God rescued His people from Egypt. When Pharaoh refused to let them go, God delivered a series of disasters to loosen his grip. When Pharaoh sent soldiers to recapture the people, God tore a sea in half to provide a way of escape. When these soldiers pursued the people through this same passage, God covered Pharaoh’s army with water. The Red Sea became the ultimate line-drawn-in-the-sand. Don’t touch My people. God did all of this so that the Israelites would no longer be slaves. He repeatedly warned them that Egypt was all about oppression, hard-heartedness and false hope.
When the Israelites faced tough times, they often spoke of going back to Egypt. Over and over again, when the heat was too hot, when an enemy approached, when the food was less than tasty, the people of God looked to one place in particular for help: Egypt. It wasn’t that the people necessarily wanted to be slaves again, but they were quite willing to surrender their freedom for the sake of shelter. Just the spices of Egypt alone were enough to cause the Israelites to look over their shoulders, while the marks left by the whips of Egypt were still healing.
God told them, even though Egypt had the things that looked like the answers to all their problems, it was a mistake to look to Egypt for help. “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD” (Isa. 31:1)! When enemies approached the gate, the Israelites believed the military forces of Egypt were the answer. But the people of God had forgotten. An earlier version of this same answer was decaying at the bottom of the Red Sea. By looking to Egypt for help, they were looking away from God.
We have also left Egypt. When we became Christians, we were rescued from the slavery of sin. We crossed a Red Sea called baptism, and we continued to struggle on, through a wilderness that can often be difficult and discouraging. And back there, over our shoulder, beyond our decision to die with Christ, the world waits, eager to enslave us once again. We know this. Even now, we can see the tracks of those who have indeed turned back, returning to a life of comfort and chains.
When their relationship with God had been compromised, the draw of worldly things grew more enticing in their minds, the people turned around to go back to Egypt. God said they “proceed down to Egypt… eek shelter in the shadow of Egypt” (Isa. 30:2). We must stay out of the shadows of the world that entices. God always provides a way for His people.