Salvation at Sea
Call to Worship:
Pastor Andrew Loginow
Matt 2.13-15; 3.13-17
Historical:
Pastor Andrew loginow
Apostles' Creed
Song:
In Christ Alone
Loginow Baby Dedication
Pastor Brett Eckel
Confession & Pardon
Pastor Brett Eckel
Song:
Doxology
Song:
Christ The Sure & Steady Anchor
Sermon:
Dr. Alex Loginow
Exodus 14
Salvation at Sea
Introduction
Every October is a time of remembrance and thankfulness for me. I started pastoring in October 2009, which means this month marks 13 years of full-time pastoral ministry for me. Next March will mark 10 years for me as a pastor here at Christ Community Church. I am thankful for the two churches I pastored near Owensboro, Kentucky and I’m even more thankful for my first decade pastoring at Christ Community Church. Not to mention that I’m excited for the decades to come here at Christ Community Church. But every October I remember when Bethany and I started our ministry together and it generates thankfulness in my heart.
You have times like that too, don’t you? Occasions like birthdays, wedding anniversaries, or the annual reminder of the death of a loved one. We celebrate federal holidays like Independence Day. We celebrate annual religious holidays like Easter and Christmas. Why do we mark these occasions? Because they aid us in remembering the important.
This is true in Scripture as well. Until the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the most important event in redemptive history is the exodus. The most important event in the Old Testament is what we’ve been talking about this last few weeks – the exodus. There’s no event that Scripture harkens back to more often than the exodus. Over and over again the Bible points to the exodus as the archetype of salvation. Scripture is constantly calling us to remember the exodus.
God’s Word consistently calls us back to the exodus so that God’s people would remember and be thankful. But that’s not all. As we look back at the exodus we anticipate what is to come. The exodus was not an end in and of itself. No the exodus was a providential picture pointing us to something greater. And that’s what we’re going to see this morning.
Parting the Red Sea
Notice first that Exodus 14 is divided into two sections – verses 1-9 and verses 10-31. Verses 1-9 are sandwiched by the locations Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon in verse 2 and 9. This structure clues us in that verses 1-9 stand as its own section. In verses 1-9 YHWH is telling Moses how he will finally get glory over Pharaoh and Egypt and then in verses 10-31 we read the account of YHWH’s glory over Egypt. YHWH is glorified in saving Israel through judging Egypt at the Red Sea.
You may have noticed that Exodus 14 never uses the phrase, “the Red Sea,” but Exodus 13 and 15 both do. What’s interesting is that one of the most famous pericopes in all of Scripture – the Red Sea – is actually a mistranslation. The Red Sea is mentioned in Exodus 13.18 but the word translated a “Red” here in English is the Hebrew word סוּף (Soof), which means, “reeds.” So the Hebrew literally says, “Sea of Reeds.” It was mistranslated in the LXX as, “Red” and the mistranslation was passed down through generations. The sea is technically not the Red Sea but the Sea of Reeds. That being said, we’ll keep referring to it as the Red Sea because Christians have done so for generations.
And what we see at the Red Sea is that YHWH is sovereign over everything that happens. He prophesies his victory over Egypt in verses 1-9 and then he executes his victory in verses 10-31. In verse 4 YHWH declares that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart one last time and then YHWH will get glory over Pharaoh. In Exodus 5.2 Pharaoh said he did not know YHWH. Here in Exodus 14.4 YHWH says, “The Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH.”
So YHWH does harden Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh pursues after the people of Israel. This scares the Hebrews. The KJV says they were sore afraid. [The people] said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Moses responds, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of YHWH, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. YHWH will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Once again the exodus is the great archetype of salvation in Scripture and this is a great summary of soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) – see the salvation of the Lord…The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent. From beginning to end the work of salvation is Monergistic, the work of God alone. From election all the way through glorification there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. God alone has the power to change fallen human hearts. Modern Westerners are prone to idolize our perception of free will but we would be wise to hear the Spirit-inspired Word – the Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
And God does fight for his people. He puts the pillar of cloud between the Hebrews and the Egyptians. Then God commands Moses to stretch out his hands over the sea and God sent an east wind to part the sea so that God’s people walked on dry land with walls of water on the right and on their left. This is one of the most epic moments in redemptive history. There’s a reason this narrative is culturally popular even among those who don’t believe. There’s a reason multiple movies have been made about the exodus with the Red Sea as the climactic scene. To use the word literally, this is awesome.
The Egyptians follow the people of Israel into the sea and when all of the Hebrews reached the eastern shore YHWH told Moses to stretch his hands out over the sea again and the walls collapsed on the Egyptians killing them all. The Egyptians washed up dead on the seashore. God was glorified by saving his people through judging the Egyptians. This pericope is so intriguing and powerful because as awesome as this scene is it is pointing us to something greater. It is pointing us to a greater Moses, the true Israel. It is the great archetype of salvation because it is a signpost leading us to how God is ultimately glorified in salvation through judgment.
In our call to worship Pastor Andrew read from Matthew 2.13-15 and 3.13-17. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit St. Matthew tells us that through his life and ministry the Lord Jesus recapitulates Israel’s experience. Just as Pharaoh ordered the systematic abortion of all of the Hebrew boys in Exodus 1 during the first century Herod ordered the systematic abortion of all male children under 2 years old in Bethlehem. The angel of the Lord commands Joseph to flee to Egypt until Herod dies. And Matthew reveals to us that this fulfilled Hosea 11.1, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Hosea was thinking of the Israelites coming out of Egypt but the Holy Spirit who inspired Hosea was looking forward to Jesus. That means that when God ordained the events of the exodus he was doing so in anticipation of Jesus. After Jesus recapitulates Israel’s exodus from Egypt Matthew jumps right to the beginning of Christ’s ministry where Jesus is baptized and then tempted in the wilderness. So just as Israel left Egypt, went through the waters of the Red Sea and into the wilderness for forty years, Jesus Christ left Egypt and went through the waters of baptism and into the wilderness for forty days.
Matthew writes this way to emphasize that Jesus Christ is the true Israel. He is the fulfillment of Israel’s identity, vocation, and history. The point of Israel’s place in redemptive history as God’s old covenant people was to lead to Jesus Christ, the true Israel. There are no promises left to be fulfilled to ethnic Israel. All of the promises of God find their yes in [Jesus Christ] (2nd Cor 1.20). There is not a single Old Testament promise that is not fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And Jesus came to lead the final exodus. He came to secure salvation. Israel’s slavery in Egypt was a shadow of the slavery of all humanity to sin. Ever since Adam fell all humanity has been enslaved to sin and death. God is our holy creator who made us in his image and God demands perfect righteousness.
Humanity fell in sin through Adam. We are born with a sin nature and as a result we sin in thought, word, and deed. We sin by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We confessed this truth earlier when Pastor Brett led us in the confession and pardon. Because of our sin we deserve death and eternal conscious punishment in hell. We deserve God’s judgment.
But thanks be to God that “for us and our salvation” he sent his Son, the eternal second person of the Holy Trinity, to be conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. His name is Jesus of Nazareth and he lived a truly human life yet without sin (Heb 4.15; 1 Pet 2.22). Because Jesus was sinless and obeyed God’s law perfectly he earned righteousness on behalf of his people (2 Pet 1.1). Jesus’ righteousness made him the true unblemished Lamb of God and when he died on the cross he bore the wrath of God for the sins of his people. He endured the judgment that we deserve for sin.
The pattern we see at the exodus of God’s glory in saving his people through judging the Egyptians is fulfilled in the death of Jesus. God is ultimately glorified by saving his people through judging Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus, the righteous one, took the judgment that we deserved for sin. This is what theologians call the great exchange: Jesus bore our penalty on the cross and in turn, by faith, we receive his righteousness. Jesus was then buried and on the third day he resurrected from the dead. His resurrection was God’s vindication of everything Jesus said and did and proved that his sacrifice was accepted.
Now everyone who will repent and believe this good news about Jesus will be saved. When the Holy Spirit changes your heart you will repent –turn from your sin. At the same time you will believe –place your faith in Jesus. That means you take this knowledge of who Jesus is and what Jesus did, you ascent to its validity, and you transfer your trust to Christ alone. Everyone who has faith in Jesus is granted the forgiveness of sin and the hope of resurrection when Jesus returns to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new.
God will judge your sin. Either that judgment fell on Jesus at the cross or it will fall on you via eternal conscious punishment in a place called hell. The difference lies in what you do with Jesus. God’s Word commands everyone everywhere to repent and believe the gospel. Have you done so?
If you have then we follow in the pattern of Israel and Jesus Christ. Just as the children of Israel were led out of slavery in Egypt and Jesus was led out of living as a refugee in Egypt, everyone who trusts in Jesus has been led out of slavery to sin. And just as Israel went through the Red Sea and Jesus went through the waters of baptism, Christians go through the waters of baptism. And Just as Israel went into the wilderness and ate the manna, Christians come to the Lord’s Supper and eat. Israel went through the waters once and then ate daily. We are baptized once but take Holy Communion weekly.
This sacramental language is used in 1st Corinthians 10.1-6 of the Exodus account.
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
Paul says that the Israelites were baptized into Moses and they all ate the same spiritual food. The old covenant people were baptized into Moses in the sense that Moses was God’s Spirit-inspired prophet speaking and working on God’s behalf. They followed God’s prophet through the waters. Jesus is the true and better Moses who is God’s final prophet and leads his people in the final exodus. And so we are now baptized in the pattern of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
Not only does Paul use baptism language but we also hear an Eucharistic echo. Israel ate the manna just as we eat the bread. Paul is saying that Israel’s experience foreshadowed the sacraments that Jesus left us. Whenever you see the word baptism and anything about eating or drinking linked together in the New Testament you should always think of the sacraments. If you don’t you’re reading it wrong.
Notice also that Paul writes these things took place as examples for us. When God providentially ordained the exodus and wilderness wandering and when the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write the events down in the Pentateuch, God was thinking about Christ Community Church in 2022. That’s what verse 6 means. It means that because we follow Jesus this narrative was written for our good.
Every pericope in the Bible is about Jesus. Also every passage in Scripture is applicable to all of God’s people in all times. There are no passages that only apply to ethnic Jews in the past. There are no passages that exclusively apply to Jews or Christians in the future. Every passage in the Bible is about Jesus and every passage in the Bible applies to all of God’s people in every generation.
One final point of application: while the exodus and Red Sea experience are primarily about salvation, we can also make application to how God works in our lives. Because of the proliferation of revivalism and Pentecostalism many American Christians correlate communion with God or Christian growth with experience and emotions. Maybe some of you do that as well. When you’re on a spiritual high, or you feel emotionally close to God while listening to certain songs, or when a sermon changed your perspective on something, you associate that with communion with God or growth in your Christianity.
On the flip side, when you aren’t on a spiritual high, or the sermon reveals no new information, or you don’t feel like going to church, you don’t feel like reading your Bible, you don’t feel like singing, when you’re struggling in sin or suffering, or to be blunt, when Christianity just seems boring to you, in those moments you don’t feel like you’re communing with God or growing. And while we do have “Red Sea” moments from time to time – unique experiences in God’s providence that shape our lives – that is not how God ordinarily works. Israel experienced the Red Sea once; they ate the manna every day. God is more often in the daily manna moments of our lives than he is in the parting of the Red Sea moments.
Revivalism and Pentecostalism have trained people to associate emotional highs and unique experiences with communion with God and Christian growth but Scripture tells another story. The Bible reveals to us that God communes with us and grows us through the ordinary means of grace: the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), prayer, giving to the church, singing, fellowship with the church. When you feel like it and when you don’t, when you learn something new and when you don’t, it doesn’t matter. Your heart will deceive you. But what is objectively true is that God is always there and he is always working through his ordained means of grace.
That means that the most important thing you can do is regularly attend the worship gathering of the local church. Reading your Bible on your own is good. Listening to religious music is fine. Para church organizations and Bible studies can be helpful as long as they don’t replace the church. There’s nothing wrong with going out into nature and praying.
All of these things are fine in and of themselves but none of them is the church. God speaks through the preaching of the Word when the church is gathered. God communes with and grows his people through the ordinary means of grace. Watching online is not the same as gathering with God’s people. If you want to commune with God; if you want to grow in your Christian life center your life on the local church. Israel experienced the Red Sea once. They ate the manna every day.
Conclusion
Scripture is constantly calling us to remember the exodus. That’s true because the exodus is the great archetype of salvation in the Bible. And because the exodus is the archetype of salvation it causes us to look forward to the true and final exodus led by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel’s identity, vocation, and history. Jesus leads us out of the slave market of sin and death into the promised land of regeneration and resurrection.
And just as God’s old covenant people remembered the exodus every year at the Passover so now God’s new covenant people remember the death of Jesus every week at the holy Eucharist. Israel went through the waters of the sea and then ate the manna in the wilderness. Christians are saved by faith in Christ alone we then we go through the waters of baptism and then eat the bread and drink the wine. Every week we gather around this table to remember and proclaim that Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.