The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/ip2thjPu-HI
Reading
– Exodus 15:1-21
By
Dan and Brenda Cathcart
This
Torah portion includes the famous song of Moses which the Jewish people call
the Song of the Sea. It extols God’s mighty works especially those of bringing
the children of Israel across the Red Sea on dry land. Because the Torah
portion includes the reading of this song, this Sabbath is called the “Shabbat
Shirah” or the Sabbath of the Song.
The
Torah portion begins with Pharaoh sending the people out of Egypt. As Pharaoh
sent them out, God took control and led them on their journey. However, God
didn’t take the children of Israel on the easy well-traveled road up the coast
to the Promised Land. He took them on the more difficult route through the
wilderness.
Exodus 13:18 NKJV 18 So God led the
people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of
Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.
Why
didn’t God take the children of Israel along the quick and easy path to the
Promised Land? What places and events did God guide them to experience while on
their journey? What did He want the children of Israel to learn? What can we
learn from their journey?
Each
step of the journey that the children of Israel took on their way, first to Mt.
Sinai, and on to the Promised Land, was orchestrated by God. Paul tells the
Corinthians that the events experienced by the children of Israel on their way
to Mt. Sinai are an example for them.
1 Corinthians 10:11-13 NKJV 11 Now all
these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our
admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who
thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you
except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to
be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the
way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
So,
what are these lessons and how do they apply to us at the end of the ages? These
lessons began when they left Succoth, their first stop after leaving Ramses,
when the Shekinah glory first began to lead them as a pillar of cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night.
So,
why didn’t God lead them on the easy path to the Promised Land? The stated
reason is that the children of Israel might change their minds and turn back to
Egypt if they had to fight along the way.
Exodus 13:17 NKJV 17 Then it came to
pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of
the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest
perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to
Egypt."
This
well-traveled trade route up the coast along the Mediterranean Sea was
protected by forts that were put in place by the Egyptians. In order to travel
this route, the children of Israel would be constantly confronted by Egyptian
troops. The NKJV Study Bible explains:
The Egyptians had heavily fortified
this coastal route for their own defensive purposes. The people might have been
forced into battle with the Egyptians before they were prepared.[i]
Although
the route itself would have made for easy travel, the journey itself would have
been filled with battles they weren’t ready to face.
There
were, of course, several other reasons for the path that God chose for the
children of Israel. One of those reasons was that, although their final
destination was the Promised Land, they had to make a crucial stop along the
way. When God appeared to Moses at the burning bush, He told Moses that he was
to bring them to serve God on that same mountain.
Exodus 3:12 NKJV 12 So He said,
"I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have
sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on
this mountain."
Before
going into the Promised Land, Moses and Aaron were to bring the children of
Israel to meet God on the mountain where Moses first encountered God in the
burning bush and where Aaron joined Moses to accompany him back to Egypt. Mt.
Sinai was far from the coastal route to the Promised Land.
As
the children of Israel left Succoth, it seems that Moses and Aaron got lost.
They had already traveled the path to Mt. Sinai when Aaron came out to meet
Moses and again on their return to Egypt, so they knew the way. In fact, it
seems that God got lost as well. He was the one leading them with His angel and
the Shekinah glory. Instead of leading the people to the easiest place to cross
the Red Sea and, from there, on to Mt. Sinai, God led them in a wandering path
that left them trapped at the shore of the Red Sea. However, God was really
setting a trap for Pharaoh.
Exodus 14:1-3 NKJV 1 Now the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn
and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon;
you shall camp before it by the sea. 3 "For Pharaoh will say of the
children of Israel, 'They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed
them in.'
The
name Pi Hahiroth, number 6367 in Strong’s Concordance, means “the mouth of the
gorges.” God led the children of Israel to the Red Sea through a series of
gorges which opened up at the Red Sea. The children of Israel were seemingly
trapped with the Red Sea in front of them and a narrow gorge behind them.
Pharaoh could bring his armies down the gorge and the children of Israel would
have no way to escape. That’s exactly what happened, God strengthened Pharaoh’s
heart in his resolve not to let the people go after all, and seeing that the
children of Israel had trapped themselves, he set out to bring them back into
captivity—all according to God’s plan.
Exodus 14:4 NKJV 4 "Then I will
harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over
Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the
LORD." And they did so.
When
the children of Israel saw the armies of Pharaoh coming, they had to wonder
about the path that God led them on. Why would He trap them there as sheep for
the slaughter? Had God turned against them?
Exodus 14:10-11 NKJV 10 And when
Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the
Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of
Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 Then they said to Moses, "Because there
were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why
have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
Moses
didn’t know what was going to happen, but He knew that God would bring about a
miraculous deliverance. He instructed the people to stand still and witness
God’s salvation. Good advice for the most part, however, God’s deliverance
required action on their part.
Exodus 14:15-16 NKJV 15 And the LORD
said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go
forward. 16 "But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea
and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the
midst of the sea.
Moses
was to lift his rod and stretch it over the sea. This was the rod Moses used to
demonstrate God’s signs to the elders when he first returned to Egypt to demand
that Pharaoh let God’s people go to worship Him. Moses demonstrated God’s power
and authority over the sea. Just like in creation when God spoke and divided
the waters from the waters bringing forth dry ground, now He divided the waters
of the Red Sea and dry ground appeared. The children of Israel who grew into a
great nation while in Egypt, now become a new creation, a new nation. God would
bring them to Mt. Sinai to define for them what kind of nation they would be.
However,
God didn’t just want the children of Israel to cross the sea on dry ground; He
had plans for Pharaoh and his army. God strengthened their resolve to pursue
the Israelites into the sea even though they encountered the dark side of God’s
shekinah glory, even though they saw the waters of the Red Sea piled up in
heaps on either side of dry ground over which the children of Israel fled.
Exodus 14:17-18 NKJV 17 "And I
indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So
I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his
horsemen. 18 "Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I
have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his
horsemen."
The
children of Israel crossed on dry ground. But the Egyptian army that followed
them encountered the waves of water crashing back around them as Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea once more. The army of Pharaoh was
destroyed in the sea.
Exodus 14:30-31 NKJV 30 So the LORD
saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the
Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the
LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD
and His servant Moses.
God
accomplished His purpose for supposedly allowing the people to be trapped
between the gorge and sea. He attained honor over Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt,
and He, also, caused the people to fear Him and believe Him.
This
fear and faith were reflected in the song that Moses led the children in
singing after they crossed the Red Sea.
Exodus 15:1 NKJV 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!
The
song concludes as the children of Israel look forward to God taking them into
the Promised Land! They equate crossing the Red Sea to crossing over into the
land.
Exodus 15:15-16 NKJV 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.
You
would think that the lesson had been learned. It should be easy traveling to
Mt. Sinai now that they had crossed the sea and Pharaoh’s army was destroyed.
However, God knew that the people had more to learn. He led them three days
into the wilderness and brought them to a watering hole that for some reason
had been fouled. They couldn’t drink the water. At the Red Sea, they faced an insurmountable
army; now they faced an enemy that couldn’t be fought. They faced the lack of
water.
Exodus 15:23 NKJV 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.
For
a second time, the children of Israel feared that they would die. If they drank
the water available to them, they would surely get sick and die. However, once
again, God had planned this ahead of time. He told Moses to throw a tree into
the water.
Exodus 15:25-26 NKJV 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."
God
associated the bitter waters with the plagues He had used to bring judgment on
Egypt. After the elation they experienced when they crossed the Red Sea, would
they remember to serve God or would they turn back to the gods of Egypt? Would
they continue to listen to God’s voice and follows His commandments and
statutes which they would receive in detail at Mt. Sinai?
God
continued to lead the children of Israel on a steady pace to Mt. Sinai. Exactly
one month after leaving Egypt, the stores of food that they had brought with
them began to run low. How would they get enough food to feed over two million
people? Up until now, the children of Israel had relied on their own stores of
food. Now, they would learn to look to God.
Exodus 16:4 NKJV 4 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.
Moses
will later explain the nature of this test. God was testing not only if they
would come to rely on Him each day, but that they would listen to His voice
each day.
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 NKJV 2 "And you
shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in
the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart,
whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "So He humbled you,
allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did
your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread
alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Yeshua
quoted this passage in Deuteronomy when He was tempted in the wilderness by
Satan. Yeshua demonstrated that He listened to God’s voice at all times. When
Yeshua taught His disciples to pray, He told them to ask each day for bread.
The daily bread we are to ask for is not just food for our bodies, but food for
our souls. We are to listen to God’s words every day.
The
next trial the children of Israel experienced once again had to do with water.
This time it isn’t bitter waters, but no water at all! God dealt with bitter
water and lack of food, now He deals with lack of water.
Exodus 17:5-6 NKJV 5 And the LORD said
to Moses, "Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders
of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and
go. 6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you
shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may
drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Moses
was to gather together the elders of the people to witness how God would
provide the water of life. In front of the people, Moses was to take his staff
that he used to strike the Nile River and turn its water into blood; this time,
he was to use the staff to strike a rock. When Moses strikes the rock, God
would be standing on it, and water would flow out from the rock.
Yeshua
said that it was necessary for Him to be struck.
Luke 24:46 NKJV 46 Then He said to
them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
Yeshua
said that drinking the water that He provides is to drink from the Living
Water.
John 4:13-14 NKJV 13 Jesus answered
and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14
"but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water
springing up into everlasting life."
When
God provided water from the rock, He addressed their physical thirst. Even
though God demonstrated His presence through the pillars of cloud and fire, the
children of Israel had begun to question whether God was really with them.
Exodus 17:7 NKJV 7 So he called the
name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children
of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among
us or not?"
God’s
answer to this question was to allow the Amalekites to attack them while they
were there at the same place where God had provided water. Moses chose Joshua
to lead the armies of Israel against the Amalekites, but the battle really
wasn’t Joshua’s to win or lose. Moses was to stand over the battle with his
staff in his hand and his arms raised. As long as Moses stood with arms raised,
the children of Israel prevailed. When Moses’ arms dropped, the Israel’s were
beaten back. With the help of Aaron and Hur, Moses was able to keep his arms
raised until Joshua defeated the Amalekites.
Exodus 17:14-16 NKJV 14 Then the LORD
said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in
the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven." 15 And Moses built an altar and called its name,
The-LORD-Is-My-Banner; 16 for he said, "Because the LORD has sworn: the
LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."
What
is the ongoing fight with Amalek? This battle was in answer to question, “Is
the LORD among us?” God demonstrated through victory over Amalek that He was
with them. Moses built an altar there and called the altar “Yehovah nissi,”
meaning “The LORD Is My Banner.” Yes, the LORD is among us. Every time we fight
against those who would prevent us from continuing on our journey to the
Promised Land, we can know that God is among us. He is our banner if we look up
to see Him, like the children of Israel looked up to see Moses on the hill with
his staff in his hand and arms raised.
God
didn’t take the children of Israel on the quick path to the Promised Land. They
needed to learn to fear God and have confidence that He could defeat the armies
of the Canaanites. They needed to be reminded that God rewards those who seek His
righteousness and punishes those who do evil. They needed to know that God
would provide for the physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. And
underlying all of these events is the promise of the greater Messiah to come. God
is among His people. Let us sing the Song of the Sea together with Moses and
the children of Israel.
Study
Questions:
2.
What is the connection between the bitter
waters at Marah and the plagues on Egypt? How is this a lesson to the children
of Israel?
3. How were the manna and the water from the rock providing for both physical and spiritual needs? How does Yeshua refer to the manna and the water (John 6:22-40, John 7:37-39)?
General
Portion Questions
4.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. How is Paul referring
to the journey of the children of Israel to Mt. Sinai? What did Paul say the
journey was to teach them? How are these things an example to us?
5.
How does the Song of the Sea reflect the
children of Israel’s newfound fear of God and faith in His deliverance (Exodus
14:31-15:21)?
6.
What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in
this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
©
2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.
[i] NKJV
Study Bible. General Editor Earl D. Radmacher, Th.D. Thomas Nelson
Publishers. ©1997,
2007 Thomas Nelson, Inc. Page 111.
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