As they were making their escape from Egypt, Israel was told to camp by the sea. Very shortly this looked like disastrous instruction, for in our first reading we have:
“The Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army…
“And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them;
“And they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord” (Ex. 14:9-10).
Their cry was not one of faithful petition; it was one of terror and complaint. They berated Moses for bringing them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness. “Was it because there were not graves in Egypt, is that why, Moses?” They were desperate, seeing the very elite of Pharaoh’s army bearing down on them, they cried out:
“Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Ex. 14:11-12).
Fear not
The response was dramatic:
“Fear ye not, stand still [or ‘firm’ RSV], and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever” (v. 13).
We are reminded of what God told Abraham as the years went by and no heir was born: “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1); and what He told Isaac after trouble with the Philistines: “I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake” (Gen. 26:24).
God gives us two good reasons for courage: the kingdom and the Lord Jesus Christ. When you fear what lies ahead, remember that God will stay with you through difficult times and that He has promised you great blessings. As He said to Israel, “He will fight for you.”
Moses was telling these Israelites that having God with them meant He would rescue them from disaster; He would fight their battle for them. This battle would not be won by their strength, for obviously, in the circumstances, they had none.
Trust God for victory
Brothers and sisters, if we fear the Lord with reverence, we will see the victory God will win for each of us. There will be times when we have no way out, and we won’t need to lift a finger.
Some of the most unpleasant human emotions are fear, terror and panic. We can experience them when we face persecution for standing up for what we believe, when we confront disease, death, loneliness or loss. It’s especially evident in our feelings about the future — whether it be the uncertainties of a new day, week or year.
Yet, thankfully, time and again the Bible encourages God’s people not to be afraid. We are urged to be strong and courageous as we face problems and difficulties, moving out into the future with full confidence. Such courage is possible because we have Christ who gives us this strength in remembering him at the memorial table each week. The bottom line, so to speak, is that God is in control, if we let Him be.
Fear not Abraham, “I am thy shield and exceeding great reward.” Remember the story of Caleb, Joshua and the spies. Caleb and Joshua trusted God’s promise to give Israel the land so they confidently declared, “We are able to overcome.”
What did Jesus tell us about perseverance in faith? “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
It seems as though no matter how disturbed your life is now, when you seek the Lord, it is He who will give you a fresh, new, clean start. Why try to patch up your old life when you can have a new one in Christ? Isn’t this what He told Israel?
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them” (Ezk. 36:26,27) .
Now can’t you just hear Christ saying, “Fear not, follow me”?
Be ready to move forward
Sometimes, brothers and sisters, we take a little too long to respond to the call of the Lord. Sometimes we sit back and we expect, as if by magic, He will do for us just so long as we pray. Even with the Egyptians behind and the sea ahead, the Lord told Moses, “Lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea” (Ex. 14:16).
The Lord told Israel to stop crying and get going. There are times when all we can do is stand still and pray to God. But there are other times when action must take place. There are even times when we know what to do, but we pray for more guidance as an excuse to postpone the action we should be taking. If we know what we should do, then it is time to get moving. As God told Joshua, “Stand up, what are you doing down on your face?” (Josh. 7:10 NIV).
God will protect His people
You know what is so beautiful about this whole thing? The angel of the Lord who went before the camp of Israel changed his station. He moved to the rear, going between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of the Israelites. No matter how the Egyptians would pursue Israel, they were not going to catch them. God was taking Israel to the place He had prepared for them. By opposing Israel, the Egyptians had become God’s enemies; so says our second reading from Psalm 68:
“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God” (Psa. 68:1-2).
It is little wonder God is praised by His people:
“Sing unto God, sing praises to his name extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation” (Psa 68 4-5)
We see the spirit of the Father in the Son, for Jesus offers the same assurance “I will not leave you comfortless [‘orphans mg ] I will come to you” (John 14 18) And he commands all his people to be of the same mind “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction “(James 1 27) The message is this Fear not, Follow me!
Follow me
When we come to our third reading, we find Jesus walking by the lakeside and teaching the multitude In fact, this method of teaching was quite common among the rabbis Interested students would gather around a teacher m the open air and listen to him as they walked and talked.
One incident in Mark 2 concerns “Levi” (Matthew), a much-hated tax collector The system in that day did not tell people exactly what taxes they had to pay so the tax collectors could line their own pockets with surplus collected from the people Yet Jesus wanted this man from this scorned occupation Christ came into the world to save sinners, so he called Matthew and said to him, “Follow me”
Matthew didn’t waste any time inviting his old friends to a meeting in his house He wanted them to meet Jesus and have the same opportunity he had found Just like Matthew, we can always tell somebody about faith m Christ Matthew had made up his mind to follow Christ and there was no turning back Maybe he lost his job as a tax collector, but he ended up with the bigger job of serving the Lord which eventually involved writing the Gospel of Matthew.
Let’s keep following
Any of us who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God We have been bought with a price, we now belong to God and are responsible to do His bidding When we become a believer, it is for us to die and for Christ to live in us.
Fear not, follow me is the call but let’s not think we are perfect servants or self-sufficient m handling the affairs of the Truth It’s not helpful to think we never stray and are one of the 99 who don’t transgress the Lord’s command at any time.
We gather here as people who need forgiveness “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mk 2 17) This is why I come to break bread, because I sin and I need to remember Christ He died for me, and I must not forget that For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death until he comes.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One