Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: In our last study in the Old Testament book of Exodus, we left the Israelites exactly where Dr. J. Vernon McGee described it, between the devil and the deep blue sea. And in this case, it was literal. The Red Sea stood before them and Pharaoh's army thundered behind them and there seemed to be no way of escape. Welcome to Through the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz, grateful for your company on the Bible bus as we pick up the story. We find that the Israelites are helpless and hopeless.

Dr. McGee said this is a picture of all of us, lost and without hope and really where we all were until Jesus saved us. But thank God, he stepped in for the Israelites and he steps in for each of us every day. So open your Bible to Exodus 14 and together, we're going to learn just how God saves us.

Speaking of God's goodness and saving us, that's the experience of Binduben, a fellow Bible bus rider, who listens to Through the Bible in Gujarat, India. She writes, "My husband and I often lived with suspicion toward one another. And because of that, we frequently argued over everything. One day I met with a relative who believed in Jesus, and I shared with her the struggles I was facing in my life. She listened patiently, encouraged me and shared her own testimony with me. Then she invited me to attend a radio home group. I joined the fellowship where God's word was being studied, and after listening to the teaching, they prayed for me. That day, I experienced a deep peace in my heart. From then on, I began attending regularly and continued learning from God's word. Little by little, changes began taking place in my life and in our home. Instead of conflict, God's peace began to fill our family. Now instead of suspicion and quarreling, my husband and I live together with love and understanding. We continue to attend the radio home group regularly and listen to God's word."

Well, that's the story told over and over again, isn't it? Studying God's word does change people's hearts. And let's keep praying that those who hear the name of Jesus, maybe for the first time, will immediately recognize it as what they've longed for for their whole lives. And if the Lord stirs your heart, join us on the World Prayer Team. We just pray. That's what we do every day. You can learn more in our app or at ttb.org.

Now, let's pray and turn to our study. Lord, thank you for the salvation that you provide through the death and resurrection of your son Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Open to Exodus 14 as we make our way through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Now we are following the children of Israel as they begin now their march across the wilderness. They've left Egypt and Pharaoh now is pursuing them and frankly, they're in a pretty bad spot, it would seem, and from a natural viewpoint, they certainly were, as we suggested last time. They're between the devil and the deep blue sea, and that's actually what it was for them. There was the Red Sea before them and there was no bridge over it, no tunnel under it and no boat waiting for them and how they're going to cross. And back of them there comes the hosts of Pharaoh. And he has chariots and equipment a plenty, and they have no means or method to defend themselves. They are not a warlike people and they're not equipped to defend themselves at all. And so they are actually in a very bad spot.

And I begin reading now at verse 10 of Exodus 14. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold the Egyptians marched after them. And they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? That to us today is a rather ironic statement, and I'm sure it was more so in that day. The great pyramid stood there as a great burying place for kings, for Pharaohs. And the mummies were all over the place to tell the truth in the land of Egypt.

And the children of Israel are saying, did you bring us out here because there wasn't room to bury us in the land of Egypt? Well, it was a great burying ground by the way. And it has meant more, I think, to the study of the past and to Egypt, to look into these different graves they found there. Now they think they're to be slaughtered out in the wilderness. And notice verse 12, is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt saying, let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians. For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

Now, they cried out in the land of Egypt. They wanted to be delivered. And now when the opportunity came, but here was the danger, why they want now to turn and go back to the land of Egypt. Notice now what God is going to do for them. You must understand they're helpless, and they are hopeless without the aid of God. If they are to be redeemed, he will have to do it.

And I only wish that we could get that objective viewpoint of ourselves. I wonder if you could move out yonder with the astronauts to the moon and look back at this little earth. And look at the people that are on this earth, humanity. And humanity's in sin. Humanity's lost. This world today is actually a pretty hopeless place. It's a great burying ground. By man came death into this world. What a picture that you have here. Man's been on the march for over 5,000 years, 5,000 years plus. Where's he marching to? To the grave.

This is not a pretty sort of thing. Man today is probably the greatest, or let me turn that around and say, the most colossal failure in God's universe. And in a way you look at him, he is. Man by the very brevity of his life is that. By the uncertainty of his life. That's the condition of man today. And look at these children of Israel. They'll never get out unless God moves in their behalf. And you and I could never be redeemed unless God did it, friends.

Redemption is the work of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah said that. David said that. And that's the message of the New Testament. That salvation is of the Lord. Now notice verse 13 now, and Moses said unto the people, fear ye not. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. You see the Lord here is the one that will work in their behalf. All they have to do is to accept it and receive the salvation. They are to stand still. God will be the one that will move in their behalf. And my friend, you can't lift a little finger to work out your salvation. All you have to do is to accept what God has done for you.

Now notice here as we move on, God says, fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians, whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. In other words, you better tell them goodbye because you're not going to see them anymore. Now verse 14. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. That's the wonderful thing for us. It's God who worked. It's God who wrought our salvation. And he gives to us that peace that comes that our sins have been forgiven because of his redemption.

Now verse 15, and the Lord said unto Moses, wherefore cryest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. In other words, they are to stand still to see the salvation of the Lord. But now when it's wrought, they are to lay hold of it and they'll lay hold of it by faith. And that will be evidenced in whether they go forward or not. But lift thou up thy rod, stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry land through the midst of the sea.

Now, here is something that I'd like to call your attention to specially because there have been so many natural explanations offered for how the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. Now, I think it's pretty well established today. And I think all reputable and conservative historians and theologians agree that the Exodus took place. It's a historical event. But how did they cross the Red Sea? And there are those that like to say that the wind is what blew the water back. But it was a wall of water on both sides. And of course that pretty much eliminates just the idea that the wind blew the sea back. And yet we're going to find here that that is mentioned.

Then there are those that attempt to offer the explanation that the thing that took place was some sort of a natural phenomenon, that the sea was rolled back. And some have even come up with an earthquake that took place at this moment. And they say that's the miraculous part of it. But the thing that you have to face is that a miracle is recorded here, and you either accept it or you don't accept it. And this is the historical record of their crossing the Red Sea. And it is, they shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

Now, when they crossed over the Red Sea, friends, it was just like going across that desert. The sand was dry. And they didn't even get damp when they crossed the Red Sea. They just didn't get wet at all. Not a drop of water fell on them. They crossed over dry shod, we're told here. Now, that is important to see. And only a miracle would explain that. I was discussing this many years ago in the days when I was much younger and liked to argue about this with another young liberal theologian, and he was coming up with all kinds of explanations. And I think I stumped him with this.

I said, how would you explain they went over dry shod? Now I said, granted that the water was blown back, and granted that that took place. I said, wouldn't you agree that the sand would be a little wet and they probably got their feet wet when they went over, maybe had to take off their sandals. But it says they went over dry shod. There wasn't enough water there for them to even get their feet damp. Now I say to you, that's pretty hard to explain, is it not, unless you're willing and prepared to believe that there are miracles in the word of God.

Now, will you notice verse 17, and I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians and they shall follow them. And I will get me honor upon Pharaoh and upon all his host and upon his chariots and upon his horsemen. Now, had you been at the water's edge when Pharaoh started to follow the children of Israel across the Red Sea, and you would have said to him, I suppose that you recognize you're doing this, all of you Egyptians, because your heart's been hardened, and you really don't want to go. Well, I think they would have laughed at you. They said, we're going over because we want to go. The thing is, God is forcing them to do the thing that's in their heart, and that is the hardening of it. As we saw in the land of Egypt.

Now verse 18, and the Egyptians shall know that I'm the Lord, when I've gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots and upon his horsemen. Now, when it says the Egyptians shall know, it doesn't mean the crowd that attempted to go across the Red Sea, the horsemen and Pharaoh. It means the people left back in the land of Egypt, because that crowd crossing the Red Sea, just not going to know.

Verse 19, and the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. This is interesting to note. I believe the angel of the Lord here is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ, by the way. And I'll be calling attention to that from time to time. Verse 20, and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these. So that the one came not near the other all that night. In other words, God stood between them.

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided. Now, that's important to see. A natural wind would never have made a wall on both sides. Now, I'll grant that a wind might have blown the water to one side if they'd been near the bank. But to cross it and to make a way across with a wall of water on both sides, a natural wind doesn't do that, friends.

Verse 22, and the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass that in the morning watch, the Lord looked unto the hosts of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the hosts of the Egyptians.

The interesting thing to note here is God worked through the pillar of fire and the cloud. And I think this represents the Holy Spirit. God works through the Holy Spirit. He does today. And here, you find him moving through the Holy Spirit, or through the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. And they were led as the child of God should be led today by the Spirit of God.

Now, verse 25, and took off their chariot wheels that they drave them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. That was clear to them that what was happening was certainly supernatural, and they now want to escape. And they turn and try to retreat. And the Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, there remained not so much as one of them.

Now, and I've read all of this purposely, because this is an account that needs to be looked at rather closely as we've attempted to do this. That what you have, friends, is a miracle. Now there's no natural way of explaining it. And I recognize that we have many good men today. And when I say good, they're conservative men. They believe in the word of God, and they believe they're saved by faith alone in Christ. But they want to explain this in some natural way. I don't think that when you read this record that you could do that. God says, here's a miracle, you either take it or you leave it. And I think that's the way he puts it down in his word.

Now notice verse 29, but the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Now don't you see that this is a miracle? Twice now, this has been made clear to us. They walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them, their right hand and their left. You can't explain that on a natural basis.

Verse 30, Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work, which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses. Now, you see this was the purpose of this. That at the beginning of this wilderness march, they now see the power of God. He delivered them by blood out of Egypt. He delivers them by power. And now that is demonstrated as they cross the Red Sea.

Now, when they crossed the Red Sea, they join in a song. And this is something I'd like for you to note. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord. And spoke saying, I will sing unto the Lord. For he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. And listen to Israel sing now. The Lord is my strength and my song. He is become my salvation. He is my God. And I will prepare him an habitation. My father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. My, they're singing lustily now. Is this the same crowd, friends, that were over on the other side of the Red Sea, and they were moaning and crying out, wanted to go back to Egypt, and said, weren't there graves enough there for us? And you bring us out here to die. What has happened?

Well, we are told back in 1st Corinthians 10, now all these things happened unto them for examples. And they're written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age are come. Now, what is it that we have here? Well, listen to Paul, and I'll move back in 1st Corinthians 10, and I read then verse 11. I'll read verse one now. Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized under Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

Now, how were they baptized under Moses? Well, here, it wasn't water. I'm sure you understand that. Because when we go back and read this, the children of Israel went over dry shot. They didn't get a drop of water on them. They didn't get enough to dampen a washcloth to wash their faces with. And yet the Egyptians, they really got wet. They got soaked through and through. And if you're talking about water, it wasn't Israel. It was the Egyptians. But what does it mean they were baptized under Moses in the cloud and in the sea?

It means they were identified. And we'll have occasion when we get to the New Testament to see that the primary meaning of baptism is identification. And the ritual baptism is the baptism of water. And I believe it's essential and important. It sets forth the real baptism, which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit identifies us with Christ and puts us in Christ. Now, how were these baptized under Moses? Well, they were complaining on one side. And when they got on the other side, they sang the song of Moses. They're now identified with him. They've been delivered with him.

By faith we read now in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, by faith they crossed the Red Sea, which the Egyptians are saying to do were drowned. By faith. Whose faith? Their faith? Oh no, friends, they didn't have any until they crossed over. They were identified with Moses. And it was Moses' faith. It was Moses who smoked the Red Sea. It was Moses who led them across. It was Moses, when they got to the other side, that lifted the song of deliverance. And began to sing. And now they have seen the salvation of God. And they are identified now with Moses. They've been baptized under Moses.

And friends, that is what happens when you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior. He is the one that takes us out of the Egyptian bondage and the Egyptian darkness of this world. He leads us across the Red Sea of his deliverance, of his salvation, of his redemption. And he brings us to the place where we can lift a song of redemption unto him and we are joined to him. We are baptized into Christ. That's very important for a child of God to see. By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. The Holy Spirit is the one that joins us to Christ and we become one with him. And friends, that's a wonderful thing to be joined to him.

The dear little lady, when she was talking about, she had the assurance of her salvation, why they said, why don't you know you talk about that nobody can take you out of his hand? Well, you might slip through his fingers. And she said, oh my, no, I couldn't slip through his fingers. I'm one of his fingers. We are members of the body of Christ, friends. And the Spirit of God joins us to him. What a glorious, wonderful redemption that we have in Christ. All of these things happened unto them for examples to us. Here's a picture of our redemption and what the Spirit of God does when we trust the Lord Jesus as our savior. Well, we spent a little time there. It's important. So until next time, may God bless you richly, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: The same joy that the Israelites experienced when God delivered them from the Egyptians can be yours too. When you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, you're rescued out of that hopeless place and given new life in Jesus Christ. You can learn more when you click on How to Know God in our app or at ttb.org. Or to have a few free resources sent by mail call 1-800-65-BIBLE. Our exciting journey through the Bible continues next time. I'm Steve Schwetz, and I'll meet you back here then.

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