Exodus 14:5-18Regret:
And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart about the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we sent off Israel from our service?” And he harnessed his chariot, and his troops he took with him. And he took 600 picked chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over it all.
Response:
And the Lord toughened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued them and overtook them encamped by the sea — all the horses of
Pharaoh’s chariots and his riders and his force — at Pi-Hahiroth before Baal Zephon.
Panic:
And Pharaoh drew near, and the Israelites raised their eyes and, look, Egypt was advancing toward them, and they were very afraid, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord. And they said to Moses, “Was is it for lack of graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What is this you have done to us to bring us out of Egypt? Isn't this the thing we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve Egypt, for it is better for us to serve Egypt than for us to die in the wilderness’?
Pause:
And Moses said to the people. “Do not be afraid. Take your station and see the Lord’s deliverance that He will do for you today, for as you see the Egyptians today, you shall not see them again for all time. The Lord shall do battle for you, and you, you shall keep still.”
Proceed:
And the Lord said to Moses, “why do you cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites, that they journey onward. As for you, raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it apart, that the Israelites may come into the midst of the sea on dry land. As for me, look, I am about to toughen the heart of the Egyptians, that they come after them, and I shall gain glory through Pharaoh and through all his force, through his chariots and through his riders. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, through his, chariots, and through his riders.”
Many of the stories of the Bible make for good drama, such as this story of the parting of the waters during the exodus from Egypt and the demise of the Egyptian forces. Unfortunately, some of the action scenes tend to obscure the interaction between God and the people. So this morning we are going to look at the interaction between Moses and God in the events that lead up to the miraculous parting of the waters.
Here we find a story that begins with Pharaoh’s regret when he realizes that the Israelite’s failed to return after going out to worship their God. “Now who will do the hard work for us?” The regret turns into a furious rage of anger and regret. Pharaoh gathers his armies and chariots, hand-picking 600 of the best elite chariots, to chase after the Israelites and bring them back to Egypt.
Then God responds to Pharaoh’s plan: “I will harden their hearts” while God watches the chariots, the horses, and the riders bearing down on the Israelites who were trapped between the water of the Sea and the Egyptians.
As the armies of Egypt rapidly approach, the Israelites begin to panic and point fingers at Moses. “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt? Didn’t we try to tell you this was not a good idea?” You can almost hear their voices rising in pitch and volume the louder the noise of the approaching forces grew.
Then Moses responds by instructing them to calm themselves, to become still, and see what God is doing. God’s response to Moses is almost dismissive of that effort to ease the panic. “Why are you complaining to me? Stop standing here and tell the Israelites to move on forward. Raise your staff in your hand and watch the waters split apart. Watch and see how Pharaoh and his chariots are under my control so that I will gain glory.”
This all is a quickly moving, oddly intertwined exchange between God, Moses, the people and even more oddly the resulting outcome proves indeed that God is in control even in the middle of regret, panic, and rapidly moving groups of people.
Yet, I believe as with many of the biblical stories we have an opportunity here to look at some of the same feelings based on the perceived or real outcomes in our lives.
Let’s start with Pharaoh’s regret. “What have I done? Did I really let the Israelites leave? Did I actually think they would go worship their god and return?” Good questions, Pharaoh.
In hindsight, looking back rather than forward often causes us to get stuck in our regrets or remorse. “What have I done?” Anyone ever been through that?
The slightly inaccurate and often opinionated encyclopedia and dictionary of the internet world, Wikipedia, says: “Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past because the consequences of the decision were unfavorable
. . . . wishing one had made a different decision in the past because the consequences of the decision were unfavorable.”
Yes, indeed. I have been there and I have done that and I probably will do it again. “Why did I . . . what was I thinking . . . if only I had not . . .” fill in the blank with your own life stories. Hopefully, most persons can begin to realize that our regret is over some decision that is not life-threatening, and usually over something we cannot change. Eventually, we move on. But sometimes it takes years.
Sometimes, as happens in this story, the regret is bigger than personal; it is over our decision to follow the leadership of someone who we later accuse of leading us astray. “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die?” Poor Moses. Poor Governor or President or King so-and-so. Leaders often make decisions that are probably good in the long haul but in the short distance are woefully painful to people. In hearing the complaining of the people it is difficult to brush it off and hope for the future to bear the fruit of the decision.
No matter the cause of the regret, no matter the one who made the decision, regret is a common emotion because none of us are perfect and none of us will ever make all of the right or best decisions.
The danger for each of us becomes if we are not aware of the voice inside of us or the voices around us that calls us to leave the regret behind long enough to take the next step forward. Regret can be much like quicksand, something that will bring you down the more you wallow in it. Life is too short to dwell in the past.
In the story today living in regret, casting accusations at the leadership draws the focus of the Israelites away from the direction of their freedom and almost mires them down like the Egyptian chariots will soon be. Looking behind they can see Pharaoh’s armies, the chariots, the horses bearing down on them. And the water of the sea is before them Panic begins to take hold of them.
Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and Jewish scholar in his book, “Messengers of God” (Random House, 1976 p.193) views the panic of the Israelites in this way.
“one can see people running, running breathlessly without a glance backward; they were running toward the sea. And there they came to an abrupt halt: this was the end; death was there, waiting. The leaders of the group, urged on by Moses, pushed forward: Don't be afraid, go, into the water, into the water! Yet, according to one commentator, Moses suddenly ordered everyone to a halt: Wait a moment. Think, take a moment to reassess what it is you are doing. Enter the sea not as frightened fugitives but as free men! And everyone obeyed. They paused in their rush toward the sea. And Moses turned to God with a prayer.”
Stop the panic. Stop where you are. Stand still. Pause.
The best cure for panic, chaos, negative thinking, regret, remorse, fear amid uncertainty is to simply standstill. Do nothing. Stop thinking. Stop rehearsing the situation. Quit planning your response. Just be.
I often end emails during difficult decision-making times with the phrase: Breath. Breathe deeply. And I try to live by that.
I find some days, some weeks, some months now that I need to ask people to give me time and room to breathe. I need to step away from the computer and not answer emails some days. There are too many to do justice to in any form of reply. There are too many individual requests to meet needs. It is suffocating. Too many meetings. Too many calendar requests. This is even during the pandemic.
If we do not find ways to take a space on our own, to pull apart on our own we risk entering the phase of panic or worse yet fight or flight. And no one is served by that.
Moses knew the people needed to stop and watch for a moment what God was doing. They needed to look at the pillar of fire and smoke. They needed to see that God had a plan for those chariots bearing down on them. Not a plan that was yet visible but they needed to breathe deeply to be able to see and note what God had already planned.
Wiesel noted in the very next sentence:
“But God reminded him that this was not the right moment: Tell the people of Israel to hurry! And the people, united as never before, swept ahead and crossed the Red Sea, which drew back to let the Jews go through. And, we are told so awesome and charged with faith was this sight that the most humble servant girls saw in it more divine mysteries than the prophet Ezekiel perceive centuries later. And Moses began to sing. The stutter, who could never utter a sentence longer than . . . let my people go. . .” began to sing.
In this story of a miraculous escape, we find that God indeed has a plan for God’s people. It did not come easy. It was not without great costs to some of the players in the story. But God always has a plan.
Regrets? Certainly in our life, we will have them. But God has a plan. Keep stepping forward.
Complaints? We’re all too human to not express our opinions of satisfaction or lack thereof.
Panic? Who hasn’t and who won’t at some situations when we cannot see our way out of the situation.
Pause? The best solution for almost all things and times is overwhelming. Stop. Stand still. Quit thinking. Breathe deep.
Proceed? Of course. God still has a plan.
Sunday morning parking at the church is available in the high school parking lot on Third Street across from the church and in the city lots west of the church. These lots are available only on Sunday mornings. A small lot for handicapped parking is available just off of Adams Street on the north side of the church, with an accessible entrance directly into the sanctuary. A lift operates between the Fellowship Hall (3rd Street level) and the Sanctuary. William Sound System Receivers and Headsets are available to assist with hearing problems.
The First United Methodist Church of Moscow, Idaho takes as our mission to be the body of Jesus Christ, ministering to a community which draws strength from its diversity. Our mission centers on the worship of God, expressed through varied forms of prayer, preaching, music, and ritual. See more...