SESSION 1 September 7 2008 God s Presence and Glory: Exodus God Is Enough Scripture Focus: Exodus 15:1-18 The Word to Live By: Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11). Session Truth: We have the assurance that regardless of the circumstances we face, God s presence with us will be enough. Miriam dances in worship and celebration of God s deliverance, after the Hebrews went through the sea on dry land and the pursuing Egyptians were destroyed. IN CONTEXT The second book of the Old Testament was originally known to the ancient Hebrews by the opening words: These are the names (Exodus 1:1). However, in the third century B.C., when the Jews translated the Old Testament into Greek (the Septuagint), they titled the second book using a Greek word found in chapter 19, verse 1: Exodos. This word refers to the marching out of a large number of people en masse. Later, when the Bible was translated into Latin, Exodos was transliterated as Exodus, the title by which it has been known for 16 centuries. The Book of Exodus revolves around two historical events: The Exodus from Egypt, and the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. The opening part of Exodus tells of the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In the second part, a disorganized group of former slaves faces great difficulties and becomes a nation devoted to God s service. We begin this unit of study in Exodus 15 with The Song of Moses, a song that celebrates Israel s victory over Pharaoh s army. We begin here because the focus of the song is as it should be, on God himself. 2 September 7, 2008 ADULT FAITH CONNECTIONS
SCRIPTURE Exodus 15:1-18 15 1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name. 4 Pharaoh s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. 5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. 6 Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy. 7 In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. 8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy boasted, I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them. 10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? 12 You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them. 13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. 14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. 15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; 16 terror and dread will fall upon them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone until your people pass by, O LORD, until the people you bought pass by. 17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O LORD, your hands established. 18 The LORD will reign for ever and ever. We believe in the full inspiration of the Scriptures and encourage the comparison and use of several translations as part of the discipline of Bible study. Introduction EXPOSITION Choices between contemporary or traditional worship songs were not an important issue for the Israelites after they escaped the Egyptians. They wanted to sing about God s presence in their dramatic and miraculous escape from the Egyptians, and they used forms and words that told about God s work. For these newly freed Israelites, contemporary worship was traditional worship and traditional worship was contemporary worship! They had to tell their story about God s presence that would last down the centuries. They told their story to tell us about God; God is always the subject of their songs. In today s session, the writer of Exodus is calling upon people of faith to remember significant events when God s presence guided and di- SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER 3
WORD pictu re Egypt has received bad press from the writers of Scripture, but what was this great nation really like in biblical times? Learn more about this intriguing place and their relationship with Israel in this week s Illustrated Bible Life article, Egypt in the Ancient World. rected us as a community of believers. Can you imagine being chased by over 600 angry chariot drivers? Can you imagine the dust and heat of the horses coming ever so close as you huddle by the sea with no place to go but into the water? You were afraid, but a strange cloud shaped as a pillar appeared in the daytime, and at night, fire shaped as another pillar burned continuously. You expected the worst since you left Egypt, and then the wind blew furiously. Suddenly, you stepped out on the water, and it was dry land. As soon as you passed on land, the water swept furiously behind you and drowned the pursuing Egyptians. You were afraid of the water, and now you have been saved by God s presence in the water. What Kind of Song Do God s People Sing? (Exodus 15:1-2) What kind of song can be sung that acknowledges all these wondrous events, and tells so clearly of a God who acts? This session will help us know how best to sing about God s presence in our lives. Most of us know that songs are composed in special ways so that we can remember them for a long time. This song of Moses is written in poetic form so that parents can teach it to their children. Generations following can remember and sing the song. Several important features of poetry are used: equally measured lines, similar initial words, repeated sounds for ease in remembering, and metaphors describing the work of God as a mighty warrior who leads His people across the sea. The sea in God s presence, swallowed up the evil, and in this sense, we see the promise of Christ on His cross, defeating evil. Although Moses begins the song, he does not sing this song alone, and WORD search The Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-18) is commonly recognized as one of the oldest, most radical, and most important poems in the Old Testament. It not only sounds the crucial themes of Israel s most elemental faith, but it also provides a shape and sequencing of that faith... The defeat of the horse and rider becomes the elemental claim from which all else in Israel s doxological tradition derives. From this single event, now celebrated in all its inscrutable wonder, the poem uses a series of first-person pronouns to draw close to Yahweh in adoration and allegiance: Yahweh my strength, my song, my deliverance, my God, God of my father. The singer knows that all of life is owed to this one who will be lifted up and enthroned in this act of praise (Walter Brueggemann, The Book of Exodus in The New Interpreter s Bible [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994], 799). 4 September 7, 2008 ADULT FAITH CONNECTIONS
it is clear throughout that the song is always about God s deeds and His glory for the community in one proclaiming voice. God is strength, song, and salvation. The God who is our strength will be the subject of our song; and in turn, God is our salvation, and He is exalted in the habitation that place where He is both here, wherever, whenever, and forever. God lives with His people. Will You Sing the Anthem of Praise? (Exodus 15:3-10) I can still remember going to Wednesday night prayer meetings as a child and hearing testimonies of God s sustaining presence. God encouraged me when I lost my job. The Lord was very close to me when my friend died. God kept me faithful in times of temptation. In Moses song, as it must be in our own, God is always the hero when there is victory. Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power (Exodus 15:6a). The right hand is often used as a symbol of God s power; and in the Israelites song, God s hand is able both to destroy and to save. God s presence always defeats human sin. The arrogance and pride of the Egyptian enemy is expressed in terms of human greed and violence. On the other hand, God s deeds are extravagantly expressed: God s wrath consumed the enemy as stubble; the waters were gathered by the blast of God s nostrils; God blew with the wind and the enemy sank in the water like lead. The Israelites had undoubtedly heard about other gods in the ancient WORD pictu re The outburst of thanksgiving is only natural, but we are apt to overlook the suffering our deliverance may have caused to others. It was true spiritual insight that caused Rabbi Johanan to say, When the Egyptians were drowning in the Red Sea, the angels in heaven were about to break into songs of jubilation. But the Holy One silenced them with the words, My creatures are perishing, and you are ready to sing! (H. L. Ellison, Exodus in The Daily Study Bible Series [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1982], 81). world, but the God of Israel triumphed over Pharaoh, who stood against God. Moses song comes after the narrative with the standard metaphors of the power of God s right arm. Nature does not control God, and there is no power stronger than God. Trapped between the onrushing Egyptians and the sea, the Israelites experienced the dramatic deliverance that became the supreme example of God s saving acts throughout the Old Testament. Who Is Like God? (Exodus 15:11) Who is like God? The objects of Egyptian idolatry chariots, horses, and riders were destroyed and made powerless. God s glory is not in His power alone, for God is glorious in holiness. Several decades ago, many churches had banners in the front of the sanctuary that declared Holiness unto the Lord. Holiness, SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER 5
God s perfect work and presence, is to be honored in victory and song: Holiness unto the Lord is our watchword and song! What songs do we sing in our worship services and in our devotions at home with family and friends that tell of God s holiness? Moses song declared that God s holiness is approached in reverence. Can you imagine seeing raging waters swallowing up an entire army? Consider some event or experience in your life or in the life of your church when you were amazed at how God worked in wondrous ways. In some ways, astonishment can almost be a kind of fear and awe at God s power and His holiness. Our astonishment immediately turns to praising God s holiness and remembering God s holy presence. How Did We Inherit Songs? (Exodus 15:12-17) The song of Moses and the Israelites connected guidance and redemption. Frequently, I have students who say that the Lord has led them in some marvelous way. In telling of God s guidance, sometimes we end up with the recounting of the new job, the successful marriage, or the end of a particularly difficult illness. In Moses song, the guiding of God always leads to praising His redemption. God guides into His holy place, into where God himself lives, into His presence. John Wesley says of this song of Moses: Singing is as much the language of holy joy, as praying is of holy desire. All who love God triumph in His triumphs. It is good to dwell where God dwells, in his earthly church or in heaven. Since the general theme of Exodus is liberation and formation of the people of God, this song affirms the Old Testament perspective and becomes the first focus of divine redemption. This is the Old Testament promise of the deliverance God, through His Son Jesus Christ, accomplished at Calvary. Throughout their history, Israel looked back to this great deliverance as the central event that shaped them into the nation of Israel; and is the primary example of His redemptive purposes for them. WORD search In the second half of the main body of the poem (vv. 13-17), the setting and tone have changed. We are not now at the waters as in vv. 4-10, but are moving through occupied territory in the literary-liturgical antecedents to Israel s song, the genre amounts to a victory parade, a triumphal procession, in which the winning God moves in processional splendor to take up his throne. Along the parade route, those who watch the victory parade stand in silent awe, witnesses filled both with respect and dread. These verses portray Yahweh and Israel moving triumphantly on to the land of promise, moving without resistance, because all the potential resisters have seen Yahweh s great victory and are duly intimidated. The dominant image here is not power, as in vv. 4-10, but the steadfast love of the God who journeys now in protective leadership (v. 13) (Walter Brueggemann, The Book of Exodus in The New Interpreter s Bible [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994], 801). 6 September 7, 2008 ADULT FAITH CONNECTIONS
The 21st-century Church inherits the stories and songs of deliverance and redemption as we tell our own shaping stories and songs that link us with all the people of God and God s redemptive purposes. What Song Lasts for Ever and Ever? (Exodus 15:18) The language of the song of Moses is rich in association from both the recent and distant past. This verse (v. 18), The LORD will reign for ever and ever, points us toward the everlasting nature of God s presence. His holy presence is in the days and places we have yet to know, in the times and for the people we will never see! The film title, Back to the Future, is a helpful way to think about going back to go forward in God s presence. Since it is difficult for us, who live by the moment and the clock, to think about for ever and ever, retelling the stories that captured others understanding of God s presence for ever and ever is very important. Think about our Christian lives. We are indeed a part of the ancient Israelites ever and ever! They did not live to see our faithful Christian witness; but we continue their assurance that God is present from generation to generation, for ever and ever. The Lord s hands (v. 17) have established His sanctuary, and we are a part of the inheritance that always begins with God s redemptive deliverance, and with His holy presence. BY MAXINE WALKER FOR FURTHER reflection How can you give your fears to God this week? In what ways is God shaping you and giving you reasons to sing His praise? In what practical way can you consciously listen to God today? SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER 7