Exodus 13-15 Deliverance is not just a historic event from the past, but is a present reality for God's people today. **Exodus 14:13-14** God tells Moses, “Don’t just stand there, do what I tell you.” And so Moses says to the Israelites, “Do not be afraid.” That’s the first thing he tells the Israelites. The Hebrew literally translated would read like this: don’t even imagine the things that are causing you fear. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let those things take hold of you and guide and direct you. Don’t let them overcome you. Do not be afraid, Moses says, instead stand firm. Stand strong in the Lord your God, the One who has kept his word. Stand strong in the One who delivered you out of bondage in Egypt and will deliver you once again even when it seems impossible. Stand firm Moses says, and you will see the deliverance of the Lord. Do you think those words were only intended for people living in the 15th century before Christ? Do you think those words only apply to ancient Israelites who have been dead and gone for thousands of years? Do you think those words are just nice words that we can look at and say oh, what a fascinating story? No those are words from God that speak directly to you heart and mine at a time when things seem to be collapsing, at a time when many are worried and fearful at the things coming on the world, at a time when people are questioning what is going on, when the wheels seem to be coming off the rails. Our God says don’t be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance that the Lord will bring. Our God, we read in Exodus, is a mighty warrior. He defends His children and He protects His own. He leads them through difficult times and brings them through to final victory. That has always been His pattern, that has always been His plan, and that has always been His promise: “You will see the deliverance of the Lord because the Lord will fight for you.” Jesus’ death and resurrection is a triumph over hell, the devil, and the grave. When the Lord Jesus returns He will raise up those who have died, and He will transform and change us who are still alive, and we will reign with Him forever. But He also desires to deliver us today, not simply in the future. Our deliverance will achieve its fullness at the second coming of Christ. But God’s desire is also to deliver us now, to deliver us from the things the enemy uses to beat us down, to cause us fear, to make us tremble. The enemy holds those things up before us and says, if you were a better Christian you wouldn’t be thinking that, doing this, acting in this way. You are worthless. And the Lord Jesus says He has come to bring deliverance to His people, not just in the future but now. **Acts 26:17** Just as God brought darkness to the Egyptians but light to the children of Israel, so our God has intervened in our lives in the person of Jesus, in the message of His good news. He speaks to us and He says, I’m turning you from darkness to light. You used to live in darkness, stumbling around making an idiot of yourself, a fool of yourself, destroying yourself. You didn’t know where you were going and you were scared to death. But I am going to deliver you from darkness into the light. The light of Christ is what guides and directs us. The light of His revelation shows us what is true. The light of His word gives purpose and meaning for our lives. And the light of His Holy Spirit gives power to turn us from darkness to light, from the devil, from satan, to the spirit and power of the living God. What God says is, I desire to bring my work into your life so you will never be the same. I want to prepare you for eternity by living for me today. As we do that, we find that He has remarkable power to deliver. His deliverance is not simply a historic event from the past, it’s a present reality. His desire is to continue to build up, to sanctify, to renew, to transform you and me. Every one of us is still living in a fallen world. Every one of us still wrestles with sin. Every one of us still finds ourselves accused by the accuser, and every one of us finds that there are weaknesses in our lives. We need the strength that only God can provide. What is the weakness you are struggling with? What is the difficulty with which you wrestle? What is the vexing issue in your life? For each one of us it is unique, just as each one of us has been created by God as a unique being. For some it may be pride, for others it may be fear--the kind of paralyzing fear that the Israelites experienced in the wilderness. For still others it may be greed, or lust, or anger, or bitterness, or self-destructive thoughts and behavior. It may be the desire to gossip, or the desire to get even. Whatever the battle ground in your life, the deliverance of the Lord Jesus Christ is powerful, mighty, and effective.
