Deliverance
Exodus 14:29,30 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a
wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord
saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw
the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.
In the book called The Gold of Exodus by Howard Blum, he shows pictures of how Cornuke and Williams are standing on the underwater bridge that extends across the Strait of Tiran toward Saudi Arabia - the believed site of the Red Sea crossing. On this strip of submerged land they show a ship that had become grounded on it. It had to be an amazing sight to see how God pushed back the water making a wall of water to the right and left of the land bridge, so the Hebrews could cross over to safety. It also had to be a sobering sight for the Hebrews to look back and see the death of Pharaoh’s army being crushed and drowned by the surging water. Where the passing through the waters brought them life, it became death for those that rebelled from God.
Many years later God would say in Isaiah 43:1b,2, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. In Daniel 3 we see Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walking in the blazing furnace and the Son of God is right there with them protecting them. In Joshua 3 we see the Jordan River at flood stage and God parts the water, making it possible for the nation of Israel to cross on dry ground saving their lives. God is faithful to his promises!
Years ago Christians would speak of death as a time of crossing over. I don’t know if they got it from Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan or not, but in his book he talks about the time of a person’s death when they go to be with the Lord. He talks about when Hopeful crossed over the river water was only ankle deep, while Christian for most of the way struggled with water engulfing him. Hopeful went from life to death to eternal life with his eyes fixed on the Celestial City much like when Peter walked on water when his eyes were fixed on Jesus. Poor Christian went from life to death to eternal life with his eyes fixed on the rising waters of the death experience like Peter did the waves. Then it wasn’t until Christian surrendered to the water of death looking to the Celestial City that he too rose above the waters to find himself on the glorious Heavenly Shore.
Now I know that Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory, but the fact is death holds most people captive to fear. Just this week I saw on a sports channel a former football star by the name of Eric Dickerson talking about another football star named Walter Payton. When Dickerson walked up to Payton, Payton looked at him and said, “Yes I am afraid to die. I’ve never done it before.” Most people have never died and come back to life. I did have a personal friend tell me once that they had died on the operation table, and they could see the doctor working on them and even remembered what the doctor and nurses had said. When he confronted the doctor about the comments he made when my friend died the doctor grew very angry, and demanded that he tell him who told him that. I could tell by the look on my friend’s face he was not lying to me. He had indeed died and come back to tell about it. Some people die quickly, and for some it takes a long time. For the most part we don’t know the time or the circumstance that will bring about our death. And at one time or another we all wonder what it might be like for us. And while this is uncertain, for the Christian we can have hope at our death that others do not have.
I Cor 15:55-58a says, “Where O death, is you victory? Where O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He Gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. When we too cross the river, remember to keep your eyes looking for Jesus, because he said in John 14:3 that, “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may where I am going. And why wouldn’t he after he paid such a great price for us on Calvary's cross? We will be at last with our groom, the one that loves us most!
Prayer: Thank you Jesus for your wonderful sure hope of our eternal home with you. We look forward with anxious anticipation to coming into your presence in that twinkle of an eye! We love you Jesus!
NOTE: If you would like to go to I Cor 15:35-54 you will find many wonderful promises about our resurrection!
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