Well, let us turn to God's Word,
and I want us to turn to Exodus chapter 14, the 14th chapter
in the book of Exodus. We read this portion of Scripture,
last Lord's Day in the morning, and I want to direct you this
evening to the closing verses of the chapter from verse 29. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters put a
wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work
which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord,
and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. The chapter, of course, is the
account of how the Lord God made a way for the children of Israel
through the midst of the Red Sea. As they were leaving all
the cruel bondage that they had endured there in Egypt, how the
Pharaoh, in the end, was brought to send them out as God visited
those terrible plagues upon him and his people. Pharaoh changes
his mind again and begins to pursue after them, and they seem
to be shot in on every side. Mountains about them. The Egyptians
behind them, the Red Sea before them. But here we see how God
made a way for them through the midst of that Red Sea. A great deliverance. And then,
of course, in the next chapter, we have the song of Moses. that he sang unto the Lord as
they were brought to rejoice in God's deliverance. Well, as
we turn to these three verses at the end of the chapter, the
theme I want to take up really is that of salvation through
the Red Sea. and through the Red Sea, ultimately
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Israel, as we
said on the Lord's Day, are very much atypical people. We know they're not all Israel,
that are of Israel. There was ever always in the
Old Testament those who were the true Israel, not ethnic Israel.
But that's very little remnant in the midst of the nation, the
true Israel of God. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outward in the
flesh, but he was a Jew which is one inwardly. And we're told
circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the
letter, whose praise is of God or the spiritual Jew. These are
a typical people then and their experiences our typical experiences,
all that befalls them. Remember those words in 1 Corinthians
10, as we were considering really the opening four verses of that
10th chapter. And then he goes on, does the
Apostle to say how all these things were our examples, all
these things happened unto them for ensamples are written for
our admonition, he says, upon whom the ends of the world are
come. And that portion that we were
looking at, of course, in the opening verses of that chapter,
refers very specifically to the events recorded here in Exodus
chapter 14. Just remind you of those verses
then that we were looking at. Moreover, brethren, I would not
that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers... He's
writing to a Gentile church and yet he refers to these who were
there delivered from Egypt as their fathers. All our fathers
were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were
all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did
all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual
drink. For they drank of that spiritual
rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ." And we
consider now that the sacraments of the Jews are gospel types. That was the theme that we sought
to take up then. on the Lord's Day morning. But having read this chapter,
I thought it might be profitable to come back and to consider
what is actually recorded here. This great deliverance, this
great salvation that came through the Red Sea, and the Red Sea
really of the blood of Christ. as Joseph Swain says in the hymn
to him that brought us back to God through the Red Sea of his
own blood. Here in verse 30, Thus the Lord
saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and
Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. Or what the Lord God said previously
in the chapter, What did he command Moses to do and to say? There
at verse 13, Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand
still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show
to you today. For the Egyptians whom ye have
seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you,
and ye shall hold your peace. For they were to be still, and
to see God's salvation. Wasn't, in a sense, the Psalmist
mindful of these things when he wrote those words that we
read in the Psalm? Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in all the earth, says the Lord God. That
salvation that is, as Jonah says, of the Lord's. It is that salvation
that was purposed by God, that salvation that was procured and
accomplished by God, and that salvation that is applied by
God, the eternal election of the Father, the redeeming work
of the Son, and the regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit. And here it is set before us,
as it were, in type, in these remarkable words that we have
before us, tonight. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were
a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the
Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.
And the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His
servant Moses. Three things then as we briefly
consider this passage before we turn again to the Lord in
prayer. First of all, they saw. And what did they see? They saw
God's great salvation. Israel saw the Egyptians dead
upon the seashore. The end of verse 30. Verse 31, and Israel saw the
great work that the Lord did upon the Egyptians. Oh, there was something to be
seen, and it's God. It's the work of God. It's the
salvation of God. They were to stand still as we
saw back in verse 13, but it's interesting. They were to stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord, but then what follows
in verses 15 and 16, the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest
thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel
that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and
stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it, and the children
of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea."
How can we reconcile what is being said? It seems so contradictory. One minute in verse 13, the command
is, stand still, and then in verse 15, go forward. How are we to reconcile what
seems such a contradiction? Well, notice the word at the
beginning of verse 16, but. And that's a significant word
here. And it links these two verses.
The Lord says unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me, speak unto
the children of Israel, that they go forward, but lift thou
up thy rod and stretch out thine hand over the sword. They're not to look to their
own strength. They're not to look to their
own ability when they go forwards. It's the significance of that
rod that is in the hand of Moses. This is the rod, of course, that's
spoken of previously, there in chapter 4 and verse 17. "'Thou shalt take this rod in
thine hand,' says God, wherewith thou shalt do signs." This rod that is in his hand, that God has put there, and this
is where they are to look, they are to look to the Lord, they
are to look to the Lord's provision. Be still and know that I am God. As not the Lord said to them
here, that He will fight for them. Verse 14, the Lord shall
fight for you and you shall hold your peace. Going forward, they're
going forward in faith. They're not looking to any of
their own strength or ability. They're completely and utterly
dependent upon God and that God who will appear for them again.
Was it not the Lord God who had sent those terrible signs upon
the Egyptians? And time and again, of course,
those signs came by the rod that was in the hand of Moses. And
God is that One who is faithful to His words. The Lord shall
fight for you, or the shalls and the wills. of the promises
of God, those promises which are all yea and amen in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is a God faithful. He is not
a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should
repent. As he said it, shall he not do it? As he spoken it,
shall he not make it good? He is the one declaring the end
from the beginning and from ancient times those things that are not
yet done. saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I shall do all My pleasure. What do we read here in verse
31? It says thus, And Israel saw the
great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians. And you may
observe that the margin indicates that the word work in the Hebrew
is literally hands. Israel saw that great hand, that
great hand which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. It is of course an anthropomorphism
because God does not have a body, we know that. God is a spirit,
says the Lord Christ. And the true worshippers worship
the Father in spirit and in truth. That our God does graciously
condescend to speak to us of himself in the human terms. And that's what we have here.
Israel saw the hand of God. O behold, the Lord's hand is
not short and that he cannot save. It is God who is at work. And what are they to do there
to behold the works of God? And what do they need to behold
those works of God? They need spiritual sights. If we go back, you see, to what
he says to them there at verse 13. Fear ye not, stand still, and
see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to
die. They are to see something. as
they are standing still, they are to see the salvation of the
Lord, but God must show them. If God doesn't show them that
salvation, they will never see that salvation. They have no
spiritual eyes to behold the works of God. And how true that
is, we know that our religion, the Christian religion, is a
revealed religion. In our fallen nature, we are
those who are dead in trespasses and sins, We're deaf, we're blind. When Peter makes his great confession
concerning Jesus of Nazareth, there at Caesarea Philippi, thou
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And what does the
Lord say? Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father,
which is in heaven. It's a revelation, and this is
what these people are witnessing. It's what God is revealing of
Himself. Oh, Paul, like Peter, knew a
revelation. It pleased God, he says, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me, an inward revealing of the Lord Jesus.
And we have the promise of Christ. When he speaks here in John 14,
21, I will manifest myself to him. The Lord manifests himself,
reveals himself, shows himself. And we sing those lines of dear
William Tucker sometimes, Jesus, reveal thyself to me. All they
saw, they saw the hand of God, they saw the works of God. And
it all came from God. He gave them sight to behold
these things. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him.
Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
They were given spiritual sight. They saw them. They saw God in that God reveals
Himself in His works. He makes Himself known. And as
they saw God, so in the second place they feared. Oh, they feared
God. Israel saw that great work which
the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord. Oh, if we are granted that gracious
revelation, we'll know something of the spirits of fear. of all before the Holy One of
Israel. Now, we have to recognize, of
course, what this fear was. Back in verse 13, Moses says
to the people, first of all, fear ye not. But here we're told
how the people feared the Lord. But there are two different fears
being spoken of in these verses. What we have back in verse 13
is that slavish fear, that fear that's bound up with
unbelief. They're doubting that ever God
could deliver them from that situation that they're in. It's
a sinful fear that they have there. "'Oh, there is no fear
in love,' says John, about perfect love cast about fear. Where there
is that real love of God, there won't be that slavish fear. And
yet, yet, it is evident in Scripture, is it not, that God's people
are prone to that tormenting fear. Isn't that why we have
recorded so many fear nots? The Lord Jesus said that men
must give an account for every idle word. Well, if that's true
with regards to men, how much more is that true with regards
to God? There's no idle words anywhere
in the Word of God. All Scripture we know is given
by inspiration of God, and it's profitable. And God sees fit
to give us these many, many fear nots, and we find so many of
them there in the prophecy of Isaiah. In chapter 41, for example, verse
13, I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto
thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and
ye men, or as the margin says, ye few men of Israel. I will
help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel. Are you fearful sometimes? God
has given us these many fear not's and he gives them all for
a purpose. Again there in chapter 43 and verse 1, There thus saith the
Lord, that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. And how applicable then is that
fear not to those who were there at that Red Sea? The Lord God
commands that they do not fear. Again there at verse 5. Fear
not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. Oh, the many fear nots
that we have then here in God's words. And what we have here
in verse 31 is a different sort of fear.
It's not that slavish, tormenting fear bound up with unbelief and
sin. It's filial. It's filial fear. The fear of a son who has a great
respect and regards for his father. And how God is so gracious when He speaks
to His people and when He tells them not to be fearful. I should have mentioned how that
here in verse 13, of course, the command is very emphatic.
because he introduces the personal pronoun, doesn't he, between
the fear and not. Fear ye not. Fear ye not. It's the same as we have in Isaiah
41.10. Fear thou not. The difference here is that the
ye is plural, he's addressing all the children of Israel, but
there in Isaiah 4110, it's the singular pronoun, fear thou not. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Oh no wonder then, delivered
from that awful fear that brings bondage, they're brought now
to a different sort of fear. They fear this God who has done
such a great and gracious work for them. Oh, this is that fear
you'll feel, this is that fear of the Lord, that fear that is
the beginning of wisdom, that fear that is the beginning of
knowledge. God's people then, when they
witness His works and His gracious deliverances, or they stand in
awe of the wonder of God and the ways of God and the works
of God. Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter, says the preacher. Fear God and keep His commandments. Is that what we desire to do? We would reverence the name of
God and we would reverence the Word of God. We sing those words
of hearts, don't we? concerning Scripture, revere
the sacred page to injure any part, betrays with blind and
feeble rage a heart and haughty heart." Oh no, we come to God's
Word and we reverence this blessed book and what God says to us
as He reveals Himself to us and shows Himself again and again
to be a gracious God. who never leaves nor forsakes,
but will work continually the great work of the salvation of
his people." So what did these people do in the third place?
They saw the works of God, they feared God, and they believed
in God. Israel saw that great work which
the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord. and his servant Moses." Notice
the order they saw, they feared, and they believed. Now, of course, they're seeing
something here with their physical sight, with their natural eyes. Israel saw the Egyptians dead
upon the seashore. or they saw what God had done
in a very literal sense. And remember how Thomas desired
to see the resurrected Christ, except I shall see in his hands,
he says, the print of the nails and put my finger into the print
of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe. He wanted to see something tangible. And it was the first day of the
week, wasn't it? It was the day of the Lord's
resurrection and then eight days later, the following first day,
it's the beginning really of the Christian Sabbath, the Lord's
day. Exactly eight days after his resurrection, the next first
day of the week, the disciples are once again together and Thomas
is with them. And the Lord presents himself
to Thomas. And what does Thomas do? Thomas answers and said,
My Lord and my God. He doesn't have to put his finger
into those nail prints or thrust his hand into that wounded side.
He cries out, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Because
thou hast seen me thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not
seen. and yet have believed. Or is
that us? We have not seen. We don't see
anything with our natural sight. We don't expect to see visions
with our physical eyes. We're not those who walk by sight. We are to walk by faith and not
by sight. And when we walk by Faith, we
discover continually, it's also the good fight of faith. It's
the good fight of faith. We're having to fight against
sin and Satan, against all the powers of darkness, against the
spirit of the world, against our old nature. It's a conflict
as we have to walk by faith and not by sight. But what a blessing
when we're able to believe, when we have that faith that is of
the operation of God. Isn't faith God's work? Isn't
faith God's gift? By grace are you saved through
faith that of yourselves it is the gift of God. Not of works. Lest any man should burst without
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath ordained that we should walk in there or the Lord grant
them that we might have faith to believe his word and to see
what we sought to say really on the Lord's Day morning that
here in the Old Testament we have all these gospel types God's
word and that word is all together for us who are the true spiritual
Israel of God. May the Lord be pleased to bless
His Word to us. Now before we come to prayer,
let us again sing God's praise in the hymn 605. The tune is St. George 59. The just
by faith shall live, nor fear the powers of hell. or blessings
that a God can give in Christ's most richly dwelled, by faith
in Jesus' blood, the just shall live indeed, shall have a settled
peace with God, and from their sins be freed. 605, June 59.