The Red Sea Is Behind You
Read Exodus 14:10-13
Imagine helicoptering into this Red Sea scene, dropping commando-style onto the scene for an interview with one of those terror-stricken Hebrews. The stark fear of being wiped out by their former slave-driving boss, Pharaoh, and his cronies aside, what emotion does your interviewee articulate? I'd put my money on fear, fear that they haven't escaped their old identities, their old slavery, and their old slave master.
Think about it. These people had known nothing but slavery for 400 years. Suddenly, the God whom they thought had forgotten about them completely comes on the scene to deal with Pharaoh's tyranny. Finally, after the chilling plague narratives, Pharaoh relents. At last! Camping and bonfires on the beach of the Red Sea, right?
But wait! There's more: Suddenly, in the throes of megalomania, Pharaoh changes his mind and chases after them. Now God's people are hemmed in at an impassible Red Sea without water wings. But just as they miraculously cross and the Egyptians are charging across after them, God closes the sea and swallows them up (v. 26-29).
They were this close. This Moses guy had a great plan and now this! Horrific images emblazoned on their minds from lifetimes of slavery come rushing back. The hope of deliverance was too good to be true and they're really just slaves after all. It's back to the old life.
Now that's fear.
Nothing can quite peg identity like fear - and its constant companion, shame - can. And that's the big question. Who are you, really? An ineffective employee? A failed father? A basket case? A pervert? Damaged goods? Shame words try to name you, own you, and weigh you down.
Know this: you've been lied to.
You are not your old nature, and Christ has removed it completely from you and in His perfect love, driven out fear. In Christ, you are His treasured possession. We were not meant to lug the weight of slavery around in the first place. Christ's burden is easy; His yoke is light. You're clothed in Christ's righteousness, and when God sees you, He doesn't see shame - He sees the perfection of Jesus.
As part of God's family, you are the beloved firstborn. Rather than receiving the just judgment of the Egyptians, He has ransomed you to be with Him. In His eyes, the chaos of the sea is behind you, and the enemy has been defeated. Just like the Israelites' enemies and their accusations were drowned in the Red Sea, the shaming, condemning words of your past life of slavery have been silenced in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Amen!
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" Galatians 5:1
By Pastor Matt Johnson
Exodus 14:10-13 NLT
10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord .
11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord , which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
Galatians 5:1 NKJV
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Exodus 14:26-29 NKJV
26When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers.”
27So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea.
28Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.
29But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides.
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