The Israelites left Egypt, shortly to be pursued by Pharaoh’s army.   At the sea Moses lifted up his staff, as the Lord instructed, to divide it before the Israelites entered the sea bed.  After they crossed, the sea came tumbling down on the Egyptians, drowning them.

One version of the account is located in a poem in chapter 15, spoken by Moses and the people.  It tells us that the Lord cast Pharaoh’s host into the Red Sea, where they drowned.  The language of the poem speaks of God as the divine warrior fighting the foes of Israel.

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”  (Exodus 15: 1 ESV)

“The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.”  (Exodus 15: 3 ESV)

Many passages in this poem testify to the divine warrior.  I suggest that you read the poem to get a better idea of the theme.

In the ancient Near East, it was believe that the Sea (Yam in Hebrew and Canaanite) was an enemy of the god, Ba’al, whom Ba’al defeated and cleaved into two.  The Hebrews probably knew this myth which they historicized to refer to the historical event of Israel crossing the sea.  (see Frank Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic).

The New Testament gives us several typologies of the Exodus events.  A typology is an Old Testament event retold in the New Testament to apply to Christ.  A typology of the crossing of the sea is found in I Corinthians 10: 1ff.  Here the story of the crossing is told with an application to Christian Baptism. All of them drank from the same spiritual food and drink.  Christ is the spiritual Rock of which the people partook.

What is commonly called the Flood Prayer in the service of Holy Baptism, a blessing over the water,  includes a reference to the event at the sea.  The pastor says, “You led Israel by the pillar of cloud and fire through the sea, out of slavery into the freedom of the promised land.”  (Lutheran Book of Worship, p. 122)  Baptism is analogous to this great miracle.  In Baptism we are freed from sin, death, and the power of the devil as the people of Israel were freed from oppression in Egypt.

As we witness to and defend the faith we are to remember our Baptism.  In Baptism we were freed from slavery.  We reach out to tell the message to others so that they may also know this freedom.   Many people in our society are not baptized, a sign of our advancing secularized society.  Baptism is God’s mercy reaching down to us through a physical sign, water, and His Word.   The Church is commanded to baptize the people of the nations (see Matthew 28: 16-20).  For adults, the sequence is witness, catechesis (learning about the Christian faith), Baptism, and incorporation into the Church. Children are also baptized.  Their catechesis occurs, when they are older, as they prepare for Confirmation, a reaffirmation of Baptism. Defense of the Gospel and the importance of Baptism are aspects of our apologetics.

Next time, we will talk about the rich symbolism of the Lamb as applied to Christ.

Michael G. Tavella

November 14, 2024