“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power,
your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
The nation of Israel has just crossed the Red Sea. The Egyptian army has been destroyed in the Red Sea. They pursued after Israel to crush them. Instead they were crushed. The previous chapter ends:
Exodus 14:30-31 (ESV)
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Moses now breaks out in song. The above passage is a portion of the song Moses wrote to commemorate this occasion. He wanted the nation to know the great thing that God had done for them. This was a moment of celebration. Moses took time to celebrate God’s miracle in their lives. He did not simply move on. This was a great moment for the nation to see the power and the faithfulness of God. Note the two times Moses refers to the right hand of God. Remember, it is the Son who sits at God’s right hand. The victory God gave them was a picture of the saving nature of God’s right hand, the Son! They are to rejoice. They are to sing. They are to celebrate what God did. It might seem odd to celebrate the death of another. This would not be a socially accepted normative in today’s world. But to Moses the Egyptians were the enemy of God and wanted their annihilation. It was less of a celebration of death, however, and more of a celebration of God’s power and their new life. The crossing of the Red Sea is used as a picture of the newness we have in Christ as we are baptized into His Body. The Red Sea crossing is a picture of baptism. They were redeem by the blood coming out of Egypt and they were baptize by the water’s of the Red Sea. This entire scene is a picture of God’s redemption. We should celebrate that.
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