Baptism At The Red Sea Series

When I was in high school, I was part of an acapella quartet, and we sang all over the county. Well, one time our group sang at a black church in Perryville, and at the end of the service a baptism was held. Something I remember that had an emotional impact on me was the singing of an old Negro spiritual. Just as a small child was entering the baptistery, the whole church joined together singing “Wade in de Water.” They kept singing, “Wade in de water, wade in de water children, wade in de water, God’s ‘a goin’a trouble de water.”

Well, a few years later I got to hear the rest of the lyrics, and I realized it was about the crossing of the Red Sea. One line of the song says, “See those people dressed in white; they look like the children of the Israelites.” So, in wondering what the crossing of the Red Sea had to do with baptism, I began searching the Scriptures; and now I know how it’s connected to baptism, and right now I want to share it with each of you gathered here this morning.

The Bondage of Sin (vv. 5-9)

5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

The scene we see here occurs soon after the people of Israel were released from their bondage in Egypt; and “it dawned on Pharaoh and his officers that, by allowing their Jewish slaves to escape, they had threatened, if not destroyed, Egypt’s whole economy; so, the logical thing was to go after the Jews and bring them back.”(1) And so, Pharaoh pursued them with all the chariots of Egypt, and with many, if not all, of the captains of his army (v. 7). If you have ever tried to escape bondage of any kind, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, then you’ve probably noticed that it’s not an easy thing to do. It seems there are always some unforeseen tentacles, or shackles, that keep reaching out to drag you back into slavery.

Imagine, if you will, that someone has just received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; thus, breaking free from the bondage of sin. We could substitute some of the words in verse 5 to read as follows: “Now it was told the [prince of hell] that the people have fled, and the heart of [Satan and his demons were] turned against the people.” Whenever someone accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, don’t think that Satan isn’t angry about it. God has won a great victory in someone’s life and all of heaven rejoices. Jesus said in Luke 15:10, “I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Satan, on the other hand, is not too happy; and while heaven rejoices the devil is scheming.

In verse 9, we read, “So the Egyptians pursued them.” Once a person accepts Jesus Christ into his or her heart, the devil will pursue. He is always going to be looking for an opportunity to bring one of God’s children down through temptation and sin. Egypt, in a sense, represents the sin that antagonizes a believer; and when viewed in this way, there is a spiritual application for Christians, one which will be brought to light in the following verses.

Death of the Former Life (vv. 10-12)

10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”