How will you respond to your own Red Sea Incident?

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Exodus 14:13-14

People often say that life is a continuation of problems and crises. If I ask, ‘Do any of you have a problem at the moment? Please raise your hand,’ then everyone will lift their hands.

The only difference is whether the problems are big or small, but everyone is living with their own problems. We can define this situation as:

“The Universal Nature of Problems”

This reality helps us to realize a very important truth. The truth is that in our lifetimes, problems will never completely disappear for us. In other words, we are destined to live with various problems throughout our lives.

In this troubled reality, a person who does not realize the origin of all problems, that is sin, will lose his or her life, body, and spirit, as well as his or her soul.

Then, how should we observe problems from the perspective of our identity as God’s child and Christ’s disciple? Why do some people grow and mature through their problems and others become frustrated and spiral downward through their problems?

The Israelites, precursors to modern day Christians, endured many problems living as slaves in Egypt. But when the time of God’s salvation came, Israel faced a crisis of desperation at the Red Sea that was at the crossroads between life and death.

In fact, the difference in perspective we may have when looking at our problems depends on our relationship with God. In today’s sermon, let me introduce three different perspectives that three different types of people have when considering their problems. 

1. First, “A person who is God’s enemy responds to His will with contempt or indifference.”
2. Second, “A person who is distant from God responds to His will with uncertainty or fear.” 
3. Third, “A person who is intimate with God responds to His will in faith and trust.”

We can find these three types of people in our passage from Exodus today. Each type of person’s response to the Red Sea Incident depends on their relationship with God.

First, let us consider the response of God’s enemy.

“A person who is God’s enemy responds to His will with contempt or indifference.”

A perfect example of this type of person is the King of Egypt.

When Moses and Aaron stood before the king of Egypt before He freed them from slavery, the king of Egypt looked upon them with contempt and asked, “Who is this Lord? I will not let Israel go because I do not know Him.”

For the Egyptian king and his people who did not recognize God’s existence and did not heed His word, nor regard His will, everything that followed ended in utter destruction and catastrophe for them. God sent ten plagues upon them that devastated their land, their food supply, their livestock, their economy, their health, their wealth, their gods, and their families. The Red Sea Incident was the culmination of their destruction when the Sea that had been open and dry for the Israelites to cross over swallowed the entire legion of Egyptian warriors who pursued them. This included the king, whose hard heart had brought about their calamity.

God’s judgment was delivered swiftly upon the army of Egypt in the form of walls of water that crushed the mighty soldiers and their horses. Even their swift chariots and drivers could do nothing to escape the judgement of the Lord. He had hardened their hearts in arrogance and confused them, and the King of Egypt and his people completely lost control over their own lives and destinies.

For those who have antagonized God, their problems will extend beyond mere damage to their circumstances or bank account to a massive calamity that will ultimately take their lives. When they ignore the sovereignty of God, the master of the world, and sit upon the throne as kings or queens of their own lives, they may feel like they are able to solve all their own problems by themselves and feel fulfillment and satisfaction. However, in the time of God’s judgment, they will lose any illusion of control they still grasp at and come to a miserable end.

What is the result responding to God’s will as an enemy, with contempt or indifference? Such a response ultimately results in destruction.

Let us turn now to the second type of person.

“A person who is far from God responds to His will with uncertainty or fear.”

The best example of this type of person are the Israelites, as they fled Egypt in fear.

Exodus 14:11-12

11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

12 Didn`t we say to you in Egypt, `Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians`? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Take a look at these reactions of these people who were suddenly in crisis. Most of the people became resentful and impatient. As time went on, they poured out their resentment as a protest to Moses in order to rationalize their fear and uncertainty in the face of their problem.

They forgot that Moses was their leader appointed by God, so they rebuked Moses when his leadership was perceived to be a failure. By doing so, they were able to rationalize the crisis they were experiencing, and were able to justify any negative actions or attitudes they had.

But there is no true peace in the hearts of those who are not fully convinced of God’s will. This is because their hearts are divided; they are a broken people, holding within themselves two conflicting and opposing identities. On the one hand, they carry the identity of God’s chosen people within themselves, but at the same time, they also carry the idea that they want to live in a moderate compromise with the world.

They think, ‘One day in the future, I will worship God properly’, ‘One day in the future, I will evangelize my family’, ‘One day in the future, I will stand before God and devote myself fully to the church and community.’

But they also have the opposite idea at the same time, adding a ‘But not yet…’ to the end of every good thought they’ve had. 

‘One day, I will worship God properly, but not yet because it is difficult to go before God due to my situation right now.’ ‘One day, I will evangelize my family, but not yet because first I must extinguish an urgent fire that has occurred in my life. I will pray later when I have the time’, ‘One day, I will devote myself to God, but not yet because I want to have fun in the world right now. I will go to God later when it is time.’

In fact, this type of thing happened to me when I was a full-time evangelist in Australia. One day, when I had a break from church work, I was introduced to a part-time cleaning job by an acquaintance. After cleaning the offices and bathrooms for five hours, I got paid reasonably well for work that was relatively easy. It also was economically helpful for me.

After that, I regularly worked at that part-time cleaning job when I was not in church in order to help earn more living expenses. As I worked more and more, my life became a little tough, but my economic situation improved significantly. However, despite the noticeable improvement in my financial situation, deep down in my heart, I was uncomfortable.

At first, I thought, ‘Let me work hard in the church and also work hard to clean the offices.’ At first, it seemed to work as I did my best. But as time went on, I suffered burnout, and nothing in my life could be done passionately. After this realization, I came back to Korea to concentrate full-time on the pastoral vocation given to me by God.

Life in Australia had been relaxing and satisfying for me personally because there was a lot of time to think alone. However, with these two identities at conflict within me, in which I both desired to be filled with passion for church work and also to become economically wealthy, I struggled. The struggle between these two identities was never completely resolved, and the fire of conflict between them could not be extinguished from my mind.

The Israelites would have found themselves in a similar situation. They coexisted with both the ideas of ​​serving God well, and at the same time desiring to live prosperously in Egypt. Therefore, they were unable to make a big impact for God because they did not have complete faith in Him, but they were also unable to make a big impact in the world because they weren’t fully devoted to it either. 

However, the biggest problem is that if this ambiguous relationship with God persists, the flame of inner conflict will grow within us and we will eventually destroy ourselves. Problems that come upon a person who is unsure of God’s will are going to frustrate their inner conflict and make it self-destructive. It becomes like a sting that slowly spreads poison throughout the body.

What is the result responding to God’s will with a divided heart, in uncertainty or fear? Such a response ultimately results in self-destruction.

Finally, let us consider the third type of person.

“A person who is intimate with God responds to his will in faith and trust.”

A good example of this type of person is Moses.

Exodus 14:30-31

30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.

31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

Moses trusted God fully. Therefore, he was able to encourage the Israelites to also put their complete trust in God, even as their greatest problem pursued them. But it was only after witnessing his miraculous salvation through the destruction of the Egyptian army in the depths of the Red Sea that the people fully trusted God. The Israelites who experienced God’s salvation remained in the camp and became witnesses to God’s fighting for them.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-2

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.

2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

According to 1 Corinthians, Israel’s passing through the Red Sea is described as a symbol of baptism. In baptism, a person passes into and out of the water as a way to express their salvation from the power of sin which leads to death. When they enter the water, they enter as a sinful person, condemned to death for their sins, which is their old identity. When they exit the water, they exit as clean and righteous, redeemed to life by God’s great mercy, and they take on their new identity as children of God. 

This is what had happened to Israel at that moment. They entered the opening in the Red Sea as former slaves of Egypt, and slaves to sin, and they exited on the other side as a free people, chosen and set apart by God for good works. This reality fully sank in when they witnessed the destruction of their former slave masters, the owners of their old lives.

Before the parting of the Red Sea, Moses had ordered the people to stand firm and not be afraid even in the face of their greatest problem. He commanded them to look and wait upon the salvation that the Lord would bring about for them that day… “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

This is the characteristic of a person who fully trusts God. He stands in awe of the Lord and has no shaking of his faith, even in the face of his greatest problem. In fact, in the face of your greatest problems, those who fully trust God may actually find their faith strengthened in response to the trial as they wait upon the Lord.

In other words, when your identity is not in conflict, and your heart fully trusts God, your spirit will remain peaceful no matter what happens outside your body.

What is the result responding to God’s will as his child, in faith and trust? Such a response ultimately results in our salvation, and his glorification, as we become witnesses of his grace to us.

Today we have seen three different responses to the same Red Sea Incident from three different perspectives. But what if some of us do not fit easily into any of these three types of responses? Perhaps we find ourselves being able to relate to multiple responses. That is, in fact, our reality as Christians.

The ups and downs of faith

Think about it. What type of relationship with God do you have?

• Are you like the king of Egypt who is hostile to God?
• Are you like the Israelites who are struggling with a commitment between God and the world?
• Or are you like Moses who trusted God completely?

In fact, we have all three types of characters inside each of us.

We are all fragile sinners, though we want to be perfect. So, even if we trust God completely, sometimes we will not be sure of our commitment to Him, and sometimes we will antagonize God’s will. We will come and go from the boundary of faith, at times in perfect harmony with God’s will, at times confused about it, and at times at odds with Him.

Then how did Moses, a fragile and sinful man like the rest of us, lead the Israelites through the Red Sea and take up the ministry of God?

Moses was one who listened to God. He was always in the place where a believer should be, at God’s side. God was the best commander and strategist for Moses and gave him detailed information about what would happen and how to deal with it.

Yet, we also know Moses was not an excellent speaker. As a leader who had to lead the people, to be bad at public speaking would have been a fatal weakness for him. But Moses did not get frustrated with his weaknesses. Rather, he went to the place where God was present and listened to God every day. In this way, God’s words became his own words and he was able to overcome his greatest weakness through God’s strength.

We must not be frustrated by our shortcomings and weaknesses. Rather, we need to approach the throne of God in the position of a believer, and God will give us wisdom and strength to solve the problem. This is why the place of worship is precious.

The End Result of the Red Sea Incident is the Glorification of God

Whenever a crisis arises due to a big or small problem in life, the person who accompanies God and trusts him fully will turn the problem into a gift. This event will be an honor to God, and we will be delighted with God’s salvation. In the end, these people can confess their own Red Sea Incident as a Red Sea Miracle.

In contrast, this crisis will become a curse for those who do not believe in God. They will learn that their own lives depend entirely on God’s sovereignty. They will also suffer from unhappiness and conflicts because they can not harmonize with God, but will be judged by Him for their sin. This type of person will confess the Red Sea Incident as a Red Sea Calamity.

Do you want to solve your problems and crises? Do you hope to see God’s salvation in your life as the Israelites did? Then do as Moses commanded them: “13 Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today…. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

In your problems and crises, turn first to God in prayer and rely on His sovereignty. Moses, in faith, did that. When he lifted his cane and raised it up toward the sea, he was powerless, but filled with faith. It was God who actually divided the sea and dried the land in the middle to make the Israelites pass over it.

And just as the Israelites stood still and looked upon God’s salvation for them, we also must look to Jesus, our savior, without being disturbed by the many problems that may confront us. Moses was powerless when he held his cane out over the sea. God did everything. Likewise, we are powerless in our sin, but when we fold our hands together and pray, Jesus will do everything. He is our savior who bled and died on the cross for us, paying the price for our slavery to sin, and he was resurrected for our new life of freedom in His kingdom.

The Red Sea, which confronted the Israelites in today’s Scripture, became a powerful tool to display the glory of God. For the people of Israel, the bottom of the sea appeared as God’s miracle. It was the path to their salvation. But for the people of Egypt, the bottom of the sea became a grave of death and destruction.

When you have trouble, focus on God, who is bigger than your trouble. Don’t focus on your trouble. In intimacy with God, in faith and trust in His will, and through the power of Jesus Christ, your problem will become God glorifying according to His perfect plan.

I hope we will accompany our Lord, Jesus this week.