Have you been set free but you still feel like you’re on the run from the things you’ve done years ago? Are you haunted by your past? We can learn a lot from the story of Israel, the people of God, and their escape from Egypt. To set the stage, the Israelites had lived in Egypt for 400 years as slaves. Moses had entreated Pharoah to let them go, and over and over again he had promised and then went back on his promise. This was the cause of the plagues that swept the land, causing disease and torment to the people of Egypt. Finally, Pharoah relented after the plague where the angel passed over the homes and brought death to the firstborn children of every house that was not marked by the blood of the lamb.
In this blog, I want to take you step by step through Exodus 14, where we see that the Israelites have left the slavery of Egypt and are now facing the Red Sea. Pharoah is coming. Their past is nipping at their heels, threatening to take them back to the life of bondage they once knew. As we walk through each scripture one by one, my hope is that you can draw powerful parallels to your own life and how to find freedom from the bondage of your past.
A Mentality of Bondage
Exodus 14:5 (TLB)
When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelis were not planning to return to Egypt after three days, but to keep on going, Pharaoh and his staff became bold again. “What is this we have done, letting all these slaves get away?” they asked.
Pharaoh was convinced the Israelites were going to come back to Egypt. He knew they had been slaves for 400 years and still had a slave mentality. He thought, The minute they go out there and realize there’s no food and water, they’re going to come right back to us. The enemy has no new tricks, and this Biblical account reveals a plot of the enemy. When you finally find your Exodus moment and begin to walk in freedom, he has no problem letting you go. Why? Because even though you’re free of your chains, you still have bondage in your mind. Our thoughts form our actions, and our actions direct our life. So that means our life goes in the direction of our strongest thought.
The enemy of your soul has been observing people for centuries and seeking whom he may devour. If you've ever played tug of war, there's a time you actually give your opponent a little bit of rope as a strategy so that you can pull it back harder and win. That’s how the enemy works. “Sure, have three good days! Enjoy yourself!” and then eventually he pulls back harder because he knows your patterns. The enemy is concerned with the long game, so he can give you little victories in the interest of winning the war.
You may have experienced a brief hiatus from addiction, fear, or sin, and then it came back. God doesn’t want you just to take a brief hiatus. He wants true freedom, exodus, for you! Exodus is when the Pharaoh of your past has to get up off his throne and say “Wait a minute, they’ve been gone how long? They ain't coming back?”
We must realize that complete freedom isn’t the end of the battle - it’s just the beginning. The enemy doesn't have to fight for someone he owns.
The Wealth of Your Testimony
Exodus 14:6
So Pharaoh led the chase in his chariot, followed by the pick of Egypt’s chariot corps—600 chariots in all—and other chariots driven by Egyptian officers. He pursued the people of Israel, for they had taken much of the wealth of Egypt with them.
When the people of Israel left, they came out with bangles, earrings, silver, and gold. This was the wealth of where they were enslaved, but God brought them out! When you are set free from sin and from old patterns and cycles, you carry with you wealth as well - the wealth of your testimony. The wealth of your witness is something that proclaims the glory of God, and it’s valuable and substantial.
The enemy does not want us to have that kind of resource. If you've been set free from an addiction and you can talk about it freely, your testimony glorifies God in earth. If you used to be in an Egypt of pain and darkness but have been set free, you leave with a wealth of wisdom, trust, and hope. When you see someone else who's got a story similar to you, you can speak into their life and say “I've been there, God has been faithful, he's going to bring you through!” What used to be your slave master now becomes your financier!
The Trick of Guilt and Shame
Exodus 14:9-12
Pharaoh’s entire cavalry—horses, chariots, and charioteers—was used in the chase; and the Egyptian army overtook the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Piha-hiroth, across from Baal-zephon. As the Egyptian army approached, the people of Israel saw them far in the distance, speeding after them, and they were terribly frightened and cried out to the Lord to help them. And they turned against Moses, whining, “Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you, while we were slaves, to leave us alone? We said it would be better to be slaves to the Egyptians than dead in the wilderness.”
This is the real trick of guilt and shame. When your past chases you, it’s almost second nature to revert to the mindset of Egpyt even though you don’t live there anymore. You see one old Facebook picture, you have one negative thought, you catch one whiff of an old perfume, you hear one song, and suddenly you’re triggered, anxiety-ridden, and doubting if you even have worth to God.
Stop Praying, Start Moving
Exodus 14:13
But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch, and you will see the wonderful way the Lord will rescue you today. The Egyptians you are looking at—you will never see them again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger!” 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Quit praying and get the people moving! Forward, march!
There is a time to STOP praying and start moving. When guilt and shame are chasing you down, you need to move! If we’re not careful, we’ll use prayer to cover our paralysis. You can't live in the Middle Ground between your past life and your promised life. You need to make a decision to move. We live on the outside of Egypt, but we're not living on the inside of promise.
We were locked in prison and God came by and unlocked the cell and opened the door. But now we're sitting inside saying, “Oh God help me!” You have to help yourself! Get up and walk out of that prison cell!
Too often our prayers aren't prayers of faith, but instead, they’re rehearsed anxiety. Here's the litmus test to tell the difference: Are these prayers translating into action in my life?
Am I praying and doing? Because if I'm just praying and not doing, maybe I'm just fearing.
It’s Already In Your Hand
Exodus 14:16 (NLT)
Use your rod—hold it out over the water, and the sea will open up a path before you, and all the people of Israel shall walk through on dry ground!
Moses didn’t have a secret weapon. He had the same dusty old rod from four decades ago that he found in the desert. This was the same thing he carried with him at the burning bush when God called him. It was the same rod that turned into a snake when his haters doubted him. This rod turned the Nile to blood when Pharoah resisted him.
You don’t need something new, you need to use what you’ve been through as your weapon. When your past is chasing you down, use what you have in your hand because it’s a reminder that the past doesn’t own you! When you start to feel like the enemy is overtaking you with guilt and shame, start holding up everything God has done for you: “That’s the day I was saved! This is the day I heard the voice of God! This is the day I made it through the worst day of my life!” Lift up what’s in your hands!
When Life Gets Harder After Slavery
Exodus 14:17-18
I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after you and you will see the honor I will get in defeating Pharaoh and all his armies, chariots, and horsemen. And all Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah.”
Wait so life can get HARDER after Egypt? Things will get worse after Jesus sets me free? Sometimes it’s going to feel like you’ve got a target on your back, but it’s actually a spotlight on your life. God will allow you to endure trial so that his power can be displayed in your life. Congrats you’re a testimony.
Exodus Brings Clarity
Exodus 14:19-20
Then the Angel of God, who was leading the people of Israel, moved the cloud around behind them, and it stood between the people of Israel and the Egyptians. And that night, as it changed to a pillar of fire, it gave darkness to the Egyptians but light to the people of Israel! So the Egyptians couldn’t find the Israelis!
This is a concept we need to understand as a church. When God sets a person free and begins to lead and guide them, He begins to bring clarity. The things of the Spirit become more clear, and destiny becomes more clear, but the same God that gives light to His people is going to give darkness to those who oppose him. What’s clear as day to you will be dark as night to those who are watching you. And too many people have gotten discouraged because outsiders don’t understand what’s happening on you on the inside, and their inability to see it causes you to doubt that it’s real. Stop expecting people in the dark to understand what’s happening in the light, they won’t get it. Don’t let their doubt be your doubt. They can’t see it.
The Harassment of Heaven
Exodus 14:21-25
Meanwhile, Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the sea, with walls of water on each side; and a strong east wind blew all that night, drying the sea bottom. 22 So the people of Israel walked through the sea on dry ground! 23 Then the Egyptians followed them between the walls of water along the bottom of the sea—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen. 24 But in the early morning Jehovah looked down from the cloud of fire upon the array of the Egyptians, and began to harass them. 25 Their chariot wheels began coming off, so that their chariots scraped along the dry ground. “Let’s get out of here,” the Egyptians yelled. “Jehovah is fighting for them and against us.”
God will harass the enemy in your life. The Israelites may have thought that it was just the water that killed their enemy, but God was ripping their chariots apart. Their wheels were breaking, and they couldn't move. He was immobilizing the enemy. This is a full display of God’s power. All the Israelites are on the other side, Moses stretches his hand out, and the sea returns to normal. The Egyptians tried to flee, but the Lord drowned them in the sea. This is a big moment for Moses because I don't think this is just God proving himself to Israel, God is showing Moses a picture. He's saying, “I'm drowning the Egypt in you.” Your most important days are ahead. Your “before Christ” days do not outweigh your “after Christ” days.
Closure on the Old You
Exodus 14:26-28
When all the Israelites were on the other side, the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand again over the sea, so that the waters will come back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 7 Moses did, and the sea returned to normal beneath the morning light. The Egyptians tried to flee, but the Lord drowned them in the sea.
Moses was 40 when he left Egypt and was now 80 as he led his people out. He’d spent equal time in his old life as he had his new. He had just as much experience being a pagan as a believer. And now he was at a crossroads. One moment more and he would have spent more of his life following God than not, but this is pivotal. Was he going to always view himself as a former Egyptian, or was he going to accept that even before he understood it, he had been called?
For Moses to lift his hands this time meant final closure on what he had been. Certainly, those Egyptian soldiers were children of men he knew back in his old life. He knew their language, trained with them, and lived like them. To raise his hands now meant that part of him was going to go down in the water.
The Blood and the Water
Exodus 14:29-30
The water covered the path and the chariots and horsemen. And of all the army of Pharaoh that chased after Israel through the sea, not one remained alive. The people of Israel had walked through on dry land, and the waters had been walled up on either side of them. 30 Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and the people of Israel saw the Egyptians dead, washed up on the seashore.
This is an essential part of the process. First there was the blood on the doorposts, then the water washing Egypt away. First the blood on the altar, then the water of the basin washing the priest. First, the blood of Jesus, then the water from His side. First salvation, then baptism. Blood then water.
God will save you, but then he wants to cleanse you. Too many of us stop at the blood. We’re out of Egypt, but we’re living in the constant chase from guilt and shame dominate your life
Your cell has been unlocked, but you haven’t let yourself walk out. You’re free, but you’re bullied by the past. Ephesians says that Christ gave Himself for the church so that He could make us holy by washing us with the water of the Word. You’re saved by Jesus, then washed by the Word
In Conclusion
The children of Israel were bound, enslaved, and dying in Egypt, and God set them free to pursue a promised land. Their past was Egypt, their tomorrow was the promised land, and today they were fleeing pharaohs in the wilderness. You are the same way. God has set you free from a life of bondage, slavery, and death. He has opened the doors and you are looking ahead at your freedom. To move out of the past, change your mindset from the one of a slave to the one of someone who is free. Realize that your testimony is your wealth from the prior season and brings God glory in the earth each time you share it. Understand that guilt and shame will keep you stuck. Quit praying anxiety-filled prayers and begin taking steps forward. Use what God has placed in your hand. And allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse you after he saves you!
