The Red Sea crossing, is perhaps one of the most famous miracles in the whole of the Old Testament. When you ask a man on the street about something they remember about the Bible, the Red Sea always seems to be somewhere on their list. Even back in Old Testament times, crossing of the Red Sea was vivid in the memory of the Children of Israel (2 Samuel 22:16, Psalm 106:9)

 

So why is this? Ok, it was a very miraculous sign, but there were many others, just think back to the ten plagues, why should this be remembered above other, just as awesome, acts of power?

 

Well, as always, we need to look a little deeper into the passage to find out. Crossing the Red Sea was not only an important part in the journey of the Children of Israel, it is also an important part of the journey of the Christian. 

 

So what does it mean?

 

In type (that means ‘a picture of’) the Red Sea represents Christ’s death for us- freeing us from death, the devil and the world. 

 

So, how does this work out? Well, lets go back to Exodus 14. The Children of Israel have left their homes and are on their way to the Promised Land. How did they start this journey? Because God made Pharaoh let them go. 

 

God had come in, in judgment, and forced Pharaoh’s hand in the matter. The Children of Israel had not felt this judgment because they had sheltered under the blood on the doorposts. Now take this in our day, what does it mean? Well, it shows that the blood of Jesus, shed for us, means that we no longer fall under God’s judgement. We are in effect saved from Hell. 

 

But that isn’t all the God wants us to have from Him, He has many other blessings that He wants to give us. We are not just saved, but God would want us to begin a journey with Him, that ends in more praise and worship for Him.

 

So this is where we come to the Red Sea, we are already saved from Hell (that’s the blood on the doorposts) but now we must leave Egypt. Egypt is a picture of the world, as independent from God (Egypt relied on the River Nile for sustenance, as opposed to rain from the Heavens…basically) and Pharaoh, as king of Egypt, is of course the Devil, the prince of this world. 

 

God would want us to leave Egypt behind and follow Him. God would want us to realise that Satan is a defeated enemy. So in our Christian pathway we have to come to the Red Sea.

 

Now the Red Sea, is an uncrossable barrier by ourselves. But, thank God, we have One who has gone before to pioneer the way for us to follow. So instead of having to get across the great waters of the Red Sea ourselves, we have one who has gone into death for us, so now we can get across ‘on dry ground’ Christ went into death for us, vanquished its power and the power of the enemy to set out a way through for all those who follow. 

 

Now, its important to note as well, that the enemy doesn’t want us to leave his world.

 

He won’t give up without a fight. He wants to hold on to all those Christians who have sheltered under the blood, but have not yet cut themselves off from his world. So Pharaoh here chases after the Israelites and tries to cross the Red Sea. But when Christ went into death, it was not just death that was beaten, it was also the power of the enemy. So God moves the Red Sea again and all the Egyptian army is drowned. Because of the power of Christ’s death, the Devil has no more power over you, death is no longer to be feared, and we are to be separated (morally, not literally-we’re not monks!) from the world.

 

So to conclude, the Red Sea would represent Christ’s death for us, in defeating the power of Death and the enemy. When we cross the Red Sea, we leave the world behind. For a Christian, the world should be an empty space, nothing to see or enjoy in terms of spiritual blessings. Which is why as soon as we judge the world and realise there is nothing for us there, through the power of Christ’s death, we come to the Wilderness, an empty space, nothing to see or enjoy! The world turns from an exciting and tempting place (Egypt), to a waste, empty desert (the Wilderness)

 

Of course, the world still holds some temptations for the Christian.

 

Even though we may know that the world and its system is fundamentally evil, we still may enjoy some of the temporary sinful pleasures. The Children of Israel did too, they constantly thought back to the good times they had had in Egypt, forgetting that they were under the most horrendous slavery! But once they had crossed the Red Sea, they could never go back. It’s the same with us, once we realise what the world is, even though we may slip back to going in for the pleasures of this worlds systems, we can never go back, there will always be the knowledge that what we are doing is wrong.  

 

God would want us, not just to be saved from judgment, but also saved from the world. He would want us as Christians, to cross the Red Sea. To look at the world, to see it for what it really is, as a place that crucified Jesus, and a place that is under judgment. By crossing the Red Sea, we become identified with Christ, we put on our Christian uniform, and we can continue on towards the Heavenly land.