At the Red Sea, the all-powerful God employed his power to separate and rescue his people so they might fear and believe him. But what now? What response must an act like this elicit?
Observation of Exodus 15:1-21
Most repeated words: Lord (14 times), sea (9x), hand (6), people (6), like (5), glorious (4), sing/sang (4)
- While the previous chapter drew attention through repetition to Egypt, this chapter returns our attention back to the Lord, Yahweh (14 times).
- Miriam took a tambourine in her hand (Ex 15:20), but what God did with his hand gets more press (Ex 15:6, 9, 12, 17).
- We’re clearly dealing with a song, and the singers want others to join the song as well. Notice the shift from Moses’ first-person “I will sing” (Ex 15:1) to Miriam’s imperative “Sing” (Ex 15:21).
One observation is incredibly obvious and therefore easy to ignore. The genre has shifted to poetry.
- Of course, poetry is the most fitting form for a song.
- Poetry also stands out, as this chapter is the only instance of poetry in the book of Exodus.
Officine Della Cultura (2013), Creative Commons
This song’s structure1 reveals much about the composer’s intentions:
- Stanza #1: I will sing to Yahweh my God, whose glorious triumph warrants praise (Ex 15:1-3).
- Stanza #2: Yahweh’s powerful hand threw Pharaoh’s chariots down, deep down, into the sea (Ex 15:4-10).
- Stanza #3: No god is like Yahweh, the majestic, holy, awesome, and glorious wonder-worker (Ex 15:11-12).
- Stanza #4: Yahweh’s great strength terrifies the nations, until he raises his people up to his own mountain (Ex 15:13-18).
- Stanza #2: Yahweh’s powerful hand threw Pharaoh’s chariots down, deep down, into the sea (Ex 15:4-10).
- Narrative recap of Yahweh’s triumph (Ex 15:19) and Miriam’s response: Sing to Yahweh for his glorious triumph (Ex 15:20-21)!
Interpretation of Exodus 15:1-21
Some possible questions:
- Why do we get this song/poem before resuming the action in Ex 15:22?
- Why is the narrative restated and summarized in Ex 15:19 before Miriam’s song?
- Why is the poem’s center focused on comparing Yahweh to other gods? Why not compare him to Pharaoh, the nations, or the rest of creation?
My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):
- If we step back and examine the five books of Moses as a whole, we see long poems cropping up at key points:
- Genesis 49: where Jacob commissions his 12 sons as a new nation and predicts their tribal fates.
- Exodus 15: where Moses, Miriam, and the Israelites celebrate God’s victory and their new-found national freedom at the Red Sea.
- Numbers 23-24: where, by predicting a powerful Israelite king, Balaam’s prophecies thwart the Moabite king’s plans to curse this fledgling nation.
- Deuteronomy 32-33: where Moses commissions the 12 tribes to enter their land, and he predicts their fate as a nation.
- These long poems interrupt the narratives when the people of God reach a milestone in their nationhood. By means of these poems, the narrator takes a break from the action and invites us to reflect with him on the significance of what just happened and what will result from it.
- I’m not sure, other than perhaps to highlight just how important this event is. Ex 15:19 is basically a second retelling of the same story to make sure we understand what happened. The repetition also invites us to see Miriam’s song in the same light as Moses’ song: the overflowing praise of God’s people in response to God’s glorious triumph.
- It connects to Ex 12:12, which considers the Passover night as Yahweh’s warfare or justice on all the gods of Egypt. Those gods (demons) contributed true supernatural power to the Egyptian nobles (Ex 7:11, 22; 8:7), but those gods couldn’t come close to the power and majesty of Yahweh (Ex 8:18-19, 9:11). Also, Joshua 24:14 tells us that the Israelites served the gods of Egypt before their exodus. So the exodus from Egypt is not only about getting the people out of Egypt, but also about getting Egypt (and its gods) out of the people. If this poem is an opportunity for us to reflect on this milestone (see my answer to question #1), let us reflect on this: Who is like Yahweh among the gods? There is no other god, no other source of power, not even another supernatural being in the cosmos, who is able to do what Yahweh has just done. No-one and nothing can deliver people so completely, and torment and judge their enemies so utterly, as this God of gods and Lord of lords. Why would we consider offering our allegiance to anyone or anything but Yahweh?
Train of thought:
- Yahweh (the LORD) is worthy of our songs of praise and delight.
- He casts his enemies down and raises his people up.
- There is no other god like him.
Main point: We must sing to Yahweh, for there is no other god who can cast down his enemies and raise up his people.
Connection to Christ: The cross of Jesus Christ, and not the Red Sea, is the place where God has truly cast down his enemies and raised up his people (John 12:31-32). Jesus even sings the praise of God on our behalf (Heb 2:11-12) so we can join him in the song of Moses (Rev 15:2-4). Jesus is himself this same Yahweh who does the mightiest of deeds; every person will one day confess Jesus is LORD (Phil 2:10-11).
My Application of Exodus 15:1-21
I don’t always feel like singing praise to God, so I must remember that, just as the Holy Spirit intercedes for me with groanings too deep for words (Rom 8:26), so also Jesus Christ sings on my behalf and offers acceptable praise to God (Heb 2:11-12).
When I find myself in incredibly stressful, impossible situations (as the Israelites were caught between Egypt’s chariots and the sea), my allegiance to the LORD Jesus must not waver. There is no other god who can deliver me. Not an extra bowl of ice cream. Not my anger or force of personality. Not my greed for financial security or a good reputation. Deliverance is rarely painless, but I can count on Jesus Christ to make it happen, in his way and at his time. Always.
Corporately, we make a practice of praising the Lord Jesus together in song. But the song is not an end in itself; it should be a response to his saving deeds. Our worship music should recount the gospel narrative. Our worship services should remind us of what Christ has done, and then call us to join the song. “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously…”
Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.
1I’m grateful to my colleague Gene Williams for his insight into the structure of this poem.
Thanks for sharing this, Peter. Our church small group will be studying this next month (we’re going to study the songs in the Bible that come after major events). As you mentioned, there are number of them, and this was very helpful to get me thinking about some of the bigger connections.