The
God of Dead End Streets
Exodus
11-15
James
R. Davis
Have you ever been on
a dead end street? I vividly remember getting on a particular dead end
street. I was driving a Uhaul moving van towing a car. The dead end street
had no culdesac. I had no place to turn around. I could not back up since
I was towing a car. I had dropped the driveshaft for towing. The
only option I had was to unhook from the car. I then turned the car around
by pushing it by hand. I turned the truck around and then hooked
back up to the car.
Have you ever been on
a dead end street in life? The great war novelist, James Jones, author
of From Here to Eternity, was interviewed. He was asked by a reporter,
"How, in the middle of the horrors of war, do soldiers keep going? What
enables them to fight on?"
Jones replied, "What
you do is you decide that you are dead. Every soldier I knew in the horrors
of war, just decides, 'I'm dead.' That enables you to live. You go ahead
and die, so you can be surprised when, at the end of the battle, you're
still alive.
Actually all of us are
on a dead end street in life that will end at the grave. Right now, at
this very moment all of us are as good as dead. When we move toward our
dead end we become terrified.
Israel's Dead End
Road
In Exodus
11:1-13:16 Moses recounts how Israel was led by God after the 10th plague,
the plague of the firstborn. The leading of the Lord seems strange for
he leads them in a direction that no one understands. He does not lead
then by of the quickest route; he takes no short cuts. He actually
leads them to a dead end road.
Exodus
13:17-22
When
Pharaoh let the people go God did not lead them on the road through the
Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face
war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led the
people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went
up out of Egypt armed for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him
because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He had said,
"God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up
with you from this place." After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on
the edge of the desert. By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar
of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to
give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the
pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in
front of the people.
When God doesn't take
the shortest route or the most direct approach in leading our lives, his
way begins to look confusing. The way looks confusing to believers and
unbelievers alike. "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites to
turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They
are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think,
'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by
the desert.'"(Exodus 14:1-3)
The Lord routes them
back into Egyptian territory. He brings them to the shores of the Red Sea,
which is actually a dead end. The Egyptians saw the Israelites hemmed in
by the desert, by the mountains, by the Philistines and by the shores of
the Red Sea.
It is hard for the Egyptians
to see the God of Israel because of the difficult circumstances surrounding
God's people. They appear to be on a dead end street. Besetting circumstances
have a way of blinding us to the reality of God's presence. Pharaoh looks
at the circumstances and concludes that Israel's God is impotent under
such circumstances.
So pharaoh decides to
attack while his enemy is confused. It is amazing to me how Pharaoh was
thinking. He had experienced the ten plagues brought to pass by God's almighty
army. Each plague denounced the gods of Egypt as impotent. Pharaoh sees
and experiences all the plagues. Yet, Pharaoh is like many of us who have
a deep need to maintain control of our on life. It doesn't seem to matter
how dead end the street we are on is.
So we create a fantasy
world romanticize about the good ol' life before the dead end road. That
seemingly makes living more comfortable. Today we immerse ourselves in
fictional novels, pornography and romanticize about the way life ought
to be.
Tony Campolo said in
an interview with Servant magazine: "TV is for people who have no passion
and need some vicarious form of experiencing it. If it weren't for
TV, most North Americans would go insane. TV distracts us from the
deadness of our souls and the emptiness of our lives." (Servant magazine,
May/Jun 1994)
We do whatever is necessary
to keep from facing what seems to be our inevitable demise or our besetting
circumstances. If we are drawn to this long enough we will begin thinking
that our fantasy world is the real thing. But we are still as good as dead.
Understanding the salvation
God provides is not always easy. "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites
looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were
terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, "Was it because
there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?
What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to
you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have
been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus
14:10-12) There was certainly no cry, "Give me liberty or give me death."
God refused to take
the Israelites through the land of the Philistines. He knew that if they
faced battle they would retreat back to Egypt. They would take the easy
way of escape back into their fantasy world. So God hems them in with the
mountains on one side, the Philistines on the other side, the Red Sea in
front of them and Pharaoh's army of horses and chariots in hot pursuit
from behind. It is not that they have exhausted all their options. They
are deliberately led into a corner where they are not given any options.
We Must Stand Still
and See The Lord's Salvation
To the unskilled eye
the Lord's leading has always seemed ponderous and aimless and even disastrous
and outrageous. Why?
Satan can make every
road God leads us down look like a dead end. We also see that God makes
the roads look like dead end to throw our enemies off track. So as we look
out we see nothing but chaos. Nothing makes any sense. If we move forward
we are doomed for failure. Yet, when God is figured into the equation of
life we begin to see, no matter how dire the circumstances, there are no
dead ends.
"And Moses said unto
the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the
LORD, which he will shew to you to day: [Emphasis mine] for the
Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for
ever." (Exodus 14:13-14) With no way out they had no choice but stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord.
God tells us, "Be still,
and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be
exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is
our fortress." (Psalms 46:10-11)
Have you ever wondered
why you find yourself in circumstances beyond your control? It is in those
times that God forces us to stand still and be quiet that enables us to
see the salvation of the Lord. It was there on that dead end street that
Israel realized that God fights their battles. "Then the angel of God,
who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind
them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them,
coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the
cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so
neither went near the other all night long." (Exodus 14:19-22)
When John saw the church
of Philadelphia in his vision, it was weak and insignificant. But John
saw that God had placed before them an open door of opportunity that no
one could shut. John reveals what the Lord said, "I will make those who
are of the synagogue of Satan . . . come and fall down at your feet
and acknowledge that I have loved you . . . I will also keep you from the
hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those
who live on the earth." (Revelation 2:7-13) God was doing the same thing
to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was doomed to fall at Israel's feet.
When Paul was passing
through Caesarea on his way to Jerusalem to preach the good news the prophet
Agabus came to him. " . . . He took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and
feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of
Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the
Gentiles.'" When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul
not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and
breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." When he would not be dissuaded,
we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done." (Acts 21:10 -14) Agabus
prophesied by the Holy Spirit's directions. He revealed what Satan had
in store for Paul. The people saw Paul's journey to Jerusalem as a dead
end road. Paul saw it as an open road that would result in the furtherance
of the gospel. (Philippians1: 12)
Dead End Roads Are
A Signal to Move Forward
The Bible is a book
about lives that are on dead end roads without God. Noah's Ark testifies
to the dead end road of humanity without God. Abraham descendants were
as good as dead until God raised Isaac from Sarah's dead womb. Joseph was
on a dead end road until God used his life to pave the road to Egypt for
Abraham's descendants. There they developed into a large population. Now
they have come to a dead end road that runs into the Red Sea.
Exodus
14:15-22
And the
LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel
to go forward. [Emphasis mine] "But lift up your rod, and stretch
out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall
go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. "And I indeed will harden
the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain
honor 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 honor
for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen . . . Then Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove
the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters
were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with
a wall of water on their right and on their left."
I think that we like
the story of the Exodus so well because no where is humanity's salvation
more beautifully portrayed. No where is grace more eloquently spoken of
and yet the word "grace" is never mentioned.
No where in the Bible
do you find humanity in a more hopeless situation. The hand of God has
led them to the brink of jumping into the Red Sea. They have no recourse;
they are totally helpless to save themselves. They have done nothing in
and of itself to merit anything from the hand of God. Here are people that
don't know right from wrong. They are from the lowest strata of humanity.
They have been at the mercy of a godless people for 430 years. They have
no sense of direction. They have no law to guide them. They just arrived
at a dead end street. All they know how to do is cry out, "Why is this
happening to me?"
It was here that they
had to face the fact that they were as good as dead. It is at this place
that they are forced to be still and accept the salvation that only God
can provide through his gracious intervention. It is here that they are
forced to move forward into God's salvation.
Life without God is
a dead end street. There is no hope of salvaging our lives without God.
After the crossing of the Red Sea God leads Israel to the foothills of
Mount Sinai. God gives them his law that was actually designed to show
them and us the futility of human effort. Paul said that the law was given
so that transgression might increase. Paul said, "Now we know that whatever
the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth
may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore
no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather,
through the law we become conscious of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)
The law teaches that
all human efforts lead to a dead-end road . . . that is the place to which
you must come before you discover the salvation of God. You must come to
that dead end road before you can become a Christian. You must realize
the futility of life lived without God.
Someone said that you
have to die to become a Christian! No, not really. You are already dead!
We are dead in sin; wherever sin leads it is truly a dead end road. But
it is a dead end without God. It is the same predicament in which Israel
found herself. Like Israel we have no choice but to follow God through
the water to salvation that only he can provide. Salvation is the same
for everyone.
1 Corinthians
10:1-4
Moreover,
brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers
were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual
meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that
spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Romans
6:3-7
Or don't
you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into
death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united
with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with
him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with
him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no
longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from
sin.
Israel Rejoicing
In God's Salvation
Exodus
15:1-13
Then
Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke,
saying: "I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The
horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea! The LORD is my strength
and song, and He has become my salvation; he is my God, and I will praise
Him; my father's God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; the
LORD is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the
sea; his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have
covered them; they sank to the bottom like a stone. "Your right hand, O
LORD, has become glorious in power; your right hand, O LORD, has dashed
the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your excellence you have overthrown
those who rose against You; you sent forth Your wrath; it consumed them
like stubble. And with the blast of Your nostrils the waters were gathered
together; the floods stood upright like a heap; the depths congealed in
the heart of the sea. The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw
my sword, my hand shall destroy them.' You blew with Your wind, the sea
covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. "Who is like You,
O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand; the earth
swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have
redeemed; you have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.
Conclusion:
Seeing isn't the same
as believing. Understanding the guidance of God and seeing our way clear
to obey his leading are two entirely different matters. God had taken the
Hebrews by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. Have you ever taken a child
by the hand to lead him through a dangerous parking lot? Have you ever
had the child to pull against you not wanting to go in the direction you
are leading? The Israelites are like that; they are having difficulty seeing
their way clear to follow. The Israelites understand unequivocally that
God is in front of them in a cloud to guide them by day and in a pillar
of fire to give them light to travel by night. But they can see nothing
but a dead end street. No one in their right mind would take a dead end
street to get to their destination.
An executive said, "I
loved my life as an executive, the big salary, the car, the power, the
two afternoons a week of golf. At the office, they called it 'downsizing.'
I knew it was death." Six years later he said, "But it was the best thing
that ever happened to me. I got a whole new life. It was different, it
was painful, unwanted and unwished. But I would have never quit that job.
I would have never risked that. Looking back it was for the best. I'm a
better person today because of that trouble six years ago." Out of a dead
end road came life.
It is only when you
realize that you are as good as dead that you can move forward into living.
Think about it, if you are on a dead end street, you have nothing to lose.
You have already lost it all anyway. God just hasn't pried your fingers
lose yet, but it is as good as gone. It is when you realize that you don't
have anything to lose that you can freely step forward into the salvation
that God has to offer.
