Preaching Series: Detours (Divine Roadblock)

Here is a four part series based on my most recent message at Hope Missionary Church, where I serve as Pastor of Engagement and Young Adults.

This is part 4/4.

If you are interested, you can watch the message HERE.

The text was Exodus 13:17 - 14:31. I encourage you to pause and read the passage before going on.

Detours: Dealing with Dead-Ends

DETOUR 3 - DIVINE ROADBLOCK

We now go to the third detour in the story.

The Israelites are wandering. Pharaoh sees it and sees a momentous opportunity to undo the damage he has allowed by letting the Israelites walk away. Pharaoh and his army are in hot pursuit. And this is what the Israelites see:

A dead end.

Well, literally speaking, they see the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptians coming behind them. They see no way out. The Red Sea for the Israelites is a dead end, a roadblock. This isn’t one of those roadblock signs that allows for local traffic to drive through. No. This is the kind of dead-end sign that stops you dead in your tracks. There is no way through. There is no way around. The only option is to turn around and go back the way you came in.

Remember, that is what they see. But as we learned earlier in the story, God sees things we can’t see. And in this moment, here is what God sees:

A divine roadblock.

What the Israelites see as a dead-end, God sees as an opportunity.

But why?

Why would God lead them through a longer route, intentionally have them wander, only to find themselves in a dead-end situation? I have two thoughts as to why. The first is this:

It’s not about you.

Seriously. This dead-end, this roadblock, the wandering, the journey. It isn’t about you. It wasn’t about the Israelites either.

Exodus 14:15-18, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘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. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.’”

If it’s not about the Israelites, if it’s not about me, and if it’s not about you, then what is this about?

It’s about God’s glory.

God even said it Himself. “I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army.”

But how? 

There is some information throughout this text that is very important, but is very easy for our minds to skip over. For one, God repeats the purpose of this moment several times. I will gain glory. So that the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD. That repetition is a bit obvious and easy to notice. But there is another detail that is more challenging. The names of the locations. Back in verse 2, God says, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon (emphasis mine).”

Baal Zephon. You may recognize the first part of that name. Baal is a major player in the Old Testament narrative. It is Baal the Israelites turn to after they enter the promised land. It is Baal the Caananites worship. It is the prophets of Baal that God proves Himself over on Mount Caramel when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a contest.

Baal Zephon literally means “lord of the north.” Baal Zephon was also known as a storm god, and the Egyptians saw this god as ruler of the sea. So, we can understand why Pharaoh may have thought they had a chance to pursue the Israelites and take them captive again. Maybe Baal Zephon can defeat Yahweh and triumph over the Hebrew people.

You may or may not know that each of the ten plagues that happened in Egypt are known to have directly attacked a different deity the Egyptians worshiped. Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, was not only taking His people out of captivity, but was asserting His dominion and dominance over Pharaoh and the host of deities the Egyptians worshipped.

This moment at the Red Sea. This dead-end. This divine roadblock. Was no accident. God was using the Exodus moment, the parting of the Red Sea, to show His supremacy. He is God. He is over all things. He has all power. He can raise up and tear down. He will not be stopped by anything. He is after His own glory.

It’s not about you.

Your dead-end. Your divine roadblock may be an opportunity for God’s glory to shine through. Period.

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently about my own journey. Why did God call me into ministry when He did? Why was He patient with me for several years before intervening when I was running from that? Why did we end up in Italy? Why did we return when we did after we thought we were supposed to be there for a longer term? Why have I moved a lot?

Personally, I have found a lot of rest recently in this truth: it’s not about me. All the transition. All the moving parts. The year in Italy. Being here at Hope Church. It’s not about me. God wants the glory He is due, and it is my deepest prayer that He receives that glory through my life, no matter where I may be, no matter my circumstances, no matter the long route, no matter the wandering, no matter the dead-end.

At the same time, God does work things out for our good as well. Yes, He wants His glory, which He will get regardless of our involvement in His plan or not. But He also wants US. He wants ME. He wants YOU.

There is one last point to be made.

Your dead-end is an opportunity for God to get glory over the very thing that is preventing you from experiencing Him at a deeper level.

Let me say that again.

Your dead end is an opportunity for God to get glory over the very thing that is preventing you from experiencing Him at a deeper level.

God gets the glory. And we get deeper intimacy with our Father. God gets the glory. And we are freed from the chains that held us down. God gets the glory. And we get to walk in freedom. God gets the glory. And we get to participate in the miracles He performs.

Your Egypt. You know, the thing holding you slave. God wants glory over it.

That addiction? God wants glory over it.

Your desire for approval of others above of what God thinks of you? God wants glory over it.

The person that has hurt you? God wants glory over it.

The situation you are in right now that seems like a dead-end to you. Yup. God wants glory over that too.

You wanna know why? Because God is madly in love with you and won’t let an opportunity slip by that might get Him glory and provide you with a deeper sense of intimacy with Him.

When Margo said, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey,” I never expected this phrase to have such significance in my life.

Just yesterday I was sitting in my office and putting the finishing touches to this message. I began looking at the whole of my life and comparing it to the same detours I noticed the Israelites went on out of Egypt.

I can resonate with the long route. As I’m sure most of you can as well. I have a very specific lens I look at my life through having grown up in a ministry family and now being in ministry myself. But I did not take a short route to get to where I am. I studied finance in undergrad. I already talked about the year or so in the business world. I studied at a seminary, worked at a university, worked or served in house churches of 10 or so people to large churches of almost 3,000. I’ve helped plant a church, I’ve been a missionary, and now I am here. I don’t know about you, but that is a long, roundabout way to get to where I am.

I can also identify with the Israelites in their wandering. I’ve done my fair share of it. I’ve wandered due to disobedience as I explained earlier, but that sure as heck isn’t the only time I wandered due to that. I’ve wandered for no reason at all. But I also believe I have had several moments of divine wandering in my life. I don’t think I have the breadth of experience for no reason at all. I’ve told several of you that I’ve lived in about 19 homes already in my life. Well, I counted again yesterday and I actually came up with 22 homes. Y’all, I’m only 32. That’s a lot of homes. I know all about wandering.

But I have also been at a dead-end before. There have been several moments in my life when I have come to the waters of the Red Sea. I may need to save some of those stories for another day.

I know I’m not alone this morning. Your life has likely looked drastically different from mine. Some of you have lived in the same house or community your whole life. Many of you didn’t grow up in a ministry family or are in full-time ministry yourself. But our lives don’t have to look identical to share in these experiences. I bet each and every one of you have found yourself taking the long route, wandering, or have experienced your fair share of dead-ends.

There is one detail I left out, but is so important to this story, it is the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that accompany the Israelites this whole time. The Israelites took the long route, but the presence of God was with them. The Israelites wandered in the desert, but the presence of God was with them. The Israelites came to a dead-end, but the presence of God moved behind them and prevented the Egyptians from attacking them as the waters parted.

God is with you. So, don’t worry about the destination. He is with you on the journey.