We will begin this lesson in Exodus 15:1 “Then sang Moses and the
children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will
sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and
his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Exodus 15:2 “The LORD [is] my
strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he [is] my God, and
I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt
him.”
We see, in this song, a joy and a thankfulness for the mighty hand
of God delivering them from the bondage of Egypt (world), and heading
them for the promised land. Song, like laughter, lifts the spirit of
man to heavenly heights. The words of this song would be sung for
generations. In fact, we even sing this very song in some of our
churches today. Every time it is sung, it tells the story all over
again; how the Lord delivered the children of Israel. This is a
praise and worship song; praising God for deliverance and salvation,
and worshipping the God that is big enough to bring this all about.
God inhabits the praises of His people, so this song brings the
presence of God. This habitation, we prepare for God, is the temple of
the Holy Spirit, which is the body of the Christian. We will continue
on with the next few verses of the song now.
Exodus 15:3 “The LORD [is] a man of war: the LORD [is] his name.”
The Lord is the commander-in-chief of this army, and we are His
soldiers. The constant war the Lord is in, and that we are in with
Him, is the war against Satan and our own flesh. The Spirit of God in
us is always warring against the lust of the flesh.
Exodus 15:4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the
sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.” Exodus
15:5 “The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a
stone.”
You see, in these two verses that the details are remembered, as
well as remembering that God overcame them.
Exodus 15:6 “Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power:
thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.”
It matters not whether we are physical Israel (these Hebrews) or
spiritual Israel (the Christians); we are all saved by the Right Hand
of God, who is Jesus Christ our Lord. We will, now, continue the song.
Exodus 15:7 “And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast
overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy
wrath, [which] consumed them as stubble.” Exodus 15:8 “And with the
blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods
stood upright as an heap, [and] the depths were congealed in the heart
of the sea.”
We see, here, more of the details of God’s overthrow of Pharaoh,
and the false gods of Egypt. As we said before, God not only wanted
them to remember this happened, but He wanted them to remember every
detail; because there is a lesson to be learned. The song continues.
Exodus 15:9 “The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I
will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will
draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”
This is a description of the thoughts of the Egyptians in hot
pursuit of the Israelites. They had planned, at the last, to kill the
children of Israel, and take home the jewels that they had taken to the
wilderness with them. They, perhaps, wanted the cattle, because most of
their cattle were killed in the plague. At first, they intended to
carry their slave labor back with them; but at the last, they had
gotten so angry, they desired to kill all of them.
Exodus 15:10 “Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them:
they sank as lead in the mighty waters.”
We have seen over and over throughout the Bible, that the Lord has
control of the wind. It was not only here at the Red Sea that the Lord
controlled the wind and caused it to do His will, but He calmed the
Sea of Galilee to keep the ship from sinking. He just spoke to the
wind, and it hushed. It was, also, a mighty wind that blew into the room
of 120 of Jesus’ followers and baptized them with the Holy Spirit of
God in Acts chapter 2, verse 2. You see, the Lord is in control of
all the elements, not just the wind. The song continues.
Exodus 15:11 “Who [is] like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who
[is] like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful [in] praises, doing
wonders?” Exodus 15:12 “Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth
swallowed them.”
This is just going into detail, again, that there is no greater
God than the Lord God Jehovah (Lord God Almighty). God is
supernatural, immortal, powerful, eternal diety; we could give another
1,000 adjectives, and just be started. These false gods of Egypt were
no match for the Lord.
Exodus 15:13 “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people [which]
thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided [them] in thy strength unto thy
holy habitation.”
We notice, here, that this mercy (unmerited favor) of God was what
saved them. God, Himself, would bring them to this land He promised
Abraham for his ancestors.
Exodus 15:14 “The people shall hear, [and] be afraid: sorrow shall
take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.”
This was talking about the people who now inhabit the land God had
promised the children of Israel; such as, the Amalekites, Moabites,
etc. God was sending them a warning, that He fights Israel’s battles.
They were afraid of God, who did this to these Egyptians.
Exodus 15:15 “Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty
men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants
of Canaan shall melt away.”
We see, here, that all of these mighty warriors had heard of the
ten plagues God brought on Egypt. No, they had heard of this
drowning of about 100,000 of Pharaoh’s army. At least 600 of the
chariots were lost for sure. This type of news travels fast, and
these surrounding countries’ leaders were wondering, who God would
destroy next for Israel? Really, the Egyptians were destroyed for
worshipping false gods, and these countries would be, too. He had
given them a time to repent, and they had not. They had reason to
fear. Canaan would be turned over to these Israelites eventually.
Exodus 15:16 “Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the
greatness of thine arm they shall be [as] still as a stone; till thy
people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, [which] thou hast
purchased.”
This was Moses, actually, prophesying what would be, and he stated it
as if it had already happened. Just as Jesus has bought us with a
price (His shed blood), these people had nothing to do with their
redemption. The Lord brought them out, and they were His.
Exodus 15:17 “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the
mountain of thine inheritance, [in] the place, O LORD, [which] thou
hast made for thee to dwell in, [in] the Sanctuary, O Lord, [which]
thy hands have established.”
This, again, was prophecy by Moses of the future occupying of the
promised land. Moses had had a vision, or else God ds quickened to
Moses, about the building of the sanctuary, where He (God) would dwell
to be near the people. Mwais absolutely sure that what God begins, He
would finish. Even though it was not a fact at that time, Moses was sure
it would happen. He knew that God, Himself, would make it happen. In
the next verse, we see Moses stating the eternal reign of the Lord.
Exodus 15:18 The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.”
We will pick up the next lesson in verse 19 of chapter 15.