Right at the moment of her doom, when all the odds were against her, Israel experienced what became the most celebrated act of deliverance in the Old Testament. The fact that this involved the parting of the waters is hugely significant. This harks back to the creation account when God brought his perfect order to a world that was formless and void, covered by waters. In the ancient world the sea was seen as a realm of chaos and death. On the second and third day of creation God separated the waters to bring order and life to what was formless and void. Then in the days of Noah, in response to the rebellion of mankind, God again covered the earth with waters. Here in Exodus 14 God again parts the waters for his people. This is an act of new creation. God is beginning again with a new redeemed humanity whom he will put in a new garden of Eden (the promised land). In contrast, the Egyptian army is drowned in the sea, evoking the memory of the great flood. So, God’s people pass through death and are saved from the judgement that God brings on Egypt. The apostle Paul connects this event to the Christian experience of baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). We also, when we are baptised into Christ, symbolically pass through death to become a new creation. “Let everyone who is godly pray to you,” says David in Psalm 32, “so that when the mighty waters rise they will not reach him.” When you are a follower of Christ you are following one who holds back the seas of judgement from you.
Give thanks to God for saving you.
Read Exodus 14:1-31
