1-16-15. Exodus 13:17-19. Not Yet Ready For Battle-my devotional

 Exodus 13:17-18                                                                       Kevin E. Jesmer

Key verse 13:18                                                                       1-16-15

“ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle..”

Exodus 13:17-18 reads, “17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle..” (NIV)

The shortest way from Egypt to Canaan was due east and then north. But God led his people south, toward the Red Sea. He did not send them directly to the Promised Land, because they were not ready to fight the Philistines (13:17b). Instead, God led them by a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud toward the Red Sea.

This was no mistake on God’s part. The Israelites needed strengthening in many ways. They were too weak to fight the Philistines, not knowing how to stand as a nation against the battle hardened Canaanite armies. Not only had they lacked battle experience and cohesiveness as a nation, but their attitude was not conducive to victory. They had lived 400 years as slaves. Imbedded deep within their psyche was what can be called a slave mentality. In order to be born a free nation, that can taste victory and bring glory to God, they had to dispel their slave mentality and embrace all that God had in store for them. And so began their training course at the Red Sea. They would be free, but they needed God’s discipline. Let’s discover what this means.

They had to dispel their slave mentality. What is a slave mentality? A slave mentality is a mentality where one has no ownership of the place they live. They have no vision for themselves or their people because they are forced to work for their “task master’s” vision. They are only trying to survive. They work to avoid pain, eat and rest. In other words, they work to live and live to work. They expect to be provided all of their living essentials, like food and shelter from their slave masters. They have no hope for their kids except to work and survive just like the parents and grandparents have been doing. They don’t know how to fight for anything greater than for a few scraps of personal benefits and a few small pleasures. They do not step up to take ownership or personal responsibility for something, for it is not their own and they are excluded from ownership anyways and always. Their lives are marked with depression, anger, revenge, complaining and deep despair. They allow themselves to be exploited by their task masters, for they have no strength to fight and may even lack the will to fight. The best resistance they can produce is passive, aggressive behavior in an attempt to exert some identity and independence. An early death may be their greatest hope. This is a slave mentality.

Even though the ancient Israelites were full of slave mentality, God wanted to purge them of this, heal their psyches and transform them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God was going teach them how to be strong and noble people who can be a light and inspiration to the rest of the world for the next three Millennia.

But this transformation was not going to be easy. It would require so much training. The beginning of the healing will entail a forty year journey through the desert before they got to Canaan, the Promised Land. Then they would embrace God’s vision for them and take ownership of the mission that God has called them to, to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

They had to learn to fight against the battle hardened Philistines. Let’s face it, no one, and no people group, can fight without going through some hard training. Athletes train really hard. This week, two men climbed the El Capitan Rock face in Yellowstone National Park. They did it with their bare hands and only safety ropes. It took nineteen days. They were battered and broken. They wanted to give up so many times. But they did not. They made it to the summit 1-14-15. President Obama even tweeted them. It was a great victory. But behind that victory was five years of hard training.

Winning at fighting requires losing a lot of battles. The climbers of El Capitan, probably fell innumerous time. Their hands were scraped. But they endured and overcame and won the victory. Likewise, the Israelites needed to go through the desert for forty years in order to be trained like athletes. They needed to win battles but also they needed to loose battles.

They needed to time and struggles to bond together as a people. We call this Communista. Communista occurs when people come together in challenging situations, like sports teams or soldiers in battle. This forms lasting bonds among the participants. The ancient Israelites had formed bonds of brotherhood over the 400 years of slavery, but God wanted to bring them into an even tighter bond through their wanderings in the desert.

The ancient Israelites needed to see and feel God’s almighty power personally. IN bringing them through the Red Sea and into the desert, they would have so many opportunities to experience the power of God. They would see his glory again and again. God would not be some vague, abstract idea, but a living savior and deliverer. They would become aware of God’s living presence amongst them.

The Israelites needed to receive the Law and their identity as a people.  That is why God wanted to meet them at Sinai to give them the Law. This was God’s plan even before they left Egypt. Remember what God said in Exodus 3:12, “And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’” To get to Mount Sinai they needed to pass through the Red Sea and begin their 40 year desert pilgrimage.

Every nation needs an identity and the equivalent of the Law. In the USA we have the Constitution, the principles of which are derived from the Bible. The Law given at Mount Sinai is kind of like the constitution. The Ten Commandments given to Moses would be a guide and a unifying agent for a strong nation to be built.

Prayer: “Lord, so often, I don’t know why I have been brought along a certain path in life. Why the hardship? But now I know why? You want to work in my life and family and ministry revealing your glory and grace. Thank you.”

One word: God allows difficulties in life to strengthen us and make us one so that we can bring him glory.