The Right Way
We left the Children of Israel journeying from the land of Egypt, following the pillar of cloud and fire. In this cloudy pillar, Jesus Christ was leading them in the way that they should go. God knew what was the best way for them, and
“He led them forth by the right way,
That they might go to a city of habitation.”
The shortest way was through the land of the Philistines, but God would not lead them that way, because He knew that if the Philistines should fight against them they would be afraid, and wish that they had never left the land of Egypt. So He led them by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.
Pharoah and the Egyptians were soon sorry that they had let the Israelites go. They thought they had been very foolish to send away the slaves that had done so much work for them for nothing. So they determined to follow after them, and bring back the runaways. Pharaoh prepared a great army, and took with him all the chariots of Egypt, and all the chief mighty men in the kingdom, and pursued after the Israelites.
The Israelites were encamped by the Red Sea when they saw the great host of the Egyptians coming after them. They looked all round about them, but could see no way of escape. Before them, there was the deep sea; behind them the advancing host of Egypt; at the side, the mountains shut them in. In their terror they forgot who was leading them, and they were very angry with Moses for bringing them that way. They thought they had surely come the wrong way, and there was nothing but death before them.
Ah! but there was one place that they forgot to look, the one that they should have looked at first and all the time. If they had only turned their eyes in the right direction, they would have seen the way of escape. It was Jesus; He who said, “I am the Way,” was with them, and if they had remembered this, they could not have come to any place where they could say, “There is no way.”
Jesus is “a new and living way,” so where there is no way at all, He can make a new way. What need they have feared with such a guide? one who could create a new way of life for them, when there was nothing but death before them.
Then, dear children, what is the one thing that we need in going through the wilderness of this world? We do not know the way; we do not know what lies before us, and it is not necessary that we should. But oh, there is one thing that we must have if we are to walk safely, and that is, Jesus. Without Him there is indeed no way but the way of death, for He only is the way of life. He is “the Truth,” and so He is “the right way.” He is “the Life,” and so He is “a living way” and a living way is always “a new way.”
So if the Children of Israel had only looked to Jesus, the sign of whose presence was with them in the cloudy pillar, they would not have been at all afraid of the Egyptians. And we need never fear, no matter what our difficulties may be, for Jesus says, “Lo, I am with you alway.” He will show us always the best thing to do; He will show us the right way to do all the little duties of our everyday life, if we ask Him, and trust in Him. And in the trials and troubles that may come to us, even when we can see no way out of them, so long as Jesus is with us we may be quite sure that there is a way, and that He will lead us safely in it.
When we know this, we can do just as Moses told the Children of Israel to do. When he saw their fear, and heard their murmurings, he said, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” So long as we see the way that He wants us to go in, we can walk safely in it without fear; and when we can see no way, we can “stand still,” and wait for Him to open it.
The Lord had a special reason for leading His people just the way that He did. He wanted to show them such a wonderful work in delivering them, that they would never doubt Him again, and at the same time to destroy all their enemies, so that they would never be any more trouble to them. When we get into a hard place, we should not think that the Lord has forsaken us, or that He is not leading us any more, but we may be sure that He has some special blessing for us in leading us that way.
The Lord said to Moses, “Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the Children of Israel that they go forward!” They were in the way that the Lord was leading them, and so they were not to stop to look at the difficulties, but to go right on, and they would find every hindrance taken away. And as they obeyed the Word of the Lord, the waters divided and they went through the midst of the sea on dry land.
In our picture you see Moses standing with the rod of God in his hand, the rod that was in his hand when God talked with him at the bush, that had been turned into a serpent, and by which he had done wonders in Egypt. God said to Moses, “Lift up thou thy rod over the waters, and the waters shall divide.” It was God, and not Moses, who divided the waters, yet God honoured Moses by working through him. When Moses raised the rod, God divided the waters. So the people were shown that Moses was chosen of God to lead them.
When the Egyptians saw the Israelites by the sea, they thought they had captured them, for they could not possibly escape. When they saw them going down into the midst of the waters divided by the power of God to make a path for them, this was their last opportunity to see that God was with the Israelites, and to stop fighting against Him. But they had so long shut their eyes to the light God sent them, and their hearts had become so hardened, that they could not even in this see the working of God. So they rushed madly to their doom, down into the midst of the sea, that they might capture Israel whom God had told them to let go.
When His own people were all safe on the shore, there was no more need for the waters to be divided, and Moses raised his rod again over them. Then the waters swept together again, swallowing up all the Egyptians in their depths, so that not one was left to carry the dreadful tidings back to the land of Egypt.
When the Israelites saw what God had done for them, they “feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.”
Next week we will talk together again about the wonderful work that God did in dividing the waters.