Contributor: Ayomide Oladipo
INTRODUCTION
In our last study of Exodus chapters 13 and 14, we learnt about 2 significant incidents in the journey of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Promise Land. In chapter 13 our teacher took us through 3 important concepts; Consecration, Remembrance and God's Guidance. We learnt according to I Corinthians 5:7 “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” that we are not living for ourselves but for Christ. Just like the firstborn of Israel were spared from the destruction in Egypt, and they were urged to remember it continually, God is also urging us today to live in the consciousness that it’s no longer us that live but Christ that lives in us. This consciousness gives us an assurance of the presence of God with us. It teaches us that “we are not navigating life alone. God goes before us, even when He leads us the long way, because He knows what we need.”
In chapter 14, we saw the great deliverance of Israel from the hands of the army of Egypt. God parted the Red Sea, lead His children through by His presence and destroyed the Egyptian army in the sea by His great power. This tell us that our God is dependable even in hopeless situations.
In our study today, we will be looking at the response of the children of Israel following the great deliverance at the Red sea.
THE SONG OF SALVATION: WORSHIP AS OUR FIRST RESPONSE
Following the destruction of the army of Egypt, there was a great calm in the camp of the children of Israel. The prophesy Moses gave in Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, standstill, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.” Has now come to pass.
Israel saw the mighty deliverance of God; this deliverance gave them a deeper revelation of who God is. This knowledge of God became their songs of worship to God.
1. THE PEOPLE THAT DO KNOW THEIR GOD – VERSES 1-8
In “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. 2. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation; 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 host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the red sea. 5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. 6 Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. 7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sent forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. 8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.”
Moses and the children of Israel sang to God. Their songs were not mere songs, they were deep revelations of the different dimensions of God. They acknowledged that it was the Lord that defeated Egypt’s horses and their riders. Israel sang to God knowing they could not have fought the war themselves, this speaks of the Jehovah Nissi dimension of God.
God is not passive about defending His children, our God is a compassionate and merciful God, but when it comes to defending us His children, the Lord is a man of war, Isaiah 59:19 “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”
God is not a waster, every experience He takes us through, is because there is something about Himself He wants to reveal to us. Daniel 11:32: “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.”
As believers when we go through challenging times, we often ask ourselves, ‘why Lord?’, ‘Why me?’, and sometime the devil whispers defeat and discouraging words. We must understand that God’s system of bring His children into more depth with Him is to give them revelations of Himself, and those revelations often come during trying times.
2 Corinthians 4:16 – 18 “16. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
2. DEEP REFLECTION IN WORSHIP - VERSES 9-13
“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. 10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? 12 Thou stretched out thy right hand; the earth swallowed them.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.”
The worship the children of Israel raised to God were deep and very thoughtful. The more they worshiped God;
a) The more they understood (The situation): Worship gave them a new perspective, physically, there was no record of a conversation between the host of Egypt and Israel, but while they worshipped, they caught a revelation of the conversations that pharaoh had with his armies in Exodus 14: 5-8 when they pursued the children of Israel after they had left. The intensity of worship they gave to God produced deeper revelation of what had just happened to them. Prophet Elisha also used this principle as well when the king of Moab came against Israel, Judah, and Edom. Prophet Elisha revealed there would be a miraculous supply of water and victory When the allied army faces a water shortage in the desert.
2 Kings 3: 15-16 “But now bring me a musician. Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 And he said, thus says the Lord: Make this valley full of ditches. 17 For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.”
b) Worship exalts God above our circumstances and magnifies the power of God in us. This teaches us that the more we worship the more revelation we get and the more revelation we get the more faith is built in us.
c) The more they knew God and His Power: Vs 11 and 12 shows the children of Israel began to worship God personally, their worship crystalised the power and the greatness of God within them. They attested to the glory and the holiness of God, their worship magnified the Glory of God among them. They also testified of His power, this are revelation about God that worship revelled to them and will revel to us as we engage this mystery in our walk with God.
d) The more they knew God’s character: One of the core characters of God is that He is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger Exodus 34:5; Psalm 103:8. In Vs 13 we saw the children of Israel acknowledge Gods mercy.
3. PROPHESYING IN WORSHIP – VERSES 14-21
“14 The people shall hear and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. 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. 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. 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. 18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. 19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them, sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”
As the children of Israel worshipped, the spirit of prophesy came upon them. The words that had been spoken were not apparent but prophetic words as they worshipped God. Worship brings us to the holy of holies where revelation knowledge of God is in abundance. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah as Jehosaphat was worshipping and praying to God when 3 nations came against them and Jahaziel prophesised their victory and how to get the victory - 2 Chronicles 20
As we worship God, we programme our reality through speaking, and we can’t speak accurately unless we see accurately by the Spirit of God. Worship brings and surrounds us with the presence of God.
4. THE WRONG RESPONSE: MURMURING – VERSES 22-27
“22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore, the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? 25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them 26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that heals thee. 27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.”
Three days after the spectacular experience they had at the Red sea, the children of Israel encountered a new challenge that made them to quickly question God. But we could see that God showed them mercy. God was more determined to reveal Himself to them as provider than punishing them for their murmuring.
CONCLUSION
As believers, we must have a settled assurance of God as our Father and a good Father, murmuring shows us there is something about God they we don’t know. Worship is more than songs, it is more than the sound of cymbals and orchestras, worship is a surrender. Our worship to God must go beyond what we feel, it must be rooted in our knowledge of Him. Worship is a weapon of warfare, any situation we find ourselves, our first response must be worship, this immediately invites the presence of God into that situation which become our salvation out of such situation. In all things we must cultivate the act of worship.
