February 23, 2020

GOD’S ROAD IS BETTER THAN OURS
February 23, 2020
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

You are planning a trip. One obstacle after another seems to occur: there are no inexpensive hotel rooms available, as well as many other challenges. Do you normally consider these to be hurdles that must be overcome, or roadblocks put in your path by God?

Open:

God doesn’t always make sense to our human understanding. As we look at the Israelites leaving Egypt after more than four centuries, we see God guiding them—by a pillar of fire by night, and a pillar of cloud by day—on a very long, roundabout, way into the Promised Land. It was a journey they did not want to travel, turning from a few days or weeks, into one that was going to last over forty years. Did they trust Him? Let’s examine God’s reasoning behind His leading.

Key Verse: Exodus 13:18a: “So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.”

Focal Passage: Exodus 13:17-18a.

From God’s Perspective

1. Letting go is better than taking charge

  • Read Exodus 13:17b. Can someone describe the lifestyle that most of the Israelites were enduring in Egypt?
  • Who did God raise up to bring the people out of Egypt? Were the people anxious to leave their lives of slavery?
  • Put yourself in the place of the men who were alive when Moses was trying to get Pharaoh to free them, and describe what they probably knew about other nations, military battles, etc., after having been slaves for their entire lives.
  • God was going to lead them in a cloudy pillar by day, and a pillar of fire by night; would they follow Him? Why did God not lead them by the direct route, across the northern sea route, into Canaan?
  • Who was stationed all along the travel routes of the Via Maris—the Way of the Sea—as a daunting military force, ready to battle anyone who traveled that way?

2. From Man’s Perspective

  • Had any of the men been able to practice military maneuvers with weapons, or pretend to fight war games while slaves? Were they probably ignorant of the Philistines stationed along the entire route of the Great Sea? Do you think they realized they were ill-prepared for engaging in battles?
  • Why did God not want the Israelites to be confronted with battle-hungry warriors as they headed toward the Promised Land?
  • As the Israelites followed the clouds of God leading, how were they learning dependence on God? Why was this so necessary?

3. The easy way is not always the best

  • Read verse 17c. History tells us the Philistines were stationed along the Great Sea, waiting to ravish traveling caravans; what chance would sheltered Israel have had at the hands of marauders?
  • What would Israel likely have done if they met the dominant Philistine army? Would the Philistines have hesitated to kill travelers walking through their land?

4. God sees our potential weakness even when we don’t

  • Read verse 17d. What did God know about the weakness of the Israelites that they themselves didn’t realize, if they met with a hostile army?
  • What was their mental state at this time, based on the stressful days or weeks they had undergone during the Plagues in Egypt, and the travel thus far?
  • Why would God not have killed off the Philistines as He had the Egyptians?
  • Had the people been depending on God over the past 400+ years in Egypt?
  • Were they showing the type of strengths coming out of Egypt that would have been needed to have taken the Promised Land—which would have included many battles with the inhabitants of Canaan?
  • Read Numbers 13:27-31. Sometime later, Israel’s fear and apprehension at facing a perceived enemy was proven when twelve spies were sent into the Promised Land; what did their report show of their readiness for big battles?

5. God leads us on the path that will give us His best, not our wants

  • Read verse 18a. What did the Israelites need before they would be people who fully trusted God and be the kind of people He wanted them to be?
  • Had God allowed them to go the direct route into Canaan, what are some things that could have happened to them?
  • Would God have led them over the northern route, knowing they would not be victorious to receive the Promised Land? Why or why not?

Close:

Studying the background of why God acted in certain ways with the Israelites as they journeyed out of Egypt, and understanding why He took them under His divine guidance, gives us a clearer picture of the wilderness trek of the Israelites. God knew the dangers that would threaten them if they took the northern Sea route and the temptation for them to flee—unguided—into the wilderness or back into Egypt. These people had spent over four hundred years in an alien land, and had no experience with war. They were dependent on their adopted culture for food, protection from enemies, and shelter. Now, as God led them from Egypt to the Land of Canaan, He had to babysit them for more than forty years until they were experienced not only in battles, and also had lived in the wilderness long enough to raise livestock and be able to subsist.

Now, having studied the reasons why God acted as He did, and as we meet obstacles in our journey of life, we can look back upon our travels and understand why God wants us to trust Him. He knows the path we take, and the dangers ahead. While we may chaff when He wants us to give Him complete control, the truth is that He is WORTHY, He is worth TRUSTING, and HE WILL NEVER LEAD US IN A PATH THAT WILL BE ANYTHING EXCEPT VICTORIOUS FOR US!