The Lord saved them! Circumstances appeared that they would be slaughtered by swords and spears but the Lord intervened. The ones who had destroyed their every hope for normalcy for 400 years were truly gone never to rise again.
In Revelation 20:10, the devil, the end-times “beast” or antichrist and his false prophet are cast into the lake of fire forever and ever. That will be an even greater victory for humanity.
The Bible includes lyrics to two songs which Moses composed: his victory song in Exodus 15:1-19 and his farewell song in Deuteronomy 32:1-43.
Revelation 15:2 speaks of “those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name.” This group stands beside “a sea of glass mingled with fire.” In Revelation 15:3, they “sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” The Lamb is Christ.
Moses represents the Law which convicts us of our sin. The Lamb represents the Gospel which gives to us an unmerited remedy for our sin. Jesus Christ took the sin and guilt of the entire human race upon Himself and nailed it to the cross. He resurrected victorious over sin, death and the devil, and He gives His victory to all who believe in Him and profess Him.
Thus, the saints in glory sing to God for giving them the victory over the Beast. The Beast like all cruel tyrants before him was an embodiment of Satan. He humiliated, harassed, hurt and harmed believers and professors of God, but he lost the battle for their souls. Jesus saved them.
When God defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea, the surrounding nations trembled. In Joshuas 2:9–10, a citizen of Jericho told two Hebrews, “The fear of you has fallen upon us. All the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.” When God defeats all evil, the nations will fear and worship Him. That is what the saints declare in their new song.
Why do I sing to the Lord? Out of obligation? Because I like to sing? Moses sang to the Lord because the Lord triumphed gloriously! God took the army that no one on earth could defeat at that time and threw them into the sea where they sank to the bottom like a stone.
According to Biblical prophecy in Jeremiah 51:63-64 and Revelation 18:21, Babylon is described as sinking “like a stone” or a great millstone, symbolizing total, violent, and permanent destruction. Babylon is a code word for Satan’s kingdom. Satan’s evil empire will eventually fall, never to rise again.
“Your right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, has dashed the enemy in pieces. 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. 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. 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.’ You blew with Your wind. The sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.” Exodus 15:6-10
God’s right hand is glorious in power. In Acts 2:33, Peter preached that Jesus Christ was “exalted to the right hand of God.” In Romans 8:34, Paul wrote, “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” In Hebrews 1:3, the writer of Hebrews wrote that after Christ, “purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Moses sang of God overthrowing those who rose against Him. God is better at overthrowing foes than Bruce Lee, the Jeet Kune Do (截拳道), master. 1 John 3:8 says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand. The earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed. You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.” Exodus 15:11-13
No one is like the Lord. Psalm 113:4 says, “The Lord is supreme over all the nations. His glory reaches to the skies. No one is like the Lord our God, who rules from heaven.”
The Lord caused the earth to swallow up the Pharaoh and his army. In Genesis 3:19, after Adam sinned, God told him, “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.” The first Adam brought death due to sin, but the second Adam, Christ, brought salvation. Only in Christ does death become the portal into a life of happiness forevermore. Israel was saved from being swallowed up by death in that moment due to God’s mercy and redeeming love towards them.
“The people will hear and be afraid. Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. 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. 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. 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. The Lord shall reign forever and ever. 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 15:14-19
Moses is prophesying by the Spirit of the Lord in these stanzas of his song. The defeat of the Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites and Canaanites are next. What will those kingdoms do when the God of Israel comes their way? They are afraid. They are dismayed. The fear and dread of Israel comes upon them as they receive the news of what Israel’s God did to Egypt.
“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. 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
Exodus 6:20 states that Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Before they married, did they ever see themselves as becoming the parents of three outstanding children with prophetic gifts? Our Heavenly Father was very gracious to them.
Miriam was the older sister of Moses. She kept a watchful eye on the basket of baby Moses as he floated in it on the river towards the palace of the princess of Egypt. She offered to help the princess with her newly adopted baby boy by recruiting a Hebrew woman (her own mother) to nurse the infant. Now, Miriam is rejoicing in the Lord with timbrel in hand and dances with her feet. The Lord has triumphed gloriously!
Miriam must have been happy that God used her little brother Moses, the baby whose life she helped to save, to save her nation from annihilation.
“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. 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. And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ 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, 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.’” Exodus 15:22-26
What should we do when bitter circumstances come our way? Wallow in bitterness? No, turn the bitterness over to the Lord. Psalm 30:11-12 says, “You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.”
Moses cast a tree into the bitter waters and the bitter waters became sweet. The tree symbolizes the cross of Christ. We bring the bitterness that sin has brought to us to the cross of Jesus, where He forgave us, and where He gives us the grace to forgive those who sinned against us. Jesus sweetens our disposition by His grace and by the power of His Holy Spirit.
The Lord promised to put none of the diseases on the Israelites that He put on the Egyptians. The Lord plagued the Egyptians each time they hardened their hearts against His Word.
When Israel complained about the bitter waters, they did not heed God’s voice. They heeded the voice of a stranger. They behaved like pagans. They flunked the first test of faith, but God still provided for them via grace. The tree (the cross) symbolized Christ.
“And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the 15th day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, ‘O, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’ Then, the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.’” Exodus 16:1-5
The Israelites had lots of gold, silver and fancy clothes with them from the Egyptians, but these items were of little benefit to them in the wilderness. They could not eat or drink them. Moses and Aaron likely had as many as 2.5 million people in their entourage. The whole group of them begin to accuse Moses and Aaron of trying to kill them.
Thankfully, the Lord immediately spoke with Moses. He told Moses that He would rain bread on them. But there was a catch... they could only collect enough food for a day except for on the sixth day. On the sixth day they could collect for two days, so they could rest on the seventh day.
The Lord wanted to test their faith in Him. Would they trust Him to keep delivering food to them on a daily basis or doubt Him?
“Then, Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, ‘At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we, that you complain against us?’ Also Moses said, ‘This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.’” Exodus 16:7-8
Moses and Aaron set a good example for spiritual leaders. They pointed people back to God. They were not their saviors. God brought them out of Egypt. Moses and Aaron asked them, “What are we?” In other words, we are people just like you. God is God and we are not. The people needed to look to God not to them. God promised them meat and bread.
“Then, Moses spoke to Aaron, ‘Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ Now, it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, at twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” Exodus 16:9-12
As Aaron spoke, God brought glory clouds over them.
“So it was that quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So, when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’” Exodus 16:13-16
God was way ahead of drone technology. He brought them meat in the evening and bread in the morning. Food was all around them. Moses issued limits on how much each should gather.
“Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So, when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. And Moses said, ‘Let no one leave any of it till morning.’ Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So, they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.” Exodus 16:17-21
Everyone had enough! Praise the Lord! Sadly, some tried to scam God, but their greed turned to worms and stench.
In Mark 9:43-44, Jesus warned His listeners, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”
“And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then, he said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ So, they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. Then Moses said, ‘Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.’” Exodus 16:22-26
In Mark 2:27, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” He spoke these words to the Pharisees to explain that the Sabbath is a blessing meant for human rest and refreshment, rather than to enslave people to legalistic rules. In Mark 2:28, Jesus affirmed His authority over its observance, saying, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Thus, the Lord provided a double portion for Israel on the sixth day. [1]
“Now, it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath. Therefore, He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.’ So, the people rested on the seventh day.” Exodus 16:27-30
Disobedience to God’s commands has been our race’s continual short-coming. We should start every day with prayer that God will keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil AND give us His grace and His Holy Spirit to think, say and do the things that bring HIM glory.
“And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Then, Moses said, ‘This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ And Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.’ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel ate manna 40 years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. Now, an omer is a tenth of an ephah.” Exodus 16:31-36
In Hebrews 9:4, the writer wrote of the golden jar that held the manna. The preservation of this manna from waste and corruption was a standing miracle, and therefore the more proper memorial of this miraculous food. “Posterity shall see the bread,” says God, “wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness.” The manna never ceased till they came to the borders of Canaan, where there was bread enough and to spare. [2]
In John 6:49-51, Christ is the bread of life of which manna symbolized. In Matthew 4:4, the devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus had not ate for 40 days. He was very hungry, but He told the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” In Revelation 2:17, Jesus speaks of the hidden manna. Jesus is the manna! He is hidden throughout the Scriptures, but when we ask Him, He makes Himself known to us in them. He satisfies our souls. He brings our flesh into submission so that it glorifies God.
[1] Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary: content. Google Sources: express succinctly
[2] Matthew Henry Commentary
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