WHEN THE RED SEA BECAME THE WAY OF DELIVERANCE
Part 9
Exo. 14:21-22
Morning Meditation 11/10/16
Verses 21-22 say, “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”
The Red Sea looked like anything but the way of victory. Pharaoh is on one side and the Red Sea on the other. This looks like a trap to me. God’s people sometimes find themselves in a situation where they are trapped. They did not choose this place. Human viewpoint with a good strategist like Moses would not have allowed the entire nation to get boxed in like this. But faith always follows God’s direction and accepts the circumstances of life to be the plan of God. The fact that the Jews panicked and blamed Moses (14:11-12) when they discovered that they were boxed in with the Red Sea in front of them and Pharaoh behind them, shows that they were not trusting that Moses words were God’s words, and they had not come to realize that what Moses said is what God said. If you believe what your human leader says is what God says, then you won’t blame your human leader (Moses, i.e., the preacher) for your circumstances. You will blame God!!! And if its God’s fault, it is God’s problem. And if it is God’s problem, the problem has just been solved!!! God does not have any problems (unless it is getting us to trust Him). He only has opportunities to demonstrate His power and ability to resolve the problem.
Verse 21 says, “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” What did Moses do? He stretched out his hand over the sea. What did he have in his hand? Verse 16 says, “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it . . .” Why did Moses lift up the rod? Because God told him to. He didn’t hit the water. He didn’t try to stomp it dry. He just obeyed an order. When you do what God says, it may seem to those standing around (and there are always those who stand around and watch), that there is more you ought to do. The man of God is not doing enough. Listen! Moses didn’t come up with this idea. He was just obeying God. Something else. It will look to some that there is magic in that rod. They will say, “Let me have that rod. I want a rod that will part the waters of the Red Sea. I’ll just stay here, set me up a business, and put the ferry out of business! I’ll charge 50 cents a head and you guys can go on and claim Canaan. I’ll save myself a long walk.”
The rod was just a dead stick. It was not the rod that parted the waters. It was God. The rod was only the symbol of authority. We are so prone to worship the hand that God uses to bring the blessing. If God uses the doctor to heal us, we say, “What a great doctor. He is the best.” I don’t want to criticize any doctor. But he is just a dead stick! It is God. Is it wrong to love Moses? No, but it shows immaturity and unbelief to credit the human instrument for what God has done.
Verse 22 says, “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground . . .” They followed Moses into the midst of the sea. What did Moses prefigure? He is a type of Christ. What is the Red Sea a type of? First Corinthians 1:2 says, “And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” So Paul, by inspiration of God says the Red Sea is a type of baptism. If this is true, and it is, then we can get an illustration of what God meant to teach Israel on this occasion. Romans 6:4-5 says, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” So the Red Sea is a type of death to something, and at the same time, a type of new life or resurrection life.
Baptism identifies us with the death of Christ. So Israel died with Moses to all the past. Egypt will no longer be a valid option for Israel. The bridges are burned. It is a death to the past. It is not just handling the past. It is death to it. A Christian should never go digging around in their past. That may be the way of the psychologist who is operating on human viewpoint but it is not God’s way. God kills the past and buries it. Not only is the Red Sea the place of death for our past but also the death of Satan our chief enemy. We discover that our victory is our death with Christ, and His death, is also the victory over Satan.
Colossians 2:14-15 say, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” The word “triumphing over” translates “thriambeuo” and means, “to triumph or to celebrate a triumph.” It is an aorist active participle. The aorist tense means that at the cross (the point of time), Jesus, by His own choice (active voice), put on display His victory over sin and Satan, and walked away leaving an empty tomb, and had the keys of death and hell hanging at His side (Rev. 1:18). Amen! Someone hold my mules!
Israel identified with Moses, their leader, and the power of God, when they went into the midst of the sea on dry ground. They were enjoying a victory already won.. They did absolutely nothing but take advantage of the provision of grace. This experience was not only a picture of death but also a picture of resurrection life. God had instructed them in changing the date of their new year which will celebrate their deliverance (salvation). Now at the Red Sea God is demonstrating that the death of the Passover lamb does not only deliver them from slavery but it also delivers them into a new life altogether. As Christians we do not only die in His death but we are raised to share in His resurrection life. This is the reason Paul says in Romans 5:10, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” His life is resurrection life. Paul goes on to explain our identification with Him in His death and resurrection in Romans six. We are saved by His life. The cross definitely saves us from our past. But His resurrection life enables us to live in celebration of the victory He obtained over sin and Satan, and gives us power to live like sons instead of slaves.
So the Red Sea pictures our death to the past and our new life in Him that delivers us from the power of the present enemy. This is the reason when the believer resists the devil in Jesus Name, He has to flee (James 4:7). Because resisting the devil in Jesus name is to bring the victory against him that Jesus won at the cross. The devil has no power against that Name.
