- Lord will fight for you
Exodus 14:13,14 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
Moses, speaking for the Lord, promises the people that the Lord will fight for you. This is a specific promise for that people, for that time, and for that event. The army of Pharaoh on one side and the Red Sea on the other side hemmed in the people of Israel, though the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire held the army at bay. The people were naturally frightened. What could they do?
Moses says, “Fear not, be calm, and watch what the Lord will do to save you.” The Lord will fight for you by allowing you to cross through the sea and by drowning the army in the sea. “So hold your peace. Be still. And be in awe.” God did do a great miracle for them in the Exodus Event. He kept His promise.
The promise may be repeated for us and believed by us as well: The Lord will fight for you. In fact, the name Israel itself means, “God fights.” It could mean “God fights with you,” but it could also mean, “God fights for you.” God did fight, or wrestle, with Jacob, and so the Lord changed his name. But for Jacob’s believing descendants the name becomes a promise: God will fight for you. The promise came true at the Exodus. It came true throughout Biblical history. And the promise came true preeminently at the cross of Christ. There, in the death of Jesus, God fought for His people and defeated the Enemy once and for all.
This is the essence of the promise that we need to believe on a daily basis. God will fight for you, His son or daughter, against your enemies. Sin, Death, and the Devil are always nearby seeking ways to devour and destroy the soul. But they cannot do it because Jesus fought for us and won, and the Lord continues to fight for us against our spiritual enemies. The Enemy will show up and scare us in so many different ways that we don’t always recognize the troubles we fear as attacks of our spiritual enemies. God fights for us in regard to the things we worry about. We go through the waters of Baptism and live. We escape. God drowns sin and evil and death in the waters of baptism, the very waters that saved us. Remember your baptism. Remember the Exodus promise. Remember the Cross and the Empty Tomb. Remember you have a God who is fighting for you on your side. Repentance and faith is the way to life and victory. We win because of the Promise.