Easter in the Exodus

Many of us may remember the story of how God parted the waters of the Red Sea so they might be fully and finally free of Pharaoh and their Egyptian slave masters.

But what does this story have to do with Easter and the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the grave?

And, what difference to either of those events have on my life today? What difference will this make on the relationships, decisions, and struggles I’ll have tomorrow?

A lot, actually.

ILLUST - “Peter and the Wolf” - "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936

If you remember from our first message in this series we looked at how God is the Author of a grand story of which all of Creation is a part.

This is why, whether you are religious or not, there is deep down this sense that there something that connects everything, purpose behind every event, even a grand story over-arching all of our stories.

And you’d be right. God started this story in Genesis 1 and from Genesis 3 he has been unfolding his grand story of redemption of which our lives are a part.

Because the stories we read in the Bible are about his unfolding plan of redemption through his people, we can be sure that, while each event can tell us something about God, His character, and His ways, ultimately all of Scripture will point to culmination of God’s redemptive plan - the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

This is why when you read the NT, you hear so many echoes of the OT, and when you read the OT there seems seems to be a common melody to the story of Jesus in the NT.

John 5:39 (ESV)

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

In Hebrews the author connects many of the events and ideas of the OT to NT believers.

Paul writes to the Corinthians that

“These things happened as examples to us” (1 Cor 10:6)

So, as we briefly look at the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, we will see what I like to call:

Refractions of our journey with God

Reflections of our salvation in Christ

REFRACTIONS

Refraction happens when light (or a wave of some sort) changes direction after going through a substance

God (source of light) shines on their situation.

When the Light shines through our situation it hits differently but it is the same light.

The same Light is refracted onto our situation.

When we look at the journey of the Israelites we can connect their journey to our journey (because we worship the same unchanging God).

REFLECTIONS

When Paul writes to the Colossians he says the laws and customs of the OT were but “shadow(s) of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Col 2:17)

Because God is unfolding his grand story of redemption, you will often hear the familiar melody of our salvation in Christ in the stories throughout the OT, as they (though dimly) reflect Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection.

We are going to look first at the particular situation of the Israelites in crossing the Red Sea and see some refractions of God’s truth for us in our journey with God.

Then we will pull back and see some of the reflections this story has with the reality of the resurrection of Jesus.

Refractions of our journey with God

Exodus 14:1–4 (ESV)

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

The people of Israel have finally been released by Pharaoh to leave their position as slaves in Egypt.

After Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal to release God’s people, God sent nine plagues upon Pharaoh and his nation with a final tenth judgment of death to all the firstborn in Egypt - Including Pharaoh’s son. The nation of Israel was spared this judgment as they believed and obeyed God - following his prescription in the Passover - itself being a reflection of what Jesus would do on the cross.

Now Pharaoh has sent them out and God begins to lead his people out of Egypt.

However, instead of leading the people north along the sea, which was the shortest route, God led them south, into the desert.

In the previous chapter we learn it is because God knew that had the Israelites taken the obvious route to the north, they would almost immediately face military opposition, and God knew that the people were not ready for such a conflict. So, he led them on a more difficult route.

In fact, had the Israelites taken the more direct northern route, they would have arrived in Canaan in less than two weeks instead of the forty years it would actually take them.

While not the easiest or most direct, this is the path God, who loved them and saved them, also chose for them.

All throughout their wanderings in the desert you will see how the people complain about how and where God is leading them, even to the point where they long to go back to slavery in Egypt!

But God knew what was best for them. Had they taken the easier route, they would have encountered fierce opposition and either been slaughtered or easily recaptured by Pharaoh.

The Israelites do not know what God has saved them from, only what they see in front of them - and about that they complain.

Do we not sometimes find ourselves in a similar situation? We usually do not see what God has mercifully directed us around, we only see what is in front of us at the moment. And when it doesn’t seem as though it would be as easy as another path, we complain.

Forgetting that:

God’s path is always the best, though not always the easiest.

If you are allowing God to lead you, then trust that his path is the best.

Ex 14:5-9

Pharaoh learned the people had indeed left

changed his mind

Takes his chariot and 600 other chariots to chase down the Israelites

They catch up to them by Pi-hahiroth

Exodus 14:10–12 (ESV)

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

People were afraid

understandably

The Israelites tend to have a short-term memory - They had just seen God topple every one of the Egyptian gods throughout the ten plagues, yet they feel that somehow, this time it was different.

They had forgotten all they had seen and are only focused on what they see.

Been there? You’ve seen God change the lives of people in your Life Group but your spouse is different.

God provided all your needs in the past but somehow this time is different.

Remember what God has done should give us peace for what God can do.

At least they did the right thing by calling out to God

Joshua 24:7 (ESV)

7 And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time.

What was most alarming of all was their willingness to go right back into bondage. They told Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (v. 12b). The whole point of the exodus was for them to serve God, but here they were, wanting to go right back and serve Pharaoh. This was more than a loss of nerve — it was a lack of faith. By pledging their allegiance to Pharaoh they were denying the power of God.

Excerpt from: "Exodus: Saved for God's Glory" by Philip Graham Ryken. Scribd.

God was still determined to be faithful to his people

Exodus 14:13–14 (ESV)

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Through Moses, “Go forward” Where? into the sea

Exodus 14:16 (ESV)

16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

Exodus 14:19–20 (ESV)

19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

God gave his people light and kept the Egyptians in the dark

God split the Sea and led them through on dry ground

Was it some sort of natural event? Who cares? - The Creator of all seas can split it if he likes.

(The Egyptians perspective)

Egyptians thrown into panic, chariots become clogged and worthless, they turn around,

God has Moses stretch out his hands again and the sea covers the Egyptians.

All the host of Pharaoh drowned

Israelites saw the Egyptians dead on the shore

Exodus 14:31 (ESV)

31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Reflections of our salvation in Christ

Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV)

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—

Deuteronomy 18:18 (ESV)

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

How did God keep this promise?

Luke 9:30–31 (ESV)

30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Departure = exodus

Jesus was speaking with Moses about his exodus!

This shines back to Exodus in general and on the crossing of the Red Sea in particular

God had sent another deliverer like Moses - only one who is greater than Moses!

Jesus was about to lead into a greater Exodus.

Mark 10:33–34 (ESV)

33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

How is this an “exodus?”

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus led his people out of bondage to sin and death.

As the people of Israel stared down the Egyptians racing toward them, they understood their helplessness and and certain death. But Moses, God’s chosen deliverer, led the people through the sea of death by his great power.

We, in our sin, stare down certain eternal death and we are helpless to do anything about it. But Jesus, God’s chosen deliverer, has come to lead his people though the fear of death by his great power.

Romans 6:3 (ESV)

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Colossians 2:12 (ESV)

12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Salvation belongs to Jesus. . . alone.

When it comes to the actual act of salvation, you and I are merely spectators to God’s power.

Exodus 14:13 (ESV)

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

Exodus 14:14 (ESV)

14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

What was the noise that needed to be silenced?

The complaining

The resisting of God’s leading

The longing for the old way of life.

Jesus is fighting for your faith more than you are.

You have only to allow him to lead you and do his work in you - It may not be the easiest way but it is the best way!!

Jesus has given you freedom to go forward and worship God

You are no longer bound to your old life.

Even though we may still feel, through our temptations, your old appetite for sin,

(Or as in our story) - You may still feel as though you are a slave to pharaoh feel as though we are slaves to sin, Jesus has led us into freedom

The issue is not that we are in Egypt any more, the issue is that Egypt is still in us - but it has no power, we are not bound to give in, there is no need for fear,

This is why growing in Christ means growing in your understanding of your identity in Christ.

Satan no longer has a claim on you.

“It is a spiritual battle, and Satan never surrenders without a fight. This is not surprising because we were once his valuable servants, and he would like nothing better than to have us back under his employ. Like a slaveholder coming north to hunt for a runaway slave, Satan wants to drag us back to the plantation of sin. But there is no “fugitive slave law” in the kingdom of God. Once God has set us free, Satan has no right to take us back.”

Excerpt from: "Exodus: Saved for God's Glory" by Philip Graham Ryken. Scribd.

Hebrews 2:14–15 (ESV)

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Colossians 2:15 (ESV)

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

You are no longer a slave to sin, fear, death — YOU ARE FREE — and all this because of the resurrection of Jesus

How will you apply this message of freedom and new life in Christ today?

Give you life to Christ - leave Egypt!!

Walk forward in the freedom of the resurrection

Submit to and commit to follow God’s leading however confusing, or difficult it may seem.