In our passage this week we see God divide the waters of the Red Sea miraculously, Israel go across the sea floor on dry ground, and Egypt’s powerful army destroyed by the waters when they attempted to follow Israel. The waters were a wall on both sides of Israel as they walked through; but they collapsed on Egypt. The Lord saved Israel; he judged Egypt.
There are plain symbols of the salvation of Christ in this event. Israel can do nothing to save itself. The Lord saves them by his hand. The sea or waters often represents judgment in the Scriptures (Noah’s flood). The waters of baptism reflect the Christian’s union with Christ. Christ’s death and resurrection accomplish removal of sin and judgment from his people and the new life in him.
Israel walks on solid, dry grou
nd to salvation. The Lord Jesus says those who believe in him and follow what he says build their souls upon a solid foundation. Outside of him the ground of this world is like shifting sand. It is subject to collapse at any moment. Jonathan Edwards famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was from the text, “Their foot shall slip in due time” (Deut. 32:35).
His point was that sin so blinds men that they are bold in their opposition to God and self-confidence even though death is present everywhere. They tread upon slippery ground with every step and judgment will come suddenly and unexpectedly. Egypt epitomizes this mindset in plunging to their destruction, blinded by sinful malice.
One of the main doctrines we take from the Red Sea event is the power of sin in men. We see it both in Egypt and Israel. Sin has never been a welcomed subject. We tend to reduce it down to imperfection or our own standards of acceptable (or not acceptable) morality. At the Red Sea sin is unmasked for us to look at its true nature. And every parcel of truth is precious to us when it leads us to Christ.
Egypt viewed itself as masters over Israel. In reality, they served sin as their master. This is how the Bible depicts sin; a master ruling over its subjects. In Scripture, sin is personified in its control over men, like the cruelest tyrant with whips and chains. Sin causes men to embrace passions, beliefs, and actions that are contrary to the nature of God, who is pure goodness and light.
Sin holds power over men, yet men are complicit in serving sin. They do not wish to be rid of it. Egypt had experienced the misery of sin. They had been subject to plagues because of their sin. They never approached the Lord to be forgiven or changed. Their only show of humility was short lived. At the Red Sea we see how persistent they were in opposition to the Lord.
Sin so blinds men to themselves that they cannot detect the evil of it (Psalm 36). Sin not only brings evil, it is evil. It not only works bitterness, it is bitterness. It has a bitter root as well as bitter fruit. It has the devil as its author, and death for its end. Egypt learned that the wages of sin is death. Men spend all their lives in service to sin, and the wages received is death. Nothing the Lord said or did change Egypt’s service to sin. Surely it is a warning for us to seek mercy. Sin is not of God’s making; forgiveness is.
We read in verse 31 that Israel, after seeing the destruction of Egypt, believed in the Lord. However, for most their faith was spurious, it was not sincere or lasting. The New Testament points to the Red Sea as a warning to those who profess faith in Christ as to the destiny of those who are not truly converted and who do not sincerely embrace Christ as the only remedy to their sin. We see it in 1 Cor.10, Hebrews 3, and the epistle of Jude.
You have no greater enemy or problem than sin in your heart. Its ambition is to destroy you. Sin is a greater evil than affliction. Affliction did not alter Egypt or many of Israel in their service to sin. It made them hardened in opposition to God. In affliction, we need to look to the Lord as our chief good.
When sin lies on you heavier than sufferings, you may ask, “Who can deliver me from this body of death?” The answer is Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7). Never let go out of your minds the thoughts of a crucified Christ. A humble heart is a thankful heart.
