HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2015 / SPRING / THE LIFE EXAMINED WITH CAROLYN MACOMBER
I have often heard the phrase, “God’s ways are higher than ours”. I must admit I haven’t liked that phrase much. Too often I want things my way. I’ve wondered where God was at times, and I certainly haven’t understood His ways.
God, however, has an eternal perspective, and the story of the Exodus exemplifies it. For the purposes of this article we will start the story in Exodus 13. The nearly one million Israelites had left Egypt and were camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. God had led them out of Egypt by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This pillar never left its place with the Israelite people (Ex. 13:22). How comforting!
The Lord has an eternal perspective and desires that people know Him and live forever with Him. Exodus repeats a phrase over and over to tell us the reason God was doing what He was doing: “So that they may know that I am the Lord” (Ex. 6:7; 7:5; 7:17; 8:10; 8:22; 9:14; 10:2; 14:4, 18). In fact, Moses and the Israelites sang a song declaring that the Lord was doing what He was doing so that the “nations” would know Him (Ex. 15:14).
God told the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea (Ex. 14:1-4), in a move that trapped them. How frightening! The Israelites, however, did what we should do when feeling afraid and trapped: they cried out to the Lord (Ex. 14:10).
Then the Lord told Moses that all that was happening was for the “Egyptians” to “know” His Lordship (Ex. 14:18). In fact, God may lead us and guide us in our trials so others may know He is the Lord.
I love the next thing that happened. The angel of God who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front of them to behind. What a protective move! Now God was visibly between the Israelites and their enemies.
Next God allowed one million people who had walked on a dry sea bed to watch as He threw the Egyptian army into confusion and jammed up their chariot wheels. The one true God has a million ways to meet our needs, protect us, provide for us, and help others come to know His faithfulness.
When we see the Lord’s strength, power, greatness, majesty, and unfailing love, it should cause us to praise Him. In fact, praise was exactly what Moses and the Israelites did when they reached the opposite shore and saw the Egyptians lying dead. God had caused the sea to sweep over Pharaoh’s army, and not one of the pursuing Egyptians survived (Ex. 14:28).
Notice the words Moses and the Israelites used to praise the Lord: Exalted, Strength (Ex.15:2,13), Warrior (v. 3), Majestic (v. 6, 7, 11), Awesome (v. 11), Defense (v. 2), Power (v. 6, 16), Works Wonders (v. 11).
The enemy had seemed unstoppable, yet the song of Moses and the Israelites described the enemy with the following words: pursue (v. 9), overtake (v. 9), divide spoils (v. 9), destroy (v. 9), and draw their sword (v. 9).
I love the words Moses sings of what God does to the enemy of Israel. God shatters the enemy (v. 6); He throws down the opposition (v. 7); He unleashes His anger; works wonders; guides (v. 13); He hurls the enemy into the sea (v. 4); the enemy is consumed like stubble (v. 7); God stretched out His hand and blew with His breath (v. 10, 12); God will reign for ever and ever (v. 18).
The song of Moses is referenced again in Revelation 15:3-4. Those who have been victorious over the beast and its image will sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, and God’s ways will be known as just and true. We may not always understand His ways on earth, but He has an eternal perspective that brings glory to His name and others to Himself.
We can cry out to Him when we struggle with life, and we will praise Him with the saints when we join in singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb! †
Copyright 2015 Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., Camp Verde, Arizona, USA. All rights reserved. Revised January 3, 2015. Contact email: proclamation@gmail.com
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VOLUME 16, ISSUE 1
Carolyn Macomber was a doctoral student at Andrews University when she discovered inconsistencies between Adventism and the Bible. She withdrew her membership from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2009. She is a member of The Chapel Evangelical Free Church in St. Joseph, Michigan, where she is the leader of a Former Adventist Fellowship and is a marriage and family counselor.
D E P A R T M E N T S
The life EXAMINED with
Carolyn Macomber
