The God Who Fights

The God who Fights
Exodus 14
“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord…The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”

Within our society, there is an epidemic of fear. We fear the outbreak of the pandemic; we fear the volatility of the economy. We fear the rise of crime. Republicans fear Democrats and Democrats fear Republicans, and non-partisan voters fear both. We fear global warming and those who use it for political manipulation. We fear the instability of the geopolitical world. Daily our news bombards us with the last international, national, and local problems that cause anxiety and apprehension for the viewers. Fear makes headlines and attracts a larger audience, so the media becomes a purveyor of fear. Some of the things we fear are real; others imaginary, invented by the marketing world to sell products, for we do not buy what we do not need, and the best way to create a need is to create a crisis and something to fear.  
In Exodus 14, the Israelites were paralyzed by fear. The news spread throughout the camp that Pharoah had a change of heart and mustered his armies to enact revenge upon the Israelites. Having just come out of bondage, they had no military or skill to defend themselves against one of the most formidable armies of that day. When fear strikes the heart, doubts about God undermine our faith. Such was the case with the Jews. As the news spread, the people began to doubt God’s plan and goodness. Instead of seeing God as their delivery, they saw him as their deceiver- one who brought them out into the desert to lead them to their death.
They failed to recognize the sovereignty of God, who orchestrates all things according to his plan. It was the enemies of Israel that God was leading into the wilderness to destroy. Even though the circumstances looked hopeless, God was moving behind the scenes to demonstrate his righteous justice and manifest his glory through the judgment of the Egyptians. Through the events, the Egyptians will know that God is the Lord, and the Israelites will know that God fights for them. For the Israelites, they would learn that God is a divine warrior who fights against the forces of Evil and brings salvation and protection to his people. It does not matter how ill-equipped and powerless we might be in the face of the threats coming against us. When we trust in God, he removes all dangers and protects us against all harm. Verse 13-14 may be translated:  “Stop fearing, take a stand…The Lord will fight on your behalf, and you need to do nothing.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt famously stated, “We have nothing to fear except fear itself.”  For the follower of Jesus, this is especially true. All the threats and things we fear are powerless in the face of the infinite God who promises he will fight for us. He will care for us, and we need only to stand back and marvel at his work. This does not mean that he will now allow us to God through difficult times. Sometimes to accomplish our transformation, we may need to face a threat so that we can learn to trust him. For example, God could brought the threat of Pharoah to display his power to both the Egyptians and the Jews. However, when we face trials, we can remain confident and free from fear, for with God on our side, there never is a threat, for God, with his infinite power, acts on our behalf. The only thing we need to fear is fear itself, for, in our fear, we begin to doubt God. As the children of God, we do not need to get caught up in all the hysteria of anxiety that plagues our world. Instead, we can be confident that God is orchestrating his plan both in the world and in our lives. And when the battle becomes the most difficult, we can just stand by and watch as God fights the battle for us.