Text: Exodus 15:1-18
Theme: Victory Song of Moses
THE LORD IS GOOD AND HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
Joke:
A young pastor asked the senior member of the Congregation. What makes a good sermon? The Elder said, “The secret to a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then have the two as close together as possible.”(Adopted).
Introduction:
Exodus Chapter 15 has a record of worship, prophesy, and hope, salvation, rebellion, judgment, and blessings. It reflects often our mindset in spirituality. We are double minded in faith. The chapter begins with the Jews singing a song of praise to God and swings to the extremity of the Jews complaining about their provision in the wilderness.
‘This song was an ancient song, a most admirable composition, the style lofty and magnificent, the images lively and proper, and the whole very moving, a holy song, consecrated to the honor of God, and intended to exalt his name and celebrate his praise, and his only, not in the least to magnify any man: holiness to the Lord is engraved in it, and to him they made melody in the singing of it’ (Matthew Henry comments). “This is the very first of those sacred songs preserved in Scripture, and in some respects it is first in merit as well as in time” (Spurgeon).
It is natural to vent and express thankfulness with joy by singing. Moses joyously celebrates the Victory over his enemies. He expressed the future assurance for Victories over their enemies. Further, he declared that they will have a secured placement in life. We will meditate the Personal Assurance, Futuristic Assurance, and Secured Life Assurance.
1. Personal Assurance
Moses joyously celebrates personally the Victory over his enemies by quoting what the enemy said ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them’(Exodus 15:9).
Moses personally experienced Yahweh as his strength, his defense, his salvation and his God (Exodus 15:2). The personal pronoun “my” is used four times in this verse. It denotes a close personal relationship and mutual attachment.God accomplished deliverance by his own immediate power.He addresses God as a Warrior. It was full of gratitude, joy, and happiness. If you are in his design, nobody can destroy you, and nobody can ruin your life. He will fight for you, and he knows the plots and evil designs of the enemies. He is aGod of matchless and incomparable perfection (Exodus 15:11). God gets angry over sin, over rebellion. His anger is scorching and can destroy people very quickly. But his love and compassion prevails to those who take refuge in him and seek his forgiveness.
‘When we have received special mercy from God, we ought to be quick and speedy in our returns of praise to him, before time and the deceitfulness of our own hearts efface the good impressions that have been made’ (Matthew Henry comments). ‘Praising God is not lifting up higher because God is already the highest, the Supreme Power, and supremely holy. Praising Him is merely a recognition of who He is, and a confession of His rightful position’ (Inductive Bible Study). ‘There are moods of the soul that can only be expressed in poetry and in music.’ (Morgan). ‘They sang this song when their salvation was real to them. They sang it when the power and the presence of God were real to them’ (David Guzik).
2. Futuristic Assurance
He has seen how God has over thrown enemies and destroyed them in the Red Sea. He expressed his assurance that Israel will have Victories over their enemies in the future: “The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; terror and dread will fall on them.” (Exodus 15:14-16a).
The Voice Bible introduces the chapter 15 of the Exodus as ‘Throughout this redemption story, it is clear that the Lord has protected Israel while He has judged and frustrated Egypt. After the many wonders before the Passover and the miraculous guidance by the cloud and the pillar of fire, God destroyed the Egyptian army in the midst of the sea. For centuries people have sought to explain this great miracle and make sense of it.’
This song of Moses has primarily into two focuses, namely, the retrospective (Exodus 15:1-12), celebrating the recent deliverance; and prospective (Exodus 15:13-18), describing the effects that would flow from the deliverance in future time. The first focus has three emphasis on Yahweh and the enemies, each begins with God and ends with the destruction of the Egyptians. Exodus 15:2-5, "The Lord is my strength," to "They sank into the bottom as a stone."; Exodus 15:6-10," Thy right hand, O Lord," to "They sank like lead in the mighty waters."; Exodus 15:11-12, "Who is like unto Thee, O Lord," to "The earth swallowed them." (The Pulpit Commentary). So, it leads to the futuristic hope of the people of God.
The words used to describe the emotions of the people who heard of what God has done to the people of Israel are:“Tremble,” “anguish,” “dismay,” “trembling,” “melted,” “terror,” “dread,” and “motionless.” They were terrified, their hearts melted away. We have seen this even after forty years Rahab the prostitute from Jericho told the Israelite spies: ‘For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt’ (Joshua 2:10).
The Edomites lived on the south side of the Promised Land. The Moabites lived on the north of the Edomites on the east side of the Dead Sea, in what is now Jordan. And on the west side of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River, all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
This Song of Moses echoes all the way to the Book of Revelation, where a multitude that has come from great suffering, has experienced great victory, and stands on the shores of a great sea, sing this song. (Revelation 15:2-3).
3. Assurance for Secured Life
Further, he declared that they will have a secured placement in life. “You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.”(Exodus 15:17).
The three descriptions of "mountain of your inheritance," "Your dwelling," and "sanctuary" refer to the same place,the promised land of Canaan. It’s the triple assurance of the secured Life in God, with God. He will go with you and go before you. He had already proved with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and now with the Israelites.
He shall bring them and give them possession of the land. He shall plant them and fix them firmly in it. He will enable them to take root in it. The mountain of thine inheritance. The land of Canaan, which is almost wholly mountainous, and which God had given as an inheritance to his people (Genesis 15:7; Hebrews 11:8)
Moses expresses that the land was special and that God Himself would dwell in their midst. God did dwell with them first in the tabernacle and later in the temple, a sanctuary. Canaan was a place of refuge, a place where they could be safe from the Egyptians, and from all neighboring countries. God would protect them. Canaan was a holy place, a place free from all pagan and evil practices of the cultures. It was to be their land forever throughout all generations.
God took them and placed them in that country flowing with Milk and Honey. God had placed them in a green pasture land. They belonged to God. He owned them. This should give them even more motivation to serve God.
Conclusion:
This song reveals that our walk with Him should be filled with gratitude. This song assures that He will be a shield from our enemies when we take refuge in Him. It also tells us that He will guide those who have faith in Him. This song affirms that our journey is filled with excitements of miracles in this year. God promised blessings when we have a life of obedience, inclusive of good health. In light of the LORD's magnificent works, the LORD is incomparable. The Song concludes with a proclamation of the LORD's eternal rule over all things. But their state of victory and surrender did not last very long.
