Pastor Taylor Shippy - Exodus 13:17-22
In Exodus Yahweh Himself is leading the people down a longer way through the wilderness. God, in His infinite wisdom, chose this more time-consuming, inconvenient route through the lifeless wilderness, risking Israel’s frequent groanings and rebellious tendencies, to form and shape His people into who He wanted them to be. To set them free from Egypt! It wasn’t enough to get them out of Egypt; He had to get Egypt out of them. And in the wilderness, God will work through Israel’s feelings of abandonment and helplessness, through their words of complaint and acts of rebellion, through puberty-like growing pains as they mature, through their triumphs but also failures, and through their need for regular reassurance and protection all in service in giving them a new self-identity. Only a true Heavenly Father would be so patient and loving. All to set them free. This is the life after salvation that God envisioned for Israel. And I think this is the same for you and me.
