"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt (where they had been enslaved for 430 years!)." So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle." Exodus 13:17-18
I find the last sentence of this passage amusing. The Israelites are pumped on their recent "victory" against the Egyptians and they're ready to keep it going. They're armed and ready 'cause no one messes with God's peeps!' Did you see what happened to the firstborns in Egypt? Fa' get about it!
The Israelites leave Egypt thinking they're really something. And on one hand they are; they're God's chosen people. But the reality is that their God knows them better then they know themselves. He knows this 'battle' they're armed for would send them running back into the arms of their oppressor if they were to encounter it 'on the road through the Philistine country' (v. 17). God doesn't tell them this (who could handle hearing that ugly truth?) but instead gently leads them in a different direction.
I'm so glad my God knows me like this. Despite my tough attitude and controlling nature he leads me on roads that will draw me closer to him and not send me back to a place of oppression and enslavement. Glad to be loved like this!
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