Let's start today by rereading part of last week's story, at Exodus 14:15. At this point in the story, the Israelites are seemingly doomed. They're trapped between the Sea of Reeds, and the Egyptians. And Moses himself apparently cries out to God, asking God to do something:
(15) and Yahweh said to Moses,
Why are you crying out to me?
Speak to the sons of Israel, that they may set out,
while you, lift up your staff,
and stretch out your hand upon the sea,
and divide it,
that the sons of Israel may go in the midst of the sea on dry ground,
(17) while I, LOOK! I [am] strengthening the resolve of the Egyptians,
and/that they will come after them,
and/that I will be glorified against Pharaoh and against his strength-- against his chariots and against his horsemen,
(18) that the Egyptians shall know that I [am] Yahweh,
when I glorify myself against Pharaoh-- against his chariots and against his horsemen,"
(19) and the messenger/angel of the God/Elohim set out-- the one walking before the camp of Israel--,
and he walked behind them,
and the pillar of the cloud set out from before them,
and it stood behind them,
(20) and it went between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel,
and it was a dark cloud,
and it gave light to the night,
and no one drew near all night,
(21) and Moses stretched out his hand upon the sea,
and Yahweh caused the sea to walk with a strong east wind all night,
and He made the sea into dry land,
and the waters cleaved/split,
(22) and the sons of Israel went in the midst of the sea on dry land,
while the waters [were] for them a wall on their right hand and on their left hand,
(23) and the Egyptians pursued,
and they came after them-- all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen-- to the midst of the sea,
(24) and then, during the last night watch before morning, Yahweh looked down to the camp of the Egyptians in the pillar of pillar and cloud,
and He confused the camp of the Egyptians,
(25) and He removed/took off the wheels of his chariots,
and he caused them to move with difficulty,
and the Egyptians said,
"Let us flee from before Israel,
because Yahweh [is] fighting for them against the Egyptians,"
(26) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Stretch out your hand upon the sea,
that the waters may return upon the Egyptians-- upon his chariots and upon his horsemen,"
(27) and Moses stretched out his hand upon the sea,
and the waters returned at the daybreak of morning to its normal depth,
while the Egyptians [were] fleeing to meet it,
and Yahweh shook off/swept away the Egyptians in the midst of the sea,
(28) and the waters returned,
and they covered the chariots and the horsemen-- all the strength of Pharaoh coming after them-- in the sea.
There wasn't left over among them even one,
(29) while the sons of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea,
while the waters [were] for them a wall on the right hand and on the left hand,
(30) and Yahweh saved on that day Israel from the hand of the Egyptians,
and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the edge of the sea,
(31) and Israel saw the great hand
that Yahweh had done against the Egyptians,
and the people feared/revered Yahweh,
and they trusted/"believed" in Yahweh and in Moses his servant.
When the Israelites see the dead bodies floating on the sea, something clicked for them spiritually. In that moment, when they "see" the bodies, they also "see" God's great hand. They have eyes to see the truth about God, and this leads them to revere Yahweh, to trust him, and to trust Moses his servant.
And when do this, in some ways, it's like they are making themselves God's people. God has already claimed them, and saved them. God has ridiculously good to them. And here, they respond to that love, with reverence, and faith.
At the same time, something else happens. Moses, and the Israelites, sing a song to God. I assume that this song is something God put in their mouths. God knows that when He saves people, that a simple thank you is not enough. People will find themselves wanting to sing. Words by themselves, aren't nearly enough. You have to put it to a tune (Psalm 40:3).
Now, you maybe know lots of worship songs. You could maybe work with what you have. But if God gives you a new song, you will sing that song a little different. A little louder, with a little more enthusiasm, a little more from the heart.
And I assume that this is basically what happens with Exodus 15.
And what we are seeing here, is the first praise and worship song of the entire Bible. Maybe, Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, sang songs to God in Genesis. It wouldn't be a surprise. But this is the oldest recorded song in the Bible.
Verse 1-2:
(1) At that time Moses was singing this song, with the sons of Israel, to Yahweh,
and they spoke, saying,
"I shall sing to Yahweh,
because He has surely been exalted/lifted up;
Horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.
My strength and my song, Yah is,
and He has become for me, salvation.
This [one] [is] my El/God,
and I will praise him-- the God/Elohim of my father--,
and I will exalt him.
When God saves you, He is lifted up. He becomes more exalted. Every time He saves, He proves his power for his people. Every time He saves, He creates a moment where all can acknowledge who God truly is-- that "He will be," what He will be.
You know, in a new way, that God is good. You know that's He's powerful. And when He proves that, for you, you will sing. Yahweh will become the song in your mouth. You may sing other songs, at times. "Happy Birthday." Christmas carols. A guitar solo for the woman you love. But in general, overall, God becomes your song.
And this is something that happens almost immediately. Verse 1: "At that time." When God rescues you from some enemy, from some situation, your immediate response is to praise. When I plowed through drifts last night, I had no business going through, and shouldn't have made it through, I sang a song to God immediately afterward. He was exalted, in that moment, over the ice and the drifts, and I exalted him.
The other thing that happens, when God saves you from something, is you realize, in a far deeper way, that God, is "your" God.
When God freed me from allergies, all of this is exactly how it played out. God was exalted above my allergies. God proved his power. And I, in response, committed to God in a way that I hadn't before. My relationship changed. Yahweh became "my" God, in a higher sense.
And so you, when God rescues you, you make this commitment. You resolve, I shall sing (it's a cohortative in Hebrew). And then you do. You sing.
Verse 3-8:
(3) Yahweh [is] is a Man of War;
Yahweh [is] his name.
(4) The chariots of Pharaoh, with his strength, He has thrown into the sea,
while the elite of his officers were drown in the Sea of Reeds.
(5) The floods were covering them;
they have descended into the depths like a stone.
(6) Your right hand, O Yahweh, is glorious in power;
your right hand, O Yahweh, will shatter/crush the enemy,
(7) while in the greatness of your majesty you overthrow the ones rising against you.
You send out your wrath;
It consumes them like stubble (cf. Exodus 5:12),
(8) while by the breath/wind of your anger/nostrils the waters were piled up;
they stood upright like a heap-- the waves.
They congealed-- the floods-- in the heart of the sea.
There are lots of ways we could talk about God. We could say, God is fundamentally a God of love. A God of goodness, and loyalty.
It's less common for us to think about Yahweh, as being a "Man of War."
Yahweh is a Warrior, fundamentally. He's not a kindly grandpa, rocking in his chair. God doesn't look back decades earlier in his life, to when He was in his prime physically. He doesn't take afternoon naps.
God has always been in his prime. God is always ready for battle.
And God always wins. There is no human who can stand against God. If you try to fight him, or his people, God can "throw you" into the sea. He can "shatter" you. He can "crush" you. He can "drown" you. He can exhale, and blow an ocean's worth of water on you.
God can do the impossible. Physics, means nothing to him. He can pile waters up, congeal them.
And all of this isn't something we simply tell each other. It's not enough, that I proclaim to you who God is really like, from the pulpit. When you worship God, part of worshipping him, is telling Him, what He is like.
What we are seeing in these verses, when Moses tells God, what God has done, is worship. God, you are the Warrior. You are the one who wiped out the Egyptians. You are the one who has mastery over the sea.
In verse 9, our attention switches. Now, we hear about all of this from the Egyptians' perspective. We get to peer into the minds. We get to hear their boastful words. And when we hear this, we are hearing a normal part of worship. When God's people cry out to God, asking him to help them with an enemy, they often quote their enemy's words. God doesn't tolerate bragging, and boasting. So, verse 9:
(9) He has said-- the enemy:
"I will pursue;
I will overtake;
I will divide the loot;"
My desire/neck shall be filled of them;
I will draw my sword;
My hand will take possession of them."
The Egyptians looked at the Israelites, as prey. The Egyptians knew their own strength. They knew that all of this had one, inevitable end. Plunder, loot, victory. But it's the last sentence, in particular, is what dooms them. "My hand will take possession of them."
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"Take possession" is one of the three key verb for the conquest: "strike, take/capture, and "dispossess/take possession." For this use of the hiphil to mean "take possession," see Num. 14:24; 33:53; Joshua 8:7; 17:12. English Bibles translating it "destroy" miss the point. See NET Bible, which almost gets it right. The verb can mean "dispossess," but here "take possession" makes much better sense.
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The Israelites are God's possession. They are his people. The Egyptians think that they can snatch God's people from his hand? They think they can reacquire them? They talk about this, as though what happens to Israel depends on them?
How'd that work out for them? Verse 10:
(10) You blew with your breath;
It covered them-- the sea.
They sank like lead in the mighty sea.
(11) Who is like you among the el/gods, O Yahweh?
Who is like you?
Majestic in holiness/consecration;
Awesome in praiseworthy/powerful deeds;
The One Doing wonders.
(12) You stretched out your right hand;
It swallowed them-- the earth.
(13) You led in your loyalty the people who you have redeemed.
You have guided by your strength to your holy/consecrated abode/dwelling place.
Yahweh is not the only divine being in this world, or in the unseen realm. There are other "gods" (Psalm 82). But there are none like Yahweh. What sets Yahweh apart? What's distinctive about him? Here, there's maybe two main ideas.
The first, is Yahweh's commitment to his people. God is majestic "in holiness." We've talked before about "holiness." The idea isn't so much as being "set apart," as it is about "dedication." God is radically committed to his people. His loyalty is legendary. When God commits to you, it is a total commitment. His loyalty is overwhelming.
It's maybe hard for us to really grasp this, because we know that our loyalty isn't nearly at this level. And maybe, we struggle to think that God is actually this committed.
But there's something about seeing dead Egyptian bodies washing up on shore, that helps us overcome our own doubts, and insecurities. God's loyalty to you has no boundaries. God will lead you; He will guide you; He will stay committed to you.
The second distinctive thing about Yahweh is related to the first, and it has to do with his power. Majesty is a power word. When Yahweh commits to you, He commits out of strength. There is no weakness in his loyalty, or vulnerability. There's no question mark to his commitment. God is powerfully committed to you. And it's that combination, that makes Yahweh unique among the "el/elohim"/gods.
In verses 14-17, our attention shifts again. Now, we are going to talk about the locals, who have heard what Yahweh did for his people:
(14) They have heard-- the peoples;
They tremble.
Pain has seized the dwellers of Philistia.
(15) Then, they were horrified-- the leaders of Edom.
The rulers of Moab-- great distress is seizing them.
They melted away-- all the dwellers of Canaan.
(16) It falls upon them-- terror and dread.
By the greatness of your arm, they were silenced like a stone,
until your people passed over, O Yahweh--
until they passed over-- the people who you have acquired.
You will bring them,
and you will plant them on the mountain of your inheritance.
A place for your dwelling, you have made, O Yahweh.
A sanctuary/consecrated/holy place, Lord, your hands have established.
Before the Red Sea, the nations maybe looked at God's people as a group of weak, runaway slaves. As immigrants, easily controlled, easily disposed of.
But now?
If you are God's enemy, and you see this, it causes you physical pain. God's power makes you tremble, and melt. It gives you horror.
Why?
Because you know that your time is coming. At some point, you'll be next. And you can fight God until the bitter end, but there is no victory against God. God will bring his people safely home. He will plant them. They will prosper. And God will live them, forever. Fight God, and you will lose. You will die.
Verse 18-19:
(18) Yahweh will reign forever and ever,
(19) because they came-- the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots, and with his charioteers, into the sea,
and Yahweh brought back upon them the waters of the sea,
while the sons of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea,"
If God can defeat the Egyptians, He can defeat anyone. This story is proof, that God will reign forever, and ever.
And you can't look at human technology, and the advances we have made in war, and come to a different conclusion. An aircraft carrier can't withstand a flood. A tank can't defend itself against the earth opening up underneath it. There is no defense against God. There is no successful attack, against God's people.
Verse 20-21:
(20) and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambourine in her hand,
and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances,
(21) and Miriam answered them:
"Sing to Yahweh,
because He is surely highly exalted;
A horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea."
How do you worship God? Based on these verses, they are three aspects to worship:
(1) You sing. Worship isn't spoken; it's sung.
(2) You play instruments.
(3) You dance.
Now, maybe there were one or two Baptist Israelites in this group, and they looked all of this with some concern.
They thought that worship should be reverent, and formal. They thought it should be orderly. They looked around for a pew to hang on to, while they waited for Moses' sermon to start.
And maybe, those Baptist Israelites looked with a little bit of horror at the dancing. Maybe, they found it distracting.
But when you sing to Yahweh, and exalt him, you do so with the entirety of who you are. You make it as big, using as much of your body, as you can. You add instruments. You dance. You worship big.
And I say all of this, as a rank hypocrite. But hopefully you'll listen to my words, and imitate Miriam, and not me. And maybe I'll start working on this... How you worship, is a choice.
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I struggled at first this week with how to teach Exodus 15. It's not the explaining of it that's hard. But in teaching something like this, the end goal has to be your worship. You have read this passage, and be moved to a place where you lift up your hands, and your voice, and your tambourines, and you sing and dance for God. Every time God rescues you in life-- starting with Jesus, and every time since-- God is exalted. And your natural response, every time God does this, should be to worship. God leads you. He is loyal to you. And so you praise.
What should happen, is that your life becomes a musical (h/t Philip Ryken). You go through life, being led by God, in constant worship. You sing at work. You find yourself humming songs to God. What happens, is that God becomes your song.
You go through life, in constant praise.
And if this isn't you, and you'd like it to be, let me give you three suggestions. You can take them or leave them.
You can try them out, maybe.
The first, is to take out your earbuds, and turn off the radios.
It's easy to live a life filled with noise, and talk, and music. When there's quiet, we find ourselves instinctively filling that quiet with sound.
But if you turn off the podcasts, and talk radio, and music, you are creating an opportunity to commune with God. You can talk to him. And you can sing to him.
Some of you have more time alone, doing mindless jobs than others. If you drive for a living, you are in an ideal spot to try all this out.
If you're a stay-at-home mom, this sounds unreasonable, and impossible.
It's harder, for sure.
But I still think the Christian life can look like a musical. God can be your song, as you go through each day. But part of making God your song, is to cut out some of the other music. For myself, every night I get to the gas pumps, and hear the country music, my own worship comes to a stop. I find myself humming songs about jilted lovers, and beer, instead. At least for a while, that becomes the song in my mouth. Make God your song.
The second thing you can do, if your life isn't a musical for God, might be to trust him more intentionally. If you call on God to rescue you, God will rescue. He is radically loyal. If you let God lead you in life, through his Spirit, and if you learn to call on him, when you need help, God will save you. And when God saves you, you will find yourself wanting to praise. "At that time" that God saves you, no one will have to encourage you to worship.
The third thing you can do, if your life isn't a musical for God, is to open your mouth. Singing is a choice. It's a resolve, you can make. You can praise, regardless of how you feel. Regardless of your circumstances. Look at Exodus 15:1: "I SHALL sing." You get to decide, if you want to join Moses, and praise God.
Now, maybe the coolest part of Moses' song, is that it has no end.
Let's turn to Revelation 15 (NRSV). Here, John is given a vision of God's people worshipping God:
15 Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.
2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant[a] of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations![b]
4 Lord, who will not fear
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your judgments have been revealed.”
5 After this I looked, and the temple of the tent[c] of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen,[d] with golden sashes across their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever; 8 and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
When we worship, in this life and the next, we are joining Moses in praise. We sing an echo of Moses' song. We will worship God, forever, because of his power, and his commitment to his people. Yahweh is the king of the nations. We know that by right, we deserved to be the Egyptians, washing up dead on shore. But God saved us through Jesus, and so we praise. We will worship, forever.
Translation:
(1) At that time Moses was singing this song, with the sons of Israel, to Yahweh,
and they spoke, saying,
"I shall sing to Yahweh,
because He has surely been exalted/lifted up;
Horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.
My strength and my song, Yah is,
and He has become for me, salvation.
This [one] [is] my El/God,
and I will praise him-- the God/Elohim of my father--,
and I will exalt him.
(3) Yahweh [is] is a Man of War;
Yahweh [is] his name.
(4) The chariots of Pharaoh, with his strength, He has thrown into the sea,
while the elite of his officers were drown in the Sea of Reeds.
(5) The floods were covering them;
they have descended into the depths like a stone.
(6) Your right hand, O Yahweh, is glorious in power;
your right hand, O Yahweh, will shatter/crush the enemy,
(7) while in the greatness of your majesty you overthrow the ones rising against you.
You send out your wrath;
It consumes them like stubble (cf. Exodus 5:12),
(8) while by the breath/wind of your anger/nostrils the waters were piled up;
they stood upright like a heap-- the waves.
They congealed-- the floods-- in the heart of the sea.
(9) He has said-- the enemy:
"I will pursue;
I will overtake;
I will divide the loot;"
My desire/neck shall be filled of them;
I will draw my sword;
My hand will take possession of them."
(10) You blew with your breath;
It covered them-- the sea.
They sank like lead in the mighty sea.
(11) Who is like you among the el/gods, O Yahweh?
Who is like you?
Majestic in holiness/consecration;
Awesome in praiseworthy/powerful deeds;
The One Doing wonders.
(12) You stretched out your right hand;
It swallowed them-- the earth.
(13) You led in your loyalty the people who you have redeemed.
You have guided by your strength to your holy/consecrated abode/dwelling place.
(14) They have heard-- the peoples;
They tremble.
Pain has seized the dwellers of Philistia.
(15) Then, they were horrified-- the leaders of Edom.
The rulers of Moab-- great distress is seizing them.
They melted away-- all the dwellers of Canaan.
(16) It falls upon them-- terror and dread.
By the greatness of your arm, they were silenced like a stone,
until your people passed over, O Yahweh--
until they passed over-- the people who you have acquired.
You will bring them,
and you will plant them on the mountain of your inheritance.
A place for your dwelling, you have made, O Yahweh.
A sanctuary/consecrated/holy place, Lord, your hands have established.
(18) Yahweh will reign forever and ever,
(19) because they came-- the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots, and with his charioteers, into the sea,
and Yahweh brought back upon them the waters of the sea,
while the sons of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea,"
(20) and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambourine in her hand,
and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances,
(21) and Miriam answered them:
"Sing to Yahweh,
because He is surely highly exalted;
A horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea."
