The peoples heard it, they were afraid A thrill seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Israel had just watched Egypt's army sink in the sea. Their song now looks down the road ahead, and says the news of what God did will reach the nations first.
Israel sang this line before walking one step of the wilderness. They had not yet met a single enemy.
Faith had the privilege of being occupied with the purposes of God. So it bridged the whole distance from the sea to the promised land, from the cross to the glory. They could not sing a note until the beaten enemy sank "as a stone" and the people were free. But when that was done, God inspired the song, and Moses led them to take it up on the far shore of the sea. It raised music in the desert that will echo in greater volume for ever.
Israel sang it as prophecy. Forty years later a woman inside Jericho repeated it as fact.
Look at the bolts and bars on the gates of Jericho, and at the witness of Rahab: "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us … for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt … And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted." That was a rebuke to the Israelites for not going up at first. When God gives a command, He also sets things moving to carry it out. This woman mentions the crossing of the Red Sea, forty years earlier, as the thing that filled the nations of Canaan with terror. From the first, the way into the land was open.
Writers connect that shaking with the cross:
We have little idea of the great shaking that took place among the rulers and authorities when the Lord Jesus went into death and came out victorious. He "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him" (Colossians 2:15).
The song does not stop at Egypt. It moves down the nations along Israel's route, and commentators read each one as a type.
This fourth section does not speak only of Egypt's defeat. The greatness of the Lord's power would subdue other nations too. Hearing of Israel's deliverance, they would be afraid (v. 14). The inhabitants of Palestine would feel anguish, for this was the land God had promised to Israel. The chiefs of Edom (self-important men) would lose heart, and Moab's rulers would tremble for fear. Edom speaks of the self-importance of the flesh. Moab illustrates the self-indulgence and self-satisfaction of easy-going religion. The true testimony of God disturbs both. All the inhabitants of Canaan would "melt away," finding no strength to resist God's army. Canaan means "trader," a picture of those who make merchandise of the things of God.
The song names the land after the Philistines. Older translations read "Palestina" here, where the ESV has "Philistia."
These people held only a very small strip of the land of Canaan. Yet, remarkably, the land has taken its name from them, for Palestine means the land of the Philistines. Scripture gives it that name only when it foretells judgment on it: Exodus 15:14; Isaiah 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4.
God never uses the name Palestine when He speaks of His people's heritage. It always marks out a hostile country. Faith looks on it as an enemy's land until the people of God take it.
Israel later stood at the border of that same land and said the opposite of this verse.
In Exodus 15 their eyes were only on the Lord, so they could sing the song of victory… In Numbers 14 it was Israel that was afraid, and sorrow took hold of them… In short, it completely reverses the picture. The sorrow, the trembling, and the fear take hold of Israel instead of their enemies. And why? Because the One who filled their vision in Exodus 15 is completely shut out in Numbers 14. This makes all the difference. In the one case, faith is on top; in the other, unbelief.
This is a song, not a calculation. It is the voice of settled confidence.
Will you meet enemies? Plenty of them. What will happen? They will all go down before God. Every difficulty becomes a new opportunity for God to display His power. The Lord comes in to show Himself strong. My friend, is all the world against you? God and you are a match for them. God and I together are invincible.
- Heard. The verse turns on a report. Israel had done no fighting; the news of what God did at the sea went ahead of them.
- Sung early. Faith spanned the whole distance from the sea to the land, from the cross to the glory, before they had taken a single step.
- Confirmed late. Forty years on, Rahab repeated that Red Sea report inside Jericho. The way in had been open from the start.
- Named enemies. Philistia, Edom, Moab and Canaan each picture a kind of opposition. Scripture calls the land "Palestina" only when it announces judgment.
- Reversed by unbelief. At Numbers 14 the trembling moved to Israel, because they shut out the God who had filled their view at the sea.
Then the princes of Edom were amazed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling hath seized them; All the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.