The Song of Moses and Miriam (Exodus 15: 1-27/3443)
After every mountain, there is a valley. That's obviously true physically, but is it also true spiritually. After every spiritual victory, is there is usually a challenging situation. Well, there is certainly one of those recorded in Exodus chapter 15 for us. As you know, in chapter 14, we have the Exodus. That has got to be one of the highest mountain peaks in all of the Bible, as far as the Old Testament is concerned. Among Jews, it is the mountain top, the highest mountain in all of the Old Testament. But the Exodus from Egypt is huge in both the Old Testament and in Judaism today. That's the mountain. What happens after that? Well, that takes us to chapter 15.
This is a long chapter. There's a lot in here, but what I want to point out before we even look at the first verse is that the first 19 verses are a song. Then, immediately after that, in verses 20 and 21, there is, believe it or not, a dance. Then, beginning in verse 23 and going to the end of this chapter, there's what I'm going to call the valley. The first part of the passage, the song, and the dance might be described as the mountain top experience. They've just gone through the Exodus, and they then sing and dance. It's a great high, so to speak. Then there is the low
So, let's begin by looking at the song. As I mentioned, the song goes from verse one through verse 19. It has been divided into three stanzas. Verses one to five is a stanza, six through 11 is a stanza, and 12 through 17 is the third stanza. Verses 18 and 19 have been called the conclusion. So, let's piece this together. Let's go through the song stanza by stanza.
1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying:
“I will sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!
2 The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation;
He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
3 The Lord is a man of war; The Lord is His name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone.
6 "Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces."
(Exodus 15: 1-6)
That's the first stanza. In this stanza, we are told what the Lord has done and, who He is.
The next stanza also talks about what He's done but doesn't quite focus on who He is quite like this stanza does. This stanza focusses more on "Who He Is" or "What He Is." In number figures are used. And then, the next stanza is "What He's Done." The third stanza is "What He Will Do in the Future." Let’s consider the first Stanza.
Notice a couple of things. First, we see Moses and the Israelites sing a song of praise to the Lord. This act of singing to the Lord is significant, as it reflects the biblical instruction to sing to the Lord and minister to one another through music. Those are the two passages in the New Testament that talk about singing in church. And in both passages, we are to sing to the Lord, and we are to teach and admonish one another. Really interesting concept. We are singing to the Lord, and it's corporate, it's a group singing. And so, in that, we're doing that, we are ministering to one another. The song acknowledges that the Lord has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea, symbolizing the deliverance of Israel from the oppression of Pharaoh. That’s also significant because back in chapter one, Pharaoh had all the babies thrown into the sea. So, what they did to Israel, the Lord now does to them.
The phrase "the Lord is his name" i.e., Yahweh/Jehovah emphasizes that the name of the Lord is known, unlike in some ancient pagan religions where the deity's name remained secret. Many of the Egyptian deities the name of the god was only known by the high priest. Thereby the opening stanza focuses on the character of the Lord, highlighting His triumph, strength, and salvation as demonstrated through the Exodus. The destruction of Pharaoh's army further exemplifies the power and victory of the Lord. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the song, emphasizing who the Lord is and His mighty deeds.
The second stanza begins in verse seven,
7 And in the greatness of Your excellence
You have overthrown those who rose against You;
You sent forth Your wrath;
It consumed them like stubble.
8 And with the blast of Your nostrils
The waters were gathered together;
The floods stood upright like a heap;
The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue,
I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall be satisfied on them.
I will draw my sword,
My hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with Your wind,
The sea covered them;
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
This stanza focuses more on what the Lord has done. This stanza emphasizes the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, highlighting the Lord's power. The imagery of the Lord using His breath or wind to part the sea and drown the Egyptians is mentioned in verses 8 and 10. The Lord is portrayed as the destroyer of His enemies and is praised as incomparable and glorious in holiness. He concludes in verse 11, "Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" So, we sing to the Lord, and we still today sing His praises.
The history of church music is very fascinating to me. In Europe for the first 1500 years, up until the Protestant Reformation, they just chanted, no instruments, they just chanted. In 680, Gregory was the bishop in Rome, and he decided to franchise church music, so that all of it had to sound the same. And so, he took the chanting of mainly Psalms out of the monasteries, put it into churches, and we got what was called, the Gregorian chant, and that dominated church music from 600 AD to the Protestant Reformation, which is the first part of 1500. Then they ventured out a little and started singing the Psalms, and other biblical passages.
Then there was a man that came along named Isaac Watts. And he complained that if all we did was sing the Psalms, we would never be singing anything about Jesus. And his father said, "If you can do better, do it." And so, he started writing what we today call hymns. So, we went from chanting to Psalms to hymns, and those hymns, many believe are some of the greatest songs written in church history. That period goes from about 1700 to about 1850. And in fact, there were churches as late as 1850 that still solely singing hymns. Then D.L. Moody came along, added a song, called "To my risk," to the church list of hymns and some would say the first Christian song was written.
Then an Irish lady named Fanny Crosby. And she started writing songs that were radically different than anything the church had ever experienced. They were songs of testimony. "I Surrender All," "This Is My Story," "Blessed Assurance," "Jesus Is Mine." Now, the hymns had titles like, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "On which the Prince of Glory died." Their songs have testimonies, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. So, we shifted from talking about the Lord to talking about us, and that dominated church music from about 1875 to about—and these are very rough dates—1975.
But something started to happen in the latter part of the '60s and the first part of the '70s in churches? It was the effect of pop culture and younger people started showing up in church and they introduced a new kind of music. It was called praise music. So now we’ve had the next major shift in church music, and a guy called Chuck Smith started a publishing company called Maranatha! Music, with an exclamation point after music. And the churches began to sing praise music.Top of Form
Bottom of Form
That basically is now the style of music sung in churches all over the world today. Now, within that genre, there are different styles, but the basic idea is we have returned to singing praises to the Lord. Most churches had limited the organ and the hymns, and they replaced it with over with the words of him overhead projector, a bass guitar, keyboard, and drums, all of which are instruments mentioned in their earliest forms in the Psalms. What I am saying is the old hymns are great, and you may prefer them, but you cannot argue that the new styles of worship aren’t Biblical. In fact, in 1410-20 Martin Luther took the pop music of his day, the songs sung in the drinking taverns and re-wrote them as Christian songs. I’m not suggesting is there is nothing wrong with any style of music except it's is too self-centred, remember whatever we sing in whatever style should be sung unto the Lord. Whether it is "How Great Thou Art", or King of Kings by Hillsong as long as it is a song to the Lord it’s OK in my book. "How great Thou art." So, they’re writing music today that is addressed to the Lord, to be sung to Him. And that is exactly what’s going on in and in this stanza. They are singing to the Lord, and they are singing His praise
We’ve concentrated in the first stanza on who He is, what He is, a man of war. In the second stanza, it focuses more on what He did in destroying the Egyptians. The third stanza focuses on what He is going to do. Look at verse 12.
12 You stretched out Your right hand;
The earth swallowed them.
13 You in Your mercy have led forth
The people whom You have redeemed;
You have guided them in Your strength
To Your holy habitation.
14 “The people will hear and be afraid;
Sorrow[c] will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed;
The mighty men of Moab,
Trembling will take hold of them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.
16 Fear and dread will fall on them;
By the greatness of Your arm
They will be as still as a stone,
Till Your people pass over, O Lord,
Till the people pass over
Whom You have purchased.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
In the mountain of Your inheritance,
In the place, O Lord, which You have made
For Your own dwelling,
The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
18 “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”
19 For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
(Exodus 15: 12-19)
In the beginning of their journey to the promised land, the Israelites anticipate future challenges and express their confidence in the Lord's ability to conquer them. They acknowledge that they will eventually reach their inheritance, which aligns with the New Testament teachings of moving towards victory and our ultimate inheritance. The conclusion of the song affirms the Lord's eternal reign and recounts the drowning of Pharaoh's army. While the Kingdom is mentioned, it is explained that there is a present universal Kingdom where God reigns, and a future Davidic Kingdom that will be established with Jesus' return. The song holds significance as a powerful expression of praise and is still sung in some synagogues today. After the song, Miriam leads the women in a joyful dance, celebrating the Lord's triumph and victory over Pharaoh's army. So, the first 19 verses were song verses.
Verse 20 and 21 says something shocking.
20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
21 And Miriam answered them:
“Sing to the Lord,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!”
(Exodus 15: 20-21)
The text says Miriam and all the women danced; they were dancing. But the shocking thing to me is not the dance. David danced before the Lord, right? What’s the shock in verse 20? Miriam, the prophetess. Wow. This is the first time in the Old Testament, first in the Bible, that a woman is said to be a prophet. She’s a prophetess. She’s not the last, but this indicates that she’s some kind of a leader.
Micah chapter 6 tells us also that the women prophesied. It’s specifically said in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and it’s specifically mentioned in the book of Acts that Philip had four daughters who prophesied. So, women in the Bible were prophets, and the definition of the prophet according to the Old Testament is getting direct revelation from the Lord. So that’s the shock. The idea that God makes women second-class citizens isn’t true.
Alright, let me make a couple of observations about the dancing. At this point, Moses is 80 years old. We know that from other passages. And we know that Aaron was a few years older than he was, so he was 83. And Miriam was probably in her 90s. And we know that because she was a little girl when Moses was born. So, here’s a 90-year-old lady, let’s be frank she’s an old lady, and she danced, and she sang." The text continues, closing section.
Bitter Waters Made Sweet.
22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.
There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so, they camped there by the waters.
(Exodus 15: 22-27)
When they came to Mara, they could not drink the waters there because it was bitter. Mara is a Hebrew word that means bitter.'
What have they just witnessed, the Exodus, right? They saw God part the Red Sea. Does He have power over water? Could He produce water at will? Of course, he could. But instead of believing in that we see the Israelites complain against Moses, expressing their dissatisfaction with the lack of water. This demonstrates their tendency to always grumble and complain. Despite witnessing a powerful manifestation of God's power just three days earlier, the Israelites quickly forget and begin complaining again. This pattern of forgetting God's goodness after a short time I would suggest that even today many believers tend to forget His blessings all too soon. Moses then cries out to the Lord, and the Lord then shows him a tree that, when thrown into the bitter waters, makes them sweet. This whole incident stands as a test for the Israelites, as they are faced with the choice of trusting the Lord or continuing to complain, and as usual they complained.
In verse 26, the Lord sets forth the conditions for the Israelites to receive His protection from diseases, which again is meant to emphasizing the importance of diligently listening to and following His commandments. This verse is sometimes misconstrued by prosperity preachers to imply that sickness is not God's will, but its context refers specifically to the diseases brought upon them by the Egyptians, so it would appear by following Egyptian practices they put themselves at risk of catching diseases normally associated with the Egyptian people.
The Lord provides then provide Israelites with twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees for their camp, signifying His provision and refreshing for them. The passage emphasizes the contrast between the mountain and the valley, the bitter and the sweet, highlighting the ups and downs of life. It encourages us to learn from the experiences of the Israelites and to trust God as our ultimate provider. The mention of Mara, meaning "bitter," and the suggestion of the tree many take as a symbol of Calvary connect the bitter experiences of life with the redemptive work of Christ.
In summary, this closing section of Exodus 15 depicts the Israelites transitioning from a mountaintop experience to a valley of complaining. It teaches us the lesson of trusting the Lord instead of complaining after experiencing victories. Life is shown to consist of both mountainous highs and challenging valleys.
So, after the mountain, there is a valley. That's a method of God dealing with the Israelites as His people, a method He frequently employs. It stands out clearly in this instance. God did not lead the Israelites around every difficulty. Instead, He led them into many difficulties. But he still did lead them.
That's a hard truth for some to accept. Someone once said, 'They found that the path of God's leading is not one of constant luxury and ease but rather a narrow way which is thorny and full of fiery trials’.
There are mountaintop experiences, granted, but after the mountain, there is often the valley.' But remember to look at from the other perspective as well. If you are currently in the valley there will be another high further along the path, another mountain top to aspire to because after the valley, there is always mountain.
The Lord provided deliverance for them in their valley and through that deliverance he caused the children of Israel to learn to look to Him for the supply of their needs. Therefore, if you just had a good week, you need to remember that when you are on the mountain top, remember what might be next? What you need to do is learn the lesson on the mountaintop and carry it with you into the valley. Namely, after a great victory on the mountaintop, you gotta remember that, remember that although the joy on the mountaintop does not guarantee you won’t be in the valley again, it does mean you can in some sense carry that victory through the valley. But the choice you need to make is an active choice to remember and credit the Lord for what he has done in your life and then take that mountaintop experience with you into the valley. Praise God!"