Thus says the LORD

Thus says the LORD, Who makes a way through the sea, and a path through the mighty waters . . .

It is an alien way of speaking, for people to say, “Thus says the LORD.” The phrase itself occurs more than 420 times in Holy Scripture, the first time being when Moses announced to Pharaoh that the firstborn of Israel belong to Him, and He will do whatever it takes to save them.

We know how that went. Eventually the LORD God drowned Pharaoh and his entire army in the Red Sea, after letting the people of Israel pass through virtually unscathed; terrified and in awe, to be sure, but safe and sound.

In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets. It was not uncommon, as we see, for the LORD God to put these words into the mouth of His prophets: “Thus says the Lord,” making it no matter of doubt, but a matter of great certainty that the Word they were hearing was not spun out of man’s imagination, but indeed originated from the LORD God Himself as absolute, eternal truth.

In saying it is an alien way of speaking, I mean we do not speak to one another directly this way, and also, when those words sound out, we take them for granted, as if it cannot be possible for absolute Truth to be spoken in our midst. If you walk up to your neighbor and say, “Thus says the LORD,” what you speak thereafter had best already be written in Holy Scripture, or be in perfect agreement with it as a whole, for we know that even the devil can take up those words.

In this case, the LORD God specifically makes reference to His awesome deeds in saving the people of Israel from Pharaoh, for He says also of Himself: “Who makes a way through the sea, and a path through the mighty waters.” When the people of Israel heard these words from the prophet Isaiah, they immediately called to mind how they were hearing from the same God who delivered them in ancient days by parting the waters of the Red Sea.

As you draw nearer to Holy Week and observe how you are now rescued from sin, death, and the devil by our dear LORD Jesus, you can be certain this, too, is the same God who works awesome deeds by parting waters. In fact, the innocent suffering and death, and the resurrection of Christ Jesus are even mightier in deed than the people of Israel could begin to recall.

Just as today the words “Thus says the LORD” are somewhat alien to you, seemingly too absolute, the words “It is finished” tend to wash over you unawares, being alien in nature; alien to your own righteousness and alien to your natural reason and senses.

Yet these same alien deeds and thoughts, the Word which comes from the LORD God and is spoken by Him, have become yours, precisely because the same Lord God who saved the people of Israel also saves you, being baptized into Christ Jesus. The earth’s waters in and of themselves are a force to be reckoned with. No man can tame them, except perhaps for a little while with levees and dams.

He Who parted the waters of the Red Sea is the same One Who stood to be baptized in the River Jordan. He is the same One whose Word, joined with the waters of your baptism, drowned your old Adam and all his content, while saving you, body and soul, from all that would harm you.

So you may say with all certainty – although it may sound strange to your ears and heart – “Thus says the Lord God, Who makes a way through the sea, and a path through the mighty waters: You are My own beloved child, for you are baptized into Christ Jesus.”