THE SALVATION OF THE LORD

"Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord."-Exodus 14:13

Most all of us know the story of Moses and the Israelites at the Red Sea. 

With the whole army of pharaoh pursuing them, and their backs to the Red Sea, God parted the waters so that they crossed on DRY land. But later, when all the Israelites were SAFE across, the waters came back and utterly destroyed pharaoh’s army.

“So the Lord SAVED Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw THE GREAT WORK which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.” -Exodus 14:30-31

So, do we read that and merely entertain ourselves with an exciting story out of historical Israel? Some do. And some, even knowing it is holy scripture, think “It’s Old Testament Jewish history… no relevance to me today.”

But then, what does scripture say elsewhere? …”

“For the things that were written beforehand were written for our instruction that we, through patient endurance and through the comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.” -Romans 15:4
AND…..

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, 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 were drinking from a spiritual ROCK which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were DESTROYED in the wilderness. -1 Cor. 10:1-5

But God was not pleased with MOST of them, and they were destroyed.

"Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” -1 Cor. 10:11

SO! ….God would have us to learn the lessons from these (spiritual) examples that He has recorded for all men to know. What do we learn?

Egypt = Hell

Pharaoh = devil

God = Savior

Cloud = Holy Spirit

Through the Sea = New Birth

Dry Land = Solid Ground (Psalm 40:2)

Baptized into Moses = (today) Baptized into Christ

In the Cloud and in the Sea = Born Again in the Holy Spirit

Spiritual Food (manna) = Spiritual Food (The Word of God)

Spiritual Drink = Living Water (Holy Spirit, John 7:37-39)

It is the Whole salvation experience… Calling, Repentance, Salvation, Born Again, Baptized into the Body of Christ, Living in Christ, and Sustained by Christ.

[This representation of the Messiah, was understood by Paul to consist in the following things:
1. Christians, like the children of Israel, are passing through the world as pilgrims, and to them that world is a wilderness - a desert.
2. they need continued supplies, as the Israelites did, in their journey. The world, like that wilderness, does not meet their necessities, or supply their needs.
3. that rock was a striking representation of the fullness of the Messiah, of the abundant grace which he imparts to his people.
4. it was an illustration of their continued and constant dependence on Him for the daily supply of their needs. It should be observed that many expositors understand this literally. The design of the apostle (Paul) is apparent. It is to show to the Corinthians, who relied so much on their privileges, and felt themselves so secure, that the Jews had the very same privileges - had the highest tokens of the divine favor and protection, were under the guidance and grace of God, and were partakers constantly of that which adumbrated or typified the Messiah, in a manner as real, and in a form as much suited to keep up the remembrance of their dependence, as even the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. ~Albert Barnes]

The other side of this coin is the lesson of repentance. Egypt represented a life in bondage and servitude to pharaoh… and for us today it (spiritually) represents a life in bondage to sin and and servitude to satan. The Israelites FLED from Egypt, as we must FLEE from sin and the devil. Sin and the power of it are destroyed behind us as the Egyptian army was destroyed behind the Israelites. Sin, the devil, and (lastly, 1 Cor. 15:26) death have no more power over the child of God because... 
“as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” -Romans 6:3-4