The Crossing

Big Idea

Tension: How does God finally save Israel from the Egyptians?

Resolution: By bringing Israel through on dry land but drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

Exegetical Idea: God finally saves Israel from the Egyptians by bringing them through on dry land but by drowning the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

Theological Idea: Through baptism into Christ, God drowns our sin and saves our souls.

Homiletical Idea: In Christ, God saves us by judging our sin and saving our souls.

Homiletical Idea: Through baptism into Christ, God drowns our sin and saves our souls.

Exposition

Have you ever noticed that for Christians, the

Exposition

Have you ever been watching a movie or a tv show, and you see a bad guy do something, and then it seems like they’ve escaped. But then a scene later it turns out they’re not really dead? They weren’t really destroyed? Then there is this big final showdown to finally defeat the villain once and for all. Well that’s kind of what happens here. In our scene today, we see that the enemies that we thought were dead are not really. You see, throughout this whole book of Egypt, we have seen how God has been bringing the people of Israel out of hte land of Egypt. And we have said, that the ultimate reason that God is doing this is to show that he alone is the true God. That he alone is the true, and glorious God over all. And we have seen how Egypt oppressed them, but God sent Moses and Aaron to do his wondrous miracles. And yet, Egypt still would nto listen. So God hurled plague after plague, and these plagues were carefully designed to dismantle their entire worldview and religion, until they are forced to admit that God alone is the true God. So God attacks Egypt, by turning hte Nile to blood, by sending frogs up from teh Nile, by swarms of flies and gnats, by cursing their livestock, by sending boils, by sending a hailstorm and then locusts, by cutting out the sunlight, and finally by sending the angel of death to kill the firstborn of every egyptian household. And all of these different plagues were carefully designed so pick apart a different part of teh Egyptian religion, whether it was the gods of the Nile, or the gods of the sky, or the gods of health, or the gods of chaos, or the gods of power. And finally, when Egypt is ruined and Pharoah is humbled, Pharaoh says to Moses, “Get out.” So Moses and Israel flee from Egypt. And we talked last week about how they went down into the wilderness rather than towards the land of Canaan. And that is where this picks up today:

Crisis (1-4)

Turning directions: Now what we see here is that Israel is tasked with turning here in these first few verses. Now, probably what happens is that they are going zig-zag towards the Red Sea. So God directs them down southeast towards the Red Sea, but because they are going zig-zag, Israel doesn’t relaly know where they are going. And probably the reason that God is having them go this way instead of just making them go in a more or less straight line, is to make them trust him. He doesn’t tell them what’s ahead of what’s next or where they’re going, because he wants them to not trust in their knowledge. Sometimes the reason that God doesn’t tell us why we’re where we’re at, or where we’re going, or what his plan is, is because he wants us to trust him. That’s what’s going on here.

Harden Pharaoh’s heart: Now, God says, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.” Now we’ve talked about that some, and if you wnat to talk about that more, please talk to me after the service. But for our purposes here, what’s importantt to know isthat God is bringing the Egyptians after them for one final climactic battle. That this will be the last battle Israel has to face with Egypt before they’re gone.

I will get glory: Now, look here. God doesn’t tell us how he will show his victory over the Egyptians. He just tells Israel that he will get teh glory. God says, “I know you don’t understand this, I know you don’t get this, but I will get glory out of this situation and this crisis. I will be exalted, and I will be lifted up.”

Rising Action

Egypt (5-9)

1. Pharaoh’s actions

Reported to Pharaoh: So now, Pharaoh has his intelligence agency. And they come and tell him, “Uh, sir, the Israelites, they seem like they’re lost.” And Pharaoh says, “Didn’t they google it?” And his men shrug, and Pharaoh is filled with regret and anger. He says, “Why did twe let them go again?”

Readied his meen: So Pharaoh readies his men. And he musters as many people as he can, and they chase after Israel. Now, notice here that Pharaoh takes both his “chosen” chariots and all his other chariots. This is like if someone would sya, “I’m going after them with everything I got. I’m going to use my special forces and my infantry. Everything that I have is going after them.”

Overtook them: And because the Egyptians had such a well organized military overtook Israel at the Red Sea. So Israel, who is going kind of slow cause they got women and children and they’re kind of confused are kind of ambling along, and we see here that Pharoah and all his men are going at a breakneck speed to cut them off in the wilderness and to make them pay.

What was their motivation? Now, let me ask a question. What was their motivation? I mean, hadn’t Pharaoh just been humilitated in front of his own people? Hadn’t he learned his lesson? WHy would he try to seek after Israel, even though he knows it isn’t going to turn out well? Well, the text doesn’t really tell us what was going through Pharaoh’s head at this time. But I think probably what was going on, knowing the character of Pharaoh as we have seen him so far, is that reluctance to let God reign. Yes, he has been shown that he is not the one true God who made all things seen and unseen. Yes, he knows in theory he’s not GOd. But he can’t accept it. He knows God is God, but he won’t repent. He knows God reigns, but he won’t relinquish the throne. He knows that he’s not a God, but he has his scepter, and he’s going to do whatever is in his power to make Israel pay. But he does not realize that God is setting an ambush.

Israel (vs10-12): Now, we turn to the camp of Israel. And they get to the Red Sea, and they’re kind of hanging out, really not thinking much, and then they turn and they see, bearing down on them, the Egyptians. And it literally says here that they see the cloud of the Egyptians’ moving so quickly. And so there’s kind of htis suspense going on. And of course, the Israelites panick. They say, totally forgetting what God has just done, “It would have been better for us to serve teh Egytpians than to die in teh wilderness.” The Israelites feel like they’re about to be slaughtered. They just think this is not goign to go well for them. And so they lash out at Moses.

Moses (13-14): Now, I love the response of Moses here. I mean, this is totally the frustration of a dad on the road trip. Dad, are we there yet? Dad I’m thirsty, I’m hungry, I’m tired. You can see Moses who has been putting up with these people long enough. “Moses, we’re tired, we’re thirsty, we’re hungry, can we stop for a bathroom break? Moses, it would have been better if we never left Egypt.” And Moses just turns to the Israelites, and say, “Fear not. Stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord… the Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Moses essentially says, “Shutup and watch.” Moses says, “Sit back and watch what the Lord will do.”

The Lord:

Split the sea (15-18): Now a lot of what God says here he is just reiterating from earlier. But there are two interesting things here. First, for the first time we see that God lets Moses in on what he’s planning. He says, “Divide the sea.” Now, this word for divide means, “make a valley in it.” So it becomes clear, God is going to bring the Israelites up to safety by taking them down into the sea.

Glory

Glory: Secondly, notice that God says twice that he will glorify himself over the Egyptians. This is to intensify what he said way back in vs. 4. That God is going to glorify himself is very emphatic here. It is also very interesting, because he has told Moses how he is going to save Moses, but he still hasn’t told Moses how he’s going to defeat Egypt.

The angel in the night (19-21): Now, what we see next is that the Angel of the Lord moves from before the camp and moves between Israel and Egypt, so it moves from teh front to the back. And after this, Moses splits the sea, and all thorughout the night, there is this wind that blows, so that by morning, the sea is split. SO now, this week as I was preparing this sermon, I was wondering, why does God not just split this instantly? Why did God split it slowly throughoout the night? Why not do it all just there? And I htink the reason is, because he was trying to teach Israel to trust him. You can imagine how Israel, as they were looking through the flame at the Egyptian camp, were growing in fear, and were crying out to God in prayer all night. Dear friend, sometimes God lets us wait so that we grow in our faith. SOmetimes God takes us on strange routes through the wilderness, sometimes God takes his time, because he is lovingly, graciously, patiently, trying to teach us to trust him even when we’re confused, even when we’re impatient, even when we’re angry, even when we’re hurt, because in the midst of all these things, he is trying to teach us to wait on him. He is strying to teach Israel to listen to Moses that, “The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent.” (vs 14)

Cross on Dry land while the Egyptians falter (23-25) Well the sea splits and the Israelites cross over on dry ground. And they’re moving. But at some point, they look back and they see that teh Egyptians are following them. Now, I love what it says in vs. 24, that the Lord looked down ont eh Egyptians and threw them into a panic. Because they’re chasing the Israelites into this valley in the sea, but their chariots get clogged on the way. And God throws them into a panic, so they don’t really know what to do.

So wel

The final defeat (26-29): Now, God turns to Moses and syas to him, “stretch out your hand,” and Moses

The Egyptians falter (23-25)

Climax (26-29)

Now, God turns to Moses and syas to him, “stretch out your hand,” and Moses turns back towards the sea, and the waters return to their normal course. And God throws the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. And they’re totally washed away. In contrast, the Israelites are brought across safely. Not one of them perishes, but all of the Egyptians perish. It is a great day of rejoicing and celebrating in teh Lord.

Falling Action

Denouement (30-31)

Conclusion

So the Israelites get to the other side. And we see that the Lord has saved them from every disaster, and he has saved them from the hand of the Egyptians. Israel is brought acros ssafely. Meanwhile, the Egyptian bodies wash up on the seashore, bloated, waterlogged, and never able to hurt them again. And the complaining and groaning and griping of the Israelites is turned into trust in teh Lord and in his servant Moses (31).

What can we learn from this story?

Now, this is a great story, but what can we learn as believers? What can we learn about how God works and acts? What can we learn for our lives today. Well, let me give you five things.

God saves through judgment: The first thing that we learn here is that God judges evil. Pharaoh and all the Egyptians are complicit in their evil. They are furious that God has humiliated him and they will not stand for it. So they decide that they are going to vengefully and ruefully attack Israel in what they perceive to be his moment of weakness. And God judges this evil.

Does God really judge? Now, maybe you would sya, “Well my God would never do that. My God would never judge evil.” Dear friend, God cannot be just if he does not judge evil. God cannot be righteous or good if he does not judge evil. Imagine this. You are an Israelites father or mother, and you have seen the Egyptian soldiers tear your young ones from your arms despite your weeping and your crying, and as you wail and scream and try to get your child back, they hit you and beat you. Then you crawl on your hands and knees and you watch from a distance, horrified, but unable to look away, as teh Egyptians toss your child into the Nile to be drowned and torn apart by wild animals. Now, years later, you go with Moses across the Red Sea, and you see in the Egyptian troops behind you the same soldier who took your little one from you. And as you flee from him, you get to the other side. And in a great whoosh, you watch as the water returns to itself. And a few moments later, you see the crushed, lifeless body of that Egyptian wash up on shore. Do you think that Israelite is apologetic? Or do you think they feel that God has given justice.

We deserved to be judged: Now, here’s the kicker. If we’re going to say that God judges some people, we have to be willing to admit, that God will judge all. And if God is going to judge, then he’s going to judge by his own standards. And none of us pass marshall. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Paul says in . The sad reality is that we deserved to be drowned under those waves. ALl of us deserved to perish with Egypt, because like Pharaoh, we have tried to put ourselves on the throne. We have, as Paul says in Romans, exchanged the glory of the immortal God for created things. You dont’ believe me? Keep reading in Exodus. We’ll see what happens to the Israelites when they’re left to their own divices. The moment they think Moses isn’t watching, the moment they think God’s not on their side, they return to tehir stiff-necked and rebellious ways. They create a golden idol, a god, a calf to worship. The Israelites are just as wicked as the Egyptians.

Christ was judged on our behalf: Now, here’s teh good news. THat the reason we can say that God saves through judgment, is because Christ was judged on our behalf. One of the greatest pictures in the whole Bible is of the criminal Barabbas. Barabbas was a murderer and an anarchist who was caugh by the Roman authorities. And on teh night when Jesus was unjustly arrested and taken captive, Pilate asked teh Jewish crowd which one should he release. Should he release Barabbas, or should he release Jesus? ANd teh crowd cries out “Barabbas! Barababas!” And Pilate asks, what should I do with Barabbas, and the crowd says, “crucify him! Crucify him!” And Barabbas is set free and Christ is crucified. listen, I am barabbas. you are barabbas. We deserve to be punished, we deserved to be crucified, we deserved to be drowned at the bottom of the sea. But like Jonah in the great whale, we are brought to safety. Like Noah in the ark, we are brought to salvation. Like Israel in teh Red Sea, we come across safe and sound. Where we come across on dry ground, Christ is drowned. Where we see God’s dove of peace, Christ bears God’s curse. Where we are brought to the shore, Christ is deposited at the the depth of hte sea.

God saves his people by grace: The second thing that we learn from this story is that salvation is by grace. Maybe the word “grace” itself is not used to describe salvation, but there is not really another word to describe what happens here. The only way that God saves his people is through grace. If someone is not willing to receive GOd’s salvation by grace, then they don’t really understand what God’s grace is. Now, there are really two things that we learn about grace in this passage.

God’s unmerited favor: The first thing that we learn about God’s grace is that it is “unmerited favor.” Look at how the Israelites acted in the first part of this passage. They are so quick to turn back on God when it is convenient. They were no better than teh Egyptians. All it takes is the first disaster, the first trouble, the first trial for them to turn and say to Moses and to God, “What have you done to us?” In fact, if God never save them and let them perish for their disobedience, then he would have been perfectly just. God’sg race is unmerited. You can’t earn it. you don’t deserve it. you’re not entitled to it. It is a gift that you shouldn’t get but you do. God’s grace is unmerited favor.

God’s unattainable gift: Now, most people are willing to accept that God’s grace is “unmerited favor.” I don’t think that’s a problem for most people. It kind of makes sense, right? it is unmerited favor. But I think when a lot of people hear that, they’re like, “okay yes, yes, I don’t deserve it. But i’m going to try to earn it anyways.” But what we see in this pasasge is not just that it is “unmerited” but also that it is unattainable. Grace is God’s “unattainable gift.” Look at how Moses instructs the people of Israel in vs. 14. “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” ONe of the most offensive things that youc an to do to God is to try to attain his gift. Because it is just that: a gift. It is not just that you don’t deserve it, but that you couldn’t deserve it even if you wanted to. God is so holy, so good, so big, so high, so strong, that for us to think that we could, if we just white knuckled it and just tried to be the best us we could, is absolutely repulsive to him. Dear friend, God’s grace is an unmerited, unattainable gift. But it is a gift. It is for you. God’s grace is a gift that we don’t deserve that we couldn’t deserve for us.

God’s unmerited favor

The grace that is in Christ Jesus: Of course, this grace that God gives us is in Christ alone. It is a pure gift to me that Christ came and died on the cross and rose again. This is what Paul says in , that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor so that you through his poverty might be made rich. Or in 5:17, Paul says he made him who knew no sin to be sin so that you might become the righteousness of God. I didn’t deserve that. I’m not entitled to that. I can’t earn it. There’s nothing that I can do to earn or to merit my salvation in Christ. Rather, Christ came, and died in the place of sinners. He died for me, he was my sacrifice. THough he was israel and I was egypt, he was sent to the bottom of hte sea and i was brought out safe. Though he was good and i was wicked, he was punished and I was let go. though he was innocent and I was guilty, he was condemned and I was justified. Though he had a perfect credit score and i was very indebted, he was enslaved to pay off my fine. The gift that God gives us is found only in the death and resurrection of sin.

God saves through baptism

Now, I know when I say that, there’s a little bit of a reaction for some of you. But there is a strong connection to baptism in this passage. says that this is like Baptism. Just like Passover is a precursor to the Lord’s Supper, so the Red sea Crossing is a precursor to Baptism. In the Crossing, God baptizes Israel into the Red Sea and saves them. This is why says this.. Just as Noah and his family were saved by clinging to the ark in teh great flood, so in baptism we cling to Christ and we are saved. Baptism saves us by bringing us closer to Christ.

Baptismal Regeneration? Now, when I say this, there is perhaps some question. Because some of you perhaps grew up as a Luterhan or in teh Churches of Christ, and these traditions, our dear brothers and sisters, I do believe that, would teach what is called baptismal regeneration. And what they mean by that is that through baptism, God has promised to give us new life. So that baptism is the means by which we trust in that promise that God has for us and receive all that he did for us. So what they would say is that baptism is actually the source of our new birth because God has put his promises in baptism. Is that what we teach or believe here? Well, not exactly. We believe that there is a “washing of regeneration” () that happens when we become Christians. We believe that the moment we become Christians, God unites us to Christ, and we are reborn in our spirit so that we become Christians. So our physical baptism is a continuation of our spiritual baptism. In other words: we are not saved because we are baptized physically, but we are baptized physically because we are saved. So baptism actually does something: it reassures us, it furthers our faith, it brings us into a greater experience of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In that sense: it saves us. Because salvatoin is not just being forgiven, but salvation is renewal of our whole person. But that baptism doesn’t save us in the sense that it doesn’t make us a new creature, but rather because we are a new creature, we are baptized.

Are you baptized? So often I hear teh qeustion, “Well do I have to get baptized?” and I really think that’s the wrong question. I think the better question is, “Why wouldn’t you want to get baptized?” IN baptism you, according to 1 corinthians, follow Christ, in baptism, you receive a clean conscience, in baptism you draw clsoer and have more intimiate and spiritual communion with him. WHy wouldn’t you want to get baptized? Why owuldn’t you trust God enough to get baptized? ANd if your salvation doesn’t compel you to get baptized, are you really saved? Because TItus says that the baptism or washing comes from regeneration. So if you refuse baptism, are you really saved in the first place? Dear friend, in baptism, God has given you his sign, just as he gave Noah the sign of the dove, that he is at peace, and just as far as the east is from the west so he has removed your sins from you. Why wouldn’t you want that?

God saves through faith:

So in this we learn that God judges evil, God saves by grace, God saves through baptism, and God saves through faith. WHat we see here, is that God is working to build faith in his people throughout this story. Did you notice that, time and time again, God is working hard, to force his people to trust him. God makes them wait through the night, God leads them through the valley of hte shadow of death, God brings them safe to the other side, to bring them to a place where they trust him. Did you notice that, that this is teh very last words in this chapter, that they “trusted God.” The only thing that had to do was “be silent” and see what God had done.

So for us salvation is by faith alone. It’s not by earning God’s favor. God doesn’t take, “trust but verify.” God doesn’t help those who help themselves. God didn’t come to heal the well. God didn’t come to educate the smart. God didn’t come to save teh saved. No, God says, “Blessed is the one whose hope is the Lord.” God comes to help those who can’t help themselves. God came to heal the sick. God came to educate teh fools. God came to give bread to the beggar. God came to save the lost.

Have you put your faith in him? So let me ask you this question. Is he your trust? Have you asekd him to be your Lord and savior? Have you sat back and been silent and seen the salvation of the Lord. If you were to have to explain to Christ why you should spend eternity wiht him, would it be because, “You’re a good person,” or would it be because, “You’re a good God.” Dear friend, is he your faith?

God gets the glory

Now, I know that some of you were hoping that that was the last point. But I actually have one more. Because at the end of the story it’s not about us. Did you notice that 3 different times in our story today, God says, “I will glorify myself over Pharaoh.” You see, often we think that salvation is because God needed to get us on his side. Because God needed to get us on his team. But the reality is, salvation is because God chose to glorify himself. Did you know in the 23rd Psalm it says, “he leads me beside still waters for his names’ sake?” Not Matt’s name’s sake, no his. in sav9ing us, God reveals that he alone is worthy of all glory and praise and honor.

If you’ve been coming here for any amount of time, you know that some of my favorite chapters in the Bible are . And in , we see that all the angels are crowded aroudn God’s throne and they are praising God because of everything that God has done and everything that he is. And then chapter 5 starts. And all of a Sudden, you see there’s this new figuire show up, a lamb standing as though it had been slain. And it comes and it comes to the throne, and suddenly the whole chorus of eternity starts singing, (). You see at the end of the day, the gospel story, God’s salvation of us, our baptism, is not because of us or anythign we have done, and therefore we get none of the glory. Instead it’s all about everything that he’s done and all his grace. And therefore, he gets all teh glory. I love what the classic hymn by John Newton says, “Therefore, when we’ve been there fore 10,000 years, we’ll have no less days to sing his praise than when we’d first begun.” Let’s pray.