even grab any bows and arrows because they don't know how to use a bow and arrow. If they march into the Philistine army, they would be defeated. Look at the end of verse 17. Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. Again, it's a nationwide picture of the truth that God does not take us into that which we are not prepared to face. How does the New Testament state that truth? The Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 13, No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it." Brothers and sisters, these are truths simply stated in some places, vividly pictured on this huge scale here as the Israelites begin to wander around in what seems like a random direction. And we're going to now get into that more here with our second point, They're not going the Via Maris, the way of the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Where are they going? They're led eventually to the Red Sea. Israel led to the water's edge. And this is a way which seems random. If we look at all the place names in chapter 14, verse 2, We don't know exactly where those are. They're probably small little outposts on the edge of Egypt where the huge nation of Israel could easily encamp. So it's not surprising we don't know where these places are anymore. So we can't map it out and literally draw a circle. But the big picture is this. They're not going that short road that everybody would have expected. They're not going northeast. So they started what? They started going south. further into the desert. And then after they were going south, at one point, they turn completely around and go back north. Look at verse 2. Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-Hehiroth, between Migdal and the sea. Again, this is not the Mediterranean Sea, where everybody would have expected them to go. No. No, they didn't do this. They did that. And then they turn around, and now they're here at the Red Sea. They're surrounded by the desert, and they're backed up against the Red Sea. In military terms, this is random. This looks foolish. It looks like a bunch of slaves who don't know what they're doing. Oh, I guess we can't go that way, because maybe the Philistines would beat us. Oh, let's try to go into the desert. Oh, you know what? I don't think we want to go that far into the desert. That doesn't look good. Let's maybe go back over here, and we'll just hang out by the Red Sea, because we don't know what to do. That's what it looks like. It looks like a random circle. 14, verse 3. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, they are wandering in the land, and the wilderness has shut them in." It looks like a random circle. It looks like confusion and slaves who don't know what to do. But people of God, what is going on. Remember, the pillar of cloud is directly leading them. What is God doing? God is leading them for His own glory. Verse 4, I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord." It appears random, but God is leading this way in order to put His chosen nation in the place which will deliver them from the army of Egypt. which will give them a complete freedom from that tyranny, and which will defeat the Egyptians and give glory to God's own name." It appears random. It appears like the worst place you could possibly be, and we'll get into that more as we get into our third point. Like, militarily, this is the last place you want to be. Surrounded by hard desert dirt where chariots are at their best, with your backs up against the banks of the Red Sea. This looks like the worst place you could be. But it is exactly where God will win his victory and God will glorify his own name. And people of God, at this point, before we come to our third point and look at Pharaoh getting all of his chariots and going and chasing after them, and we'll just look at that briefly, that's kind of just anticipating The rest of the chapter, which Lord willing, we'll finish in a couple weeks. But at this point, when is another time that God, who is invisible, displayed himself clearly, and the way that he was going looked like it was the way of defeat? Do you know where we are going? We are going to the Sunday School answer. We are going to the center of history. We are going to Jesus Christ. Because who is Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is not just the cloud, a special, supernatural, visible manifestation of God's presence. He is God in the flesh. Jesus Christ, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, God among us, Emmanuel. And what was the path that he took? Born in a barn, born to a carpenter as his adoptive father, and a young virgin. And then at one point, they go down to Egypt, and they go back. And then as he begins his ministry, He's just wandering around with some disciples. There's never any visible defeat of the Roman army or anything like that. And then finally, there's this moment which even his disciples closest to him, training under him for three years, walking at his feet, seeing all that he can do. Now where do they see him going? Now his steps are taking him to Golgotha, to the cross, to his death. And it's not just the cloud of God leading his people. This is God in the flesh, on earth, walking to death. How will this be victory? But the very place which looks like defeat, the very place where Satan thought he was killing God, is the place where Jesus Christ pays for sin to deliver his people. And after the cross comes the empty tomb. And God on earth, though his way did not appear to be the way of victory, it was the way of victory. Victory over sin. Victory over death. Brothers and sisters, With this, let's come to our text again and to the water's edge again. Pharaoh, who stands for the misplaced faith of all unbelievers and also, in a way, stands for the misplaced confidence of Satan. Remember, the Pharaohs had the serpent on their crown. Who is Satan? He's the ancient serpent of old. The hard heart of Pharaoh is a representation of unbelief. He's also, in a way, a representation of Satan. Satan thinks, this is it. I've got him. This is the worst place you could be. Chariots were, remember, there's a lot of Israelites, but they are not trained for military. I mean, who's trained for military? Well, Moses. OK. Eight-year-old Moses. You got one guy with military training. And that's, I mean, even on a practical level, part of an explanation of how they can march like an army. God has given Moses this special position and this special leadership. He has military training. He can at least organize them to stand in the right place. But this is not an army. This is not a battle-trained, battle-hardened group. And again, the only weapons we know that they have are some short swords. This is the worst situation you can be in. Chariots are the advanced war technology of the day. And Egypt is constantly advancing their own technology of the chariots. Look at the only number that we're given is the 600. They took 600 chosen chariots and all other chariots. What are the chosen chariots? Probably that's a reference to they took 600 of their newest, most advanced, most deadly chariot design and all their other chariots. In human terms, this is it. The Israelites are done for. Because the only chance you have against chariots is they're the most advanced Military technology of the day, but there are certain situations where they're not good. In the hills of the land of Canaan and in forest regions. Well, that's not a good place for chariots. If everything is kind of muddy or loose sand or they're going to get stuck, then that's not good for chariots. But this is the hard desert wilderness. This is perfect. Look at those slaves. They're just wandering around. They're out there in the perfect place for our chariots to attack. And they can't even run away. They're backed up against the Red Sea. And you say, well, can't the Egyptians? I mean, don't they remember that? The text doesn't tell us exactly how long, but it was maybe like a week or two weeks or so. Don't they remember that they just buried their firstborn son? 10 days ago? Don't they remember those 10 plagues? No, but remember the false theology of the day. Gods are fickle. Gods are unpredictable. Gods just kind of vie with power against each other and this and that. And they're not everywhere present. Look, after all that he did, God doesn't care about the Israelites anymore. This is the worst place for them to be. We can do whatever we want with our chariots. We can kill a few of them to subdue them, we can round them up, we can take them back. In the eyes of the world, God's people are done. And what happens to God's people? Sometimes we start to believe the false theology of the day. Is God fickle? Is God unpredictable? Will God really continue to care for me? Is God really both perfectly loving and perfectly just? And so, when Pharaoh drew near, verse 10, and what is that? I mean, you're in the hard desert dirt. You've got 600 chariots of the most recent technology, plus however many thousands of other chariots. Huge plume of smoke, of dirt. You're going to be able to see racing chariots from miles away. When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly." The cloud of dirt from Pharaoh's chariots was more real even than the visible cloud of God's presence before them. They feared the natural dirt rather than having a holy fear of the supernatural cloud. And Moses says, Fear not. Stand firm. and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. The false theology of Egypt is not true. The false theology of America is not true. There is one true God He is everywhere present. He has an eternal plan. He cares for you, his sons and daughters, even when it doesn't look like you're going where you should be going. Even when the world looks like it has every advantage and everything to offer. stand and fear the Lord and worship the Lord and trust the Lord, who he is. The Lord who gave himself up for us, the Lord who continues to lead us, the Lord completely good and just and wise and loving. Fear not. Trust in Him. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, take our eyes away from any of the so-called powers of the world. Turn our eyes to you, to who you are and what you have done. Teach us to trust in you from the edge of the Red Sea all the way to the banks of the Jordan River when we might face that last enemy which is death and carry us in our pilgrimage of every step in between. Lord, lead us in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's turn together in song. Number 524. There could have been a third stanza to this song about standing by the Red Sea and not fearing the army of Pharaoh. It takes us all the way to the Jordan. But brothers and sisters, it is a beautiful Christian hymn of the leadership of God guiding us. Let's stand together and sing number 524. We shall overcome, we shall overcome. Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain, raise the healing stream of thought. Let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, be thou still my strength and shield. Be thou still my strength and shield. I share the word of joy with my angel's kiss of sun. Let the pleasure melt these joys, and be safe on earth. Amen. Brothers and sisters, we continue our worship now with gifts, freewill offerings this morning for the building fund and then our benediction and our closing doxology, number 571. If you would stand, if able, receiving the parting blessing of our God, The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen. so Hey, boy. Yeah, boy. What's up? What? Oh, gee, we got a recording of that. Wow, that was nice. Very nice. th th Okay. th th So, th th th th th Would you all mind standing up? th th Okay. th th th th Okay. Okay. Yeah. th th Thank you. th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th Okay. th th Okay. th th th th th th th th th Thank you. th th th th th th th th th-th th th th th th Yeah. th th th th th th th th Okay. th th th th th th th th th th Oh, good. th th th th So it's, why does a person say that? It's not a good thing to talk about. It's just a routine thing. th th Okay. th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th Thank you.