God’s Sovereignty in Glorious Display

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, ‘The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.’ ¹⁸ So he led the people around towards the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.

¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, ‘God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.’

²⁰ They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. ²² The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.

Exodus 13:17-22

Introduction

Well, good morning, Benoni Baptist. It is an absolute joy for me to be here. I’m here with my wife Tanya. We come from the other side of the Boerewors curtain called Pretoria, and we’ve come to visit you this morning. It really is our joy to be here.

Mark asked me to say just something about who we are and what we do. We just spent the last six years in the USA at Grace Community Church, where I studied my Master of Divinity degree and did the first two years of my Doctorate of Ministry degree. I’m now in the last phase of that—the writing stage—and hope to finish that by January next year, so I’m excited about that.

But as far as what we do, what I do: I represent Grace Community Church and a ministry that is based here in South Africa called African Revitalization Center. Our mission and our aim is to resource African pastors. There is certainly not a shortage of churches all over Africa, but many of them are poorly run. The men there love Christ, they love their flock, but they are not well resourced, they are not well trained. And so our mission is to get behind those men and see their ministry elevated and what they feed their flock become more nourishing as far as the Word of God is concerned. So it’s been a joy.

I bring greetings from Pastor Carl Hargrove—he’s one of the elders at Grace Community Church—and Dr. Mark Zuckovich, who’s also one of the elders there. He says I must send greetings to you as Benoni Baptist. They got to know Mark while we traveled together—Pastor Mark and I traveled together in the US and ate hopelessly too much, many good meals, a lot of good fellowship, and a lot of good time to get to know him as we traveled together. That was a great time at the Shepherd’s Conference.

What I want to do this morning is I want to look at Exodus chapter 13. Turn with me there if you would—Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17.

Now, while you’re turning there, I want to just comment. I venture to say that most of you know what a CV is. In the US we call it a resume. But it’s a very important document—everybody should have one, especially as an adult. It’s a document that tells somebody else something about who you are. It tells them about your abilities, your history of your career, a summary of your qualifications and your achievements, your accomplishments. And then it is backed up by a list of references of people who would vouch for what you say in there as being true.

I’ve often wondered: if you had to consider God’s CV, what would God’s CV look like? A document that would tell you who God is and what He’s done and has all the references that go with that. Now I know we have the Bible, but that’s not a summary—it probably is a summary, but it’s very long. What would it look like? What would He say in it?

Before I start this morning, before we read the text, I want to look at just a couple of points that might list in God’s CV.

– **Number one:** *I am God.* The reference there would be Isaiah 46:9, where speaking through the prophet God says, *“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.”*
– **Point number two:** *I existed before anything else.* In Psalm 90:2, Moses is the one who says this of God: he says, *“Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”*
– **Point number three:** *I created all things.* The Apostle John wrote this in John 1:3: *“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”* Even in Colossians 1:16, the Apostle Paul wrote this: he said *“all things have been created through Him and for Him.”*
– **Point number four:** *I sustain all things.* In Colossians 1:17, Paul continues: *“In Him all things hold together.”*
– **Point number five:** *I am omniscient*—which means I know everything. Here King David declares the following in Psalm 139:4: *“Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Yahweh, You know it all.”*
– **Point number six:** *I rule over all things.* Again King David attested to this in 1 Chronicles 29:12 when he said, *“Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand is power and might.”*

Friends, I think we can all agree that this is just a small part of God’s CV. This is His whole CV, but this is a small part—it’s a snippet. We know that our God is mighty. We know that our God is awesome. He’s majestic. He’s powerful. He’s sovereign. And as we think of that, we must also know that in His sovereignty He is kind and He is gentle in the way that He deals with His people.

Friends, that’s what we’re going to see today as we look at this passage in Exodus 13. This passage is actually the opening of the story of the exodus of Israel out of Egypt.

The Reading of God’s Word

Exodus 13, and I’m going to read out of the Legacy Standard Bible this morning from verse 17.

*Now it happened that when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not guide them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” Hence God turned the people to the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in battle array from the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you.” Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. And Yahweh was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to guide them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might go by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before all the people.*

Let’s just bow our heads together in prayer.

Opening Prayer

*Father, we thank You for Your Word to us this morning. We pray that You bless not just the reading of it but the study of it as well. We pray that You would open our hearts and our minds now as we look together at this text and what You are saying to us through it. We pray that You bless this time together and that You be glorified in it. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.*

The Context of Exodus

At the opening of the Book of Exodus, we find a huge group of people that had developed from the twelve sons of Jacob. This group of people, the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob, had been promised a land—a land that they would be able to occupy and rule over once they had grown to be big enough.

Now the Book of Exodus itself centers around four great events. First, obviously, we have everything that leads up to the Passover event in chapters 1–13. The second is the crossing of the Red Sea in chapter 14. The third is the giving of the law at Sinai in chapter 19. And then, if you remember, the construction of the Tabernacle from chapter 26 onward.

Now the first two of those great events have to do with the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt. And it’s right before the crossing of the Red Sea that Moses makes this declaration that we’ve just read. As he begins to tell this amazing story of what’s happened, he gives you three great truths about God—three great truths that remind you of God’s sovereignty, three great truths that if you understand them, they help you to trust Him more as He leads you through your life.

1. Firstly, Moses is going to tell us about **God’s providence** in verses 17 and 18.
2. Secondly, Moses is going to tell us about **God’s faithfulness to His promises** in verses 19 and 20.
3. Thirdly, he’s going to assure you of **God’s consistent presence** in verses 21 and 22.

Let’s look at these in more detail.

God’s Providence

Verse 17 starts like this: *“Now it happened that when Pharaoh had let the people go…”* Now the story begins in a strange way because when it says *Pharaoh had let the people go*, the Hebrew use of the word for “let go” actually has an angry nuance to it. It’s like Pharaoh said, “Just get out—I’m done with you Israelites. Get out.” And we know, of course, that this was his response to the killing of all the firstborn in Egypt.

And as the Israelites leave Egypt, the very first thing that Moses does is he tells us the way that the Lord took Israel out of Egypt and why. He says God did not guide them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near, for God said, *“Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”*

Now Moses didn’t do this because he wanted to give us a geography lesson. He does this because he wants us to know something about the providence of God. Now why do I say that? What do we know about God? If you think of His attributes, we know that He is sovereign, right? But we also know that He is omniscient—we saw that earlier; He knows everything. And so just with those two things alone—those two attributes alone—we know that as God rules over the entire universe, He does so from the perspective of knowing everything that there is to know about the universe, right? And it’s the same here. As He rules over the Israelites, He does so from the perspective of knowing everything there is to know about them as a people group. He does so knowing their needs, He knows their weaknesses, He knows their circumstances, He knows their fears, He knows their vulnerabilities, He knows their desires, He knows what’s best for them.

So watch how He does this, because you can know that God does this for you today.

We don’t know the exact route that the exodus took—we don’t—but we do know exactly where it didn’t go. It says it was not by the way of the land of the Philistines. What this meant was that the way was actually along the coastline from Egypt all along the northern side of the Sinai Peninsula to Canaan. But friends, the emphasis in that verse is not on the route itself. The emphasis is on God’s leading of His people. And I don’t want you to miss that this morning. Even though Pharaoh was the one who told them to get out, and even though Moses was their leader and he was walking in front of them leading them out, the text shows that it was God who was directly leading His people.

So what does He do? As I said, the shorter route runs along the coastline. It’s about 240 kilometers; it would usually take only about fifteen days to travel that distance. It seemed the best way to go. I mean, it was green, it was flat, there was plenty of food, there was plenty of water. Who would not want to take a journey along the coastline?

The problem is this: the land was occupied by the Philistines. They were a powerful nation; they were a powerful force; they were a fighting, warring people. And even at the time of the conquest—even forty years later at Joshua’s death—that particular strip of ground remained unconquered because of who the Philistines were. So had the Israelites gone along that route, what would have happened to them? They would have run straight into the Philistines, and they would have been drawn into conflict immediately.

And what does Moses say in verse 17? He says God did not take them along the coastal route *“lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”*

Now this does not mean that God’s divine plans are somehow dependent upon your choices or the Israelites’ choices. That’s not the point here. Friends, the point I want you to see is that God is so kind and so merciful in His providence that He takes into account your weaknesses as He ordains the way that you are to go. That’s exactly what He did. God knew that Israel was not ready for war. They had spent 430 years living in Egypt; they’d spent 430 years as slaves making bricks. They’d never learned to fight; they’d never learned to organize. And they had no time for training. And so they couldn’t go along that route because it was impossible. The longer route through the wilderness gave Israel time to organize as a fighting nation, ready for a military campaign in Canaan to occupy the land.

And so in verse 18 it says: *“Hence God turned the people to the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in battle array from the land of Egypt.”*

Friends, this is such an important thing for us to grasp today. God is showing His providence over His people, even in planning the route of the exodus.

Now we know in the very next chapter what happens. As soon as the Israelites faced the slightest difficulty and they got some struggle, they very, very quickly grumbled against Moses and against God. They said, *“It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than for us to die in the wilderness.”* And you think to yourself, what a crazy statement that is to make. How can they say that? I mean, what did God just do for them? And they grumble.

In May of 2023, Tanya and I had the privilege of going on a study tour in Israel. Our professor took us through a wilderness area very similar to what they were in. Somewhere along the line, he stopped the bus out of the blue and he said, “Right, take your Bible, get out, walk for a distance, and read out of Deuteronomy.” And so off we went. There was no shade anywhere; there were no trees; there was not a blade of grass. There was a 45° wind blowing; it was bone dry. The sun was beating down on us; it was absolutely brutal. And he said he would call us back, and it felt like forever that he wasn’t calling us. Tanya and I were standing there, and I can’t even remember what we were reading because I was miserable. All I could think of was getting back on that air‑conditioned bus. My water was on the bus. And I grumbled. I said, “Tanya, why is he taking so long to let us back on the bus?” And it took me about ten minutes to grumble.

And it was in that very same desert that I repented in my heart for reading this passage so many times in my life and judging the Israelites, because it took me ten minutes to do the same.

Friends, we do it all the time, don’t we? It’s easy for us to look at our circumstances and to grumble, to look at the trials that we’re going through and grumble. Now I’m not denying that what you are going through may be very, very hard. For the Israelites, the wilderness was harsh, it was unforgiving, it was brutal, it was a terrible environment. But the truth is, friends—and this is what I want you to get this morning—the reason God took the Israelites along the way that they considered to be a curse was because He was kind to them. He did this to make it easier on them. They didn’t see that; they saw it as a curse. But it was easier.

Moses is telling us that however hard the wilderness that we’re going through may be—however hard it was for the Israelites to go through the wilderness—it was infinitely better than going along the way of the Philistines, because they would have all died immediately.

Friends, God knows your weaknesses. He knows your vulnerabilities. He knows your fears. He knows your circumstances. He knows exactly how hard your trial is. And I don’t want you to forget this truth, because I want you to realize that no matter how hard the trial is that you’re going through, it’s because God in His wondrous and loving providence has ordained not to put you through something that would be even harder.

We can be comforted knowing that whatever God leads us through in life is simultaneously best for His glory and for our good. Amen. It’s hard to believe this when we are burdened under severe trial, but it’s true. We can stand upon His providence.

God’s Faithfulness to His Promises

So we saw the providence of God in verses 17 and 18. Now we’ll see the second truth of God in this passage, and that is **the promises of God** in verse 19 and 20—especially His faithfulness to them.

It says: *“And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you.’”*

This is again quite a strange story. I mean, Moses is taking Joseph’s body from the coffin that he was placed in after he died, and he wants to take them with them as they go. It’s an odd thing to do—it’s not something that you see every day, right?

But think back with me for a minute to Genesis chapter 50. Turn with me for a minute to Genesis 50, verse 24, and let’s see what’s happening here in Exodus 13. What’s going on as Moses collects Joseph’s bones to take with them? I want to venture to say there’s two things going on.

A Commitment Being Fulfilled

The first of these is that there is a commitment being fulfilled. Look at verse 24: *“And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’”* Verse 25: *“Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.’”*

Now friends, I want to suggest that Joseph was not being sentimental, like we are if one day we want our ashes put somewhere special to us, like in the Kruger Park or in the ocean or whatever the case may be. That’s sentimentality, but this is not what was going on here. This has to do with the sojourn of God’s people. It started with Joseph: the struggle between him and his brothers, him being sold into slavery in Egypt, then his rise to power and his position of influence, and him saving his family and then establishing them in very favorable conditions in Egypt. And then you see this 430‑year period that goes by before there is a nation coming out of Egypt.

Friends, what’s at stake here is not sentiment; it’s covenant. What do I mean by that? Well, friends, the reason why Joseph asks this of his brothers is because he deeply, deeply believed in the covenant promises of God. He deeply believed. He said, “Brothers, I know God is going to bring you out of Egypt, because He promised to give us our own land. And so when He does, you better take my bones with you when you go.” That was the faith of the patriarchs; they all believed it firmly.

And by digging up Joseph’s bones, what is Moses doing? He is demonstrating to the Israelites that he had exactly the same faith in God’s covenant promises that Joseph had, that their fathers had. So you ask yourself, well, what’s the point? Why not just get going?

A Declaration That God’s Promises Are Happening Now

In 2017, we decided that I’m going to go to seminary. And so I sold my business and we packed up our things and we moved to the US. We moved from a country and a people that we know very well and that we love to a country and a people that we knew nobody. It was a very, very stressful transition; it was a difficult time for us. And I was scared. The day we arrived, I thought I’d made the biggest mistake of our lives. And I said to Tanya, “I’m happy to go back,” because I was fearful. This seems so strange.

I think to myself, what did the Israelites feel like? Yes, they were unhappy in Egypt, but it’s what they knew. We saw even from the text how quickly, when things went skew, they yearned back to Egypt. It’s what they knew. And here we find them facing an unknown future, standing on the edge of an unknown wilderness, and they must have been very, very afraid. And so what they needed most right there and right then was a solid reminder that God never forgets His covenant promises and that He is faithful to keep them.

And so after 430 years, the same faith that Joseph had in God’s covenant promises is demonstrated by Moses as he digs up these bones and puts them in a box to take with them.

But secondly, I said there’s two things. What’s going on here? By doing this—as Moses takes out these bones—he’s declaring to the people that what God promised so many years ago was actually happening in their midst, in their day. This was taking place now.

And to reiterate this point, in Exodus 13:19, Moses quotes Joseph verbatim from Genesis 50. He not only expresses the faith of the patriarchs, but he stresses the promises of God. And God promised to take care of them even in the harshness of the wilderness. He declares boldly that the promises made to Joseph over 400 years ago still stand, and that just as God was faithful to Joseph, God would be faithful to them. God brought them out of Egypt after making them into a multitude of people, and He’s not going to let them go now. He’s going to take care of them all the way to the promised land and beyond.

And so, friends, it is for you today. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the trials, no matter the wilderness that you’re going through or the tragedy that you’re facing, God’s sovereignty and His faithfulness to His promises never cease. We can trust Him.

And Israel demonstrates this trust for us in verse 20 when it reads: *“Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness.”* The edge of the wilderness. Friends, here is key for us, because on entering the wilderness, what has happened? They’d left Egypt, and they were willing to do so for one very, very good reason. And this brings us to our final point.

God’s Consistent Presence

We saw the providence of God in verses 17 and 18. We saw His faithfulness to His promises in verses 19 and 20. And in verses 21 and 22, Moses shows us that Israel was willing to enter the wilderness because of **the presence of God**.

Here they are, standing on the edge of this wilderness, looking at this desolate place ahead—scary, very scary. But what did they have going for them right there? They had the memory of what God had just done for them: how He brought them out of Egypt, how He delivered them. They’d seen the force of God’s power displayed in the plagues and in the Passover and the defeat of Pharaoh. They also had the reminder of God’s covenant‑keeping promises in the box of bones. All they had to do every time they were worried or scared was just to look up at this box and be reminded of His promises.

But God gave them something else. He not only showed them His providence; He assured them that He would keep His promises. But He gave them His presence.

*“And Yahweh was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to guide them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might go by day and by night.”*

Friends, in the cloud and in the fire, God’s powerful presence was made known to them day and night as He went before them. He went ahead to lead them, to guide them. It represented God’s leadership in their lives as they moved through this unknown territory. It was a way of allowing the Israelites to look upon God. We know that the Bible says no man can look at God and live, but this gave them an opportunity to look at God, and they knew all day, every day, that He was present with them. And this gave them tremendous courage. What seemed to be a terrible route, what seemed to be a curse—they knew they could trust. Why? Because God was leading them.

These pillars were not just a symbol of Yahweh; it was Yahweh Himself. Verse 22 says: *“He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”* Friends, these were God’s chosen and beloved people. He was with them to care for them, to guide them, to protect them, to comfort them, and through all of it to remain near to them, even in the midst of this terrible wilderness.

So how does that impact you today? Well, another thing we know about God—I did mention it earlier—but we know that God never ever changes. And so we know that these same three truths about God remain unchanged even today.

God’s providence in ordaining the path of your life remains the same. Look at what it says in Proverbs 16:9: *“The heart of a man plans his way, but Yahweh directs his steps.”* Just as God orders history for His people, so He orders the direction of your life if you are one of His people.

How about the covenant promises? The Old Testament is overwhelmed with passages that speak of God’s promises to us. I’m going to give you a few very quickly—not to jot them down, but go and read them afterwards. I’m going to give them to you in shotgun style:

– Genesis 3:15—you all know it—the verse promises the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. This indicates a future victory over Satan.
– In Genesis 12:1–3, God promises to Abraham that through his offspring, *“all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”* It foreshadows the redemption we have in Christ.
– Exodus 6:6–7—God promises to redeem Israel from Egyptian bondage. This serves as a picture of His broader plan to redeem mankind.
– Isaiah 53—the suffering servant—you all know the Scripture well—the suffering servant would bear the sins of many, making intercession and justification for sinners through His suffering and His death.
– Jeremiah 31:31–34—He promises a new covenant where He will forgive sins and will write His law on the hearts of His people.
– Ezekiel 36:25–27—God promises to cleanse Israel, to cleanse them from all their impurities, and give them a new heart and a new spirit.

Sound familiar? Friends, as you all know well, these passages all came to fulfillment in the coming and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

After God the Father went ahead of His people in the wilderness in a pillar of fire and cloud, He sent His Son—this time not to be in front of His people, but to dwell amongst His people, to come to restore a personal relationship with His chosen people, a relationship that was destroyed by the sin of Adam and the sin of Israel. But this time, friends, it was more than just Israel. Jesus came to pay the penalty for our sin and to take upon Himself our record of sin, our guilt. And for all those who would believe this, they would receive in themselves His righteousness, His sinlessness. Incredible thought.

But even beyond that, sometime after His resurrection from the dead, He ascended into heaven and, according to His promise—there’s that word again—He sent His Holy Spirit. In John 16:7 He said of the Holy Spirit, *“I will send Him to you.”* And then in verse 13 He said, *“When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.”* Friends, the reason why He sent the Holy Spirit is in order that we might enjoy the continual comfort in this time—the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

If you’re a born‑again believer today, that same shekinah glory of God that went ahead of the Israelites and that came in the incarnation of Christ now resides in your heart. He went from being in front, to being amongst, to being within. Isn’t that an incredible thought? That’s how near God is to you right now. It’s not just in the incarnation of the Son that He draws near to us; it’s the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And as He does that, He comforts you amidst life’s trials. As He indwells you, He strengthens you in adversity. He guides you through life. And He gives you peace in an environment where there is no peace.

Application

So what can you do when you are in this wilderness—or in a wilderness? What can you do as you suffer through the trials of life?

1. **Recognize with awe and thanksgiving the providence of God** in directing your course of life, and in His kindness and His gentleness as He does that.

2. **Remember with thanksgiving the covenant promises that God made in Christ**—the same covenant promises—and on top of that, His faithfulness to keeping those promises and giving you a new heart and a new eternal hope in Christ. Amen.

3. **Be assured of His continual, consistent, indwelling presence** through His Holy Spirit in your life. And you will walk in peace. You will walk in comfort. You will walk with courage through the troubles and the trials and the challenging paths of life.

All it takes, friends—if you are not already a born‑again believer—all it takes is for you to believe this and to put your faith and your trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross for your salvation. That’s all. Amen.