The Provision of God’s Salvation
By Pastor Richard Owsley
There is a story
that reminds me of God’s steadfastness, faithfulness, and protection. A park ranger tells of an experience after a
devastating forest fire that ravished thousands of acres. His job was to enter into areas that had been
charred but brought under control, and look for smoldering hot spots that could
reignite.
The ranger came
across a grouse hen that was nestled against a smoldering tree. She was dead and much of her feathery body
burned. Her wings were spread as if in
defense against the oncoming fire. The
ranger wondered why this bird had not simply taken to flight and avoided the
deadly flames.
As he moved the
body away from the base of the tree with his foot, a half dozen baby chicks
came scurrying out from beneath the mother grouse. This mother had instinctively gathered her
chicks unto herself and provided life-saving shelter from the fire. Yes, she could have spread her wings and
quickly flown to safety as the fire crept closer, but it would have meant
abandoning her children. This mother
grouse gave her life to deliver her chicks from harm.
Our Refuge
The Scriptures
leave no doubt that God is our refuge.
He is our protector and deliverer.
He is our shelter in time of trouble and distress. He is our salvation!
“How excellent
is thy loving kindness, O God; therefore the children of men put their trust
under the shadow of thy wings.” (Psalm
36:7).
“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful
unto me: for my soul trusts in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I
make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” (Psalm 57:1).
“For thou hast been a shelter for me, and
a strong tower from the enemy. … I will trust in the covert of thy wings.” (Psalm 61: 3, 4).
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and
my fortress: my God; in him will I trust… He shall cover thee with His feathers,
and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and
buckler.” (Psalm 91:1,2,4).
“God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1).
This beautiful imagery of God’s
protection and deliverance is a figure of speech called “anthropomorphism.” It simply means ascribing to God certain
human or animal characteristics for the purpose of making a point or providing
an image in order for us to grasp a spiritual truth about the God we love and
serve.
Our
Deliverer
God has revealed
Himself to us in Jesus Christ. Our
Savior is God in human flesh, come to deliver lost man from sin and death. In Matthew
23:37 the Lord Jesus says, “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, …how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a
hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not.”
The point is, God has always provided
His people deliverance and salvation, but on His terms and in His way. Throughout His Word we find many instances of our faithful God providing
miraculous deliverance, and each of them point to the complete and finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are three such
acts of salvation and deliverance in the Old Testament I would like to share in this article. Each is a clear type or picture of what Christ
has done on our behalf to save us from sin and destruction.
Noah’s Ark
The first is the
accurate and historical event that surrounded Noah and his family. God gave Noah specific instructions to build
an ark, due to the judgment of a worldwide flood that God was going to
send upon the Earth. The Scriptures are
very clear, “And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5). God’s response
was to “destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth….” (Vs. 7).
But the Scriptures tell us in Genesis 6:8-9 that “Noah found grace in the eyes of God” and that “he walked with God.” God
tells Noah His plans of bringing judgment upon Earth and His plan to deliver
Noah and his family. God instructs Noah
to build the ark, and by faith Noah believes God and over the next 120 years,
faithfully follows God’s directives.
This is an amazing act of faith, seeing that Noah had never seen it rain
before (see Hebrews 11:7). By faith he built the ark, and by faith
entered into God’s provision for deliverance.
God’s judgment came
upon the Earth in a cataclysmic flood that covered the entire world. (Special Note: It was the devastating affect
of the flood that causes the Earth to look old, not million of years.)
Those who took God
at His word and entered into God’s provision were saved. The Word tells us in Genesis 7:16 that the “Lord
shut them in.” They were sealed in
the Ark! This amazing boat, built
according to God’s perfect instructions, was a type of Jesus Christ. Regardless of the storm that was raging
outside, the people and the precious cargo were absolutely safe. It was the mother of all storms, for the
windows of heaven were opened and the fountains of the deep were broken
up. For forty days the torrential rains
and wind beat mercilessly against the ark.
But inside, they were safe and sound!
They were secure in His salvation!
Completely delivered from the judgment that had claimed the rest of
mankind.
There was only ONE
WAY to escape this judgment, and it was God’s perfect provision. What would have happened to Noah and his family
if they had spent their time debating the issue of the reality of the pending
judgment? After all, it had never rained
before! “A flood? What is that?”
What would have happened if they had questioned how a truly loving
God could let such a thing happen? “Surely there must be another way,” they might
have asked. “Why can’t we just go to
higher ground? We could build a beautiful
altar to God on top of the highest hill. Don’t you think He would like that? Oh, Noah, God would be so thrilled with our
goodness!” Fortunately for them, they
spent their time doing the will of God and submitting themselves to His plan
and purpose.
The one thing that
I find exciting about this true story; no matter how frightened or concerned
the passengers became, they were always safe.
Perhaps there were times when the boat was tossed to and fro, and I
am sure there were many scary moments. But
regardless of their emotions or feelings, they were sheltered by God’s promise
of deliverance. He would not fail to
bring
about his purpose.
The Passover
The second event that depicts the Lord
Jesus Christ and the perfect salvation and deliverance we have in Him, is the
Passover. In Exodus 11 and 12 we have the activities of the final plague that
was to come against Egypt, due to Pharaoh’s harden heart. He would not let God’s people go. I am sure you are very familiar with this
story.
God instructs Moses
to convey to the Hebrew children the way of avoiding the tenth and final
plague, as the death angel came upon them to take the life of the firstborn in
each household. This awful and
devastating plague was to affect not only the Egyptians, but even the Hebrews
would be under this judgment if they would not take the necessary
precautions. Exodus 12:12 says, “For I
will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast….”
Moses was told that each household (some
households could share, depending on number of people in the households) was to
choose a lamb without blemish. Special
instructions were given in the selection, slaughter, preparation, and serving
of the lamb on that night. Blood from each
family’s lamb was to be struck on the doorpost and lintel of their home
(forming a cross, by the way!). No one
was to go out that evening, but wait for the Lord to pass through. “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and
dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two
side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at
the door of his house until the morning.
For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees
the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts. The Lord will pass over
the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to
smite you.” (Exodus 12:22-23).
This was the Lord’s
provision and method of delivering His people from the wrath to come. As long as the Hebrews did it His way, they
were safe and sound inside their homes.
But again, what if they had chosen to argue with Moses and tried to save
themselves in their own way? Can you
imagine one of the elders determining that blood was just too icky and they
would prefer berry juice? Who would know
the difference anyway? Or, what if they
just whitewashed the door with a clean, fresh coat of paint? Wouldn’t that tell God that the people inside
were really “good” people? No, the ONLY
way to escape the coming judgment was to accept God’s way of deliverance. He would only recognize His prescribed method
for avoiding the death of the firstborn.
Those who obeyed
God were safe and in no way in jeopardy. They
trusted in His provision and were secure! By faith, they were under the blood. It is interesting and glorious that regardless
of their emotions or feelings that night, those who believed God and accepted
His provision of salvation were absolutely secure. Some may have been anxious and spent the night
in doubt. Some may have even been terribly
frightened, but they were still obeying God, and therefore were secure!
Of course, those who spent the night rejoicing, not doubting or being
afraid, were much more blessed, but no more safe!
By faith, they all did what God demanded and regardless of feelings
and passed through the night unscathed. Their
salvation was not 
based
on their feelings, but on the promise of God.
My friends, Jesus
Christ is our Passover and all those who enter into Him are secure. God the Father sees the blood of His only
begotten Son and His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross as payment in full for our
sin. We can try and whitewash our sin,
but it is only when we accept God’s perfect provision that we can be made
whiter than snow!
The Red Sea
The third Old Testament type that points to the
sufficiency of Christ is found in Exodus
14. Due to the tenth plague, Pharaoh
allows the Hebrews to leave, but his heart is hardened and he regrets the
decision. Pharaoh and his massive army
chase Moses and the Israelites and catch up with them at the Red Sea. Here they are, between Pharaoh, who desires
them great harm, and the Red Sea.
Humanly speaking, it looks as if there is no escape. How can they possibly be delivered from this
deadly trap? The Red Sea is in front of
them and an angry Pharaoh and his army lies behind them. The situation looks hopeless! But this dilemma just presents our
all-powerful God with the opportunity to show Himself faithful on the behalf of
His people.
Exodus 14:13-16 tells the story of how
God intends to save His people. The Lord
instructed Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea. The Lord then caused the sea to go back by a
strong east wind and the children of Israel walked on dry ground through the
midst of the sea (see Exodus 14:21-22). There was a wall of water on their right and
a wall of water on their left. This
escape route was the ONLY WAY to be saved.
Can you imagine the amount of faith it took to walk down into the
seabed? What if some of them had said,
“I’m not going down there!” What if they
had failed to accept God’s plan and mode of salvation for them? They would have been destroyed at the hands
of Pharaoh’s army.
By faith the
children of Israel accepted God’s way and escaped the judgment. The route through the Red Sea was a picture
of the ONE WAY we have to be saved. We
must accept God’s way of salvation!
There is NO alternative. Christ
alone is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE!
Conclusion
In Noah’s time, the
situation looked hopeless, but God intervened and by grace provided deliverance
IN THE ARK, a type of Christ. The harsh
judgment of the flood was not able to touch those inside. During Moses’ time, the children of Israel
had to accept by faith God’s Passover and follow His instructions in order to
be saved. When God saw the blood, He
passed over that home, sparing it from His wrath. Also in Moses’ time, the children of Israel
had to accept the ONE WAY of salvation through the Red Sea. Any other alternative would have meant
certain death.
Today, in order for
us to be saved, we must by faith enter into Jesus Christ. In Christ, there is salvation, deliverance,
and shelter for all who place their trust and accept by faith Jesus Christ as Savior. Nothing can separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus (see Romans
8:39). God’s holy word tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new creation: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.” He is our Ark of safety. In Him, we are delivered from the judgment to
come. He is the blood sacrifice; the
subsitionary lamb that was slain. His
blood assures us that God’s judgment to come will pass over those who trust in
Him. Jesus Christ is THE WAY of
salvation! Christian, the Lord is our
refuge, our fortress, and our strong and mighty tower. In Him, we are sheltered from the ravages of
sin.
All of the Old Testament prophets spoke of the Messiah.
All of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah were fulfilled in
Jesus of Nazareth. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved” (Acts 4:12). Only Jesus Christ is worthy of our praise,
our adoration, and our worship!
Richard Owsley is Pastor of St. Louis Bible
Fellowship, located at 6234 Victoria Ave.
