"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LORD anointed me to bring good news to the humble; He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim rescue to slaves and freedom to prisoners" (Isaiah 61:1).
Slavery in sin is the greatest problem anyone has, and freedom from that problem is the greatest good. The historic Red Sea rescue of Exodus 14 an early revelation of the need for rescue toward freedom from the slavery of sin--a physical picture of a spiritual reality found only in the Rescuer of Isaiah 61:1. Slavery in Egypt pictures the slavery of sin; the Red Sea rescue, God's provision of salvation.
Incidentally, contemporary preoccupation with inapporpriate glorification or degradation of the Isrealites, or modern Jews and Judiasm misses the important point. The revelation of a divne Rescuer through a particular group of people is not primarily about the rescued, it's about the Rescuer. The nation was rescued so that the Rescuer would be born according to God's plan and promise. Israelites of any time period, are not children of Abraham by the lineage of flesh, but by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 9:8). The point for every human, before and after the birth of Christ the Rescuer, is the necessity of rescue from the slavery of sin.
Exodus 14 is an actual historic event pointing to eternal rescue, and also a warning to those that remain in the slavery of sin. The physical rescue of Israelite individuals that walked through the Red Sea was of no eternal value if they were not the children of Abraham by faith. Those same individuals died another day in another way. The children of Abraham by faith awoke to righteousness and eternal life. All the others died in the slavery of sin, whether Israelites or Egyptians.
Celebrate the birth of Christ, remembering that "everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin....so if the Son sets you free, you will really be free" (John 8:34-36).
When the Israelites were afraid at the Red Sea, God told Moses to speak to them. With the birth of Jesus Christ, God speaks the same words to us in the greater context: "Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD (Jesus Christ) that He is showing you (by His Word and Spirit) today: for the enslavement of sin that has been revealed to you, you will not see again forever" (paraphrase, Ex. 14:13).
