Exodus 23: 27 – 33 “I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run. I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land. And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
The Bible records that 600,000 Israelite men left Egypt with Moses. That does not include women and children or any non – Israelites who were so impressed by the power of God that they felt safer leaving Egypt. But the Israelites are heading into territory controlled by a number of different tribes, each one of which has soldiers. These enemy armies have swords, spears, bows, and clubs. In addition, the potential enemies probably have soldiers skilled in the use of the sling. When David later kills Goliath with a stone shot from a slingshot, that is not a fluke. Later on, David himself was joined by thousands of soldiers of whom it could be said that they were skilled with slingshots with either hand! Slingshots were the equivalent of high – powered military grade rifles. The potential enemies of the Israelites are heavily armed while the Israelites have very few weapons.
But God is a God of infinite resourcefulness. Little do the Israelites realize that the story about the Red Sea crossing has already spread throughout the surrounding countries. At the time of Moses, Egypt was a world power, and Pharaoh’s army was highly respected. Any power that could wipe out such an army was to be feared! The longer the Israelites stayed in the desert, the wilder the stories became about the power of the God of the Israelites. When traders from these countries reached Egypt shortly after the plagues, they found a country whose agricultural sector was virtually ruined due to the storms of hail and lightning and the plague of locusts. Egyptians who were formerly quite wealthy were now impoverished because they had given the Israelites their gold, silver, and jewelry to get the Israelites to leave Egypt.
Imagine the stories the Egyptians told visiting traders: “There was nothing we could do! We invoked all of our gods, but they were powerless to help us! The God of the Israelites was far stronger than any of our gods. If those wretched people hadn’t left Egypt when they did, all of Egypt would have been completely destroyed! Don’t have anything to do with the Israelites! Their God is mightier than any gods we have seen in any other nation. If our Pharaoh had not been watching his army from a distance, he too would have been drowned! ”
Even before the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, God protected them from the Egyptians by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. Once across the Red Sea, the pillars of clouds and fire led the Israelites through the wilderness. Now the Israelites are at Mount Sinai and the entire mountain is covered in fire and smoke for weeks. Periodically there are earthquakes. Any people in the vicinity will see the fire and smoke and feel the earthquakes. Although the Israelites are in a wilderness, there are still people inhabiting that place. Shepherds herd flocks. Traders cross at a distance. And you can be assured that these people will carry embellished stories about what they have seen all over that part of the world. Truly these stories will throw fear and confusion into surrounding nations. And as if that weren’t enough, God promises to send hornets to drive out enemy nations.
BUT, having promised to drive out the enemy nations, God continues to warn the Israelites against compromising with these nations or adopting their idols. God has no illusions about the Israelites; He knows that some of them still are keeping idols from Egypt and would happily adopt others, given the chance.
APPLICATION: Many times, we look at ourselves and all our failings and forget the God whom we serve truly is the Lord of the Universe. It’s as if we are little chihuahua dogs barking like crazy and not impressing anybody. But then our friend, the bull mastiff from next door, comes to join us. Anybody who refused to be impressed by our feeble barking will have a great deal of respect for our big fierce friend!
But God’s protection comes at a price. We must not compromise with those around us who are worshiping something less than the One True Living God. Our friends and neighbors need to know that there is a God of the universe who loves them and who cares about every aspect of their lives. We need to let people know that God is worthy of all praise and worship and that He is the only true and living God.
God, our heavenly Father, has loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins so that those who believe on Jesus will have eternal life. Truly, our God is all – powerful, all – knowing, and all – loving!
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, let the awe of you fall on the nations, and let your Name be praised and glorified throughout the whole world. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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