The Book of Exodus

Explanation

The moment the enemy is drowned, redemption breaks into music. This is the first recorded song in the Bible, and it is a song of salvation, sung "unto the LORD." Its theme is not Israel's courage but God's triumph: "he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." At its heart stands the confession, "The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation." God was not only their rescuer; He had become their salvation, personally theirs. So they resolve, "I will prepare him an habitation ... and I will exalt him." The song then recounts the victory: Pharaoh's chariots cast into the sea, the captains drowned, the enemy sinking "as a stone," God's "right hand" glorious in power, His wrath consuming the foe like stubble. Every line lifts the eyes off the delivered and onto the Deliverer.

Gospel Focus

Redemption makes a people sing. There was no song in Egypt, only the groaning of slaves; but on the far side of the sea the redeemed lift their voices. So it is with salvation: God "hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God" (Psalm 40:3). And notice the note the song strikes, "he is become my salvation." It is not enough to know that God saves in general; faith says "my salvation," making the great deliverance personal. The same confession echoes down the Scriptures: "The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation" (Psalm 118:14). This is the language of a heart that has been through the sea. When God has truly brought us out, we do not merely admire His power; we sing that He has become ours. The redeemed of the Lord are a singing people, and their song is not about themselves but about the LORD who triumphed for them.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

The song sets the enemy's boasting against God's power. The enemy had said, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil ... my hand shall destroy them", six proud "I wills." But God simply "didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead." All the enemy's boasting was undone by a breath. Then rises the great question, "Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" None compares to Him. The song looks forward too: God "in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed," and will bring them to "thy holy habitation" and plant them "in the mountain of thine inheritance." The nations, Palestina, Edom, Moab, Canaan, will hear and melt with fear. And it crowns everything with the eternal truth: "The LORD shall reign for ever and ever."

Gospel Focus

"Who is like unto thee, O LORD?" This is the cry of true worship: the incomparable greatness of the one God. The idols of Egypt had just been judged, and there was no rival left standing. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity" (Micah 7:18), glorious in holiness, awesome in the praises of His people, alone doing wonders. And the song ends where all history ends: "The LORD shall reign for ever and ever." The reign of God is the last word. It is no accident that this very song is sung again at the end of the Bible, where the redeemed stand by a sea of glass and sing "the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb" (Revelation 15:3), for the God who reigned at the Red Sea is the God who reigns at the end, and "the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Revelation 19:6). The One who has no equal, who drowned the enemy with a breath, reigns for ever, and His redeemed will be singing His praise when time is no more.

Hebrew Study

Explanation

After recalling that "the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots ... into the sea" while "the children of Israel went on dry land," the praise overflows into the whole camp. Miriam, called "the prophetess" and "the sister of Aaron," takes a timbrel, and "all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances." Miriam leads them in answering the men's song with the same refrain: "Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously." The worship is not the private act of one leader but the joyful response of the entire redeemed people, men and women together, lifting music and dance to the God who saved them. Deliverance had made them a congregation of praise.

Gospel Focus

The praise of the redeemed is meant to be shared. It began with Moses and the men, and it spread through Miriam to all the women, until the whole camp was singing and rejoicing. Worship is contagious; one grateful heart kindles many. Here is a picture of the gathered people of God giving thanks together, "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). God gives His people gladness, and it is right that redemption be celebrated with the whole heart and the whole congregation. The same God who split the sea deserves not a quiet, private nod but the full-throated, joyful praise of all His people. When we consider what the Lord has done, holding back our praise is a strange thing indeed; the redeemed at the sea did not, and neither should we.

Explanation

The song was barely finished. Israel goes "three days in the wilderness, and found no water," and when they reach Marah, the water is too bitter to drink. So soon after the mountaintop, they meet a bitter valley, and "the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?" Moses cries to the LORD, who "shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet." There God gave them "a statute and an ordinance," and "proved them," tested their hearts, promising that if they would hearken and obey, "I will put none of these diseases upon thee ... for I am the LORD that healeth thee." From Marah they journey to Elim, "where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees," a place of rest and abundance. God led them through the bitter place to the springs beyond.

Gospel Focus

Marah teaches that the road of the redeemed has bitter places, and often soon after great triumphs. Within three days of the Red Sea song, Israel faced undrinkable water. The Christian life is not one unbroken victory; God leads us through Marahs to prove us, to see whether we will trust and obey when the water turns bitter. And the cure is beautiful: a tree cast into the bitter waters made them sweet. The tree points to the cross, for "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). When the tree of Calvary is cast into the bitter waters of our lives, they are made sweet; there is no bitterness the cross cannot heal. And at Marah God reveals Himself as "the LORD that healeth thee," the God "who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:3), healer of body and soul. Then He brings them to Elim, twelve wells and seventy palms. God never leaves His people at Marah. He leads them through the testing to the springs beyond, for the bitter place is a passage, not a home.