Bible Reading Blog
“See the Salvation of the LORD”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Exodus 14
As the people camped by the sea, they saw the Egyptians on the horizon (14.10) … and they responded as you would expect—they were terrified (14.11-13)! But this event was setup (14.1-4) because God wanted Israel to see something: his salvation. He would make a way for Israel through the sea, allowing them to cross safely; and he would use the same sea to crush their enemies completely.
Salvation was performed in a way that only God could do; and so it is today. Salvation is a launch point where we must see God’s better way. Our natural instincts can lead us to fear and worry about circumstances outside our control. We can even devise in our minds that not going with God makes more sense. But that is a slight to God. It assumes he doesn’t know what he’s doing and can’t make a path for us. It means we believe that what we see is all there is, and God can’t work in these impossible circumstances to do his will.
Those assumptions are not informed by God’s word. This is where the rubber meets the road for many of us. Perhaps you accepted God’s power and path when you were baptized. But over time you don’t see it as clearly. Fear has a way of creeping back in. The enemy and his efforts loom large. We tell ourselves “there’s no way forward… This can’t get better”. We become angry, callous and distressed, and it can change what we think about God.
We need to remember and see the salvation of the LORD. His glory is not within our imagination. He can do far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think. If he can give you peace from your past, he can do it again. But we must remember his timing is not ours. Israel spent 430 years in Egypt. Generations went by in helplessness, and there was no end in sight. Many of them saw this as punishment, but it wasn’t. God never left them and at the right time, God saved them.
The point is this: God is never absent. His timing is never wrong. The circumstance you see as never-ending only feels desperate because YOU aren’t in control of it. But God is, and he’s working within this world for good and for his glory. We must see the salvation of God, not as something to keep in our pocket for when we need it, but to shape our very lives.
As Israel would move into the wilderness, God kept bringing them back to this moment with expectation: they must be changed by his salvation. But sadly a generation arose that forgot, falling back into fear and longing to go back to Egypt. We must not be those people: we must fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD that he will work in his time.
