Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to Jehovah, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto Jehovah, for he is highly exalted The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exodus 15 opens with a whole nation doing something it had never done before: singing. God had spared Israel in Egypt and brought them through the sea, yet the song starts only here, on the far shore, with their enemies gone — and that timing is the first thing to explain.
Until now, every sound from Israel had been a cry of one kind or another.
Up to this moment, we have not heard so much as a single note of praise. We have heard their cry of deep sorrow, as they worked at the brick kilns of Egypt. We have listened to their cry of unbelief, when they faced what they thought were impossible difficulties. But until now, we have heard no song of praise. Only when they stood as a saved people, surrounded by the fruits of God's salvation, did the triumphal hymn burst out from the whole redeemed assembly.
The word "salvation" turns up in this song for the first time. One writer weighs what it means and why it waits until now.
Salvation does not mean only that guilt is gone through His blood. It means God keeps us and brings us through every difficulty, past, present and future — a complete victory over the enemy... We might have said that Jehovah saved Israel on the night of the passover lamb. But nowhere then do we hear such an expression. No; they were sheltered, but in the true sense not yet "saved." Salvation means the known destruction of their foes. God had risen up in the majesty of His power and shown it fully in their favour... This phrase is not merely a casual expression; it is the deliberate and fitting language of the Holy Spirit. We are meant to notice that now we can speak of "salvation," not before.
Singing starts here in the Bible. That fact carries a rule about who can sing at all.
The first thing to notice about this outburst of joy is this: Scripture never mentions singing except in connection with redemption. Even angels are never said to sing... So only redeemed ones can sing, and from this we learn the true character of Christian song. It should express the joy of salvation — the praise and gladness that the knowledge of redemption produces in the soul.
Read the song looking for the singers and you will not find them. That absence is the point.
Look through the notes of this song in Exodus 15. We do not find a single note about self: its doings, its sayings, its feelings, its fruits. It is all about Jehovah from beginning to end... Self is forgotten. Their circumstances drop out of sight. One object, and only one, fills their vision, and that object is the Lord Himself in His character and ways... We offer proper worship only when poor worthless self, with all its belongings, drops out of sight and Christ alone fills the heart.
The verse names a leader before it names the people. One writer sees Moses here as a picture of Christ, and ties the song to a battle Israel never fought.
Moses there is a type of our blessed Lord. It is His song. "Then sang Moses." And the children whom grace had delivered joined in the song. This was a beautiful picture of what came true later. "I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise." (Psalm 22:22; John 20:17.) But the song was founded on peace... The enemies were and are all gone. The battle was the Lord's. The sea is a picture of His death, in which He destroyed them all. The question, the struggle, was not between the people and the enemy, but between the Lord and the enemy; and because it was so there is not an enemy left.
The Bible's first song has an echo at its far end. In Revelation another rescued company takes up the same tune.
There is a striking parallel between this triumphant company and Israel of old in the day of her deliverance and gladness. Plagues struck Egypt, the oppressor. Israel crossed the Red Sea, saved and set free, and sang on the eastern bank of the sea — the first song recorded in Scripture (Ex. 15). All of this has its spiritual counterpart. A series of plagues strikes the Beast, the enslaver of God's saints. The godly remnant, beyond the malice of the Beast, saved and triumphant, sing the song of Moses on the sea of glass — the last song recorded in Scripture (Rev. 15).
- Silence — Israel cried in slavery and cried in unbelief. Scripture records no note of praise until they stood as a saved people among the fruits of God's victory.
- Salvation — Shelter under the blood is not yet what Scripture calls salvation. Salvation is the known destruction of the foes, and the word waits for this song.
- Song — Singing in the Bible starts with redemption and belongs to the redeemed; even angels are never said to sing.
- Subject — There is not one note about self in the whole song; it is all about the Lord — which is what makes it worship.
- Singer — Moses starts the song and the delivered people join in. He pictures Christ singing God's praise among His brothers. The same song returns as the last song in Scripture.
My strength and song is Jah, and he is become my salvation This is my God, and I will glorify him; My father's God, and I will extol him.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Jehovah is a man of war; Jehovah, his name.
Israel has just come through the sea, and the enemy who swore to destroy them is gone. Their song calls God a warrior — a title taken straight from what He had just done — and then names Him.
The words are the reaction of people who had given themselves up for lost.
The unusual title, "Jehovah is a man of war," came out of their sheer amazement at the triumph. They had cried out in despair, and the enemy had shouted, "My hand shall destroy them," when suddenly Jehovah's arm won the victory. He was "a man of war," fighting and winning over the gods of the nations, and so He will again be known on the earth.
The second half of the verse is not a repetition. It names the God who fought. Where the ESV prints "the LORD" in capital letters, older translations print His personal name: "Jehovah."
This part of the song is about the Lord's power in winning the great victory over the enemy. "The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name" (v. 3). "Jehovah" means He exists of Himself for ever and needs nothing outside Himself. Yet He stands in gracious covenant relationship with His people. He alone gains the victory, but His people are blessed by it.
A name is not a label stuck on from outside. It says what the bearer is. One writer follows that line from Moses' song to the name given to Jesus.
The name is personal to the one who bears it. When God gave a name, it fitted the person exactly. So the Lord said to one of the apostles, "You are Peter." The name expresses what a person is. The title describes what a person does. "Saviour" is a title of the Lord: "unto you is born … a Saviour" (Luke 2:11). But His personal name is "Jesus," meaning Jehovah the Saviour (Matt. 1:21). So, in celebrating the salvation of Israel, Moses sang, "The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name" (Ex. 15:3).
Israel did not fight at the sea. God took their enemies as His own.
Now if God delivers and redeems us, He is for us instead of being against us. Indeed it says, "The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent" (Ex. 14:14). The Passover held back God Himself as Judge and set Israel in safety. At the Red Sea God steps in as a Saviour for His people. They have nothing to do but watch their own deliverance. In redemption God, so to speak, acts as if the enemies that were against us, and that we were quite powerless to overcome, were against Him.
The song treats the battle as a revelation, not merely a rescue.
His service in that day of power tells us who He is. So does every other service of His, in weakness or in strength… So it is written of Him, "The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name" (Ex. 15:3). This word of the Spirit says that His warfare reveals His lordship, His glory, His name, His person. In Egypt the gods felt His hand, as they did afterwards among the Philistines, and again in Babylon.
What was true at the sea is not left in the past.
"The LORD is a man of war" when His people need Him, and their faith can count on Him as their present help in time of need. Whenever Israel turned to Jehovah in truth, He was always ready to appear for them. But the glory must be all His own. Israel's empty shout of triumph must stop, so that Jehovah's voice can be heard clearly. How good it is to be silent and let Jehovah speak! His voice has power to bring peace to His people and to strike terror into His enemies.
The song looks forward as well as back.
Note the expression "Jehovah is a man of war." It points forward to the time when He would come as a man, and to His coming as the mighty King who conquers His enemies (Psalm 45:3; 46:8-9; Isaiah 63:1-7; Revelation 19:11). The whole song is prophetic. What Jehovah has done in the judgment of His enemies and the complete deliverance of His people, He will do again.
- Won. The title comes out of a real victory. Israel had despaired, the enemy had boasted, and God's arm settled it.
- Named. "Jehovah" is the name of the One who exists of Himself and keeps covenant with His people. The warrior is not a stranger; He is theirs.
- Alone. He alone gains the victory, and His people are blessed by it; at the sea they had only to stand still and watch.
- Revealed. His warfare tells us who He is — His lordship, His glory, His person — so the battle reveals God; it is not only a rescue.
- Again. The same name is a present help when His people need Him, and the same hand will conquer again.
Pharaoh's chariots and his army hath he cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
Exodus 15:4 belongs to the song Israel sang on the far shore, once the sea had closed over the army that chased them. The verse names what went down — the chariots, the whole force, and Pharaoh's picked officers — and gives God the credit.
The verse lists Egypt's assets one by one, and none of them held. One writer reads verses 4 and 5 together and carries the picture into the believer's own life:
Every resource of the enemy was completely defeated — Pharaoh's chariots, his army, and his best officers. The sea covered them. They sank like a stone, never to be a threat again (vv. 4-5). By faith, believers today know that the Lord Jesus has completely defeated the power of sin. The same is true of our sins: "You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19).
"Chosen officers" is not a vague phrase. It points to a picked, decorated force that Egypt was proud of:
Pharaoh's "six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them," and "all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army" joined in the pursuit. Each regiment wore its own colours. Each carried the weapons of its branch of the service, made to the best military knowledge of the day… Every battalion had its own standard, marked with the names or images of different gods… The army was the pride of Egypt.
Israel's confidence on that shore did not rest on a strong position or a truce. It rested on something simpler: the pursuers were gone:
No enemy was left to raise his head. All their enemies, the glory and flower of Egypt, had gone down like "lead in the mighty waters." They are a free people. They have seen the salvation of the Lord, so they can celebrate its triumphs… No enemy could raise his head for one simple reason: there were none left.
God is the one acting in both halves of the verse. Israel did not fight, and the song makes a point of it:
Moses and the congregation retell that a victory had been won. More than that, they retell how it was won. They sing of the horse and his rider thrown into the sea, of the Lord, as a man of war, casting His enemies into the mighty waters, of the depths covering the foe. And they make it clear that Israel themselves had not fought. The Lord had made the battle all His own.
The crossing pictures the death and resurrection of Christ. Pharaoh's grave in that same water changed how Israel saw him:
When Israel crossed the Red Sea, they crossed a picture of the death and resurrection of Christ. It gave them a new position. From it they could look at their oppressor with an experience they had never had before. Instead of looking back in fear of Pharaoh, they looked at his death and burial in that same sea. The sea had become the means of separating them for ever from his power and rule.
Verse 4 celebrates a drowning, which makes this more than a thank-you for rescue. One writer traces it forward:
Israel's magnificent triumph was not only a song of salvation, or a hymn of praise for deliverance. It was more. It was a grand celebration of the glory of God in the overthrow of those who had risen up against Him. So it was a song of judgment… At the end of the plagues and signs that will then visit the earth, the victors will sing the "song of Moses, the servant of God" (the song of judgment upon evil), and the "song of the Lamb" (the song of salvation).
Singing shows up here for the first time in Israel's story, and one writer sees a rule in that:
The first thing to notice about this outburst of joy is this. Scripture never mentions singing except in connection with redemption. Even angels are never said to sing… So only the redeemed can sing, and from that we learn the true character of Christian song. It should express the joy of salvation — the notes of praise and gladness that the knowledge of redemption produces in the soul.
- Cast — the verb is God's. Israel did not fight; they watched the chariots, the army, and the picked officers go into the sea.
- Chosen — Egypt's best went down. Six hundred picked chariots, a captain over each, and regiments under standards marked with the names of gods.
- Covered — the sea that opened for Israel closed over Pharaoh. The very thing that set them free became his grave.
- Cleared — no enemy was left to raise his head. Israel could celebrate peace, not just hope for it.
- Celebrated — only the redeemed sing. This song is both praise for salvation and a song of judgment. It sounds again at the end, in the song of Moses and of the Lamb.
The depths covered them; they sank to the bottom as a stone.
Israel's song stops to look at the sea floor. One line tells what happened to the greatest army of that day, and it raises a question: why would a rescued people sing about drowned soldiers?
Israel had already been spared in Egypt, yet no one sang until this morning. One writer points to the sight that opened their mouths:
Peace is the complete and final overthrow of every hostile foe, so that there is no enemy left to show. … The thirtieth verse of chapter 14 tells you the source of this note of praise: "Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore."
The water that opened a road for Israel closed over Egypt. One writer draws out what that reversal leaves us with:
The army of the adversary is overthrown, and finds its grave where we have found a pathway. All fear is over; we can stand in peace on the opposite shore in the power of a resurrection life that has passed through death.
The song is not poetry stretched beyond the facts. Israel sang what it had just watched happen:
The Egyptians fled toward the sea, but the Lord overthrew them in the middle of it. "The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained" (14:28). … There they met their death; there, too, they were buried. "The sea covered them." That is the testimony of eyewitnesses to that awful judgment.
That one morning closed Egypt's story and opened Israel's:
In one sense the Red Sea closed the whole history, if you take it by itself as to Egypt. In another sense it begins the life. But it closed the history by redemption and judgment, for the Egyptians were judged. The death that was salvation to Israel was judgment to the Egyptians.
Nothing random decided the outcome. Another writer traces each result back to the night of the Passover, then adds a third:
In their folly they had exposed themselves to the judgment of God, and so they were buried beneath the waters of the Red Sea. Death and judgment were the Egyptians' due, because of their willful sin and rebellion in the sight of God. Salvation became Israel's due, on the ground of the slain lamb and the blood-sprinkled doorposts. And worship was the Lord's due, because of what He had done, both for the glory of His great name and the blessing of His redeemed people.
One writer notes where the word "salvation" first appears, and why it waits until the sea:
When the Israelites had passed over, the Red Sea closes on their enemies and all are dead; then Israel was saved. It is remarkable that here for the first time God uses the word salvation. He does not say salvation on the night of the Passover lamb, but when they have passed through the sea. Salvation is a great deal more than being kept safe. Salvation means complete clearance from all our foes. It brings us out of the house of slavery and sets us free and clean before God, to be His visible people in the world.
A stone sinks once and stays down. One writer applies that to the power of sin and to the believer's sins:
All the resources of the enemy — Pharaoh's chariots and his army, including his choicest officers — were totally defeated. The sea covered them, and they sank like a stone, never to be a threat again (vv. 4-5). By faith today believers realize that the Lord Jesus has totally defeated the power of sin. The same is true of our sins: "You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19).
The drowned army settles one more question. One writer says the sea floor answers who the Lord is, and shows Him in a character Israel had not yet known:
"Who is the Lord?" has now received a full answer. Pharaoh's chosen chariots and his captains lay buried in the sea. But there is more: the Lord had now shown Himself as Redeemer. Now they understood what redemption was — redemption by power — and began to enjoy it. God had worked in Egypt on their behalf. God had sheltered them in Egypt from divine judgment. God had redeemed them with an outstretched arm at the Red Sea.
- Buried. The sea closed over Pharaoh's army and became their grave. Eyewitnesses reported it.
- Beneath. A stone that sinks does not come back up. The threat is removed for good, not just held off.
- Both. One event carried two verdicts. The water that saved Israel judged Egypt, and the blood of the lamb made the difference.
- Beyond. With the enemy gone, "salvation" means more than escaping harm. It means complete clearance from every foe.
- Burst. Only then did Israel sing. Sight of a finished victory, not a hoped-for one, is what turns rescue into song.
Thy right hand, Jehovah, is become glorious in power Thy right hand, Jehovah, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Israel stands safe on the far side of the sea, and Pharaoh's army lies wrecked behind them. Their song names God's right hand twice in one line — so what does that hand stand for, and why does the singing start only now?
The phrase carries a settled sense across Scripture. It marks power, but it also marks blessing and the highest place of honour.
The "right hand" speaks of authority, power, and eminence. According to Exodus 15:6, delivering and subduing power belong to the right hand. In Genesis 48:14 the right hand gives out sovereign and unchangeable blessing. In one Psalm, Jehovah invites David's Lord to sit at His right hand. Our Lord used this basic truth in the Gospels as proof of the greatness of His Person. Acts 2:32-36 hails His exaltation as God's approval of Him, and at the same time as a reversal of man's judgment.
Pharaoh put God's power to the test. What he learned was not a lesson for him alone.
Pharaoh was foolish enough to challenge the power of God when he refused to let Israel go. As a result he learned how great God's power is. He saw it in the destruction of the land of Egypt, and in the overthrow of his army in the Red Sea. Whether it is man or Satan, he has to learn that he cannot interfere with God's people without paying for it. God may wait patiently until the evil is ripe. But when He steps in, He shows His right hand to be glorious in power — a power nothing can resist.
Israel had already been safe under the blood of the Passover lamb in Egypt. Yet no song comes until the enemy lies dead on the shore. Scripture's own wording explains the difference.
How beautiful the accuracy of Scripture! We might have said that Jehovah saved Israel on the night of the Passover lamb. But at that point Scripture never uses such a word. They were sheltered, but in the true sense not yet "saved." Salvation means that their foes are known to be destroyed. God had risen up in the majesty of His power and shown it in full on their behalf.
This song keeps to one theme. That theme sets it apart from another song later in Scripture.
The whole song of Moses, beautiful as it is, is about the hand and power of God doing wonders: "Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power." So too in Revelation 15: "Great and amazing are Your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty." The song of the Lamb is: "Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations."
Some writers read the phrase as pointing past an image to a Person.
His right hand, the hand of positive power, has dashed in pieces the enemy. Christ is in effect the right hand of God, for He is indeed "the Man of Your right hand" (Ps. 80:17). He is the One who carries out the work of God.
Egypt's army drowned in the sea. One writer sees in that a picture of a far greater victory still.
May we not recognise in these words of Exodus 15:6 a hidden reference to our Lord Jesus Christ? Here we have the magnificent victory over the enemies of Israel. Jehovah saved His people out of the hand of the Egyptians. Infinitely more glorious was the victory of our Lord Jesus over all the powers of evil at the cross. There "He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him." And not only this: "when He ascended on high He led a host of captives." So now, our enemies defeated, His people are for ever free.
Power is only one side of that hand. In another Scripture the same right hand holds the one He loves.
The right hand is the hand we do things with. It is the symbol of power... He throws His mighty right arm around her to hold her up and draw her closer to Himself. And what a protection that is. With His powerful arm around her, no enemy can trouble her, and no harm can reach her.
- Hand — the right hand stands for authority, power and high standing. Here it is the power that rescues God's people and defeats their enemies.
- Displayed — that power shows itself glorious when God acts. Pharaoh challenged it and learned that nothing can resist it. God may wait, but He does step in.
- Salvation — in Egypt Israel was sheltered under the blood, but not yet called "saved." Salvation is the known destruction of the foe. Only then does the singing start.
- Christ — commentators read the right hand as a Person: "the Man of Your right hand," who carries out God's work. His victory at the cross far outweighs the Red Sea.
- Embrace — the hand that shattered the enemy is the arm around His own people. No enemy can reach them there.
And by the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown thine adversaries Thou sentest forth thy burning wrath, it consumed them as stubble.
Israel stands safe on the far shore of the Red Sea, and the first song in Scripture bursts out. This line is one of its high points, and it raises two questions: whose enemies did God destroy, and how can wrath become something to sing about?
The verse speaks only to God, and says nothing about Israel. That is the shape of the whole song.
Now, in looking through the various notes of this song in Exodus 15, we do not find a single note about self — its doings, its sayings, its feelings, or its fruits. It is all about the Lord from beginning to end… In Exodus 14 the crushing pressure of their circumstances had bottled up the hearts of the people. In Exodus 15 the pressure lifts, and their hearts pour out in a sweet song of praise. They forget self. They lose sight of their circumstances. One object, and only one, fills their vision, and that object is the Lord Himself in His character and ways.
The verse pairs two images: a majesty nothing can resist, and a fire that leaves nothing behind. One writer links them to the wind of the next verse.
His great excellence overpowers and overthrows all who dare to rise against Him. In His anger they are consumed like stubble set on fire. The song compares the "strong east wind" that blew the sea back to the blast of God's nostrils, which made the waters gather together and stand upright (v. 8). What power there is in the mere breath of God! We would never think of breath as power, but what looks small is immense where God is at work.
Pharaoh chased Israel, but the song treats him as an enemy of God. What happened at the sea also sets the pattern for the end.
The magnificent triumph of Israel was not merely a song of salvation, or a hymn of praise for deliverance. It was more — a grand celebration of the glory of God in the overthrow of those who had risen up against Him. It was therefore a song of judgment. Pharaoh had used magic and all the force of his kingdom against the Lord; he pitted his power against that of the Almighty. In this, what happened in the past foretells what will happen in the future… At the end of the plagues and signs that will then visit the earth, the victors will sing the "song of Moses, the servant of God" (the song of judgment on evil), and the "song of the Lamb" (the song of salvation).
The same principle reaches down to every attack on God's people since.
The heart calls on God to remember the enemy's attacks and insults instead of taking fright at them, because the insult falls on His name. And this is true. For the world's enmity is really against the Lord in being against His people. Were they not His people, the world would not trouble itself much about them.
Dry stalks left in a field burn away in seconds. One writer takes that same image forward to the day when the Lord appears to the world.
He appears in terror to tread down under His feet those who have despised Him… Thus will He appear to the world, and "all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."
The same greatness that broke Egypt has met a deeper enemy.
Sin and Satan's power forced Him to come forward as the man of war. In the greatness of His excellence He has overthrown those who rose up against Him. He did it to free His redeemed from the harmful yoke, and to guide them in His strength to His holy dwelling place (Ex. 15).
Israel sang because the danger was behind them, not ahead. That is where the believer stands.
The waters returned and swallowed the whole army of the Egyptians. "There remained not so much as one of them." This is welcome news for the believer, for the soul that has really turned to Jesus. He can look back and see the power of the enemy broken, his sins gone, the judgment past. The judgment fell on Jesus, and He is risen, having exhausted the judgment and destroyed the power of the enemy.
- Rose. The enemy rose up against God Himself. Attack God's people and you attack the Lord whose people they are.
- Overthrown. God's greatness is not for show. It overpowers everyone who dares to stand against Him.
- Consumed. Wrath burns opposition like dry stubble. Scripture uses the same picture for a coming day that leaves neither root nor branch.
- Sung. With the pressure gone, Israel sang not one note about themselves. The song is about the Lord from first word to last.
- Christ. The man of war has overthrown sin and Satan. So the believer looks back on judgment already past.
And by the breath of thy nostrils the waters were heaped up; The streams stood as a mound; The depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
The song at the sea pauses here to describe how the water itself behaved when God acted. The waters stood up like a wall and the deeps hardened in the middle of the sea, and one cause lies behind both — the breath of God.
The historical account in Exodus 14 and the song in Exodus 15 report one event in two styles. One writer sets them side by side. He uses the newer reading, "piled up," which the ESV also follows.
"The waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left" — so the historical record runs. "At the blast of Your nostrils the waters were piled up: the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea" (15:8). So sang Moses and Israel. They described in poetic language the way made through the waters. It was a path of dry land, with the waters piled up on each side.
The "blast" is not vague poetry. It points to the strong east wind that blew the sea back.
The song likens the "strong east wind" that blew the sea back to the blast of God's nostrils. That breath made the waters gather together and stand upright (v. 8). What power there is simply in the breath of God! We would never link breath with power. But what looks small is immense where God is at work.
The word "congealed" suggests freezing, and commentators differ on how far to press it. One says the water became solid without becoming ice:
"The depths congealed in the heart of the sea." The water of the Red Sea was not changed to ice. But for a time the liquid congealed — it became solid by miraculous power.
Another keeps the picture of ice, and notes that the same word which held the water up also let it go:
At the divine word, the flowing sea suddenly became like a solid mound, and its waves were bound together like walls of ice. At the same word, the sea returned to its strength, and the wind drove the floods upon the enemy army, who "sank as lead in the mighty waters."
The heaped-up water was not only held back. One writer describes what Israel walked between:
Israel marched forward in the pathway through the mighty waters. The depths were hidden in the heart of the sea. On either side of this pathway through death stood crystal walls, lit by the light of God's glory-cloud. The sea had lost its strength, and the powers of nature were both suspended and used, for the salvation of Israel. Death, as it were, became a wall of defence to Israel on right hand and left as they passed through the sea.
Another writer calls that path a grave — one Israel walked through alive:
It was a grave, so to speak, into which Israel passed, when God's power had made the way through it. It was faith which led them through. "By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned" (Hebrews 11:29).
Some argue that the song is only poetry, and that the prose account grew out of it. One writer answered that critic directly:
He would again persuade us that the historical account is merely drawn from the poetry of chapter 15. But the historical account is one continuous narrative. You cannot take this piece out of it without destroying the whole... The song states the miracle as simply as the history which had already told the facts... (See Ex. 14:21-22.)
These facts reach us in a song, and one writer draws out what singing means in Scripture.
The first thing to notice about this outburst of joy is that Scripture never mentions singing except in connection with redemption... It is only redeemed ones who can sing, and we learn from that the true character of Christian song. It should express the joy of salvation — the praise and gladness that the knowledge of redemption produces in the soul.
- Breath. The song names the east wind that blew the sea back as the blast of God's nostrils — what seems slight becomes immense when God is behind it.
- Wall. That breath piled the water into standing heaps. Commentators differ on whether "congealed" means real ice or water made solid by God's power.
- Path. Between the walls lay dry land, so the poetry of chapter 15 and the history of chapter 14 report one and the same crossing.
- Grave. The waters were death on both sides. Yet death itself guarded Israel as they walked through by faith, and closed on Egypt at the same word.
- Song. Because this is redemption, the record comes out as singing. Only the redeemed sing, and their song is the joy of salvation.
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my soul shall be sated upon them; I will unsheath my sword, my hand shall dispossess them.
In the middle of its praise, the song of Moses stops and quotes the enemy's own words. Pharaoh gets to boast in the very song that celebrates his ruin. He fires off six boasts, four of them beginning "I will" — and the next line of the song answers him with what God did.
The enemy speaks at full volume here. One breath from God then silences him.
Verse 9 quotes the enemy's proud boast of what he will do: he will overtake them, divide the spoil, satisfy his craving for revenge, and destroy them with the sword. How simply God met this arrogant defiance! He did no more than blow with His wind; the sea covered them, and they sank like lead in the mighty waters (v. 10). The noise of the horses and chariots, the shouting and the rattle of weapons fell silent in a moment. What a sight for Israel to see!
Revenge, pride and money all drove the chase.
Revenge as well as military pride burned in the hearts of the Egyptians. Israel had marched out with a high hand, and the proud Egyptians were stung by the bearing of their former slaves. On top of that, Israel had carried off a vast amount of wealth, and the Egyptians meant to get it back. "I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them," cried the enemy.
The enemy never drew that sword. God had already placed Himself in between.
Pharaoh had said, "I will pursue, I will overtake…"; but what does the Lord answer? You will have to settle accounts with Me, Pharaoh, before you touch one of My people. You will have to pass through the pillar of cloud and fire before you can reach them.
The same writer sets the enemy's claim beside God's answer:
So, later on, when "the enemy" said, "I will pursue, I will overtake…," God replied, "They are My people." He struck His enemy and theirs at one stroke: "the sea covered them, they sank like lead in the mighty waters." Thank God, weak and bad as I am, I belong to Him.
Pharaoh's boast is not a one-off. Other proud men said "I will" after him, and it ended the same way each time.
The enemy thinks he is carrying out the purpose of his own heart, and in boastful pride he gathers his armies to take the spoil. What faith knows is that Jehovah both leads and commands. It is a solemn lesson. How often the proud "I will" of man brings him under the crushing stroke of almighty power! God puts that power into action to shield and rescue the people He loves without measure. Proud Pharaoh must sink down before it. Midian's armies must fall under its sword. Boastful Rabshakeh and the armies of Assyria must melt away before its blast. How many more of earth's great men have fallen, and must yet fall, before its withering breath! In the same way, but with higher thoughts, the Christian heart can look at the record God has given, rejoice in Christ now enthroned, and say, "Who shall separate us?" — even though we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
Egypt was not the last power to try this. One writer looks ahead to the day when God goes out to fight the nations of the world.
Then the nations of the world will have to learn what Pharaoh learned at the Red Sea — the unstoppable might of the One they have dared to line up against in battle.
The chase was real, and so was the fear. But the pursuer has a line he cannot cross.
Satan may pursue, and he may make us tremble, just as Pharaoh did all the way to the Red Sea. But at the sea Pharaoh's power was broken for ever, and at the resurrection of Christ the power of Satan comes to its eternal end. God's people are saved, and great is God's salvation… The enemy's force stops at the grave of Christ. Resurrection ground he cannot reach.
- Boast — Six boasts, four of them "I will": pursue, overtake, divide, gorge, draw the sword, destroy. God's answer takes one line — He blew with His wind.
- Motive — Behind the boast lay revenge, wounded pride and greed for the wealth Israel carried out of Egypt.
- Barrier — Before the sword could reach one Israelite, it had to pass the pillar of cloud and fire. God's reply to the claim was, "They are My people."
- Pattern — Pharaoh, Midian, Assyria: the proud "I will" of man keeps meeting the same crushing stroke. At the end, the nations will learn what Pharaoh learned at the sea.
- Limit — The enemy may pursue and may terrify, but his force stops at the grave of Christ. Resurrection ground he cannot reach.