God uses Satan to Glorify Himself and Carry out His Salvation for His Chosen People

God didn’t just want to deliver His people out of Egypt; His complete salvation included the passover, the exodus from Egypt, and the crossing of the Red Sea. After the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, Pharaoh had no more ground to do anything, and the people of Israel were unto God, serving Him in the wilderness.

In reading Exodus 12-14 it is very interesting to notice how God used Pharaoh to glorify Himself and to carry out His salvation for His chosen people. First, Pharaoh hardened his heart against God, not letting His people go; he then increased their burden in serving the Egyptians.

Without knowing it, Pharaoh cooperated with God in making Egypt a place where the people of Israel would no longer like to be. The people of Israel have been in Egypt for 400 years, and, even though they were serving the Egyptians, they were OK to live there. God had to use Pharaoh to increase their burdens and tasks so that the people of Israel would really want to get out of Egypt.

Furthermore, the passover could not have happened without Pharaoh: it was because God wanted to deal with Pharaoh and the Egyptians that the people of Israel were finally ready and willing to sacrifice the passover lamb and be prepared to get out of Egypt.

Eventually, even though Pharaoh didn’t want to let them go, after his firstborn was struck by the Angel of death, he released the people of Israel, and he even allowed them to plunder the Egyptians on their way out.

In His sovereignty God led the people of Israel out of Egypt by the way of the Red Sea, and again Pharaoh was used by God to help His people cross over the Red Sea: he followed them with his armies, and the people of Israel saw God’s glory in the parting of the Red Sea for them to cross over as on dry ground!

God really used Pharaoh to glorify Himself and to carry out His salvation for His chosen people. In the same way, in our Christian life Satan is being used by God for some negative things and situations; however, all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).

God uses Satan to Glorify Himself and to Carry out His Salvation of His Chosen People

If we were God, we would not allow Satan to exist: we would cast him into the lake of fire quickly, and dispose of this evil one. However, God is great and high; He uses even Satan to glorify Himself and to carry out His salvation of His chosen people.

In the story of the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt, Pharaoh typifies Satan who both usurps God’s people and keeps them under his slavery. Even though Pharaoh is such a negative person, God used him to glorify Himself and to carry out His salvation of the people of Israel (see Exo. 14:3-10).

Pharaoh’s opposition created the right environment that made the passover, the exodus, and the crossing of the Red Sea possible. Without Pharaoh to create such an environment, the people of Israel would not have any desire to get out of Egypt and serve God in the wilderness.

Pharaoh’s oppression of the children of Israel created the environment for them to feast on the passover lamb and have an exodus from Egypt; his oppression even made it necessary for the children of Israel to go.

And even after they went out of Egypt, Pharaoh still wanted to go after them and bring them back; his pursuit of Israel was used by God to hasten them to cross the Red Sea and be saved from Pharaoh and his usurpation once and for all.

In a similar way in our Christian life Satan raises up some situations, problems, and environments that would cause us to be oppressed and burdened with many things, but all these things are used by God for His glory and for our salvation.

When God wants to save us from the world, He first uses Satan to help us realize what life in the world is like: hard labor, no pay, slavery, oppression, depression, darkness, suffering, and eventually death.

Although we hate Satan and want to get rid of him, God continues to use him for the fulfillment of His own purpose. Satan even has access to God in the heavens: he accuses us before our God day and night (Rev. 12; the book of Job). God could get rid of him right away, but He is higher than us in His way of thinking and doing things: God uses Satan for the accomplishing of His own purpose.

You could say that God has multiple PhD’s in making a masterpiece out of a mess. We may think our life is a mess, and Satan is causing us so much trouble; but God wants us to eat Him, contact Him, praise Him, and trust in Him even in this messy situation, and He will turn this mess into His masterpiece!

Oh, the multifarious wisdom of God displayed in the church, the ones who were once under Satan’s usurpation but are now God’s building, the Body of Christ! All that Satan can do is just help God in His economy to work Himself into His chosen people, save them to the uttermost, and obtain a corporate dwelling place of God and man! Praise the Lord!

Lord, we praise You for Your ways and Your purpose. You use even Satan to glorify Yourself and to carry out Your salvation for Your chosen people. Thank You Lord for everything that happens to us and in us; we admit that we may not understand it, but we love You, we trust in You, and we want to enjoy You so that all things would work together for good! Lord, keep us open to You and enjoying You so that even Satan’s opposition and oppression would work out for our salvation and Your glory!

Crossing the Red Sea by Faith – Being Baptized by Faith

After Satan’s last struggle in Exo. 14, the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea by faith. It is very interesting to see how the people of Israel were so happy to get out of Egypt that they plundered the Egyptians and marched out as an army, only that a short time later they would complain to Moses when they saw Pharaoh and the Egyptians following them with their armies.

It’s as if they forgot everything that the Lord has done for them, and they told Moses, Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you done this to us, bringing us out of Egypt? (Exo. 14:11) The Lord sovereignly led the children of Israel by the pillar of cloud on the way to the Red Sea, and instead of them looking to God and trusting in Him for everything, they complained and cried out to Him.

It is so easy for us to look at the environment, seeing that Satan is still after us and raises up situations and people to cause us trouble; we forget that it was God Himself who delivered us from the world, He led us this way, and He is right there with us!

However, the Lord is not angry with us in such situations; He simply speaks a word to us, and our faith is increased to go on with Him. After God spoke to Moses (Exo. 14:15-16), spontaneously the people of Israel had the faith to walk into the sea.

We may encounter some difficult situations and Satan may “come after us” to bring us back under his usurpation, but when the Lord speaks to us a word, faith comes in and we trust in Him (Rom. 10:17).

We need to start every day with having a time with the Lord in His word so that the Lord would speak to us, supply us, and lead us by His speaking. As we contact Him day by day, faith comes through hearing and hearing comes through the word of Christ.

Especially when a new believer is about to be baptized, Satan raises up a difficult environment and pursues after the believer to bring him back to the world; at that time, the believer needs the word of God which increases his faith, and he will take the step of baptism.

The children of Israel crossed the Red Sea by faith; at their baptism, new believers should be encouraged to exercise faith in God as the One who operates in baptism (Col. 2:12). Hallelujah, through hearing the word of God our faith is increased and we enter into the waters of baptism, thus overcoming Satan and being separated from him for good!

Lord Jesus, keep us coming to You no matter what kinds of situations Satan may bring in to chase after us and bring us back under his usurpation. Lord, keep us in Your word every day, enjoying You and listening to You as You speak to us to increase our faith. Oh Lord, Your speaking is everything to us. We may not understand why things happen, but we look to You for Your fresh speaking so that our faith may be increased!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus (msgs. 28-29), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 6 / msg 6, The Exodus from Egypt and the Crossing of the Red Sea (you can buy this morning revival book here via LSM and here via Amazon).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # For the Lord who has called us / According to His purpose / Works all things together for good; / Neither height, nor depth, / Nor principalities, / Things present, nor things to come, / Though the devil hates us, / He can never separate us / From the wonderful love of God. (Song on Rom. 8:27-29)
  # All he could do, the foe, / Was just release the flow. / And God just keeps on flowing. (Hymns #1198)
  # I’ve turned my back upon the world / With all its idle pleasures, / And set my heart on better things, / On higher, holier treasures; / No more its glitter and its glare, / And vanity shall blind me; / I’ve crossed the separating line, / And left the world behind me. (Hymns #438)