“It so happened that after Pharaoh released the people, God didn’t lead them by the road through the land of the Philistines, which was the shortest route, for God thought, “If the people encounter war, they’ll change their minds and go back to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people on the wilderness road, looping around to the Red Sea. The Israelites left Egypt in military formation.¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the Israelites solemnly swear to do it, saying, “God will surely hold you accountable, so make sure you bring my bones from here with you.”^20-22 They moved on from Succoth and then camped at Etham at the edge of the wilderness. God went ahead of them in a Pillar of Cloud during the day to guide them on the way, and at night in a Pillar of Fire to give them light; thus they could travel both day and night. The Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night never left the people.” Exodus 13:17-22

 “The Third theme of the Exodus: God won a great victory over Pharoah and his people. This took the form of divine judgment, beginning with a sequence of plagues and reaching its decisive climax when the Red Sea, which had parted to let the Israelites through, rushed back and drowned the Egyptian army. This divine victory was celebrated in a great song whose closing line gives us the direct link to what Jesus was saying: YHWH will reign forever and ever.” (“Re-Living the Exodus”,  Simply Jesus,  N. T. Wright, p. 64)

The divine victory that Moses achieved in his battle with Pharaoh is truly unique—at least as we understand epic battles between good and evil. The plagues are not just a random series of weird cosmic and ecological disturbances. They show Israel’s G-d marching into the home turf of the superpower of the day, and, basically, beating up their gods. Now, this may sound silly to us, but this is how the Israelites understood the supremacy of their G-d in an ancient polytheistic world. This supremacy is one reason why the Israelites declared Yahweh as worthy of worship. He redeemed them from Egypt by putting Pharaoh and the gods in their place. And this was to be a reminder to them not to follow the Canaanite gods once settled in the land.

Where do we see divine battles happening in our day? Let me suggest that you and I are on the frontlines of battle between good and evil every day. When we see injustices in the world, or in our community, we are called to act. When churches are desecrated, or our brothers and sisters in a synagogue are gunned down in cold blood, we are called to stand in solidarity against religious persecution. When we do, we tell the world that we also believe that YHWH will reign forever and ever.

Pastor Dave

“Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up. ³ Moses said, “What’s going on here? I can’t believe this! Amazing! Why doesn’t the bush burn up?” ⁴ God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Yes? I’m right here!” ⁵ God said, “Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.

^7-8 God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.^9-10 “The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I’ve seen for myself how cruelly they’re being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back: I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:1-11

“The Second theme of the Exodus: God chose a leader. Moses was called, along with his brother Aaron and sister Miriam, to tell the people that God was now at last coming to their rescue. Moses then, at God’s behest, led the people out of slavery into freedom.” (“Re-Living the Exodus”,  Simply Jesus,  N. T. Wright, p. 64)

Leaders are so important in our lives: especially the leaders of world, the country, and our communities. Moses was an unlikely leader chosen by G-d. In fact Moses tried valiantly to convince G-d that he was the wrong person. He did not believe that G-d had the right person to lead the people out of Egypt, coming up with at least five reasons why he was not “the guy”. We still believe that G-d is in the processes we use to elect and choose our leaders today. In the church, when we are electing a Bishop, or other leaders in the Synod, we pray before each election—invoking the Holy Spirit to lead us in our decision making process. When we go forward to elect our governmental leaders, we should invoke the same Holy Spirit in our decision making process. Look at what the writer of Timothy says:

“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.” (1 Timothy 2:1-3)

If you do not believe that prayer is effective and powerful, then it won’t be. But if you pray knowing that your prayers are heard, then those prayers will have more power than you can imagine.

Pastor Dave