Well, what a passage of scripture
that we're coming to here is so marvelous and the miracle
of the parting of the Red Sea. Could you imagine being there,
standing on the banks of the Red Sea and watching that happen?
And I've often heard people say, say, well, you know, if I could
have been, if we could just see something like that, if we'd
have been there, you know, we'd really believe. And we're going
to find that's not the case. It wasn't the case with the children
of Israel. They saw these things. They saw everything that happened
in Egypt, the 10 plagues, where Moses brought them out in droves. And here, back up in chapter
13, look at verse 17. It says, it came to pass when
Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through
the way of the land of the Philistines. Now, the Philistines, you know,
were infamous enemies of Israel throughout their history under
the old covenant. They were a warlike people. And
he said, although that was near, the shortest way was to go through
the land of the Philistines. But God wasn't gonna lead them
through that way. God said, less peradventure,
the people repent or change their minds, not gospel repentance
now. unless they change their minds
when they see war and they return to Egypt. In other words, he
knew these people, God did. He knew their weaknesses, their
sinfulness and they'd see these warlike Philistines and turn
tail and run. Now We know that God could have
squelched the Philistines like he squelched Pharaoh and his
army, but God had another thing in mind on this issue about bringing
them the way that he brought them. Look at verse 18, but God
led the people about through the way of the wilderness of
the Red Sea. He had in mind to bring them
to the Red Sea. And he says, and the children
of Israel went up, harnessed, or by rank, is what that means,
in order, out of the land of Egypt. So here he's bringing
them to the Red Sea. And they were guided and they
were protected by God. But this is God's plan. This
is not any contingency or plan B. This is what God determined
all along. And then look at verse 19. Moses
took the bones of Joseph. You remember Joseph, see? Joseph,
when he was about to die, he said, bury me in the land of
my people. And you can see that back in
Genesis 50. It's also mentioned in Hebrews
11 in the hall of faith. know how Joseph wanted to be
buried in the land of his people, he says, for he had straightly
sworn the children of Israel, he made him swear an oath saying
God will surely visit you. In other words, what he means
there is God's going to take care of you and God did take
care of him and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you. And so there's Joseph and this
speaks of Joseph's hope in the promise of God that God made
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph's father. That Joseph
expressing God-given faith here, God's gonna keep his promise.
He's gonna deliver his people out of this land into the land
flowing with milk and honey. And that foreshadows the promise
of resurrection. Joseph knew that he was going
to be resurrected unto life with his brothers, his brothers in
the faith rather, his spiritual brothers. Now God, listen, if
Joseph's bones were left in Egypt, God could have, in the great
day of resurrection, the second coming of Christ is what I'm
talking about. God could resurrect Joseph if his bones were still
in Egypt or if it was in Albany, Georgia. It doesn't matter. It
doesn't matter where you are, where your vile body, my vile
body is buried. When the great day, when the
last day comes, when Christ comes back again, we who know Christ,
we who are in Him, washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness,
we're gonna be resurrected on that day no matter where we are
in the earth. If our ashes are scattered to
the sea, God's gonna resurrect us. And so, you've got to consider
the reality, but as an expression of that faith and that promise,
Joseph made him swear an oath to bury his bones there. And
then look at verse 20 of Exodus 13. It says, and they took their
journey from Sukkoth and encamped in Etham in the edge of the wilderness. And verse 21 says, the Lord went
before them by day in a pillar of a cloud. to lead them the
way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to
go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of
the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before
the people." So the Lord, and later on in Exodus 14, 19, says
the angel of the Lord, which is usually an expression that
only describes Christ. And so we see Christ who is their
light, Christ who is their way, the pillar, the cloud, and all
that. Some say this was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. I don't
know that that's so, but we know this is the Lord Jesus Christ
in type and picture, and he's leading them, and he went before
them in this pillar, and in the day it appeared as a cloud, and
in the night it appeared as fire to give them light. and they
could travel by day and by night. And this guiding body was not
just symbolic, it was real. It was a real pillar of cloud
and fire. But the significance of it is
to show a testimony how God guides and protects his people all the
way. And we see that in Christ's relationship
with spiritual Israel. His church because Christ, He's
faithful to keep us safe, to keep us secured, to protect us,
to lead us, to guide us. He's in front of us. He's behind
us. He's on the right. He's on the left. You see, as
long as we're in Christ, we're safe. Now, there are certain
areas of life that we can be hurt, but we cannot be condemned. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ, and he'll never leave us, he'll
never forsake us, and that's what this pillar signifies. the
protection, the safety that Christ brings to his people. And so
with that in mind, we go to chapter 14, and then the first nine verses,
what we see is what we've seen throughout the history of Israel
in Egypt under bondage. And this Pharaoh, the king of
Egypt, It says here in verse four, they had let the people
go. They were anxious to get Israel
out of there. You remember he said, he says,
leave here and bless me. In other words, Pharaoh was saying,
it would be a blessing for me to get you out of here. And you
know why? Because of the 10 plagues, especially
that last plague of the death of the firstborn. And it says
in verse four of chapter 14, look here, it says, and I will
harden, this is God speaking, God says, I will harden Pharaoh's
heart. Why would God do something like
that? You know, in God's dealing with this Pharaoh, it says God
hardened his heart, and then another place it says Pharaoh
hardened his own heart. But you know, more times than
the other, it says God hardened his heart. Like the first time
it says that, God did this. And it says, I will harden Pharaoh's
heart that he shall follow after them and I will be honored upon
Pharaoh. God's gonna get glory out of
what he's doing here. And upon all of his host. He
said, what he's talking about is the defeat of Pharaoh and
his army. God says, I'm gonna be glorified.
I'm gonna get honor. that the Egyptians may know that
I am the Lord, and they did so. Now, as you know, this is one
of those areas of God's sovereignty that the natural man cannot receive,
cannot take, because you know how it is. Look over at Romans
chapter nine. Man automatically, he says, well,
that's just not fair, you know. And I've often said, you know,
when it comes to issues of God's sovereignty and what people refer
to as man's responsibility, God's will and man's will, we are sadly
inadequate to reconcile these things in our puny, finite minds. So all we can do, and this is
all we can do, is go to the scripture and see how God instructs us,
not only in His ways, in his just ways, but in how
we're to respond to it. And look at it in Romans 9 verse
15, he says, for he saith to Moses. Now wait a minute, when
he talks about Jacob and Esau, Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And if we think biblically now,
if we think according to God's word, the question that we should
ask is how in the world could God love a sinner like Jacob?
A man by nature says, oh, poor Esau, how could he hate Esau?
I can see how he could hate Esau. I could see how he could hate
me. But the Bible says he loves his children. How can he do that? And he says in verse 14, it says,
here's the question, what shall we say then? How are we gonna
respond to that? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is God unjust? Is he being unfair? Is he just
being a mean old tyrant, a despot? And he says, God forbid, he says
to Moses, verse 15, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
And you remember back over in Exodus chapter 33, when Moses
said, show me your glory, this is how God responded. This is his sovereignty in salvation. This is his glory. So verse 16,
well, why is that His glory? Look at verse 16. So then it's
not of Him that willeth. It's not conditioned on our will.
It's not God responding to our choice because if we're left
to our own will, the choice we'll make will always be wrong, the
scripture says. It's not of him that will, nor
of him that runneth. It's not of him that work, that's
what that means, but it's of God that showeth mercy. And then
he mentions Pharaoh, the very one we're talking about back
here in Exodus 13 and 14. The scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might
show my power in thee. And when God says, I'm going
to be honored in Pharaoh, that's what he's taught me. He's going
to show his power. by using Pharaoh, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wouldst
say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? How can he find
fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but oh, here's the answer. Here's the answer now, you're
gonna like this answer. Is this gonna settle all the
issues? Nay, but oh man, who art thou that replyest against
God? You know what that replying against
God means? Who are you to answer back? Like a bratty child. That's what it's talking, who
are you? He's saying, shut your mouth.
God is in charge here, God's the creator, God's sovereign,
he's in control, he's on the throne. And who are you to reply
against him? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why have you made me like this? Hath not
the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one
vessel under honor and another under dishonor? Well, that's
the case. What if God, willing to show
his wrath, and to make his power known. Endured with much longsuffering,
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. Now you know, false
religion today tells us that God is not willing to show his
wrath at all. God doesn't want to show his
wrath on anybody. But here Paul writes, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, what if God willing to show his wrath? Endured
with much longsuffering, the vessels of wrath fitted, made
up. to destruction, and that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had aforeprepared unto glory." Now, how are we to respond
to all of this? Well, if left to ourselves, you
know what we're going to do? We're going to deny the God of
the Bible. That's not my God. That's what we're going to do,
left to ourselves. I'm not going to worship that God. It's like
I told you when we were in Huntington, West Virginia, one time we were
going to a restaurant and across the street there was a big old
Methodist church that had a sign outside. And it said this, it
says, the God who hates, we do not serve him. I said, well,
you're right. You don't serve the true and
living God. We will not have this God to reign over us. So
they were speaking the truth. The God of the Bible, they don't
serve him. They think they do. So what do they do? They concoct
a God in their minds who is like unto themselves. And they imagine
that they're more compassionate than God, that they're more just
than God. And that's the height of arrogance.
But how are we to respond to these things? Well, God, you
come down here and make it fit, help me to wrap my brain around
it. He says, well, who do you think you are? Well, look at
Romans 9 in verse 30. What shall we say then? How are
we going to respond? And then he tells us, talks about
the believing Gentiles who attained righteousness. How did they attain
it? They looked to Christ, who is our righteousness. But the
Jews, the unbelieving Jews, they didn't attain it because they
sought it by works of the law. Here's how we're to respond to
these things. Our response to these truths
should be to seek the Lord. Cast ourselves at his mercy and
beg for it like that old publican. God, be mercy. God, you don't
have to. You're not obligated to me. Have
mercy upon me, oh Lord. That's what we're gonna do. I'm
a sinner and I deserve nothing but death and hell. Aren't you
glad that God doesn't give you what you deserve? Think about
that. Lord, if thou Lord shouldest
mark iniquities, who would stand? I've got to be righteous to enter
God's glory, his presence, to be accepted. Where am I gonna
find that? Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
Look to Christ, flee to him. You say, well, what if he hadn't
elected me? That's not your business. That's God's business. Your business
is to seek the Lord. My business is to seek the Lord.
And if I don't do it, I have nobody to blame but myself. You
say, well, I can't figure all that out. Neither can I. I used
to say, let's get a badge and say, join the club. But this
is the God of the Bible. So go back to Exodus 14. So here's
what's happening. God hardened Pharaoh's heart.
Just prior to that, Pharaoh was so anxious to get rid of the
Israelites that he couldn't get rid of them quick enough and
he commanded the people, give them whatever they want. Just
to get them out of here. But then he hardened his heart.
And that hardness of heart shows itself up in pride. Look at verse
eight of Exodus 14. Let's go, no, look at verse seven. He took 600 chosen chariots. Can you imagine 600 chariots?
I guess in our day it'd be like 600 tanks. And all of the chariots
of Egypt and captains over every one of them, and the Lord hardened
the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the
children of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with a high
hand. They went out confidently. They went out confidently. So
here it is, Pharaoh's pursuing them. Look at verse 10. It says, when Pharaoh drew nigh,
the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the
Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid, and
the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. They cried unto
the Lord, but look how they cried unto the Lord. They said unto
Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken
us away to die in the wilderness? Now these are the same people
that are going to march through the Red Sea in just a moment
here. But these are the same people
that saw the plagues, that saw the plague of the firstborn and
all of that. Wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Why'd you take us out
of Egypt? You see, there's an idea there. We ought to stay
right where we were. That's what we would do if left
to ourselves, we'd stay right in that bondage. Verse 12, is
not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, let
us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better
for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the
wilderness. You gotta understand this, God
had brought the Israelites to the place that he wanted them
to be. It was a place where they could
see no hope within themselves. The Red Sea was before them,
they were on the shores. Pharaoh's army was behind them.
That's what they used to say, you're between a rock and a hard
place. The only hope of deliverance
for the Israelites was where? To turn to God. Look up. Don't look forward, don't look
backward. Look up. But like all of us by
nature, instead of turning to God and casting ourselves upon
his mercy, what'd they do? They complained, they murmured.
Now that's a way of, that's an expression of unbelief. Even
expressed a desire to go back to Egypt. Now that's all of us
by nature in a spiritual sense. That's what we are. That's depravity
and spiritual death right there. We look within, we look to religion,
we look everywhere, but where we should look for salvation,
for righteousness, for eternal life and glory. And so look what
Moses says to them, look at verse 13. And Moses said unto them
people, said unto the people, fear ye not, that means don't
fear Pharaoh. Now they were to fear God with
a reverence and respect, but don't fear Pharaoh, fear ye not,
stand still, I love that. It's almost the equivalent of
stop trying to work your way into God's favor. Stop trying
to, it's not of him that runneth. Stand still. That's where you
need to be. That's where I need to be. And
see the salvation, the Yeshua. Remember that word that becomes
Joshua in the English, and then later on in the Greek, it's translated
Jesus, there it is. I think this is the second time
that word is used in the scripture, the first time when Jacob blessed
his sons. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord, of Jehovah who saves, the covenant God, which he will
show to you today. That's the revelation of salvation.
If God doesn't show it to us, we're not gonna see it. It has
to be revealed. He's got to give us eyes to see
and ears to hear. He said, for the Egyptians whom
you've seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. This is it for the Egyptians.
Verse 14, the Lord shall fight for you. This is the doing of
the Lord, not your doing. See, Israel had no power. He
said, the Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace.
Think about that. You know what Moses is telling
them? Trust in the Lord and lean not to your own understanding.
It's a message that was based upon God's promise made 400 and
some years before to Abraham. God's gonna deliver you. God's
gonna protect you. God's gonna bring you to the
land of milk and honey. Stand still. Don't fret, don't
fear what man can do to you. Don't fear Pharaoh, fear God.
the God of the promise, the God who is sovereign, the God who
is just and yet merciful. Well, here's the point. When God brings a sinner to see
absolutely no hope in himself or herself, that's the best place
you could ever be, right there. Because when God brings a sinner
to do that, to see there's no hope in himself, That's when
he's gonna show him his salvation. He's gonna show him Christ. And
they're gonna see that God is the one who did battle. Christ
did battle for us on the cross, didn't he? He battled our sins. He battled Satan. He battled
the law and he won. And that's why he says, just
like he says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
You'll hold your peace. Christ says, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Rest
for your souls. God will not listen. He says,
Pharaoh and the Egyptians whom you've seen today, you'll see
them no more forever. Think about our sins. God said,
I'll remember them no more. They cannot be imputed, charged
to us. We see our sins every day, don't
we? But we live in the light of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, knowing that God will
not condemn us for our sins. We have a righteousness that
answers the demands of His law and justice. It's Christ's righteousness
imputed to us. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? Now that is pictured in the rest
of this chapter in the parting of the Red Sea. He says, verse
15, the Lord said unto Moses, wherefore Christ thou unto me
speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. Go forward? Do you have your
swimming trunks? Do you have your air tanks? How are we gonna go forward,
Lord? The Red Sea. All right, look at verse 16,
but lift thou up thy rod and stretch out thy hand over the
sea and divide it And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground
through the midst of the sea. They're not even gonna get wet. See that? And he says in verse
17, and I behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians and
they shall follow them. The Egyptians hearts are gonna
be so hard that they're gonna follow them down into it. And
it says, and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh and upon all his
hosts, upon his chariots and upon his men. And the Egyptians
shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten me honor upon
Pharaoh, upon his chariots and his horsemen. Now look at verse
19. And the angel of God, This is a term that refers to Christ. Which went before the camp of
Israel, removed and went behind them. And that is he brought
up the rear to keep Pharaoh's army from catching them. And
the pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood
behind them. And it came between the camp.
Now listen to this verse. It came between the camp of the
Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud and darkness
to them. It was darkness to the Egyptians,
but it gave light by night to these, to his people, so that
the one came not near the other all the night. What was light
to the Israelites was darkness to the Egyptians. Think about
the death of Christ on the cross. I call it the Red Sea of Redemption
because that's a type of the blood of Christ shed for our
sins. To the one who lives their life in unbelief and dies in
that state, that's death. He that believeth not shall be
damned. The wrath of God abides on him.
But to the one who sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,
to whom God has shown that light, It's life. There's your difference. The preaching of the cross is
foolishness to them that believe not, to them who are perishing. But it's the wisdom and power
of God to those who are being saved. So the children of Israel
walked the cross. God divided it. And this is the
work of God now. It's not the work of Moses. Look
at verse 27. Or no, not verse 27. It says, It says in verse 24,
and it came to pass that in the morning watch the Lord looked
upon the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of the fire
and of the cloud and troubled the host of the Egyptians, took
off their chariot wheels. God even took off the wheels
of their chariots. And then verse 26 says, and the
Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand over the sea that
the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots
and upon their horsemen. Moses stretched forth his hand
over the sea and the sea returned to his strength. When the morning
appeared, the Egyptians fled against it and the Lord overthrew
the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Verse 28. And the waters
returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the
host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There remained
not so much as one of them." He wiped out all of them. The
judgment of God, the justice of God. Verse 29, 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. Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day out of the hand of the Egyptians. This was the work of God. And
Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore, and Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.
This is the work of the Lord, he said. They weren't worshiping
Moses. Moses was just an instrument.
It was the power of God. And it says, and the people feared
the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. Well,
the main story that we get out of this is the Red Sea of Redemption
we find in the blood of Christ. For the salvation of his people
wherein God smothered up all our sins with his just wrath
and purged them away. I mean purged them away. to where
he can say, honestly, I'll remember them no more. You'll see them
no more. There'll be no record on the
law books of God against his people in Christ. And just as
the blood of the Passover lamb meant death to the Egyptians,
it meant life to the Israelites, the same right here. The Red
Sea of Christ's blood. It means righteousness. The sins
we've seen today, we'll see them again no more forever. The Lord
fought for us and we hold our peace. And then verse 31, when
it says, Israel saw that the great work which the Lord did
upon the Egyptians, that's what God the Holy Spirit does for
us in the new birth. He shows us the great work that
God has done for us in our redemption through the blood of Christ.
And let me read a passage to you in closing. This is 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. where Paul was inspired by the
spirit to write this concerning this issue. In verse one it says,
moreover brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant,
how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed
through the sea and were all baptized into Moses, that is
they were united to Moses, God's prophet, 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. So he likens this to the salvation
of God's chosen people, spiritual Israel, out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue and nation. All right.