Exodus: The Perfect Idea

by J. Michael Strawn

From the Book of Exodus.

#1. On the eve of the Normandy Invasion (June 1944) General Eisenhower journeyed from his headquarters to talk to some of his troops who were to land in France. Amphibious operations & air assault operations are said to be very risky. Speaking to the soldiers who were charged with those tasks, the general planted an idea. The “perfect idea”, he said, was “to move forward”. Moving forward was where the enemy awaited. To move forward required courage & determination because to do that brought the fighters closer to possible or even probable injury & or death.

#2. In the same way, the Israelites were brought to the margin of the Red Sea, Exodus 13, 14. But there, they were stopped by that impassable body of water & then from behind appeared the Egyptian charioteers. They were trapped they thought. Pharaoh reasoned; “…They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in”, Exodus 14:3.

#3. The Almighty had a purpose for the Israelites which involved perceived danger, risk & certainly hardship. “Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, ‘The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt'”…hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness…”, Exodus 13:17, 18.

#4. As circumstances began to choke them, the Israelites “became frightened”; “so…they cried out to the Lord”, Exodus 14:10. They resigned themselves to defeat & death, Exodus 14:11, 12.

#5. The perfect idea was expressed by the Lord; “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward”, Exodus 14:15.

#6. Generalization: As we face the trials, hardships, uncertainties & dangers of this world we must “go forward” & in unshakable faith. As in the case of the ancients, move to the water, move to the impossible, move to the impassable, move to the improbable, move toward the danger of whatever source, move toward the hardships as necessary.

#7. The soldier of Christ does not seek temporal outcomes, his/her life is the pursuit of faith. It is for the Lord to put the outcomes. We “go forward”, we move to the water in spite of fears, dangers & uncertain temporal outcomes. Let us not be detained by any worldly calculation.