6 - Through the Red Sea | Exodus

The people of Israel leave Egypt and head for the Red Sea. The Egyptians follow them. The Israelites walk through the sea on dry ground as the waters part. When the Egyptians chase after them, the waters close in on them and they perish.

We look at the purpose of the ten plagues: they are meant to show that there is no other God and no alternative to dependence on God. Why did God choose the firstborn in Exodus 4:21–23 as the last plague? Because God calls Christ his firstborn Son and has created a new life for him. Through his resurrection, Jesus became the firstborn, the second Adam. God now offers this new life to every human being.

To illustrate this, let's take a step back: Adam was created by God and was meant to live forever. He was closely connected to God and dependent on him for love. From Adam, God created Eve – she too was dependent on God. In temptation, they believed they could be God themselves. In doing so, they separated themselves from God and sought love from Satan and other people. Thus, Adam's life was dead, and all who were born of him were stillborn and doomed to death.

Christ came, killed the dead life of Adam, and gave new, eternal life through his resurrection. Since all people come from Adam's old life, the only alternative is the new life of Jesus. We do not enter into it immediately: in faith, this new life is imparted by the Holy Spirit while we are still in the old life. The offer is open to everyone worldwide.

There are two ways to ultimately enter into the reality of the New Life: either through a transformation without death or through death and resurrection at Jesus' return. We also consider the special position of the firstborn and how one can lose one's birthright. The deeper meaning of this is discussed in the sixth part of the series “Exodus.”