Move on / go Forward

Wednesday 11 October 2023

Go forward

Start moving

Break camp

Get moving

Depart; Set out

Move forward towards the sea

Move on

Set out again

Journey

(the verb in v15 as translated in different bibles)

News and feedback - prayer walks

Some of the community had been on prayer walks in the last week, partly in response to our session on joining Jesus in his chariot to go with him and pray with him.

From the walls seeing all the restaurants and feeling the lostness of people mindlessly looking for enjoyment. God wants to see them all in his kingdom.
reminders of a word about revival - many people coming into the city through the Bargate out to the ports, going back home to take the gospel with them.
sensing a feeling of hopelessness in the parks
stories of praying for a few people whilst out on a prayer walk - finding it challenging, but being obedient to the prompting. Seeing people in a different way because we are out praying.

The word for this week

15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” Exodus 14:15-18

At our info meeting on September 6th Jim Hodder felt God put this passage on his heart and tonight we looked at it as a community.

We read it through slowly a few times, paying attention to the words or phrases that caught our attention and prayed about what the Holy Spirit wanted to communicate to us. Then in groups we shared our findings and prayed more.

The story in detail

Looking back to the beginning of the chapter we see that God had set the situation up so that the Egyptians would catch up with the Israelites:

4 I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.

The Israelites reacted very strongly to the arrival of Pharaoh:

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Moses is full of faith as he tells the Israelites not to panic:

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Is God's reaction to Moses surprising?

They already knew what God wanted to do. Moses and the Israelites were on the way to the promised land. If they thought about it, they had God's word to them to hold onto.

God tells Moses to get the people moving and gives him authority to do something miraculous.

Moses' obedient action leads to God's action. He had to get them moving before the miracle came.

What is God saying to us?

These are the main points emerging from our time together:

Time for action. It is not a case of 'God you move first then I will'. It is the other way around.
Time for getting us and the people moving: "You already know what I want you to do - Proclaim my gospel."
The power of God will overwhelm us as we speak his word, his message, the good news (Jesus is Lord).
Expect for the power of God beyond our imagining accompanying the proclamation of his word.
This was a situation God had allowed to happen - for his own glory.

Are we asking what next when we know what to do already? Don't stay at home, Go out and pray!

Why cry out to me?
Proclaim my gospel (Matthew 28, Mark 16)
Get moving
Lift up your spirit and stretch your hand over the city
Split the darkness, split the lie with the truth
I am truth
Let my people walk in the light, in my light
Meanwhile I will make sure the enemy remains stubborn. I will use him and his cohorts to put my glory on display so that all people will realise that I am God.

God's word remembered

We were reminded of God's word to Southampton in the past:

Revival Town - song by Martin Smith written for Southampton.
Gateway to the world - many people welcomed into the city and sent out again to the nations of the world. Come in to be blessed and going out to be blessed. (echoes the word about the Bargate).

God is drawing us out of the 'empire'

Jim Clarke reminded us of some of our learning during lockdown about 'empire'. The Israelites had been slaves of the Egyptian empire. God destroyed the Egyptians gods and brought his people out of that empire setting to be distinct. We live in the empire of western consumerism. We are comfortable. The church can be too comfortable and end up mirroring the culture of the empire. During lockdown God gave us a 'hard reset' to think about how to let go of the things we've been comfortable in; to come out and away to glorify his name.

Application

As ever we must continue to weigh these words.

Jesus is drawing us close to him in prayer and he is sending us out to be his witnesses.

Let us be available to Him in our everyday, living as His witnesses and noticing the opportunities he gives us to share our story of Him. Speaking the word of his good news, expecting his power to accompany this.

We are seeking to live this out at the same time as praying for the church in Southampton to live like this too. Tell the people to break camp, continue the journey, move on, go forward.