Youth Worship 4th November 2023 : "The LORD will fight for you"

Text: Exodus 14:1-14
4 November 2023

YOUTH WORSHIP SERVICE 4 November 2023

Message: “The LORD will fight for you”

Text: Exodus 14:1-14

INTRODUCTION

1. The Children of Israel had left Egypt

2. All that the LORD had said were being fulfilled

3. A warning about the Pharaoh was given

a) He would try and recapture the children of Israel
b) He would harm them if nothing else!

ESTABLISHING GOD’S LEADING

1Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
2“Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.

Exodus 14:1-2

1. God’s Role in Egypt

a) This was obviously seen in Egypt
b) The 10 Plagues demonstrated the LORD’s role

2. God’s continuing Role

a) Leaving Egypt
b) Instructions to be given to Moses
c) These were then communicated to the children of Israel

3. The Route to be taken

a) To camp at Pi Hahiroth
b) Between Migdol and the Red Sea
c) Opposite the Baal Zephon
d) Beside the Red Sea

THE PLANS OF PHARAOH MADE KNOWN

3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’

4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honour over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that
I am the LORD.” And they did so.

Exodus 14:3-4

1. The Direction chosen by God

a) This was criticised by the Pharaoh
b) This route was not “ideal”
c) To a military person, this route was wrong!
d) It would seem to indicate that the children of Israel had been bewildered
by the wilderness
e) Who would plan an escape route that would lead to the Red Sea?

2. The Heart of the Pharaoh

a) It was already hardened
b) God would allow it to remain hardened
c) Pharaoh would pursue the children of Israel

3. God would gain Honour

a) By conquering Pharaoh
b) By defeating his army
c) That the Egyptians may know that God is indeed the LORD

THE PLANS OF PHARAOH

5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him.

7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them.

8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness.

9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

Exodus 14:5-9

1. Pharaoh planned a huge attack force

2. He mustered 600 choice chariots

3. He raised an army to support the chariots and the horsemen

4. They pursued the children of Israel and soon came very close

THE FEAR OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL

10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold,
the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?

12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.

14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Exodus 14:10-14

1. The children of Israel were greatly afraid

2. They cried out against Moses:

a) Heavy sarcasm
b) Bitterness
c) Fear
d) They had changed their mind again!

3. The Response of Moses

a) A call to Courage
b) A call to truly believe in God
c) A call to see the salvation (deliverance) of God
d) The LORD will fight for His people yet again

LESSONS FOR US TO PONDER OVER

1. God had demonstrated His power 10 times in Egypt

a) How much had been learned?
b) How much faith had been cultivated?

2. The Challenges of Life

a) They can be life-threatening
b) Can we hold fast to our faith in God?