Articles
The Salvation of The Lord
The Salvation of The Lord
Donnie Bates
“What are we supposed to do now, huh, Moses?” You can almost hear the sarcasm that must have crossed the minds of at least some of the cynical among the Israelites. It had been a hectic few weeks. First, Moses shows up after forty years and told them Jehovah had remembered them and would set them free. That got everyone excited. Pharaoh, on the other hand, had a different plan. He made them work harder. Thanks, Moses! In the end, after a monumental struggle of wills, Pharaoh was beaten, and the children of Israel marched out of Egypt leaving that country in ruins. The only thing the Egyptians had left was the most powerful army on the planet. And now, that army was hot on their trail and had them pinned against the Red Sea with nowhere to run. You know there was sarcasm because of what they said: “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bring us out of Egypt?” (Exodus 14:11).
Listen to how Moses answered the fear of the people: “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent” (Exodus 14:13, 14). Did you catch that? Here is the formula for their deliverance: (1) Do not be afraid; (2) Stand by; (3) See the salvation of the Lord; and (4) Keep silent!
At times like these, we would do well to apply this formula to our lives. First, do not be afraid! The battle is not yours, but the Lord’s (2 Chronicles 20:15).
Second, stand still! Don’t run. Don’t panic. Don’t lose your faith. The battle may not be ours, but we cannot run in the face of the enemy. We must trust in the Lord, even when we do not see the salvation yet.
Third, see the salvation! The apostle Paul promised that God will provide a way of escape from temptation, including the temptation to run; to abandon our faith (1 Corinthians 10:13); but we have to look for it, to “see” it. When our backs are against the wall and the whole world (it seems) is against us, God will take care of us, but it takes spiritual eyes to see it. In other words, your salvation may not come in physical form; it may not even come in this life, but if you are faithful unto death, He will give you a crown of life (Revelation 2:10). Do you see (understand) that God is in control?
Fourth, keep silent! I don’t know about you (actually, I kinda do), but my ears work better when my mouth is shut. Scripture tells us the tongue is amazingly destructive when misused (James 3:5), but, amazingly, it causes no damage when kept behind the bars of a clenched jaw. Do not challenge God! Do not complain that your (our) suffering is unfair. We are God’s children and that outweighs all suffering (Romans 8:18).
Remember those Egyptians? You know the story of their deliverance from a hopeless situation. Notice Exodus 14:31: When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.
We live in fearful times, but let me encourage you to not be afraid, to stand still, to see the salvation of the Lord, and to keep silent. If you do this in faithful submission to His will as outlined in Scripture, you and He are one unbeatable combination!
