Category: The Road to Our Redeemer

Exodus 14:13 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.

Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”(emphasis added)

Israel after finally being delivered from Egyptian captivity were forced to face the army of Egypt soon afterward.  Pharaoh decided to recapture them since the Jews were in a position they couldn’t escape (Exodus 14:3) [1]

Instead of showing faith in God the Jews began blaming Moses for their coming death (14:11–12) since there was no way they could defeat the army of Egypt.

The response of Moses was a very big deal because it marked a huge change in the way we face challenges.

The Israelites were used to fighting their own battles (emphasizing human strength or ability) but this time God would fight the battle for them

This truth must have been very encouraging to the Jews, but Moses wasn’t done. He proceeded to tell them they had to be silent.

I happen to like the way this is paraphrased in another Bible version, “GOD will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!” [2]

Now obviously Moses isn’t literally telling them to stop talking since a great song of praise to God follows their deliverance (Exodus 15:1–20). So what exactly does Moses mean?

Some commentaries believe this was his way of saying “don’t do anything” but that doesn’t make sense because God questions why the Jews haven’t moved (Exodus 14:15) and they were asked to walk across the red sea (14:21–22).

It’s my personal opinion that God here is demanding the Jewish people obey Him without question. In other words, their responsibility is to trust the Lord.

The Jews had a really bad habit of questioning the commands of God, or complaining about them instead of actually obeying. They were so used to doing things the old way (in their own strength) that this new way (trusting God and obeying) was incredibly difficult.

The crazy thing is I find myself drawn to taking care of things myself (which is much more difficult) just like the Jews instead of just trusting God because obedience means giving up control.

But I’ve learned over the years that trying to do God’s job (fight the battles) is a bad idea, since I make a very poor substitute for God.

“Lord my heart breaks when I think of all the times that I’ve charged into battle only to fail in spectacular fashion, when all you wanted me to do was obey”

Exodus 14:1   Then the LORD said to Moses,  2 “Tell the people of Israel to tturn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.”And they did so. 

The children or Israel were on an emotional high after God delivered them from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:51).  In their opinion everything was going perfectly; they were heading towards the promised land of Cannan, and any enemies would be defeated by God, so they were sure to make it in record time.

Then Moses called a meeting one morning and gave some frightening commands from God [1].

1. God wants you to turn around and position yourselves between to cities and the red sea (they would be trapped)
2. Pharaoh is going to change his mind about letting you go, and come with his army
3. I will defeat the Egyptians and get glory over them

Basically God is demanding that the Jews put themselves in a place where they cannot defend themselves, or a trap as Pharaoh calls it (Exodus 14:3) and camp there (don’t move till the Lord tells them to).

Today God still leads us into situations where we cannot defend ourselves or “fix the problem” and it’s confusing how situations like this can be part of His plan.

This is why I’m so thankful for Exodus 14:4 that clearly states the reason why God brings us to such a frustrating place…so he can get the glory.

You see the Jewish people were incredibly confident, some would even say arrogant. When the Egyptians finally catch up with them it says that they were “going out defiantly” (ESV). This is another way of saying the Jews were exalted, and lifted up their hands in celebration as they went along the way (were still celebrating God’s victory).

This confidence was probably in the power of God, but the Lord knew it was only a matter of time before it started focusing on their accomplishments instead of His power.

Also the Jews weren’t exhibiting real faith in God, instead their confidence was in the powerful acts that He did in Egypt.

The moment things got bad they did cry out to the Lord for help (Exodus 14:10) but there was no faith God could do it because they immediately told Moses they were going to die (14:11–12).

The Lord knows that our confidence normally lies in our strength and circumstances instead of Him. Bring us into a bad situation, and instead of hands lifted in victory we will have hearts full of fear.

So God puts us in situations where only He can get the glory

1. Like the moment I completely totalled my car
2. Or quit my job so that I start raising financial support full time
3. Or the visa application process

Situations where I couldn’t go out defiantly, but walk with an attitude of humility and gratitude towards the God who won that battle for me.

I Corinthians 9:25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to inherit a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable 

In about eight days I will be running the Wrightsville half-marathon in Wilmington, North Carolina. Though this is my fifth half-marathon race I’m taking this one very seriously because I want to get a PR [1].

Since running my second half-marathon this time last year my goal has been to finish under two hours..I’ve been able to come close (within four minutes) but have yet to reach it.

The difference between running a 2:04 half and a 1:58 half mostly comes down to mental preparation instead of anything physical. By mile twelve everybody is hurting (if you aren’t hurting your not doing it right) so it’s about who is able to keep pushing through the pain.

Of course I can’t just wake up the morning of that race and say “okay I’m going to start pushing through the pain today!” Instead continuing to run hard even though it hurts is a habit that has to be developed over the weeks leading up to race-day.

Not everyone is going to run a half-marathon (I can hear your laughter from here) but we all know the importance of displaying self-control or discipline in order to gain a reward.

1. You continue working hard so you can get a promotion
2. You study all night so that you can pass the test
3. You pursue that dream so that you can experience it as a reality

The idea of not giving up just because somethings hard is a huge part of our daily life…but we sometimes find applying that to our spiritual lives difficult.

One of the biggest reasons for this is we don’t have a physical reward like celebrating a new personal record while crossing the finish line, or getting that promotion. In most cases there needs to someting tangible (we can see it) that can be used as motivation when things are difficult.

The apostle Paul knows this so he gives a good reminder that our reward in Christ will be eternal (imperishable)

Specifically he is talking about a crown (wreath) that was given to the winner of a race in those days, and looking forward to the golden crown Believers will be able to lay down at the feet of Jesus in Heaven. But there is also a sense where we will celebrate our Salvation for eternity.

The Bible is very clear that there will be no suffering, pain or death in Heaven (Revelation 21:4-5) which is a greater prize than any physical reward.  So as we climb the spiritual valley’s of life our eyes can be fixed on eternity in the presence of God.

I look forward to my normal celebratory meal of pizza after the half-marathon (while buying an extra large tube of icy hot) and can guarantee you in that moment all the pain and hard work will be worth it.  At the same time in a small way I pray this can be a reminder of how awesome it will be to tell God the pain I experienced was worth it for all eternity.

1 Corinthians  9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

On October 30, 2002 Herm Edwards, coach of the New York Jets football team (which had two wins that year) delivered a statement that would forever define his career [1].

When asked if his team had already given up, Edwards responded by saying “hello! You play to win the game! You don’t play it to just play it! [2]

It’s obvious from the coaches response that in his eyes many of his players were just playing it to play it (realizing this was a losing season they didn’t give it their all). And more than ten-years later it’s believed he made that statement more as a message to those players than a response to a question.

If the Apostle Paul was alive today he may have paraphrased 1 Corinthians 9:24 by saying “Hello! You play to win the game!”

Many Christians in the Corinthian church had begun only giving themselves half-heartedly to the cause of Christ. Their attempt to obey God and their own desires at the same time resulted in a destroyed testimony.

Paul in this verse gives a stern reminder that only one person is able to win a race…and they should stop just playing around with the Christian life.

It’s important to note the prize isn’t receiving eternal life since this is promised to all of those who place their faith in Christ. Instead the prize is being able to accomplish God’s purpose.

Our purpose as Christians is to fulfill the Great Commission [3] which includes Salvation, discipleship, and involvement in the local Church so that all mankind can dwell with God in Heaven.

It’s true that God’s glorified with those who run their race with endurance, but there is also a need for us to run with a purpose. So I believe Paul’s point here is only those who are completely focused on the prize [4] will truly glorify God.

I often find myself playing at Christianity (only giving 75% or 80% instead of everything) and can almost hear the voice of God say “Hello! You play to win the game!”

This doesn’t we will always do the right thing (we are humans after all). But it does mean with the Lord’s help we will be completely focused on reaching other with the Gospel for His glory.

Hebrews 12:1   Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Ask any runner what their biggest challenge is on the day of a race and most will tell you it’s pacing themselves.  Or just running their race, and not trying to keep up with everyone else.

This is especially difficult at the beginning of a race when everyone is full of energy, and will probably run at a speed that cannot be continued for long.

Unfortunately for me the importance of pacing myself was learned the hard way.

I can remember running a 5k in 2013 knowing that the right pace was around an 8:30 minute mile (which is quite fast). After the starting gun went off however I found myself trying to keep up with everyone in front of me. When we crossed the one-mile mark a glance down at my running revealed the first mile had been run at a 7:45 pace.

Meanwhile one of my training partners was having a very hard time during mile-one, and ended up running a much slower pace as planned.

I’m sure you can imagine what happened

Around the beginning of mile two my legs started to cramp up on me because my first mile was way too fast…as I struggled my way up a hill who do you think passed me by?

You guessed it…the same training partner who I had left in the dust.

That race was a painful experience, but also ensured that I wouldn’t try to keep up with everyone else [1]

Paul in the book of Hebrews has just gotten finished writing to Believers about heroes of the faith [2]who were faithful to the plan of God for their lives (even if it involved pain). He then follows up in Hebrews 12:1 by encouraging these Christians to run “a race of endurance” just like those heroes.

Running with endurance gives the idea of consistency (like my training partner) instead of giving too much at the beginning, and then fading out soon after like me.

This verse is convicting because there are few Christians who run their race with endurance (I fail to do it very often) but there is a  deeper truth here that should convict us even more.

God is most glorified by endurance

Jesus when He was on the earth told a parable (story) about a sower that threw seed onto different kinds of ground (Matthew 13:3–9). Later on Christ explained to his disciples that the ground in this story actually illustrated different kinds of people.

1. Seed on the path is an unsaved person who doesn’t understand the Gospel (13:4, 19)
2. Seed on rocks is a Christian who grows quickly at first, but doesn’t endure (13:5, 20–21)
3. Seeds on thorns are Christians who falls into a sinful lifestyle (13:7, 22)
4. Then the seeds on good soil that produce fruit are Christians who obey the truths of Scripture (13:8, 23)

Christ is clear that the Christian who started too quickly (seed on rocks) and the one who didn’t finish (seed on weeds) didn’t bring Him glory. instead this is reserved for the one who consistently brought forth fruit.

This doesn’t mean that our relationship with God is based on works since fruit is only produced through a relationship with Him (John 15:1–5). Instead running with endurance means constantly seeking, and obeying the Will of God.

The greatest challenge for me from Hebrews 12:1 is I’m not a very good finisher.

I’m awesome at sprinting away from the starting line spiritually, or keeping up with the leaders. But don’t look for me around mile three because I will be long gone.

At some point we need to understand the people who run the fastest don’t bring as much glory to God as the one who faithfully runs their own race.