Looking Back:
The First Passover Exodus 12:1-28
The Exodus Exodus 12:31-51
MEMORY VERSE EXODUS 15:2a
“The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him...”
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
About fifty pieces of wadded paper and some large pieces of cardboard for shields.
ATTENTION GRABBER!
Paper Wad Wars You will need about fifty pieces of wadded paper and some large pieces of cardboard for shields.
THIS OR THAT
Divide your class into two groups.
WHAT TO DO
Have them throw the divided pieces of paper at each other without the cardboard shields first.
When they have sufficiently hit one another, have them start over using the shields.
Point out that if they are behind the shield, they are safe from the incoming paper bombs.
Explain that the Lord is our protection and shield. If we stand behind Him (live obedient lives as His children), He will protect us from the weapons of the enemy.
Have someone read:
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give thanks to Him.” Psalm 28:7
Exodus 14: (NIV) Crossing the Red Sea
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So, the Israelites did this. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
Moses and the children of Israel left Egypt.
Pharaoh has, once more, hardened his heart and is now pursuing the children of Israel.
Pharaoh had been humiliated and angered by everything surrounding the Israelite’s deliverance, and he now sought revenge.
Although the Egyptian army was much more powerful than God’s people (who had no weapons and traveled with their families--women, children, and elderly), they lacked that which was most important: the presence of God on their side.
When Moses looked up and saw the Egyptian army coming, he was not surprised.
Not only did God tell Moses of the approaching Egyptian army, but God revealed his plan to judge the Egyptians.
Egypt had been full of pride against God, and now they faced judgment. If we, like the Egyptians, turn against God, all of our plans will not work the way God wanted them to work; and eventually, we will be judged.
Instead, let us turn to God. He will go before us and cause us to triumph.
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Pharaoh’s army was close behind the children of Israel. They were being followed by hundreds of men on chariots who sought to capture them.
Seeing the great Egyptian army behind them, the Israelites became overwhelmed with fear.
They cried out to God but did not trust Him.
In their unbelief, they began to complain.
They even accused Moses of making a foolish decision to leave Egypt.
How quickly the children of Israel forgot the miracles God had done in Egypt. Now, blinded by their unbelief, they wished they were back in Egypt serving Pharaoh again, back in bondage where they imagined they would be safe.
The children of Israel did not know that God had a magnificent plan to rescue them.
Their eyes were on the mighty Egyptian army and not on their all-powerful God.
We, as Christians, will face things in our life that could easily overwhelm us. We need to choose to focus our attention on our mighty God and not on what we are going through.
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Moses was a good leader and pointed them to the Lord.
The Bible says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
The mighty Egyptian army was not a match for God.
Who is our protector and shield?
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so, neither went near the other all night long.
God did a mighty thing for His people that night. He used a pillar of cloud to go behind them and cause darkness for the enemy, but light for His children.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
God did another miracle act in order to protect His children from the enemy that pursued them.
God parted a mighty sea and allowed the Israelites to pass through on dry land.
Can you imagine how it must have been to walk on dry land while the sea was held back on both sides of you?
God is all-powerful! He can do anything.
He wants to accomplish His will.
As Christians, we don’t have to be afraid.
WHY?
The children of Israel had wanted to go backward in their hearts (back to Egypt);
God’s way was forward.
God always moves us forward in our relationship with the Lord.
As we move forward, God will show Himself strong on our behalf.
Phl.3:13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, Phl.3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.” 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak, the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
The Egyptians tried to follow the Israelites into the sea, but God confused them, and their chariots became difficult to drive.
When the Egyptians began to realize that God was in control of the situation, they tried to escape.
God caused the sea to close as Moses stretched out his hand.
what a miracle God performed for His children.
30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Over two million people pass safely through the Red Sea.
God cast judgment on Pharaoh and the Egyptian army.
God had demonstrated His great power to deliver—not only from the bondage of Egypt but from the pursuing Egyptian army.
A circumstance that seemed like certain death to the Israelites.
God is able to deliver us no matter our circumstances.
May we not, like the Israelites, cry out in fear and complain when faced with impossible circumstances;
May we, instead, be filled with faith, remembering God’s past miracles.
God who delivered us in the past will surely deliver us today and in the future.
II Corinthians 1:20 states:
“…who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us.”
Even if it seems like the Egyptian army is pursuing you and the Red Sea is in front of you, you can “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today" (Exodus 14:13).
We can trust God fully.
What do we need to fully trust in the Lord?
How do we get it?
What do we need to do first?
What does that mean?
MEMORY VERSE EXODUS 15:2a
“The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him...”
Sinners’ prayer:
PRAY
SNACK
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