Through The Waters

The God who fights for us.

Le Passage de la mer Rouge by Nicolas Poussin

What follows is the manuscript for an Easter Sunrise Service preached at Dover Baptist Church

Standing On The Shore Of The Impossible

We have gathered this morning at the edge of the day.

The sun is just beginning to rise. The darkness is retreating, though not all at once. The light is coming, but softly, steadily, without hurry. And that is a fitting hour for Christians to gather on Easter morning, because Easter happened in just such a moment. Before the day had fully opened, before the world knew what God had done, before the disciples could yet understand it, the tomb was already empty and Christ was already risen.

This is an Easter hour.

It is an hour for people who know what darkness feels like. It is an hour for people who know that night can feel long. It is an hour for people who know fear, grief, guilt, weariness, and death. But it is also an hour for people who have come to confess that the night does not rule forever. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. The grave has been opened. Death has been broken. The morning has come.

And with the light of Easter falling upon us, I want us to look at one of the great saving scenes in all the Bible, the crossing of the Red Sea.

Imagine yourself there.

Israel has been brought out of Egypt. They have been delivered from slavery, but they have not yet come into rest. The night of redemption still hangs over them. Their children and all their worldly possessions are with them. The memory of Egypt is behind them. The promise of Canaan is before them.

And yet their freedom feels fragile.

Someone turns and looks back. And there, across the horizon, comes Pharaoh’s army. Horses. Chariots. Steel. Power. The old master is coming after them. The sea is in front of them. The enemy is behind them. There is no path ahead and no retreat behind. They are trapped between water and wrath.

And that is where God meets them.

That is where God so often meets his people. Not when the road is open and the sky is bright and every answer is already in hand. He meets them at the edge of impossibility. He meets them where all creaturely hope runs out. He meets them where they cannot save themselves.

And that is why Exodus 14 belongs on Easter morning.

Because the God who parts the sea is the God who opens the grave. The God who leads his people through the waters is the God who brings his Son through death into resurrection life. The God who made a way where there was no way at the Red Sea has made a way through sin, judgment, and death in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So this morning I want us to see three things. I want us to see the God who meets us in our fear, the God who makes a way through death, and the God who teaches his people to sing.

The God Who Meets Us In Our Fear:

Exodus tells us, “As Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly” (Exodus 14:10).

Notice what God’s Word says about the Hebrews:

“They feared greatly.”

The Bible does not flatter the people of God. It tells the truth. Israel is afraid. Their fear grows large in them. It begins to master their speech. It distorts their memory. It shrinks their hope. They say to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” And then this: “For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:11–12).

Now isn’t that exactly what fear does when it rules the heart. It makes slavery look better than freedom. It makes bondage look safer than obedience. It makes Egypt sound better than promise.

And if we are honest, we know something about that.

When fear rises in us, we too are tempted to go backward. We romanticize old sins. We call old chains security. We rename old compromises as peace. We tell ourselves that obedience is too costly, holiness is too hard, trust is too risky. Fear always pulls us back toward Egypt.

But into that fear, Moses speaks one of the great gospel declarations in all the Old Testament:

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.” And then, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13–14).

Notice that Moses does not deny that the danger. He does not tell them to look within themselves for hidden strength. He does not give them a self-help plan. He does not offer them a strategic exit strategy. He says, that the Lord himself will fight for you. The Lord himself will act.

That is the word fearful people need.

I know some of you came to this sunrise service carrying fear. Perhaps no one knows it but you and the Lord. Fear about your health. Fear about your children. Fear about money. Fear about death. Fear about your failures. Fear that old sins will rise again. Fear that grief will swallow you. Fear that the darkness is too great and the enemy too strong.

Hear the Word of the Lord this morning. “Fear not.”

And hear the ground of it. “The LORD will fight for you.”

That is the gospel. Our hope does not finally rest on what we can manage, what we can fix, what we can hold together, or what we can contribute. Our hope rests on the God who acts for his people.

And that is why Easter speaks so directly to fearful hearts.

When the women came to the tomb, they did not come expecting resurrection. They came with funeral spices. They came to a grave and expected to find a corpse. They came under the weight of death. The disciples were not bold and triumphant. They were confused, frightened, and broken. But before any of them understood it, before any of them believed it, before the first Easter sermon was preached, God had already acted. Christ had risen.

That is how God meets his people in fear. Not by asking them to create hope out of nothing, but by giving them a Savior who has already conquered the enemy they could not conquer.

The God Who Makes A Way Through Death:

The Lord says to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to go forward” (Exodus 14:15).

Did you hear that? The people have just been told to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And now they are told to go forward.

This is the rhythm of faith. We do not save ourselves. We do not open the sea. We do not defeat the enemy. But when God opens the way, we are called to walk in it.

The Lord commands Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. The pillar of cloud moves behind Israel and stands between them and Egypt. Through the night, the Lord drives back the sea with a strong east wind. The waters divide. A road appears where there had been no road. And Israel walks through the midst of the sea on dry ground.

Notice when the Lord does this.

He works through the night.

While Israel is still afraid, while the darkness is still over them, while the answer is not yet fully visible, God is already making a way. By morning, the path is open.

That is worth reflecting on this Easter morning, because that is also the pattern of resurrection. Before the women arrive at the tomb “toward dawn” (Matt. 28:1), before the first rays of sunlight touch the garden, before the disciples can see the meaning of it all, God has already acted in the dark. Jesus Christ has already risen from the dead.

Easter morning does not begin the victory. It reveals the victory.

And what happens at the sea is more than a dramatic escape. It is salvation through judgment. The same waters that become a wall of safety for Israel become a grave for Egypt. The Lord brings his people through what should have swallowed them and he buries their enemies beneath the waves.

Notice the pattern here. Israel goes down into the place of death and comes out alive by the power of God. That is why Paul can say they “were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:2). The crossing has resurrection shape. It is the end of an old life and the beginning of a new one. Slavery lies behind them. Freedom lies ahead. The old tyrant is judged. A new people walk out alive.

And all of this finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

At the cross, Jesus enters the dark sea of judgment for his people. He bears our sin. He bears our curse. He bears the wrath we deserved. He goes down into death itself, not as a victim only, but as the substitute for sinners. He enters the grave fully.

But on the third day he rises.

And when he rises, death is no longer what it was. The grave is no longer a locked room. The tomb is no longer the end of the story. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has made a way through the last enemy.

Hear the Word of God:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54–55).

That is what Easter is all about. Easter is God making a way through death itself. Easter is the overthrow of the old tyrant. Easter is the judgment of sin, the defeat of Satan, the ruin of the grave, and the beginning of the new creation in the risen Christ.

And if that is true, then let me say two things plainly.

First, if you do not know Christ, then this risen Savior calls you now. Repent of your sins. Turn from every false refuge. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way through death. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Second, if you do belong to Christ, then stop talking as if Pharaoh still owns you. Stop making peace with old chains. Stop acting as though the risen Christ brought you out only halfway. The old master is judged. The waters have closed. Christ has risen. Go forward.

The God Who Teaches His People To Sing

Exodus 14 ends like this: “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians” (Exodus 14:30). And then, “Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD” (Exodus 14:31).

Do you see the change?

Earlier they feared the enemy. Now they fear the Lord. Earlier fear made them complain. Now the fear of the Lord teaches them faith. Their eyes have been lifted off Pharaoh and fixed upon the God who saves.

And what happens next? They sing.

“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD” (Exodus 15:1). And what do they sing? “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously” (Exodus 15:1).

That is what redeemed people do. They sing.

God does not merely rescue his people. He puts a song in their mouths. He teaches them praise. He gives them words large enough for what he has done.

And the same thing is true at Easter.

The women come in sorrow and leave in wonder. The disciples move from fear to joy. The church is born around a living Savior to be worshiped. Easter creates song. The empty tomb gives the church her hallelujah.

That is why sunrise services matter. We gather at the beginning of the day because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the beginning of the new world. We gather in the morning light because the true dawn has come. We sing because Christ is risen and therefore the night will not have the last word.

And maybe that is exactly what some of us need this morning. Not because life is easy. Not because all sorrow is gone. Not because there are no graves yet to visit. But because the Lord has triumphed gloriously, and Christ is risen indeed.

Some of you may not feel ready to sing. Your heart is tired. Your grief is fresh. Your joy feels small. Then let the church sing around you and over you until your own heart learns the tune again. Borrow the song of the saints until faith rises in your own breast. There is mercy in that too.

Brother, sister, Easter means that the darkness might be real, but it is not final. The enemy is fierce, but he is not sovereign. The grave is terrible, but it is not ultimate. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. And because he lives, all who are united to him shall live also.

So hear again the Word of the Lord.

“Fear not.”

“The LORD will fight for you.”

“Tell the people of Israel to go forward.”

And then sing. Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. Sing because the sea has opened. Sing because the tomb is empty. Sing because Christ is risen. Sing because morning has come.

Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed.