Daily Devotions
Exodus
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable." Isaiah 40:28
Text: Exodus 14 : 17-18
DWELLING ON GOD’S WORD
What did God say? Did He say that the sea would part for them as they stepped into the waters? Would they walk on the seabed as if they were walking on dry ground? That was a tough word to dwell upon! Could it be possible? What a solution to their problem! His understanding was unsearchable indeed!
WHAT ABOUT THE EGYPTIANS?
If the children of Israel could cross over the sea, couldn’t the Egyptians do the same thing? Israel did not need to second-guess what God would do! His answer was forthcoming and it was just as astonishing as the first word!
“And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians,
and they shall follow them.
So I will gain honour over Pharaoh and over all his army,
his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know
that I am the LORD, when I have gained honour for Myself
over Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”
EXODUS 14:17-18
1. Pharaoh felt that he was not done with Israel yet!
With this thought in mind, he pursued the children of Israel, intending to bring them back to serve once again as his slaves in Egypt. He should have worried whether God was done with him!
2. One last act of hardening the heart
Pharaoh had already steeled his heart for this venture! God merely made sure that he would not change his mind at the last moment! Did Pharaoh wish to give battle to Israel? Then he must be prepared to battle with Israel’s God. Their God was One who fought for His people.
3. “The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD”
Surely the Egyptians had learned that the God of Israel was not One to be trifled with? Yet the sad fact remained! They had not learned the most basic of all lessons, that God was indeed “The LORD”!
4. The only way to learn?
There seems to be only one way in which the Egyptians could learn their lesson. They must be defeated in battle so distinctly that they had no choice but to admit that the God of the Hebrews was to be feared and honoured. If military victory is the only way to learn this lesson, then Egypt must taste utter shamefaced defeat. Perhaps then, the Egyptians would cease scheming to bring back Israel into bondage! They were about to learn the most humiliating and terrifying lesson in their entire history – the God of Israel is LORD!