Exodus 15:22-25a – Living a sanctified life progressively.

The story of Exodus is also the story of our redemption. This is why the New Testament often depicts our redemption as an exodus. We depart from the life of sin to walk with God. In this walk, there are three clear phases. Hence, we can clearly understand that redemption is a process and not a point as many have so often mistaken. The starting phase is often referred to as salvation. The Bible teaches that God is the one who initiates us into our salvation. By the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, He convicts us of our sin. At that moment we are given a measure of start-up faith, enabling us to acknowledge our sinful nature and willingly invite Jesus into our heart to be our personal Lord and Saviour. This first step commonly frees us from the penalty of sin.

The endpoint of this process, of course, is glorification. It will only take place when we are in heaven and free from the presence of sin. At that point, we will be perfected. However, the process between salvation and glorification is known as sanctification. This process takes place while we are here on earth. It is our daily journey where God is sanctifying us daily and incrementally freeing us from the power of sin. The Holy Spirit is sent alongside us to empower us to deal with the flaws that hinder our connection with God. If we yield to the Holy Spirit’s leading, we will be free from the dominion of sin progressively.

The deliverance of the children of Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh and Egypt depicts the first phase of the redemption process we called salvation. The Passover lamb is, of course, a type of our Lord Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb of God. Like the Israelites, we were once a slave to sin and were living in bondage. When we acknowledge Christ as our Lord, His blood like the Passover lamb shields us from the angel of death. Just as they crossed the Red Sea and were freed from their bondage of the Egyptians, we too have crossed from our past life into the new walk with the LORD. Our sanctification process is depicted in the wilderness journey of the children of Israel. This is the path where God deals with our sin nature and frees us from the sway of the power of sin.   

The wilderness wandering of the Israelites was not needful for their salvation but it certainly was needful for their sanctification. They had left Egypt, but the nature of slavery in Egypt had not left them. God had to surface them and excise each one. It was not possible to deal with all at once but one at a time. So, the journey in the wilderness revealed areas that needed to be removed. The wilderness is a tough place. But it is the place where God encounters our old nature and helps us to progressively remove each flaw as it surfaces. This phase is to teach us dependence on God.  

The journey into God’s promised land started when Moses’ song had ended. They were ushered into the wilderness, the desert of Shur. This area stretched from Egypt all the way to Palestine. The desert was sparsely populated with vegetations and there was a scarcity of water sources. It was natural joy when the Israelites having travelled for three days found water. But their joy was short-lived for as the place, so aptly named Marah, the water was bitter and undrinkable. It was then that the Lord revealed to Moses a certain tree. He cut one of the twigs and threw it into the water of Marah. It instantly became drinkable and sweet. The twig speaks of the cross of Calvary. Any bitter experience in life can be treated when we apply the finished works of the cross in our life. The disappointment was the way the Israelites complained. Learning from them we must not be a complaining people. The Lord has a solution for all our bitter experiences in life. We can come to Him and be assured that He will provide the solution in Christ. Let us stop whining and start trusting. Whining is common among children but it is unbecoming for an adult. As we grow in Christ, we must learn not to whine over every little inconvenience. We must co-operate with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified.  

Exodus 15:13-21 – God’s purpose is for us to experience His presence

More than showing who Moses and the people thought God was, the song they sang also sought to praise Him for what He had done. In Exodus 15:13-18, this song specifically demonstrates what He purposed to do for His redeemed people. God’s purpose in saving them was highlighted. He acted specifically by leading them with His mercy and love and kept them in His covenant love. The goal was to guide them to His holy habitation or presence. The loving-kindness of God mentioned in verse 13 shows us how absolutely loyal God truly is. Here He proved His love for the Israelites by faithfully keeping His promise. Everything they had experienced was entrenched by the love of God. He kept His promise and brought them out of slavery. And He would be leading them into the land He had promised to give them.

As Moses and the people praised God, the prophet began to look into the future and expressed confidence that God would lead them in the journey forward. The path they would take into Canaan was traced. He saw how God would defeat their enemies. Exodus 15:14-16 outlined in advance what God eventually did in the book of Joshua as follows:

“The peoples have heard, they tremble;
Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia.
“Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;
The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
Terror and dread fall upon them;
By the greatness of Your arm they are motionless as stone;
Until Your people pass over, O Lord,
Until the people pass over whom You have purchased.”

God did not act randomly. He acted with love to keep His people with specificity as the enemy in Canaan would be defeated one by one. He would bring them into the land and help them to conquer it. God’s ultimate purpose was to bring the people He brought out to live with Him. The mountain of inheritance was referring to Mount Zion and the city of Jerusalem where God called His dwelling place. In the Bible, Mount Zion and Jerusalem are references to God’s presence. We can see from these verses that God’s whole intention was that His people could come into His presence and enjoy Him. This is not just God’s plan for the Israelites but an indication of His plan for all of us. He wants us to come into His presence and enjoy His love. The climax of the song was for the people of God to experience His reign forever and ever. That was how Moses concluded in verse 18 saying, “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”  

As we reflect on this song of Moses, we can’t help but see a great God worthy of our praise and worship. He is the eternal and all-powerful God. He is a God of love and loyalty, seen in His faithfulness in keeping the covenant He had made with the people. He is the kind of God that we cannot afford to do without. And He will see us through till we experience His divine presence. He is all we should ever want and need. If we are to experience Him in all His fulness there is no way to do so but to personally enter into a relationship with Him. Let us make Him our strength and our song. Moses made it a point to enter into an experience of a personal relationship with God. What about us? We must make this great and glorious God our strength and our song, and He shall become our victory. It was for this reason that Miriam, Moses’ sister, also responded with timbres and dancing, inviting us to “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted.”! 

Exodus 15:1-12 – God is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving

This song tells us that God is powerful and is the strength of His children’s life. Hence, He deserves all praise and adoration. It is He who has become His people’s saviour and a warrior who will fight on their behalf. Here we see God’s mighty deliverance described. He hurled Pharaoh’s mighty army into the sea. He drowned Egypt’s elite army by bringing the water of the sea back. He had opened it to make a way for the children of Israel to walk on a dry path across the sea. The song saw the east wind that God caused to blow and walled up the water as the breath from God’s nostril. This, of course, is anthropomorphic language, i.e. using a human term to depict God. Bear in mind that without such language, it is hard for us to imagine how God is like.

This song tells us that God is powerful and is the strength of His children’s life. Hence, He deserves all praise and adoration. It is He who has become His people’s saviour and a warrior who will fight on their behalf. Here we see God’s mighty deliverance described. He hurled Pharaoh’s mighty army into the sea. He drowned Egypt’s elite army by bringing the water of the sea back. He had opened it to make a way for the children of Israel to walk on a dry path across the sea. The song saw the east wind that God caused to blow and walled up the water as the breath from God’s nostril. This, of course, is anthropomorphic language, i.e. using a human term to depict God. Bear in mind that without such language, it is hard for us to imagine how God is like.

This song also tells us that there will be an end to man’s boasting. No one should exalt himself and try to usurp the place that is reserved only for God. Pharaoh boasted and overestimated himself. In verse 9 he said to himself, “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be gratified against them; I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.” He was so blinded with rage that although he could see the hand of God behind the mighty works, yet he dared to defy the Almighty. This was the obvious reason why God dealt so drastically with him. Boasting is a display of self-centeredness and pride. Never should we for a moment try to usurp God’s role in our daily living. Instead, let us face each moment of life with complete dependence on God who alone is all knowing.  

So, verses 10 and 12 affirm that while God always resists the proud. So, these verses say unambiguously that, “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; they (the Egyptians) sank like lead in the mighty waters.” And “You stretched out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them.” No wonder in Micah 6:8, God through the prophet reminds us saying, “He (God) has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” It behoves us, therefore, to always seek to praise God and also let the fruit of thanksgiving abound in our life. He is worthy of them all!

Exodus 15:1 – Let us willingly and freely exalt our Lord

In Exodus 14, Moses described the mighty deliverance of God. How He took them out of the clutches of Pharaoh was indeed marvellous. No man could have done that. After 400 some years of hard, painful labour, the Israelites were free at last. The last verse of Exodus 14 said, “When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.” They could see that the God who had delivered them was not an ordinary God. How could the people stay still and remain unmoved in such a great moment? Of course not! So, Moses burst out into a song telling of God’s greatness and the people responded.  

Singing had always been a key activity of the creation of God. It was a common practice to sing praises to Him. Throughout the Bible, we could see that both angels and saints would sing to our glorious God in grateful response to His greatness. For example, Job 28:7 implied that the angels of God, described as the morning stars and the sons of God, shouted for joy. Yes, the angels of God sang and are still singing in the presence of God. In Revelations 15, there was a scene in heaven that John saw and he put it this way in verses 2-4: “And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and marvellous are Your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!
“Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.””

Over in the New Testament, we can see that angels, who first appeared to announce the birth of Christ, also sang. In Luke 1:46-53 Mary, the earthly mother of our Lord, recognising her supernatural conception, burst out singing exuberantly of the Lord in the great Magnificat. These and others in the Bible left us in no doubt that the God we worship deserved to be praised. And the singing of His greatness is one of the best ways to ascribe praises to this glorious God.

The song Moses and the people of Israel sang is captured in Exodus 15. It describes the great things God had done. Like Mary’s Magnificat, this poetical song leaves no doubt of God’s greatness and the great things that He had done for the children of Israel. It was the Lord who had done marvellously. How? By hurling the enemy into the sea. The song Moses and the Israelites sang summarises the whole experience of the rescue operation God had carried out to take them out of the clutches of Pharaoh. As it shall require time to slowly digest this song, we will dwell on just the first verse today. It says, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.” Throughout life, we will soon learn that the destruction of the enemy in our life is always at God’s initiation. But the praise we offer to Him must be a matter of our will and willing response. It must be out of our free will that we offer our praise. Let us never forget to respond to God in gratitude, and respond to Him freely and sing of His praise. As we consider His love and how He through Christ has lavished His love and rescued us, let us forever willingly sing of the praises of our Exalted LORD, and of His love and greatness! 

Exodus 14:21-31 – God is well able to save us

The opening and closing of the Red Sea were two of the highlights of Old Testament accounts of God’s deliverance. When the Israelites left Egypt, they did not anticipate that Pharaoh would be hot on their heels so soon. For in every household in Egypt there was death, both of their firstborn son or beast, to contend with. But with Pharaoh’s hardened and rebellious heart, it was not a surprise that before long he would pursue the children of Israel again. And he did. He followed the Israelites with his trained soldiers. All geared up in chariots they went after the Israelites, who made their way into the wilderness to offer their worship to Yahweh. As the pursuing chariots of Pharaoh and his combatant warriors drew nearer, the Israelites must have felt the tremor and the rumbling sounds of the chariots that came rushing toward them. They probably looked behind them and saw the dust rising up in a distance as a sandstorm, created by the hastening approach of the throngs of Pharaoh’s soldiers. Caught in the wilderness between the army of Pharaoh and the Red Sea, the people of Israel cried out in desperation to God and Moses. In their panic, as we have discovered, they accused the leaders, blaming Moses and Aaron for leading them to their grave in the desert.   

In those terrifying moment, Moses’ faith in Yahweh stood the test. He assured the people and told them to stand still, stay silent and watch the delivering hand of God. While he was still praying the LORD abruptly told him to stretch out his hand to begin the wonder. Twice Moses was told to stretch out his hand and twice he did and each time something miraculous happened. At the first stretch of his hand, the Red Sea parted. As he did that, Exodus 14:21-22 tell us that the Lord brought a strong east wind all night, swept the sea back and turned the sea into dry land. The water of the sea parted and created a path for the children of Israel to walk across on dry land. The water of the sea even rolled up and formed like a wall on the right and on the left of them. It was nothing short of phenomenal. In the book of Joshua, there was the parting of another body of water, the River Jordan. The second time was to allow the people to cross into the Promised land. This shows us that our God is a specialist in dealing with our dead-end situation. Praise the Lord!

We learn from Exodus 14:23-25 that unwittingly Pharaoh's hardened heart, blinded by rage, couldn’t see the sign of his impending doom. Foolishly he and his hordes of angry soldiers went in hot pursuit of the Israelites. They couldn’t see that they were up against God. Finally, they had to admit it when the LORD resisted them from advancing toward His people. They tried as rapidly as they could to turn back. Verses 24-25 describe it this way, “At the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

In verse 26 we see Moses raised up his hand a second time as he was told. And without any notice, the walled-up water of the Red Sea returned to flow as it usually did. When that happened, the water overwhelmed the pursuing force of Pharaoh, drowning the soldiers and destroying every chariot that came after the children of Israel in hot pursuit. None of the Egyptians survived, their bodies laid dead and strewn on the seashore motionless. It was a great triumph for God and His people. It left such an indelible mark in their heart that it was said that, “…the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.”

The whole episode has only one ultimate purpose i.e. to bring glory to God. Through the account, there is no denying that we serve a glorious God. In Exodus 14:4 He had explicitly said so. His exact words are, “…I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” For us Christians, Israel’s great escape from the hand of Pharaoh and Egypt formed the history of our own redemption. Like theirs, our salvation is also initiated by God. More immediately, perhaps, there are some of us who are trapped in between situations of drastic consequences. This account is a timely reminder that God still has the power to deliver and He will do it to glorify His name. So stay confident, trust God and experience His mighty deliverance.     

Exodus 14:15-20 – God is always at work amidst our circumstances

Crossing the Red Sea was an epic event in the life of the children of Israel that came out of Egypt. What’s so phenomenal about this event was the parting of the Red Sea so that the people of Israel could cross over it on dry land. To top it all, the sea closed back and destroyed the whole battalion of the pursuing army of Egypt. More than that, this epic event was a final and mighty showdown between the Sovereign LORD of Israel and the gods of Egypt. All these took place when the children of Israel were trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptians. In all human estimate, they were at the end of the road and there seemed to be no escaping a massacred. Bear in mind that the Israelites were not trained and engaging in war was something they were unaccustomed to. Whereas Pharaoh’s army had well-trained warriors and fully equipped with what was modern war gadgets at that time – the chariots. The Israelites were caught in between an unassailable army and an impenetrable sea. Nothing could save them. All they could do was to cry out to God and His prophet in utter despair. Moses’ first action was to calm the panic Israelites. He assured them that they were in the good hand of God. And that they should stand still, stay silent and watch what the LORD could do.

Exodus 14:15-16 appear as if Moses was rebuked by the LORD, who said to him, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.” In all likelihood, Moses was still engaging in intercession and seeking a way out. There is a precious lesson to be learned about prayer from here. Praying is critical, but acting after we have prayed is just as needful. After tarrying a while over a matter, we need to move out and boldly take the first few wise steps that God will reveal. Remember, after a season of prayer, it’s time to get going.

One thing to note in the destruction of the Egyptians is that God is sovereign and He is in total control of everything. The whole episode served to bring Him honor among the Egyptians so that they would know that He alone, the true God, deserved the honor. In verses 17-18, He specifically said to Moses, “As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.”

It is true that while we are stuck in the thick of our problems, God would already be at work in the midst of our circumstances. This is clearly demonstrated in verses 19-20. Notice here that while Moses was interceding on the people’s behalf and seeking a solution to their dead-end situation, God was already acting on their behalf. “The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.  So, it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus, the one did not come near the other all night.” What God was doing was stalling the advance of Pharaoh’s army. He was preventing the Egyptian army from advancing toward the Israelites.

Isn’t it comforting to know that unknown to us, God is always working on our behalf to stall the advancement of our problem while we pray and await His answer? The knowledge of this truth will help us to stay calm regardless of how relentless our storm may be. We can trust the LORD and continue to await His solution, no matter how relentless the tough situation we are caught in. What a comfort to know that the unseen hand of God is always working in our lives to sustain and benefit us, while the outcome will always bring glory to His name. We should take heart and trust God in all our circumstances. He cares and He is still in control. All glory to Him!

Exodus 14:5-14 – God never leaves us stranded when we trust Him

As God had expected, Pharaoh did pursue the children of Israel. It was as if he had awoken from a stupor. His words were, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” It appeared that they had momentarily lost sight of what was going on when he told Moses and the Israelites to get out and go. The whole labor force that built their gigantic monument were all gone. When they realized that, they lost no time in pursuing them and caught up with them near where they were camping.

Pharaoh’s hardened heart only goes to prove that at no point did he has a true change of heart. Every time he had some relief, he would return to his waywardness. This is typical of a person who would resist the Lord. Such people would even ask for prayer just to ensure some relief but deep down inside they are stubborn. This is the condition that can happen to anyone who has a sheered conscience. With every resistance to what the Lord wants us to do, our heart and conscience would be hardened into not yielding to His will. It will do us well to respond to the Holy Spirit appropriately when we are convicted of any sin in our life. Not to submit to the Spirit’s work in our life will result in a hardened conscience. This is a warning to us never to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit as He works in our life.

When the Israelites looked behind them, they saw the horde of Pharaoh’s best-equipped battalion fast approaching. The dust the horses of his chariots kicked up as they raced towards the Israelites must have created a cloud much like a sandstorm. It wouldn’t be easy to bear with such a menacing sight.  This is a picture of the devil that will not give up pursuing us. The Apostle Peter tells us in his letter that the devil is like a roaring lion, always prowling around seeking whom he may devour. Be warned that the devil is always within striking distance, waiting for us to let our guard down. In moments like this, who we focus on is important. The person the Israelites should have turned their eyes toward should be God, but disappointingly they didn’t. Trapped between Pharaoh’s advancing army and the Red Sea, they set their eyes on the pursuing army and became petrified. It is true that whenever we look at the storm of life and not to the Lord of life, we will feel threatened.

In their petrified situation, they had entirely forgotten the mighty deliverance they had experienced from the hand of God. They turned on Moses and Aaron and gripped, and complained. This is what people often do. They turn on their spiritual leaders and complain as if they were the ones who had brought on their misfortune. Their slave mentality was acting up. Isn’t this what usually happens when things don’t turn out the way people envisage it to turn out. The Lord often uses such a moment to teach us trust. If only they had turned to Him, they would have responded very differently. Like Moses, we must learn to stay calm in the face of threat. He boldly declared to the people saying, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.  The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”  

Remember that God is always on our side. When the enemy rises up against us, it is time for us to turn to God and watch His mighty delivering hand. God will never allow the enemy to swallow us up. For if the enemy can gain an upper hand when God is with us, His glory will be at stake too. He is faithful and will always give us a way of escape. When the tide of opposition rises against us, stay still and watch the salvation of God!