The Song of Redemption

Judaism is the root and Christianity is the fruit. Without Judaism, there is no Christianity. It's funny. Abraham was a Gentile before he was a Jew. Everything's come full circle. Now the Gentiles have received the gospel, but we must understand the history of our Old Testament. And thus we have our study in the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 15. Last week we had the luxury of taking one chapter in one sermon. This week, we don't have that luxury. In fact, if I could spend many weeks on Exodus chapter 15, in Moses' song, I would.

The more I study it, the more I realize that there is so much there. Why is it we have spent the last five and a half years in Genesis and Exodus? Think about it. I'm going to give you a verse as to why we are in Genesis and Exodus. Here it is: it's in the New Testament. For I do not want you to be ignorant brethren. I don't want you to be unaware, brethren, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, verse number 1. He says, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud. And all passed through the sea.

There are certain things you cannot afford to be ignorant about. Number one is the salvation of Israel.

Number two is the song of Israel. And number three are the sins of Israel. We have covered the salvation of Israel when they have or were let out of Egyptian bondage. This morning we're going to cover the song of Israel by looking at Exodus chapter 15. And next week, we're going to look at the sins of Israel as we continue on in Exodus chapter 15, understand the implications of that.

Paul says you can't afford to be unaware. You need to know what God did with Israel. And is it not true that for most Christians they have no understanding of the Old Testament? Of God's dealing with Israel. Listen, if you don't know how God deals with Israel, you have no idea on how God deals with you. You need to know how God dealt with them because that's the same way He deals with us. And part of our misunderstanding of God and how He works in our lives is because we don't understand what God wants to do in the life of His people.

And it all began with Israel. It all began with a man named Abraham. And what God was going to do with that man, multiply his seed. He'd be a father of a great nation. And from him would come the Messiah. And that Messiah. Jesus Christ our Lord. On that note about the song of Israel, you can't afford to be ignorant about it because you're going to sing that song. Did you know that? Revelation chapter 15. We'll get to Exodus 15, but just a second here.

Revelation 15, verse number 2, And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of what? Moses, the bonds of God, and what's the next phrase? The song of the lamb. Folks, let me tell you something.

The song of the lamb is the song of Moses, and the song of Moses is the song of the Lamb. Did you know that Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty, right and true are thy ways, thou king of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou alone art holy, for all the nations will come and worship before thee, for thy righteous acts have been revealed. That is the song of the Lamb. It's not nearly as long as the Song of Moses, but the key components of the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb are the same.

Listen, the Song of Moses, the Song of the Lamb, and the New Song are all the same because the Song of the Lamb and the Song of Moses is a song about a soul made new. And that's what it's all about. God has put a new song in my heart. Emancipation breeds jubilation. It comes. And that's what Exodus 15 is all about. Well as Revelation chapter 15. Let me read the song to you, then we'll make some comments.

Exodus chapter 15, verse number 1. Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord and said, I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse that is rider, he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him. My father's God, and I will extol him. The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has cast into the sea, and the choicest of his officers. Are drowned in the Red Sea.

The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy, and in the greatness of thine excellence, thou dost overthrow those who rise up against thee. Thou dost send forth thy burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. And at the blast of thy nostrils, the waters were piled up. The flowing waters stood up like a heap. The deeps were 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 gratified against them. I will draw out my sword. My hand shall destroy them. Now didst blow with thy wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who was like thee among the gods, O Lord? Who was like thee, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. In thy loving kind, thou hast led the people whom thou hast redeemed. In thy strength, thou hast guided them to thy holy habitation.

The peoples have heard, they tremble. Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philist. And the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. The leaders of Moab, trembling, grips them. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them by the greatness of thine arm. They are motionless as stone until thy people pass over, O Lord. Until the people pass over whom thou hast purchased. Thou wilt bring them and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thy dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.

The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea on them. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea. And Miriam and the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took the tim. in her hand and all the women went out after her with tim and with dancing and Miriam answered them, Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted, the horse and rider he has hurled into the sea.

And all God's people said, Amen. What a great song. This thing is so amazing. This is the first song recorded in the Bible.

And because it's the first song recorded in the Bible, it has great significance. Because it tells us how to discern what true biblical song is to be like, true Christian song is to be like. And so this morning, I want to give you the introduction to the song, the celebration of the song, and the anticipation of the song. Three points. Very simple. Number one, the introduction to the song.

We're going to look at its author, its affirmation, and its accompan. First of all, its author. The author is Moses. We read in Revelation 15 earlier. It's the song of Moses. Moses is the author. And this song, listen, is divided into two parts. This is important. Looking back. And looking ahead. That's it. Every good gospel song is rooted in looking back and looking ahead. This song is about their past deliverance and their future destination. And that is what causes us to praise God in the midst of whatever it is we find ourselves in the present.

And the second thing, the affirmation. The affirmation of this song affirms the fact that there was a God who delivers his people. To Psalm 106, it says these words in verse number 10. So he saved them from the hand of the one who hated them and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries. Not one of them was left. Then they believed his words. Then they sang his praise. Now they believe. Now they believe the words of God. Is that an affirmation of their belief in God?

The third thing I want you to see in terms of the introduction are the accompaniments. You have Miriam and the tim and the dance that these women would lead Israel in worship. It was a dance unlike the dances today, of course. Because it was a dance that focused everybody on God. Dancing is okay as long as dancing focuses the dancer and the dance on God. Okay? That's when you know dancing is okay. Read the Bible. Understand when David danced. Understand when the women would come out after David had killed Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 18.

And the same is true here. Unlike the disco dancing of today, or of course that was the disco dancing of the 70s, I guess. I'm kind of dating myself here. And all that happens today, what's going on, you know what I'm saying? Dancing of the flesh that focuses. On me and my feelings and my desires versus focusing on God and His desires. Second thing I want you to see is a celebration.

Celebration. I could spend a lot more time on the other stuff, but then I'd be meddling and I don want to do that. But the whole point being is that the celebration, there are five points I want you to see concerning the celebration of this song. And they give you the guidelines that help you understand a song that's really rooted in God. And this is how you judge the songs. Number one, it deals with the Success of God.

Fourteen times, Yahweh's name is mentioned, Jehovah Yahweh. Fourteen times. Somewhere around 30 times, a little bit more, the pronouns for Yave are mentioned: he, him, thou, thy. So you have over 40 times. God's name mentioned. It's a song about God. And there's no doubt that that song is about God. And it's about the success of God. I will extol thee. I will praise thee, the Bible says.

It's about the glory of God. I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. That's how the song begins. It begins with the exaltation of God. It's a song all about God, it's a song all about what God does and will do. That's how you know it's a Christian song. That's how you know it's a biblical song. It's rooted in God, in God alone. That's important, isn't it? It's all about the success of God. It's all about how God triumphs gloriously. It's all about how God is able to always, listen, He always wins.

And that's what Moses wanted his people to see. It's all about the success of God. Number two, it's all about the strength of God, the power of God.

The strength of God, and the phrase that he uses in verse number 6: Thy right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. Let me tell you something.

That anthropomorphism, that attributing human-like characteristics to our God is so important in Jewish mindset. Because they depend on the right hand of God, the right arm of God for everything. Because it demonstrates the mighty power of God, the strength of God. You see, how do we know that Israel is going to have a land in the future? How do we know that God's promises to Israel are true? It's because of the arm of God, the mighty arm of God. They believe in that. Because it talks about the power of God, the might of God.

So, the song was about the success of God, the song is about the strength of God, and the song is about the salvation of God. He says very clearly, verse number 2: The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. He is my salvation. He is my strength. He is my p. Now, how is God our salvation? And the whole deliverance of Israel is about the salvation of God. Listen, is our salvation complete? Yes, it is. Was Israel's deliverance complete? Yes, it is. That's why God destroyed the whole Egyptian army.

So the enemy would have no hold on them. Let me tell you something. When we get saved, when we're born again, the enemy no longer has a hold on us because we've been saved, we've been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness. Into the kingdom of light. We are now children of the living God. We are now born again to serve a living and true God. And that guarantees our eternal destiny. God saves us. That's why the writer of Hebrews would say that this is such a great salvation, because the enemy no longer has a hold on us, because we are God's.

He now owns us. He purchased us. He bought us back. And how do we obtain that salvation? By grace. It wasn't because we deserved to be saved. How was Israel saved at the Red Sea? They didn't deserve to be saved, but it was because of the mercy and grace of God that He saved them. And don't be unaware of their song, because their song is completely centered on God alone, His strength, His success. His salvation and number four, his sanctity. His sanctity, the holiness of God. It says these words in verse number 11: that God is majestic.

In holiness, majestic in holiness. It's a song that focuses in on the essential nature of our God. If you don't understand the holiness of God, you'll never understand the love of God, or the wrath of God, or the justice of God, or the mercy of God, or the loving kind of God, or the grace of God Or any other attribute. Because it's the one that he repeats over and over again. For our God is holy, holy, holy. Never says he's love, love, love, or justice, justice, justice, or wrath, wrath, wrath. But he's h Holy, holy, holy.

He is totally separate from us. He's totally different than us. He is the distinct one. He is the holy God of the universe. He is majestic in holiness. There is no one holy like the Lord. He is light. In him, there is no darkness at all. And to understand the holiness of God is to understand the wrath of God. Because he is holy, he's wrath. Because he is holy, he's just. Because he is holy, he's love. It's the essential nature of our God that he is totally different than any of us could ever imagine because he's not a better brand of us.

He's completely different than us. See, he is the God of the universe. Majestic. Majestic in holiness. Remember we read you Revelation's Song of the Lamb in Revelation chapter 15? There it says, For thou alone art holy. Now, this is a song sung by those who are in heaven, singing about the holiness of God. It's right before the bowls of wrath are poured out in Revelation 16 upon the earth during the tribulation. And see, the reason they can sing about the holiness of God is because God, in his holiness, acts in wr.

Because he has to destroy sin. He has a purer eyes than to behold evil. He must deal with sin. And so he does. And every time he does, he does it in a just and holy way because he is majestic. In holiness. Number five, the superiority of God. The superiority. Of God. The song in verse 11 asks this: Who is like thee among the gods, O Lord? In other words, who is like Yahweh? Who can be like Jehovah? Who can be like our God? Nobody can because there are no other gods. There's just one. And for these people coming out of Egyptian bondage, Surrounded for 400 years by all these different makeshift human gods, they needed to know there's only one true God, and that's the Lord God of the universe.

And so it speaks of the success of God. It speaks of the strength of God, the salvation of God, the sanctity of God, and the superiority of God. It's all about God. And every song sung in the church should be a song sung about God, to God, for God. Now, I told you, song covers two parts: before and after, past and future. So, point number three of our outline is the anticipation of the song.

What does it anticipate? This is rich. This is filled with all kinds of futuristic fulfillment in terms of what God is going to do with his people. Look what it says. It says in verse number 14, the peoples have heard they tremble. The first anticipation is the reaction of the loss.

The reaction of the lost. It says, Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. When the chiefs of Edom were dismayed, the leaders of Moab, trembling, grips them. All the inhabitants of Canaan. Have melted away, terror and dread fall upon them. By the great of thine arm, they are motionless as stone until thy people pass over, O Lord, until the people pass over whom Thou hast purchased. Everybody that we're going to face, they're going to be in anguish. They're going to be dismayed. They're going to tremble.

They're going to be in fear. And if you read the Old Testament account of Israel's journeys, they feared. Because they heard about what God had done. But the sad thing about that is, even though they sung about it, on this day, they would forget about it. And be unable to enter the promised land. Reminds me of us. We come, we sing all these great songs about our mighty God and how wonderful He is and how holy He is, how true He is, how great He is, how He's ever with us and going to be with us. And we go out and we live as if He doesn't exist.

How many times does that happen in our lives? Over and over again, right? We live as practical atheists. Well, why? If we believe that God is as mighty as He says He is, then He can handle everything that comes our way, right? There should be no doubting in our minds. But that's why Paul said, I don't want you to be unaware or ignorant of Israel and God's dealing with that people. In other words, he says to the Corinthian church, because you're just like them. You're just like them. So am I, Paul says.

So we need to know about God's salvation of his people, God's song that he gave to his people. Second of all, the song is an anticipation of the region of the land it will possess.

Now listen to this. It says, Thou wilt bring them and plant them in the mountain of thine in. The mountain of th inheritance. The place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thy dwelling. Now listen, I want to suggest to you that the mountain of habitation is Mount Zion in the city of our God because it's the dwelling place of God. You do know that, don't you? You do know that God dwells on Mount Zion today. Did you know that? Some people don't understand that. They think God dwells in heaven. Some will, well, God's omnipresent, He's everywhere, and He is.

The Bible doesn't tell us that God will one day dwell on Mount Zion. It says that God presently dwells on Mount Zion. Really? Yeah? Can we read it to you? Sure. Psalm 9. Psalm 9. Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion. Who dwells in Zion. Say, well, yeah, sure, he dwells in Zion. They're singing about the temple and the tabernacle and what God's going to do there. And of course, he dwells as the presence of God. Well, what does Isaiah 8 say? Isaiah chapter 8. Says this Isaiah 8, verse number 18.

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts. Yave Sab, the Lord of armies, who dwells on Mount Zion. The Bible says that God dwells on Mount Zion because Mount Zion, that little 30 acres outside the southern part of the wall of Jerusalem, the hill of Oph, not much of a hill.

But it's representative of the city of David, because that's where the city of David was. And you know what? It's been proven archaeologically that that's where the city of David was. And that little place is where God Himself dwells. That's why Mount Zion is so important. Listen to this: Verse 6: On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all day and all night. They will never keep silent. God's got angels on the walls of Jerusalem today. They're there because God's protecting that place.

It's God's land, it's God's domain, and God's got a plan. And all the way back in Exodus chapter 15, what do you have? You have. a people singing about their God who one day will inhabit the mountain of his inheritance. What is that? Psalm 2. Psalm 2 describes that for us. It says, But as for me, verse 6, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, Thou art my son. Today I have begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will surely give the nations, the Gentiles, the Go, as thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as thy possession.

God the Father has promised God the Son his inheritance on Mount Zion in the nations of the world. It was sung about in Exodus chapter 15. By the nation of Israel who had been delivered as they would anticipate the future inhabitants of God on his holy mountain, Mount Zion, the city of David, the place Psalm 87 says, God loves. The only place it says in the Bible God loves. Thirdly, the reign of the Lord.

They anticipated the reign of the Lord. Verse 18: The Lord shall reign for how long? Forever and ever. The Lord shall reign forever and ever, because He is the God of the universe. I read to you Psalm 2 before. Now, therefore, O king, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest he become angry. And you perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are those who take refuge in him?

Why? Because he owns the earth. You see, God's going to reign forever and ever. And that's what Exodus 15 is about. It's an anticipation of the reaction of the lost. That they will be in fear and tremble before the God who reigns forever. Because the place He reigns forever is the place He promised to the people of God, the nation of Israel. Their land. And every great song is a celebration about the past and the present and is an anticipation of the future reign of God in this world. Let's pray.