“Every son who is born you shall cast into the river.” (Exodus 1:22 NASB)
On June 6, 1944, better known as D-day, American, British, and Canadian allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in France. It was one of the largest naval, air, and land military invasions in history. Its purpose was to liberate Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. A central ideology of Nazism was to exclude those who were deemed to be of ‘inferior’ race and the result was fervent antisemitism. Nazism was so radical that a plan was developed called the ‘final solution.’ The plan comprised the systematical annihilation of the Jewish people, eventually leading to the killing of six million Jews in Europe.
More than three thousand years ago, Pharaoh, the King of Egypt had a similar wicked plan. Although the Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians for generations, they had become so numerous that Pharaoh ultimately gave a vile decree to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. The midwives were to kill all male Hebrew babies at the time of birth. The midwives, however, feared God and did not carry through with the killings. Subsequently, Pharaoh devised a ‘final solution’ to annihilate the Jews, a plan that wasn’t as disguised as that of the Nazis. Pharaoh ordered that, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile river.” The Israelites needed a D-day or, shall we say, deliverance day to be rescued from their misery.
God had seen the torture of His chosen children and heard the cries of the wailing mothers. He delivered them by the power of His might, leading to the exodus of the Hebrew nation from Egypt. God then remembered the wages of sin awaiting the many nations and its bondage. In Revelation 20:15, we read, “and whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” The Nile river was the destination for the Hebrew sons during the latter time of their slavery in Egypt. Unlike the Nile river, the lake of fire doesn’t discriminate. It would be the final destination for all men and women who were ever born. Why all? Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:10, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The stage was set for a deliverer, our Jehovah Nissi. If God had to bring on the ten plagues to deliver the Israelites from the stubborn hand of Pharaoh, how much would he have to do to rescue all of mankind from the impending doom?
Christ landed in Bethlehem and took on flesh for the purpose of taking away the sin of the world and saving us.
Jesus Christ gave all to rescue us. Galatians 1:3-4 says, “The Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us.” The ‘D-Day’ of all ages is told in Philippians 2:6-8, “Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Christ landed in Bethlehem and took on flesh for the purpose of taking away the sin of the world and saving us. The Book of Life contains the names of all who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. How can we not accept Jesus Christ as our deliverer and offer Him the worship for saving us from the lake of fire? As the saved Israelites recited in Psalms 136:11-12 “To Him, who brought Israel out from among them, His love endures forever, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, His love endures forever.” We the redeemed people of God can also say, To Him, who saved us from the lake of fire and has given us everlasting life, His love endures forever.
by George John
George John resides in Hawthorne, New Jersey with his wife Eirene and children Norah, Amelia, Daniel, and Gideon. He is in active fellowship with the believers in Elmwood Park Bible Chapel, New Jersey and serves as the Sunday School Principal. George is also a pharmacist by trade.
Image: Into the Jaws of Death by Robert F Sargent
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