But God, why the long route? Exodus 13:17-22
Introduce my self – Pastor Kevin Mugi (Associate Pastor)
- At this point the Passover has happened, and the first sons of the Egyptians have been killed
- Pharoah has finally been broken by the death of his first son and so he let the people go
- Exodus 13:17-22 – Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely [a]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people
- The people are finally free and they are ready to go and enjoy the freedom they have been waiting for
- But who knows that His ways are higher than our ways?
- God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near: The coastal route (the Via Maris, known as “the way of the sea”) was the shortest and most common way to go from Egypt to Canaan. Yet it was also the road where Egypt’s military outposts were. God knew the people of Israel were not ready to face this yet (lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt), so He led them a different way.
- It would have been easy for the Israelites to think that the Via Maris was the way to go; it had good, easy roads, the shortest distance, it was a trade route so food and water could be bought. But the dangers of the way were too great, though they could not see them. God anticipated dangers they could not see.
- For God knew the people’s hearts – He is all knowing – His understanding is unsearchable (Isaiah 40:28)
- With His knowledge He leads them along a “better” route
- He led them around the way of the wilderness (a place that doesn’t sound like fun- the desert ) towards the Red Sea (Water)
- Side note: – Moses spent 40 years in the desert before the Israelites – then another 40yrs with them in the desert
- Moses takes the bones of Joseph – Because Joseph had made the Israelites take an oath that they would take him back
- The presence of the Lord was with them day as a cloud and night as a pillar of fire
- Cloud by day – fire by night and it never left them
- Have you ever wondered why the Lord would say that “That the people might change their minds when they see wars
- I believe that we can answer this simple yet complex question by asking ourselves another question
- Did the Children of Israel know WHO was leading them, Did they understand WHERE they were going and WHY they were going?
1. Who, where and why
- The Lord did amazing miracles to free the children of Israelites, so mighty that we are still speaking of them today- They made it in the Bible
- Great miracles, freed from Slavery, Led by a pillar of cloud during the day and a fire pillar at night
- What would compel people who have seen God move in such a mighty way think of turning back?
- Why would we want to go back to the life of drugs, sexual sins, the filth that lead us away from Christ – why do we go back to sin? Into captivity?
- Maybe it’s because we don’t know, or we forget who is calling us – who has called us
- If we truly knew the thoughts He has towards us, that His desire is to set us free, then we would work hard to stay close to Him
- If we remembered the one who Promised more than we remember the promise, we would not want to go back to where we have been rescued from
- If we only had a personal relationship with Him, we would know His heart then we would follow Him and only Him
- It wouldn’t matter what kind of opposition – the war the Israelites would face, or the plenty of food that was in shorter route – We would just be content
- Why do we easily forget the promises that God has already given us?
- I am speaking to those that have tasted the presence of God and after a few bumps – either self-induced or circumstance ( In this world there will be trouble) that they want to go back to the place they were rescued
- Like a Dog that goes back to it vomit – We forget that its God who had provided in the first time and that He will provide again and again
- We forget that He will protect you again and again
- We forget that He is faithful for generation over generation
- We forget that His word is Yes an Amen
- The minute we forget WHO God IS, we start relying on our own strength
- Proverbs 3:5 (Nkjv) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
- When we forget Who is calling us we can never understand WHERE we are going and WHY He is leading us there
- God would use the Israelites as His people to spread the word of who He was
- The red sea saga left everyone shaking when the Israelites came close to their territory
- By this God’s name was glorified and 2. it was a pre-emptive strike to the enemy so that His children could have peace and less wars
- I was thinking about all the times we have told our girls that we are going on vacation. They may ask where we are going and how – drive vs fly But I have never seen them go and start looking for tickets, planning where we are going to stay, car rental or planning escape routes if it doesn’t work out
- They just trust that before and after we leave our home, everything is taken care of by the parent
- They Trust the Who is planning all these
- This should be our lives, that our only goal is to work on a relationship with God and then leave everything to Him
- The reason why we find ourselves enslaved by the things of this world is because we forget WHO is in control
- Hebrew 11:1 (Amp) – Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].
- Faith in Christ means not caring at all about where and why – but who! I don’t know about tomorrow, but I surely know who is there already
- My story of staying in Washington – Didn’t understand where we would end up or why, we just choose to trust Him
- This morning, I challenge you to fully trust in WHO otherwise you might find yourself looking back like Lots wife who forgot WHO was leading her and it costed her life
2. Silent witness
- In our reading today there was a person that did not have any doubt that God was faithful to His word
- And his trust in the Lord outlived him
- Genesis 50:24-26 (Nkjv) And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely [a]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
- Moses took the bones of Joseph Exodus 13:19 (Nkjv) And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely [a]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.
- Right before Joseph died, he was SURE that God would take the Israelites back home and he wanted his dead body to be taken back
- Genesis 15:13 (Nkjv) – Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
- We can assume that Joseph knew about this conversation, but he did not depend on a human to fulfill it. He did know WHO had promised was faithful
- The longer route in the wilderness was not going to be easy – and it wasn’t – However, it was during this time that the Israelites got to know the true characteristic of God
- Sometimes it takes the things that have already died in our past to remind us of who God is
- I call these things silent witness
- Sometimes it’s something that God rescued you from, other times its things that we went through and if it wasn’t for Gods hand, we would not be here today
- Other times are thing that the Lord allowed them to die because they were not good for us or they are just planted
- And those things testify of Gods faithfulness to us and to the future generations
- Josephs life was not easy – But it built in him a Faith so strong in the Lord that Gods promises were Yes and Amen
- One thing he could attest to was that He knew WHO God was and he knew God’s Character
- That His promises would come to be fulfilled
- Joseph had more reason that any of to be comfortable in the enemy’s camp, yet he wanted to go home
- Remember when I said that we didn’t know where God was leading us and Why He was keeping us in WA?
- When God said stay, we shifted our mind, got content and kept seeking the Lord
- Something interesting happened, we no longer cared WHERE God was leading us as long as He was with us. We also didn’t care about why
- All WE CARE ABOUT WAS WHO WAS WITH US
- Romans 1:20 (Amp) For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense.
- Silence witnesses all over the world – No excuse
- Imagine this that Moses would not have known about Joseph bones unless someone informed him
- There was not way to just give a short story – Yo’ Moses, there are some bones that we need to carry – Joseph’s bones
- There had to be a story passed generation over generation – 400 years and these bones demand to go back home testified of Gods faithfulness
- No! If there was one who preached of God’s faithfulness in the waiting was this silent witness –
- If there was a conversation between bones ..after 50 years it would be like, bro do you think that they will take you to the promised land? 100 years in, 250 years in …300 years in …400 years in
- This verse rings 400 plus years later – Exodus 13:19 “God will surely [a]visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”
- Joseph knew who God was and where he was going and Why He had to trust the Lord
3. Faithful, Faithful
- We were just reminded of how God was faithful to Joseph – His Hand was always on Joseph
- And at the end Joseph knew WHO was in charge of all of it- good and the bad
- Genesis 45:6-8 (Nlt) This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.[a] 8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! And He is the one who made me an adviser[b] to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
- And even more so to the Israelites – Just like Joseph had been sent before his Family so was the cloud the Pillar of fire that went before the Israelites
- Exodus 13:2-22 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people
- This cloud and fire would serve as protection and guidance,
- He didn’t withdraw from His people – Let that sink in
- Even before they left , God already knew they would want to get back if it got bad
- Our God is faithful, even when they rebelled and wanted to do their own way, He still covered them
- Even when He knew their heart intentions, He didn’t withdraw from them
- Even when we continue to be an abomination to the Lord, His love still stays
- Even when we want to quit this walk, go back to our sinful nature, even when we repeatedly sin over and over again- His call still goes out to you and I
- Isaiah 1:18 (Nlt) “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
- He is committed – He is not like the Israelites that He would change His mind
- If there was a time, He would have changed His mind against you was when His son was whipped, and died on the Cross
- Yet He did not turn away from His commitment to save you
- But God, why the long route?
- Because during the long route a father/child relationship is born
- Because I do not want anyone to Perish – I will take you the long way, I will endure to see my son get beaten and Killed – because you are worth it all
- Ezekiel 33:11 (Nkjv) Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why you should die, O house of Israel?’
- Whether is taking you the long way or stopping things in your life, or even allowing not so comfortable things to happen in your life- Its all for you that you will not Perish
- Luke 15:10 (Nkjv) Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”– Imagine Holy Holy, Holy and there is another echo heard, another one has been written in the book of life
- God why the long route? – Because you are my Child!
- 1 John 3:2 (Nlt) Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is
- Today if you don’t know Jesus, I would love to introduce you to him – and I am talking relationship not head knowledge but an actual Father -child relationship.
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