And Jehovah said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” (Exo. 14:15)

The Children of Israel were in a scary situation. They had trusted Moses to lead them out of Egypt, but that truwst was melting away as Pharaoh’s chariots came down on them. They were stuck between death by drowning or death by the sword. What was their solution? To complain about their terrible lot and to blame their problems on Moses, saying, “I told you so!” They wanted to take the whole thing back, to return to Egypt as slaves and never try to escape.

Do these “solutions” sound familiar? No good deed goes unpunished, or so the saying goes. When we try to do something good, the evil spirits are going to try and stop us in two ways, by directly attacking us and by making escape seem equally pointless. The evil spirits want us to believe we are “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” so you might as well try to have fun being the evil. In effect, we are saying that we would rather be slaves to falsity than take the even more scary next step: to trust our lives and salvation to the Lord.

What was the Lord’s solution to the Israelites dilemma? “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the Children of Israel to go forward.” As long as we think that we can solve our own temptations and fight our own battles, we will lose. But we will win the battle when we allow the Lord to fight for us. Our part is simply to “go forward,” to continue the journey on the path the Lord has set out for us—following His commandments. THere will be happy and sad times on that journey; there will be funny and scary times on that journey. We trust the Lord to take care of us and we go forward. We face the fears of temptation head on and march right through them.

To see that this is true, read Exodus 14, Lamentations 3:22-41, and Secrets of Heaven 8181, and then spend a week on the following task:

Hear God’s message and then take action to move forward and obey His voice. This week listen for the Lord’s direction and consider how He is asking you to “Go forward.” Notice the fears that hold you back. Be still and pray to the Lord to give you the courage to step forward and the trust that He will provide for and guide you. Consider what concrete step you can take that will help you move closer to God, heaven, and freedom? Take that meaningful step forward and observe how you feel and the work the Lord does in your life.

This sermon is part 3 of 8 in our series, “The Journey: Realizing Spiritual Freedom”, and is on the subject of moving forward on our spiritual walk. Check back next week for part 4, which will be about finding the good in challenges. For more information on the Journey, please contact us. To sign up for an online version, click here.

Exodus 14

Now Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zemphon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am Jehovah.” And they did so.

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?” So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 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 Zemphon.

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 Jehovah. 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? 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.”

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

And Jehovah said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 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 Jehovah, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Jehovah caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that Jehovah looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”

Then Jehovah said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So Jehovah overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

So Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which Jehovah had done in Egypt; so the people feared Jehovah, and believed Jehovah and His servant Moses.

Lamentations 3:22-41

Through Jehovah’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“Jehovah is my portion,” says my soul,

Therefore I hope in Him!”
Jehovah is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off forever.
Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
For He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
Or subvert a man in his cause—
The Lord does not approve.
Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That woe and well-being proceed?
Why should a living man complain,
A man for the punishment of his sins?
Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the LORD;
Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.

Secrets of Heaven 8181

‘And let them travel on’ means a further stage, continuing until their preparation has been accomplished. This is clear from the meaning of ‘travelling on’ as a stage further and a continuation, dealt with in 4375, 4554, 4585, 5996. For this directive to travel on means that there should be no cry from them, that is, no pleading, but that the journeying should be continued towards the Sea Suph, and then through it towards the wilderness, that is, through hell, which they will pass through in safety, towards a succession of temptations continuing one after another, until their preparation has been accomplished. For the meaning of ‘the Sea Suph’ as hell, see 8099, 8137, 8148, and of ‘the wilderness’ as a state for undergoing temptations, 8098.

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