Title: Exodus 15
Content Exodus 15:1-21
The parting of the Red Sea was the special power of God that was given only to the Israelites. Why are they the only ones getting these benefits? It is because they are the only people who started from the Lamb. So God treated Egypt and Israel thoroughly in the Red Sea.
Therefore, the parting of the Red Sea will not happen again. It is simply a reminder of God and His power of salvation over and over again. From this point onward, the Red Sea event becomes an expression of God's salvation (Psalm 74:13; 77:19-20; 78:13; Isaiah 51:10).
Therefore, only one event is sufficient for Jesus' cross, but it must be repeated and continuously witnessed in me as my cross. Because that alone is the power of salvation (1 Corinthians 1:18). Those who know the power of salvation can praise it. In other words, we can praise the time when we had the experience of being thrown into the dead of the sea like Egypt, but being resurrected.
Nevertheless, in today's churches, if you ask 'Who can sing?', of course, the answer is 'one who has musicality' and 'one who can sing well'. The choir is positioned as a unique privilege to sing praises. That's why he always shows off his singing skills in front of the church members. Only those that perfectly conform to the laws of music by musicality are treated as praises acceptable to God. Indeed, the praise God desires is for those who have been saved to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:19-21; Colossians 3:16-17).
Now, through this song, Israel has done nothing, and the destination has been clearly set, and all of them are the work of God who always fulfills the promise.
Israel will be called “the Lord is a mighty man” (v. 3). God Himself became a mighty man to save Israel, and that salvation was to distinguish and save a new nation called out by the blood of the Lamb from among Egypt and Israel that were with them in the sea. This is Jehovah's war. Yahweh's war is Yahweh's battle, not man's. He only establishes Israel on the fringes of that battlefield. Yet, the reason Israel is called “the army of the Lord” is because the victory of the Lord is given as the victory of Israel.
Verse 6 says, “Your right hand, O LORD, shows your glory in power; your right hand, O LORD, crushes the enemy.” So, who is the “enemy”? It is made clear in verse 7. “With your great majesty you overthrow those who oppose you.” In other words, not those who oppose the people of Israel, but those who oppose the Lord are enemies. In other words, everything that blocks, hinders, and challenges the fulfillment of Jehovah's covenant is Jehovah's enemy. For the LORD fights only for his name (v. 3; Ps. 106:8).
Israel would have known Egypt as the enemy of the Lord as far as the seashore, where they now experienced God's power of salvation. However, they did not know anything about the fact that those who praised them were enemies of the Lord until they entered the wilderness. In fact, even before they entered the wilderness, they had already been blaming Moses and God.
Nevertheless, God will lead Israel into the land of Canaan. “You lead the people whom you have redeemed with your grace, and by your strength you bring them into your holy dwelling place” (verse 13). Because it is a work that God started, God will surely complete it.
But God's purpose was elsewhere. It may be the land of Canaan on the surface that God is leading Israel, but in reality, God wants Israel to be his people, a holy place where God dwells (verse 13), and a sanctuary established by the Lord's hands (verse 17). It was something that made it happen.
To that end, from now on, God will thoroughly disclose and expose the Egyptian nature of Israel. In the process, Israel had to realize the grace of God who saved them even though they were enemies of God who were no different from Egypt. Although it was the same enemy as Egypt, what was the cause of Israel's enjoyment of God's mercy? It was done purely because of the sacrifice of the Passover lamb.
After all, for Israel, the wilderness becomes a field of life where they can see how superficially they knew Jehovah while following the guidance of God's pillars of fire and cloud. Likewise, the human being who is called me on this earth is becoming more and more holy, and by accumulating a noble piety, he does not become a good man before God. And he realizes that he is a sinner who has no choice but to look for mercy.
Do we have no choice but to ask for God's continued rule by giving thanks for the grace that the Lord has made us His dwelling place (temple) (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16)? Am I the one who seeks to enter the dwelling place of the Lord, or am I the one who believes that the Lord makes me a dwelling place?
Exodus 15:22-27
God led Israel on a road without water for three days. When they arrived at a place with water, they could not drink because the water was bitter. So they called the place “Marah” (verse 23). They did not stop there and began to blame Moses.
Humans were not beings who simply depended on the Lord and entrusted everything to Him. A few days after the triumphant praise, they complain to Moses because the water is bitter and cannot be drunk. God showed that this was the face of the enemy of Jehovah.
It is said that God tested them (v. 25). To test here means to prove the Egyptian way of thinking in Israel. For that, God purposely led him to a place where there was bitter water. Then he directs a tree and commands it to be thrown into the water. So the water was sweetened and it was edible. It was not because the tree had any medicinal effect, but because it was obedient to God's word. Through this event, God revealed Himself as the Healing Jehovah (v. 26).
Many preachers explain this as a God who heals our diseases. But that is a distorted interpretation. There are many places in the Old Testament where the restoration of Israel from iniquity is described as healing (see Mal. 4:2; Hos. 7:1; Isaiah 58:8; Jeremiah 30:17, etc.). Nowhere in the Bible does it say that there is an unconditional cure for our disease.
It was not because of their own righteousness, but because of the blood of the Lamb that Israel was able to come out of Egypt. Because of the blood, the calamity to befall them is reserved. In that regard, if you keep all the ordinances and obey them, He says that He will heal them. Here, the commandments and ordinances are the ordinances of the Passover. In other words, only the blood of the lamb sacrificed on the Passover would be the only thing that could restore Israel from the plagues and curses that were reserved, just as bitter water became sweet water.
It is always an Egyptian way of thinking that is exposed to humans. In other words, it is a worldly way of thinking. It is a mindset that views God's covenant as worthless and ignores the blood of the Lamb.
Just like Israel, which was almost wiped out like the Egyptian soldiers in the Red Sea, but must remain steadfast in its skepticism about the grace of God who saved Israel because of the blood of the Lamb, the church today is the only place where the blood of Christ is shed on the cross. You must have a heart that does not have any doubts about being the power of salvation. The true church of the Lord is the church that reveals the nobility of the blood of Christ.