When I was a little girl, I knew better than to argue with my mother. When she said do something, I did it. Occasionally, I would ask the typical question children ask. I would say, “Why?” The answer was always, “Because I said so.” I found myself saying that same thing when my children would ask why they had to do something.
Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, and this process of telling children to do something and their asking why is not new. Sometimes we have this same feeling when we are commanded to do something by our Lord. When it doesn’t make sense to us, we want to know why we need to do it or why it needs to be done in a certain way.
In chapter 14 of the book of Exodus, we read about the Israelites leaving Egypt and beginning their journey to the land of promise. You would think that after seeing all the miracles of the plagues and the death of the firstborn, the people would have had confidence in God. Maybe it was that they didn’t have confidence in Moses.
The people saw the army of Pharaoh coming, and they immediately began complaining. They were afraid. Moses stood his ground with them and told them not to be afraid but to “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. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13-14 ESV).
It sounds as though Moses had strong faith that the outcome would be favorable for the Israelites. That’s not exactly the case. Look at verse 15. “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.’” It would seem that Moses told the people everything was going to be ok, but he must have gone to the Lord with more questions or more petitions. The Lord wasted no time in instructing him again to get on with the plan. Moses knew what to do, but he kept dragging his feet, hesitating to move forward.
All through the travels in the wilderness, the Israelites looked backward. They looked at what had been, not what lay ahead. Part of the reason for that was because they did not obey the plan God had lain out for them. They tried to hold on to their idol worship and worship God at the same time. From Mount Sinai God ordered, “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:3-6). While Moses was receiving the law, the people were making a golden calf to worship. They even gave the gods of Egypt credit for delivering them from bondage.
This is a lesson for us today. When we submit to the will of the Father and obey the gospel, we have to leave our old life behind us. We have to examine the things we did in the past and determine if those things fit into the Christian life. If they do not, we must put them away. We need to understand that, on our obedience to the gospel, our past sins are forgiven, erased, and treated as though they never happened.
The apostle Paul had a past, one he regretted his entire life. He considered himself one of the least of the apostles, even unworthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church (First Corinthians 15:9). Before his death, he told Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (Second Timothy 4:7-8).
God has given us the plan. We simply need to put the plan into action and “go forward.” Don’t look back. Don’t live in the past. Don’t do things your way; do them God’s way. Don’t ask “why”; just do what He says. Move on to the goal—heaven.
Sandra Oliver