“Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath
triumphed gloriously: the horse and his
rider hath He thrown into the sea” (Exod. xv. 1).
The various references to Israel’s passage
through the Red Sea show that it is an experience which was necessary for
Israel, as a parallel may be found in the experience of the believer, and in
the future restoration of Israel. An
appreciation of its place and meaning will give encouragement to the downcast,
stimulus to the one who is seeking the crown or the prize, and an explanation
of some of the baffling providences which make up the purpose of the ages.
As
we shall see in our next paper on the Revelation, the Beast, the False Prophet,
and Satan must be removed before the millennial kingdom can be set up: so Israel must see Pharaoh and his host dead
on the sea shore before the kingdom can be inherited. This is emphasized in the prophecy of
Israel’s restoration recorded in Isa.
li. 9, 10:--
“Awake, awake, put on Thy strength, O arm
of the Lord, awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art Thou not it that hath cut Rahab and
wounded the dragon? Art Thou not it
which hath dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way
for the ransomed to pass over?”
There is another interesting reference
in Isaiah xi. Here
again the theme is that of Israel’s restoration.
“And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the Lord shall set His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His
people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt ... and the
Lord shall utterly destroy the gulf of Egyptian sea: and shall shake His hand against the river
(Euphrates) in the full force of His spirit, and shall smite it in the seven
streams for a remnant of His people, who shall be left, out of Assyria: LIKE AS IT WAS TO ISRAEL IN THE DAY THAT HE CAME
OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT” (Isa. xi. 11-16).
When the ransomed Israelites stood upon
the sea shore and realized the deliverance that had been accomplished, together
with the tragic overthrow of their enemies, they took up a song of triumphant thanksgiving. After speaking of the way the Lord had
“triumphed gloriously” they continued:--
“The Lord is my strength and
song, and He is become my salvation” (Exod. xv. 2).
This is exactly what follows the parallel
of Exodus xiv. already quoted above. After speaking of the turning away of the
Lord’s anger, Israel will continue:--
“The Lord Jehovah is my strength and
song: He also is become my salvation”
(Isa. xii. 2).
The parallels are very plain and need no
comment. There shall not only be a new
covenant made with Israel which shall be infinitely greater than the covenant
which the Lord made with them in the day that He:--
“took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt” (Jer.xxxi.32),
but
there shall be a repetition of the Red Sea experience also. In the book of the Revelation, Pharaoh is set
aside and his place is taken by the Beast.
The magicians that withstood Moses find their antitype in the False
Prophet. The plagues are repeated on a
grander scale in the vials of wrath, and the song of Moses blends with the song
of the Lamb.
“I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled
with fire; and them that had gotten the
victory over the Beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the
number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing THE SONG OF MOSES AND THE LAMB”
(Rev.xv.2,3).
These extracts will show the place that
the crossing of the Red Sea holds in prophecy.
When reading Psalm lxxvii.
we find that the psalmist, being cast down and troubled, found strength
and comfort in remembering that even such an obstacle as the Red Sea must give
place before the word of God:--
“I have considered the days of old, the
years of ancient times . . . . . Will the Lord cast off for ever? . . . . .
Hath God forgotten to be gracious? . . . . . Then i said, this is my infirmity,
but i will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High” (Psalm
lxxvii. 5-10).
What is it that the psalmist recalls for
his encouragement? He remembers that
moment when Israel, hemmed in by the wilderness and threatened by the pursuing
Egyptians, saw the Red Sea open before them:--
“The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters
saw Thee: they were afraid … Thy way is
in the sea … Thou leadest Thy people like a flock …” (Psa. lxxvii. 16-20).
We understand from Heb. xi. 29
that not only did the Lord open the Red Sea, but that Israel passed
through “by faith”. The two phases of
the one act are expressed in the words of Exod. xiv. 13, 15:--
“Fear ye not, STAND STILL, and see the
salvation of the Lord.”
This is the Godward aspect.
“Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto
the children of Israel, that they GO
FORWARD.”
This is the other side of the truth. We find many parallels to this. Ephesians ii. 9 declares that we are not saved “out of
works”, and Eph. ii. 10 as strongly declares that we have been saved
“unto good works”, while Phil. ii.
12 says, “Work out your own salvation”,
while Phil. ii. 13 follows by saying, “it is God that worketh in
you”.
The
reference already made to Revelation
xv. will confirm the thought that the
passage of the Red Sea was the first
great act of overcoming faith on the part of Israel. Hebrews xi.
says, “By faith he (Moses) kept the Passover” (Heb. xi. 28). “By faith they (Israel) passed through the
Red Sea as by dry land” (Heb. xi. 29).
There is a significant addition in the
verse concerning the Egyptians. Israel
did not merely venture to cross the bed of the sea. The Egyptians did so also. The outward act was the same, but there the
semblance ceased, for Israel’s act was by
faith, the record of Heb. xi.
29 being:--
“Which the Egyptians assaying to do were
drowned.”
In some way, not fully understood by us,
this passage through the Red Sea united the people together with Moses as
one:--
“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” (I Cor. x. 1, 2).
Coming back to Exodus xiv.
we observe that the salvation of the Lord, which Israel were to see that
day, included not only their own deliverance, but the destruction of their
enemy. Salvation in one sense is an
accomplished fact; we are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Salvation in another sense is future; we are sealed unto the day of
redemption. This future aspect of
salvation involves the destruction of the power of death, and him who held the
power, i.e., the devil. The Beast, the
False Prophet, and the Dragon must be overcome before the saved possess the
kingdom.
The Red Sea experience lies ahead of every
dispensational division of God’s purpose, whether of church or kingdom.
“Thanks be to God, that giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. xv. 57).
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