09 Sep 9/11/22 Exodus 14:19-31 “Do Not Fear!”
9/11/22 Exodus 14:19-31 “Do Not Fear!”
I would like to begin a little differently today. I would like us to go back twenty-one years. What were you doing 21 years ago today, this morning? I remember that it was a nice sunny fall day. I had taken the kids to school and I was going to work at the PO at 10AM. I had about an hour to myself between the taxi service and work. This was usually a busy time for me as I did things that I had a hard time to get done when everyone was around. This particular morning I was caught up so I turned on the TV, which was something that I never did. I tuned in right after the 1st plane hit the 1st tower. I was just stunned as I watched. If you remember the news people didn’t have a clue at this time as to what was happening. And still today, they know little about what they are reporting but that is a whole other topic!
Then in the background of one report, we saw the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower. I was shocked. It would be awhile before the news people realized what everyone who saw the 2nd plane already knew. We were under attack by someone. It wasn’t long after this that we heard about the Pentagon and the other passenger jet that crashed. Then the towers collapsed into a pile of rubble. It almost made me sick to see this. In a matter of minutes about 3000 people died in an inexcusable act of violence. Families and lives were changed forever. This country would never be the same.
I’m sure that many of you know exactly what you were doing 21 years ago about 9 something in the morning. This was an event that was etched into our minds. We were attacked by a force so evil that it sent everyone to church that next Sunday. Our churches were full. Unfortunately, it didn’t take many months before we were back to our former attendances. It wasn’t long before most Americans went back to feeling that they were more powerful or at least more knowing than God. We have gone back to dropping in on church once in a while just to cover our bases. We have been warned and we haven’t listened. Let’s take a look at this today’s reading from Exodus to see if it has any similarities to the attack 21 years ago, the day our country changed.
Before we begin I think that we should recap what has been happening. Remember that Joseph had saved Israel after his brothers sold him for a slave. He rose to power and gave the family food. The family of Jacob then moved to Egypt where they were treated quite well. Joseph and his family die and the years go by. One day there was a new family of rulers and they remember nothing of the hero, Joseph. All they see are many, many Jews so they decide that they had better make them slaves so they could control them.
The people of Israel are in misery when Moses comes along and saves them through a series of plagues. The Pharaoh finally lets the people go after all the first born in the land have died, except the Jewish 1st born. So the people of Israel pack up and leave. It isn’t too long before the Pharaoh changes his mind and he along with his army pursues the Jews.
Now it is God who is leading the Jewish nation. They are in the wilderness when they see the armies of the Pharaoh coming after them. They have no place to go. There are mountains on one side and mountains on the other side and there is the Red Sea in front of them. These people are grumbling and complaining that they should have never followed Moses into this empty wilderness where they would all be killed. They people aren’t listening to God and they are up against it as they have nowhere to go. They are at a dead end.
There is a part of this story that is very similar to what has happened at 9-11 and after. There is a religion called Islam that is in hot pursuit of us. This religion will not be satisfied until all the Jews and Christians are under their control and rule or dead. This chauvinistic religion will not be satisfied until the world is under their control. This is why we were attacked on 9-11 and it is why there have been so many lessor attacks since then. It is why an army base was attacked in this country and it is why our bases have been attacked in other countries. The list goes on and on. Whether we like it or not, we are in a religious war. However, I don’t mean that we should go out and kill people of other religions.
I think that we are to try to love all the Muslims of the world but that does not mean that we can accept any part of their false religion. As we talked last week, it is time for us to wake up! It is time that we stand up for Jesus and tell these people that they are wrong. It is just like the Pharaoh’s army bearing down on the Jews with a slaughter in sight. We are outnumbered by the Muslims and they have us in their scopes, ready for the kill. It is important to remember who God is and to stick with Him through thick and thin.
I think there are some other important things happening in this Scripture. Incidentally, this one of the most cited stories by the other writers of the Bible. It is important to the Jews and us. First of all, I want you to notice what God does. These people are between a rock and a hard place and God says not to worry as He will protect them from the rear. So He holds back this massive army so they cannot get at the Jews. He is protecting them.
When was the last time you were in a hard place like this? Or maybe you are this today. Maybe you have an army of creditors chasing you down. Maybe your kids are giving you fits. Maybe your marriage isn’t what it should be. There are a thousand things that could be attacking you right now.
When we were attacked 20 years ago, we had many who had not attended church in a long time, come back. The sad part is that they didn’t come back to stay, because they were, are much smarter than God. There are many people in this country and our own community who only attend church once in a while because they think that they can do it by themselves. I would just like to say that you cannot really do anything by yourself. You always need Jesus and you are only fooling yourself if you think otherwise. There was no way that the people of Israel could get out of the trap they were in unless God comes to their rescue. This God of love of ours, this Jesus Christ only wants to help you in any way possible. All He needs is your faithfulness. Even though these Jews were grumbling they were still faithfully following God.
Can you imagine what it would have been like to be there when God parted the Red Sea? Do you think these people might have been a little scared as they marched through this water? The path through the sea had to be really wide in order to get a million or so people across in one night. I think that many modern Biblical scholars are wrong. They try to tell us that the place where they crossed was nothing more than a shallow swamp, 6 inches deep. They forget that if this was so, and I don’t think that it was, then the miracle was that this entire Egyptian army was drowned in 6 inches of water. The point is that God created one of the greatest miracles in the Bible and He wants to do the same thing for you. He will help you in your personal life and He will help us to defeat Islam. All we have to do is be faithful.
One of the big points of this story is that the nation of Israel cannot get out of this situation on their own. They need help. We need help. You need help. I cannot think of any problem that we have that Jesus cannot help us. God took these people through the Red Sea and He will take you through your Red Sea. This is one of the reasons why this story is so important. It shows everyone how much God loves us even if we are complaining the whole way as we follow God.
What I’m trying to say here is that you have problems. I do. We all do. You go to God and it seems like He doesn’t have an answer for you. I’m trying to say, ‘don’t give up.’ Keep going to God in prayer. Keep reading the Scriptures. Start or keep coming to church. Today, you are in the presence of the one true God. Remember this as you go into your daily prayer time.
One of the things that can happen after a summer off from church is that you have to make a choice. You can either continue to take time off from God or you can come back to church and refocus yourself on Jesus. I hope that you will refocus. I hope that everyone will start a prayer life. I don’t mean that we start to pray just when we need help; when the Pharaoh’s army is chasing you. I ask that you take 5 minutes each morning when you get up and talk to Jesus. That is all it takes. It is a great start to the day and it will not be long before you notice a difference in your life.
The trouble with our country, our world is that we don’t trust God. Most people feel that they can do far better job than God and so they strike out on their own. This is why religions like Islam and Mormonism are so popular. These are religions where you earn your way to a so-called heaven. Then you earn your way to the proper place in this heaven. Everything hinges on what you do and how well you do it. This is why those crazy suicide Muslims of 21 years ago did what they did. You can read in the Koran that if you kill infidels, then you will be guaranteed one of the highest places in this false heaven. Can you imagine yourself flying into one of the twin towers, thinking that you will be in an exalted place in heaven in a few seconds? Only thing is, you find yourself in the clutches of Satan who has you for an eternity. These crazy people had to be shocked when this happened. They are still shocked today as they are still in the inferno.
People just don’t trust God. We are fine to go to Him with the little things in life. We are fine to pray to Him about big things. But I would guess that some of us and most of the world who prays, don’t believe that anything will happen. In order to have an effective prayer life, you have to believe that something will happen when you pray for it. This is the key. The other side of the coin is that we do not have because we do not ask. During our everyday life we do just about everything on our own and we don’t ask. If you can’t decide if you should go and get groceries or not, try asking Jesus. If you don’t know if you should be harvesting or not, ask Jesus. There is nothing too small or too big that we shouldn’t be able to come to Jesus and ask. This is the process of trusting God.
I firmly believe that you are to trust God in all that you do. I believe that He will get us out of this Muslim situation. It may not be in my life time. It may be generations down the road. Or it may be tomorrow but God will take care of the situation. Our job is not to go out and shoot these people even if they are the enemy. Our job is to put on Jesus Christ, point out their evil ways and try to love them the best we can. Pharaoh’s army did not make it across the Red Sea. The Muslim world may out number us and they may enslave us but as long as you are faithful to God, He will take care of you in the end.
Someone has said there’s 366 times the Bible admonishes us not to fear, and if that’s true, there’s one for every day of the year, including a leap year! Our biggest fears come from when we don’t wait for God because we don’t trust in God.
Jerry Shirley knows of a pastor who was given a new car. He had a nice one already, and could have sold it, but he had a family in the church whom he knew needed a car. He decided in his heart to give it to them. But before he got to them, they went out and got a loan they couldn’t afford because they ‘had to have a car’. If they had just waited and prayed, God had a plan in the works for them.
God has a plan for us. He has a plan for you. Listen to Him and wait for Him to lead you. 21 years ago, many people died because of the evil of this world. I know that some people don’t like it when I point out things that are evil, but I think that is part of the job of the pastor. It is also part of the job of the church! God loves us so much that He has shown the way. He led people out of slavery with the 10 plagues. He led people with a cloud. He held back enemies with fire. He parted the Red Sea. He drowned an army of evil. God did all of this and more for His people. He will do all of this and more for you. You are the most important person in the world to God. Go to Him and love Him because He will never fail you. Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us. Let’s pray.
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