“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14
This verse has been gaining more and more fame. And as the popularity rises the Exodus 14:14 meaning has been increasingly overlooked.
The problem is many take this verse as a personal promise that God is speaking to them. However, that ignores the context and misinterprets this verse.
This verse is powerful, and it holds incredible truth for us today. When we look at the context I think this passage will take on new life for you. Whatever you are facing, this verse will encourage you to keep trusting God.
So, let’s dive into the meaning of Exodus 14:14 and see what it has for us today.
The Context Of Exodus 14:14
We when read the Bible it’s important to recognize that the Bible is written FOR us, but it’s not written to us. When we ignore this in passages like Exodus 14:14 we tend to personalize the passage and take it as a personal promise.
This causes us to come up with an incomplete, and sometimes wrong, view of what the Bible is communicating. So, before we can look at the meaning of Exodus 14:14 we need to understand the larger picture.
At the end of Exodus 13 we see the Israelites have just been released from captivity in Egypt. God is leading his people to the Red Sea when we see Pharaoh change his mind and send his army to pursue them (Exodus 14:4).
So now the Israelites were pinned up against the Red Sea and the Egyptians were closing in with their chariots and horseman (Exodus 14:9-10). The Israelites are understandably terrified. They go to Moses complaining that they should have never left Egypt; it would be better for them to die in captivity than in the desert (Exodus 14:12).
In response, Moses goes before his people and encourages them to stand firm and not be afraid, God will provide. He even goes as far to promise that they will never see the Egyptians again (Exodus 14:13).
This leads us to the verse we are looking at; Moses says: “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
The Exodus 14:14 Meaning
Now that we know the context, let’s look at what it means and how it applies to our lives. To help you better understand the Exodus 14:14 meaning we are going to break the verse down in two sections.
The Lord Will Fight For You
Remember the context, the Israelites are up against the Red Sea. Their enemies are closing in, and many will likely be killed. In response, God makes this promise to them.
Don’t miss this, these words were not said to us, they were said to the Israelites facing disaster. That doesn’t mean there isn’t truth in there for us today, there certainly is! But we can’t personalize words that weren’t written to us.
God is promising his people that he will fight for them. And he did just that.
If you finish reading Exodus 14 you will see God part the Red Sea. The Israelites walk right through the middle of the sea on dry ground. God rescues his people. But that’s not all.
Pharaoh’s army continues to pursue the Israelites into the parting of the sea. At daybreak as the Israelites arrive safely on the other side, God stops holding back the sea and allows it to flood once agin. The entire army was defeated.
God did indeed fight for the Israelites.
You Need Only To Be Still
When the Israelites were worried, God promised them that he would handle it, he would fight for them. And he did; God handled everything. All the Israelites needed to do was to be still and trust in God.
God taught his people that he was their deliverer. He’s showing them that they can, and should, rely on him. On their own they would be dead, but God delivered them from certain death.
God wasn’t just delivering the Israelites in that moment, he was teaching them an important lesson. He is their provider; they simply need to rely on him.
What The Lord Will Fight For You Means For Us Today
So, what does Exodus 14:14 mean for us today? We know it wasn’t written to us, but it certainly is FOR us.
While most Christians aren’t being chased by their enemies, we do regularly face challenges and obstacles. And we all find ourselves in a place where we don’t know what to do and don’t see any way out.
In those moments it’s tempting to fixate on the impending disaster in front of us, just like the Israelites. Rather, in those moments we should fix our eyes on God. We should remember the battles he’s fought for us in the past and trust him in our current storm. God will fight for you.
Exodus 14:14 teaches us that God is in control. He will lead us through whatever we are facing. The promise that we can hold onto is not that we will have an easy life with smooth sailing, but that God will be with us through it all. We don’t fight our battles alone.
As the Psalmist says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).
Place your trust in God. Listen to his voice. He will continue to guide you. Even when it seems impossible, there’s an ocean in the way, God will provide a way for his people.
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BA in Biblical Studies - Ozark Christian College (2012)
MA in Theology - Regent University (2019)
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