My Walk Out Of Egypt

By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.  Hebrews 11:29

The children of Israel walked between the walls of water until they reached the safety of the other side.  The Egyptian army also walked between the walls of water but the walls didn’t hold.  The towering walls collapsed and drowned all the enemies of God’s people.  Where was faith involved in the deliverance of the first and the destruction of the latter?

Paul answered the question in his letter.  “For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:1–4 

They were baptized into Moses, both in the cloud and in the sea.  This means that they acknowledged Moses as their God-sent deliverer.  They followed his God in the cloud and walked confidently into the divided sea that had been separated by the wind of Yahweh’s breath.  Moses was a shadow of Christ and points to what would be required of me to be delivered from the slavery of sin.  I would have to embark on my own journey out of Egypt and proceed into the Red Sea through faith in Christ’s finished atonement.

What happens to spiritual enemies who are out for my destruction?  Like the mighty Egyptian army, they pursue like a flood.  I may hear the roar of the lion and the wheels of their chariots bearing down, they may even maim and kill the body, but I will be safely delivered to the promised land through my Deliverer.  They, without faith in Christ, will meet sure destruction.

Faith is credited to me as righteousness just as surely as if my name were written in Hebrews 11 if I look to Jesus to save me.  When I trust Him, when I receive His love and forgiveness, and when I lay down all self-effort (my own kind of horses and chariots), I am led out of slavery and into the promised land.  It is paradise restored.  The yoke of slavery is permanently shattered and its irons lay on the ground.  Such a beautiful thing happens next.  He who forgives all your iniquities, and heals all your diseases, who  redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  Psalm 103:3-5 

Oh Lord, the traumatic memories of slavery in Egypt no longer line my face. Thank you.  Amen