Proclaiming the Good News!

The Old Testament Fourth of July: Exodus 14 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

The sky explodes with a variety of colors. Flames of white, red, and blue stream down to the ground. The audience responds with various “ooooos” and “aaaaahhhhs” and claps at the delight of these breathtaking fireworks. Earlier in the day, the smell of grills cooking filled the air, accompanied by the sound of children’s laughter as they ran around playing. The sun brightly shone, and the sky was as clear and blue as it could be. The Fourth of July is one of our favorite, and most important holidays as Americans. It is a day in which we celebrate our freedom from British rule and give thanks to those who laid down their lives to give us our freedom. It is a day in which we take pride and embrace our identity as Americans because of the freedom we have been given. In the above Old Testament reading, we see Israel’s own “Fourth of July,” one could say. Their crossing of the Red Sea freed them from the bonds and life of slavery under the Egyptians and gave them their identity as God’s special people. It was God’s greatest act of deliverance in the Old Testament.

The text starts with the people of Israel in the desert. God has them stay there so He can display His power and might over Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Thinking they are lost, Pharaoh takes the bait and sees this as his last chance to keep them as slaves. He takes his army and over 600 chariots with him, determining to get them back, even if it means challenging the God who had just devastated Egypt with the ten plagues.

When the people saw Pharoah and his army coming, they were frightened, and had the gall to tell Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” But Moses was not moved by the people. He reassured them by saying, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” After that, preparations for the crossing of the Red Sea continued. The Angel of the Lord went behind the people to defend them, and the glory cloud separated the people from the Egyptians.

As Moses stretched out his hand, the Lord parted the sea with wind, allowing the people to cross over on dry ground, with pillars of water on their right and left. When the time was right, God let Pharaoh’s army pursue them into the sea. However, things were not the same for them. There was no calmness or peace for them, but panic, chaos, and disorder. Their wheels became clogged, and they realized, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.” But now it was too late. As the people finished crossing, God had Moses stretch out his hand again, closing the sea, and sending it crashing back down on the Egyptians, drowning them in the water. This proved to be quite disastrous for the Egyptians, since our text says, “not one of them remained.” God’s greatest act of deliverance for His people in the Old Testament had been completed. The people saw their deliverance and knew that they truly were God’s people.

Today, we too have experienced an Exodus event like this in our baptism. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we see that this was not just a physical deliverance, but a spiritual one, too.  In fact, it was a baptism! For he writes, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the seas, 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 drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” The Exodus and its deliverances pointed ahead to what we would receive in our baptism.

The crossing of the Red Sea signified the end of a life of slavery and bondage for the Israelites under Pharaoh. In our baptism, we receive pardon and freedom from a life of slavery and bondage to sin. Sin is no longer our master, and neither is Satan. Because of our baptism, we are no longer his, and he no longer has any power over us. We have left his kingdom, as the Israelites left Egypt, and have crossed over into the promised land, and into Christ’s Kingdom. Death has no power over us as well, because we receive Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. Christ has defeated all of these things. As the waters destroyed the enemies of the Israelites to the point that “not one of them remained,” the waters of baptism have done the same for us too because of what Christ has done for us. Although we still will battle with them in our lives, Christ has won the battle over them, and has the last say.

We also see, in Moses’ words of comfort to the people, another way this Exodus is seen in our baptism. He says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Just as God did all of the work in delivering the people from Pharaoh and Egypt, God does all of the work in baptism and in our salvation. It is His Word connected with the water that gives us the Holy Spirit and the righteousness of faith. He is the One baptizing through the pastor. The pastor is the means or tool through which He works. And as the people only had to be silent and watch, all we do is receive in baptism.

When the people crossed the Red Sea, the cloud of God’s presence was with them, into which they were baptized. This act of salvation forever defined them as God’s people, and would constantly serve as a reminder to the Israelites that they were God’s special and chosen people. We see this too in our Christian baptism. Through our baptism we receive the Holy Spirit, who creates and sustains faith in us. The Holy Spirit makes and claims us as God’s child and gives us entrance as a member into the Church. In our baptism, we have been killed and buried with Christ and have been raised with Him. We are forever defined as His people, participating in that very act that gave us salvation. Our baptism serves as a reminder of this.

As you celebrate your freedom this Fourth of July, remember your greater freedom, your release from sin, death, and the devil. Let your baptism remind you of this, of this Exodus from your old life. Let it point you to Christ, the One who guaranteed your freedom, and who will one day lead you from this life to life everlasting. IN HIS NAME, AMEN.

-Pastor Kooi

(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XIX, Number 12, July 2018)