My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
HIM WHO DIVIDED THE RED SEA
Psalm 136:13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;
In our last post, we considered HIM WHO ALONE DOES GREAT WONDERS, found in Psalm 136:4. One of those great wonders in this psalm is the dividing of the Red Sea, and is called out as a specific act of God highlighting the exodus.
The dividing of the Red Sea is an epic act of God in the deliverance of His newly rescued people out of Egypt. They had been released after considerable plaugues forced the hand of Pharoah, yet he would not give up, even after his own son died in the last plague.
Exodus 14:6-7 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
The Pharoah, leading 600 of his chosen chariots, along with all other chariots of Egypt, and his army, chased after the fledgling nation, blocking them into a trap up against the Red Sea. The Pharoah must have been ecstatic! Such an easy retrieval of his slaves.
Such a short freedom for the children of Israel.
For the nation of Israel, the act of splitting the Red Sea was a pivotal act of deliverance by God. Yes, God had provided them physical escape from the land of Egypt, but to be truly delivered from Egypt, the power of Egypt had to be destroyed. And at the shore of the Red Sea, the power of Egypt seemed insurmountable, with the Pharoah advancing towards them against the sea shore. Yes, the power of Egypt was very evident, for the people knew the former slave owners were after them.
It is good to remember that One other power was on the scene. The presense of the Lord in the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day was with the freed slaves.
Exodus 14:19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
And night fell. The Israelites, under a stong east wind, had one light to reference to. The pillar of God’s presence moved from leading them to the Red Sea, to being between the Egyptians and their former slaves.
Exodus 14:20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
During the night, the strong east wind blew, and the people of God ventured between walls of water. Now stop right there and think about this situation. The wind blew all night, the waters parted, the Israelites walked between walls of water, and the Egyptians pursued them. Did this wind separate the water? Was the wind simply a physical occurence that accompanied the splitting of the sea. Verse 16 indicates the Lord split the sea by command through the prophet Moses, with the wind possibly drying up the sea bed.
Exodus 14:16 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.
So in my mind, the parting of the sea happened at command, with access for the Israelites to the path early in the evening. Though physically dark, the light of God in the pillar of cloud was between them and their pursuers.
And Egypt thought it wise to follow.
Though I have often considered the Red Sea miracle to provide deliverance to the children of Israel by escaping the impending doom of the Egyptian armies, it is very much the deliverance of God’s people in the destruction of the armies of Egypt.
The path of salvation for one became the path of destruction for another.
Exodus 14:28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.
In the destruction of the power of Egypt, the Isrealites were truly freed from their former masters. They had the opportunity to forge a new life and a new future beckoned to them.
HIM WHO DIVIDED THE RED SEA provided not only access away from the dominating power they had been under for centuries, but also eliminated the influence of Egypt over them in the present.
More so today, as believers, we have been provided the path of Salvation, having trusted in the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is our path through the Red Sea, and for those who rebel against Him, find Him to be their judge.
As the dead Egyptian soldiers lay on the shore before the Israelites, they had proof of the ruination of their former masters.
We also have experienced the death of the world to our hearts. The believer has been given new life, with the influence of the old life, like Egypt over the Israelites, dead on the shore.
Galatians 6:14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (italics mine)
Let us seek not to go back to the old life. We see in the life of the nation of Israel the utter disaster it is to return to the ways of the world, to our old desires and habits.
We need to continue to follow HIM WHO DIVIDED THE RED SEA, in our desires, thoughts intentions and actions.
Is He not worthy?
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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