Moses and the Israelites were being chased by Pharaoh and his army with the intent of bringing them back to Egypt so that the Israelites would be forced to keep serving them. After all the plagues that ruined their land, killed all their livestock and every first born son – Pharaoh’s heart remained stubborn towards God’s will.
Most people would’ve surrendered to the will of God after the first or last plague, but the Scriptures say that it was God that hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that the wonders and favor of God would be experienced by His own people who had not SEEN God’s faithfulness to His promise in their lifetime.
God does not ‘force’ Himself on people; He ‘offers’ Himself. Evil people force themselves on people because they have nothing good in themselves of offer anyone. God offers Himself to people because God is full of love for people and is able to fulfill His promises of goodness to anyone who will believe He exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
The Egyptians used and mistreated God’s people, so God used and mistreated the Egyptians. God gets even, but He tells US not to seek revenge on those who personally hurt and mistreat us. Why is that? “REVENGE is MINE,” says the Lord. Why is God’s revenge right and ours wrong? I tend to believe that when we turn over what has been done to us to our Father God – He is FREE to work HIS WONDERS before our eyes. How else can we stand in AWE of Him and commit ourselves fully to the God who loves us with an everlasting love?
We ‘naturally’ want to defend the weak and helpless because we are made in God’s image, and this is right to do according to God. This is why God set the man over his family and the government over a nation. What an evil thing it is when a father is the bully or abuser of his family, or a president/king uses his power and position to force people to serve him as slaves.
There is a difference between “personal revenge” and “justice.” God will justly deal with those who purposely hurt and use us ‘against our will.’ We are wise to wait for that, just like Joseph did, and David did. They waited and saw the Lord’s good purpose in letting them suffer for a time. Suffering produces the good purposes of God, if we will entrust ourselves to our heavenly Father; a harvest of righteousness will come forth by those who have seen their suffering as character building instead of physical punishment.
God expects us to come to the defense of others, but when you seek to take revenge on someone who has hurt you personally, or used you against your will – God tells us to forgive them and wait on God to deal with them and free you HIS WAY and in HIS TIME. We can see how this worked for Jacob’s 11th son Joseph, who remained faithful to God all those years of suffering. At just the right time Joseph was in position to help his father Jacob and the family have food during a great famine. We can see how suffering for a time worked for David, later replacing King Saul of Israel who had disobeyed God.
God told Moses to go in His Name and with all of God’s power to rescue the Israelites from their captors.
God had absolutely NO mercy or compassion on the Egyptians who had enslaved and oppressed His people all those years. (From the day Jacob and his whole family entered Egypt it was 430 years later when they received their freedom by the MIGHTY HAND of GOD.) God hardened Pharaoh’s heart after each plague (judgment) so that God’s own people would come to know how powerful and faithful His love is for them. He would teach them to trust and obey Him by all that He did to the Egyptians and that He did NOT let happen to them at the same time; revealing to them that God controls everything in nature (His created things) and can use any of it any way He chooses.
When Moses and the Israelites were camped at the Red Sea and with the Egyptians on their tails to take them back, the people and Moses cried out to God in fear. But the Lord said to Moses (not the Israelites), “WHY ARE YOU CRYING OUT TO ME? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” And so they did. And we know what happened to their enemies. God drowned them all except a few who lived to tell about it.
When you are suffering for whatever reason – do you cry about it? As one of God’s leaders of His people – do you cry to God about what is happening to them; waiting for HIM to do something about it? God has given us His Word and His Name, the Spirit’s power and authority over the enemy, and He expects us to USE IT ALL with confidence expecting God to do what He says that only He can do for us, as we come to that place and time. We can do more than we think we can do, but there are things that only God can do that God wants us to experience and worship Him for.
God’s anointing on anyone He calls to His purpose – is that HE WILL DO what He has said He will do which is impossible for man to do, as we faithfully go forward obeying His instructions all along the way – to the end.
“As Moses obeyed the LORD…..all that night THE LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind that kept the land dry beneath their feet as they walked through.” Exodus 14:21
Is God the same God as He was then? If we will trust and obey His Word – God will make a way where there seems to be no way.
“Your path led us through deep waters; even though your footsteps were not seen. You led us on a path we did not know; a path we did not see.” Psalms 77:19