Be Silent, Let God Fight - Exodus 13-16

 Exodus 14:10-14 (ESV)

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 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. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Be still, God will fight for you!   How many of us need to heed this message from God?  We tend to want to fight our own battles.  Sometimes God does call upon us to do that.  We can think of Joshua, later, who will bring the nation of Israel into the Promise Land and he will lead the nation to fight the enemy.  We can think of David who took a sling and a stone and fought Goliath.   There are examples in the Bible where God does want us to fight.  The entire book of Judges is filled with such stories.   Yet, in the above passage we read that God wanted the nation of Israel to relax and rest in His sovereignty and omnipotence.  That is the key to understanding God.   We need to move forward when He tells us to move forward, but we need to rest when He tells us to rest.   God is not inconsistent.   God simply has plans He works out one way and the other.   God told Paul, at times, to ignore people who might hurt him.  Other times he was told to fight and defend Christ.   There are times that Christ told us to turn the other cheek and do nothing.  But, there were times He told His disciples to pick up a sword.   Our role is to obey.  When we are not sure if we are to stand or fight, that is when we seek God’s face.  David did that often. He often asked God if he should go up into battle or allow God just to fight the battle without him, rather than through him.  The key component is not that we fight or don’t fight.  The key component is that the fight is the Lords and the power to fight is the Lords.  The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.