The Exodus story, when God parts the sea and the Israelites cross though on dry ground, is a pretty familiar story for most of us. At the end of the story, in chapter 15, Moses and the people sing a song to the Lord. They’ve just experienced this powerful deliverance, so singing a song of praise seems like a pretty appropriate response.

What are some of your favorite worship songs? If you had just experienced this deliverance, what would you be singing? A lot of our worship songs today are what I call “feel good” songs. They make us feel all warm and fuzzy about God and how He’s taking care of us, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but this is not what Moses and the people were singing.

After college I lived in Honduras as a missionary for four years, and I went to the church that was associated with the mission where I worked. I had not been there long when our worship pastor sang this song that took me aback. The chorus of the song said (in Spanish): He threw them in the sea, the chariots of Pharaoh.” And then there was an enthusiastic “hey! hey!” and a WHOLE LOT of lalalalalas while the worship pastor, who was not a small guy by any means, ran/danced around the stage. And I think it was his favorite song, because we sang it A LOT. But I had a hard time singing that. Celebrating the death and destruction of a people who did not know the Lord? That doesn’t make me feel good. I’m not sure I want to sing that.

But the more I learned about this story, past your basic, Sunday School version of it, I saw how in singing this, the people were celebrating a God who was, and is, strong and mighty, who in His power protected them, and achieved perfect justice. These people knew that vengeance belonged to the Lord, and they saw Him take it. And why wouldn’t they celebrate the fact that they no longer had to worry about becoming enslaved again to these people who had held them captive for 400 years? And that is what we should keep in mind as we read the story in chapter 14. God has the power to deliver, and His judgment is always just.

This is a story of salvation. When we hear the word salvation, we tend to think of eternal salvation, what we have in Christ. I am NOT saying every person who crossed the Red Sea in this story received eternal salvation through that crossing. But salvation can also mean deliverance, being saved from harm, and that is what happened here. But this is also a picture of eternal salvation. The Red Sea crossing is a TYPE of salvation, in that it is an event that resembles the work Jesus will later do for us, with Moses being the type of Christ.

In chapter 14 God has told Moses that Pharaoh is going to pursue them, and he does. He gathers his chariots and his officers and sets out after the Israelites. So, in verse 10-12, we read, “When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: “Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’”

God has brought the people to the point of no return. On one side, the sea, which in the ancient cosmology was associated with uncontrolled chaos and death. On the other side, the armies of Egypt in pursuit, and in the Bible Egypt usually represents the ways of the world. So, this is a bit of a test for the people, and their trust in the Lord. Their choices look like death or danger. How is God going to get them out of this? Will the people trust Him?

The answer is no. The passage said, “the people of Israel lifted up their eyes” and “feared greatly.” Did they cry out to the Lord? Yes, but immediately after that they are questioning Moses, saying it would have been better to stay in Egypt, so this is not a great prayer of faith that they are praying.

They actually say they think Moses has brought them out to die in the wilderness. This is the first and last thing they say to Moses in verses 11 and 12. And in a way, yes. They have been brought out to die. Not a physical death, but a spiritual one. They need to die to themselves and their old ways. Before we come to faith in Christ, we are on a path that leads to death. Only a miracle could give us new life, and that’s exactly what we get.

This is the “but God” moment. The people lack faith. They don’t trust God, they don’t trust Moses, but God saves them anyway. The deliverance, the salvation they experience, is purely because of God’s grace. They do not deserve it, they do nothing to gain it. God does not leave them stranded on the shore until they make the choice to believe. It is his grace towards them that causes them to believe. Because when we get to the end of the chapter in verse 31, we read, “Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.” No longer is their fear directed towards Egypt and the ways of the world. It is now rightly directed towards God.

And what does Romans 5:8 tell us? Did God wait for us to believe and get our acts together before He saved us? “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God is faithful to the faithless.

So, are we totally passive in salvation? Does God expect anything of us? He did give some instruction to the people through Moses before He parted the waters. In verses 13-14 it says: “And Moses said to the people, ‘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.’”

What are the instructions? Fear not. Stand firm. See the salvation of the Lord. Why do the Israelites want to go back to Egypt? Fear! Why do we turn to the things of the world? Fear. I’m working hard and storing up wealth, because I’m afraid God won’t provide. I’m sleeping with my boyfriend, because I’m afraid of not being loved. We could go on and on. But God says don’t turn back to fear. Lift your eyes and look to me. Fear not.

Stand firm. What would have happened if the Israelites had just given up and sat down on the shore? They would have been captured, drug right back to Egypt. What happens when we don’t stand firm in the Word? We get drug back into the things of the world. So, we persevere, even when it’s hard.

And when we do, we will see the salvation of the Lord. To see what God was doing, they had to be looking. The Israelites’ eyes were on other things. Verse 10 told us they lifted up their eyes and saw the Egyptians. When our eyes are on the world, all we will see is the world and its problems. But when our eyes are on God, we can stand firm without fear as we wait patiently for Him to act.

And with that, the Lord turns to Moses in verses 15-18 and says, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

These simple instructions led to a mighty miracle. God says, enough of the whining. It’s time for action. And He tells them to go forward. Before the sea has parted, the people need to start moving. Our steps forward in obedience show that we are trusting God to work. We walk towards what looks like death to the world, because we know God will somehow use it to bring about life.

God tells Moses to lift up the staff and stretch out his hand to divide the sea. Did the staff perform the miracle? No, God performed the miracle through the staff. But Moses’ simple act of obedience led to this incredible miracle. Similarly, when God calls us to himself, our simple act of obedience in turning does not save us, but God’s power in us brings about salvation. Our salvation is a mighty miracle of God’s grace. He initiates, while we were yet sinners, and in a simple act of obedience, we respond.

But why? Why enact salvation this way? Why cause Pharaoh and his armies to pursue? It’s that same refrain we see over and over in Exodus, “the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” God saves for His glory. When God does a saving work in our lives, be that our salvation from death to eternal life, or just a victory over a certain sin in our lives, it should become a testimony we can share with others of His power. God will settle for nothing less than total triumph.

Isaiah 43:7 says we were made for His glory. This is why the people can later sing in chapter 15 verse 11: “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” God is the divine warrior, fighting on behalf of His people. And this is why in Revelation 15, John sees the martyred believers standing on what appeared to him to be a sea of glass, singing the song of Moses. The sea is no longer a place of chaotic death. It is subdued by God’s power to be so calm that it appears as smooth as glass. And this is what Revelation 15:3-4 says: “And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.’”

Like the Israelites in the past, and like the martyred believers of the future, we give glory to God for the powerful salvation He has worked for us.