Exodus 14:14“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (ESV)
Every once in a while, I come across a verse in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, where I stop and wonder how I've managed to glaze over some incredible truth way too many times.
Exodus 14:14 is a great example of this for me.
The Israelites have just left Egypt. Finally set free! Under the leadership of Moses,they leave their slavery and start heading for the Promised Land. We're all, familiar with the story - Pharaoh changes his mind (again) and goes out to recapture his slave workforce. The Israelites start to, uh, …panic.
And I can't say that I blame them.
Looking ahead at a large impassible body of water and behind at the “whole Egyptian army” (vs 9) that was about to overtake them would cause fear in the most reasonable of people. The Israelites were no exception.
The Lord, however, had a different plan. One that His people couldn't see.
After some complaining to the Lord (vs 10-12), Moses finally answers with this great (albeit difficult-in-the-moment) truth.
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Another translation says it this way:
14 “You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.” (ERV)
Eugene Peterson paraphrases it a little more straightforward in The Message: 14 “God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!”We of course know the rest of the story and thousands of years later we're still talking about the power of God parting the Red Sea.
A few things stick out to me about this verse:
1) God had led them to that exact place. It wasn't an accident that they were in a bit of a bind.2) God was very aware of the situation at hand.3) God had a plan for His people, His beloved. Even if it wasn't a miraculous parting of the water, God was, and is, sovereign over every situation.4) God was going to do the work. The people were instructed to “keep their mouths shut.”
We find ourselves regularly in situations that are difficult. Sometimes it's of our own doing. Sometimes it's just part of life. Paul says in II Cor 4 that, among other things, we are “hard pressed on every side” (vs 8 NIV) and yet not crushed. Life is full of challenges that allow us to grow in our trust and dependence on a holy, loving God that is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than all we could ask or imagine. We aren't promised that the sea will part before us or that our suffering will suddenly and miraculously end. Heb 11 reminds us that heaven is full of saints that “didn't receive the promise” yet still held on to their faith (vs 39-40). But we are promised that we serve and know a God that loves us and has everything under His control.
Maybe our challenge today is to wait for God to fight for us and “be silent” or “stay calm” or as Eugene says, “…keep your mouths shut.”
That's challenging for all of us.
