Song of the Sea
The Song of the Sea
Image by Warren Grieve from Pixabay
Praising Yahweh
At that time, Moses and the Israelites sang this song to Yahweh:
I will sing to Yahweh because he has risen high! The horse and its rider he flung into the sea. My strength and my song is Yahweh. He has become my salvation.
Image by Warren Grieve from Pixabay
The exodus narrative ends with the Israelites standing on the shore of the Red Sea singing a song of praise to Yahweh. This song, called the Song of the Sea, poetically describes both the Red Sea crossing and the anticipated return to the promised land. The Israelites praised Yahweh for both what he had done and what he promised to do.
Yahweh had “risen high” over his enemies both literally and figuratively. As the cloud pillar, he towered above the Egyptians and looked down to see them.1 He then exalted himself in the eyes of his people and of the world by “flinging” the Egyptian horses and chariot riders into the sea. Of course, Yahweh didn’t literally throw them in. But the verb emphasizes the drowning of the Egyptians as an intentional act of judgment.
By defeating the Egyptians, Yahweh saved the Israelites. His status as their “strength” and “song” directly resulted from becoming their “salvation.”2 His deliverance had strengthened his people and led them to sing his praises.
My God
This is my God. I glorify him!
My father’s God, I exalt him!
Image by Naasom Azevedo from Freely Photos
The Israelites continued praising Yahweh’s victory over Egypt by proclaiming him as “my God.” The singular form, far rarer than the communal “our God,” expresses an increased level of intimacy. In Egypt, the Israelites had worshiped Yahweh as the God of the nation and of their ancestors.3 Now that they had witnessed his power for themselves, he became the God of each individual as well.
Their personal experience of Yahweh’s presence mirrored the experience of Jacob, the father of the nation. As a young man, Jacob worshiped Yahweh as the God of his father and grandfather. When forced to flee his home in Canaan, Jacob asked Yahweh to be his God by protecting him and bringing him back. Then Jacob would know God had chosen him as he chose Abraham and Isaac.4 Yahweh blessed Jacob, and he returned home a rich man with a large household.5
In Egypt, the Israelites had also greatly multiplied, and they left with riches.6 They had experienced Yahweh’s protection in a foreign land and could now return to Canaan to claim the land Yahweh had promised them. This personal experience changed their relationship with God as profoundly as it had changed Jacob’s.
Warrior
Yahweh is a warrior.
Yahweh is his name.
The pharaoh’s chariots and his warriors he threw into the sea.
His finest officers drowned in the Red Sea.
The deep waters cover them.
They dropped into the depths like stone.
Your right hand, Yahweh, is awesomely strong.
Your right hand, Yahweh, crushes the enemy.
By your abundant sovereignty, you throw down those who stand against you.
You send your anger forth, and it consumes them like chaff.
By the breath from your nostrils, the water piled up,
the flowing water stood tall like a hill,
the deep solidified in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, “I’ll pursue! I’ll overtake!
I’ll divide the plunder! I’ll indulge myself on them!
I’ll draw my sword! My power will possess them!”
You exhaled. The sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
Image by Muhammad Usman Nazeer Gilani from Pixabay
In the next section of the song, the Israelites praised Yahweh as a mighty warrior, against whom even the pharaoh’s elite chariots and finest officers stood no chance. Though some object to the idea of a Warrior God, this theme is found throughout Scripture.7 Indeed, he can’t be the God of peace without first subduing every enemy seeking to destroy his people.8
Yahweh doesn’t delight in war or bloodshed.9 He offers peace and forgiveness first, as he did with the Egyptians. But those who reject his grace should expect to face his wrath. He will fight to rescue the weak and oppressed who trust in him.10 His anger will consume the enemy like chaff in the fire.
As the boast of the Egyptians shows, it’s Yahweh’s enemies who delight in war. They saw Yahweh miraculously make a way for the Israelites to cross the sea. But the Egyptians thought they could use Yahweh’s deliverance to trap his people. In six short sentences, each only one or two words in Hebrew, they expressed their intention to pursue, plunder, and possess. They would attack a defenseless people to take their possessions and reenslave them. So Yahweh instead trapped the Egyptians, bringing the water crashing back down on top of them. Not because he loves violence but because he hates it.
The Heavenly Beings
Who is like you among the heavenly beings, Yahweh?
Who is like you, awesomely holy,
fearfully praised, working wonders?
You stretched out your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
Image by Sweet Publishing from Free Bible Images, CC BY-SA 3.0
Yahweh’s act of deliverance showed his superiority over not only Israel’s enemies but also the heavenly beings. The Hebrew word ʾelim does not refer to false, non-existent “gods.” The heavenly beings, including angels, cherubs, and seraphs, are the real members of the divine council in the heavenly realm above the earth.11 They function under Yahweh’s leadership and are subject to his judgment.12 Though Yahweh also exists in the heavenly realm, he is not one of the ʾelim.
The song lists three ways Yahweh is superior to the heavenly beings. He is “awesomely holy,” separate from all others in an awe-inspiring way. He is “fearfully praised.” His mighty acts in defense of the weak cause the strong to fear harming them. As a result, both the weak and the strong praise him. And he works wonders no one else could. Even the lesser wonders sometimes performed by angels or prophets ultimately come from Yahweh’s empowerment.
Yahweh is the Creator and Master of not only the physical realm but also the spiritual.
The Fear of the Nations
You have faithfully guided the people you redeemed.
By your strength, you led them to where your holiness abides.
Peoples have heard and tremble.
Agony has seized those who live in Philistia.
Now the clans of Edom are terrified.
Fits of trembling seize the rams of Moab.
All who live in Canaan are discouraged.
They are terrified and panicked by your great power.
They stand still as stone until your people pass by, Yahweh,
until the people you purchased pass by.
Image by VideoPlasty.com from Pixabay
Having praised Yahweh for delivering them from Egypt, the Israelites turned to his promises for the future. “Where your holiness abides” could refer to Mount Sinai, Jerusalem, or both. The Israelites expressed confidence that Yahweh would safely lead them to their destination. The use of the past tense doesn’t indicate that the Israelites had already arrived.13 Rather, this is an example of a literary device called the prophetic perfect, which portrays future events as so certain to happen that they might as well have already occurred.
As Yahweh had defeated Egypt, he would defeat Israel’s enemies on the way to the promised land. In a way, he already had because word of Egypt’s fall would reach the nations and terrify them. The Philistines and Canaanites inhabited the land God had promised to Abraham and his offspring. The Edomites (descendants of Esau) and Moabites (descendants of Lot) inhabited territory the Israelites would need to pass through.14 The “rams” of Moab refers to the rulers, who lead the people as a ram leads a flock of sheep. Frozen with fear, the nations and their leaders would fail to impede Israel’s progress toward their divinely decreed destiny.
Yahweh’s Eternal Reign
You’ll bring them in and plant them
on the mountain you inherited,
the established place you made for your dwelling, Yahweh,
the sanctuary, Lord, your power established.
Yahweh will reign forever and ever!
Image by Jose Weslley from Pixabay
The last part of the Song of the Sea looks further into the future to the Israelites taking possession of Canaan. But instead of focusing on Israel’s inheritance, it focuses on Yahweh’s. “The mountain you inherited” can refer only to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, since no sanctuary was ever built on Mount Sinai. Like other ancient peoples, the Israelites associated God with mountains even before the construction of the temple.15 They expected him to choose one for his dwelling in Canaan.
The first part of Exodus revolves around the revelation of Yahweh, the God who is.16 This passage sets up the theme of the second part of Exodus: Yahweh’s presence with his people. And it puts it in proper perspective. Yahweh did not choose to live with the Israelites in their land. He allowed them to live with him in his land. He would plant them like trees on his holy mountain. This imagery suggests both permanence and fruitfulness.
From his mountaintop sanctuary, Yahweh will reign forever as King over his land and his people. But the temple in Jerusalem, which didn’t last forever, only partially fulfilled this prophecy. It awaits complete fulfillment after Jesus returns and the new Jerusalem descends from the new heaven to the new earth.17 “Look! God’s tabernacle is among humanity, and he will live among them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them as their God.”18
Miriam’s Refrain
When the pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers entered the sea, Yahweh caused the sea waters to return over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry land. Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a hand drum, and all the women followed her with hand drums and dancing. Miriam answered them:
Sing to Yahweh because he has risen high!
The horse and its rider he flung into the sea.
Image by Myousry6666 from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
While Moses led the men in singing, the women did not sing with them. They accompanied the men by singing a refrain while dancing and playing hand drums. The refrain repeats the first two lines of the song, except it replaces “I will sing” with the exhortation “sing.” Aaron’s sister, Miriam, led the women.
Of course, Aaron’s sister was also Moses’s sister. But the emphasis on Aaron reflects the introduction of Miriam as a prophetess. This made her a counterpart to Aaron, the future high priest.19 Both spoke on Yahweh’s behalf and led Israel under Moses.20 Only Aaron and his male descendants could serve as priests and offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. But God chose both men and women from any tribe to serve as prophets.
So the women followed Miriam’s lead as they joined the men in praising Yahweh for delivering them from Egypt. Each group contributed a different part to the song to produce a harmony neither could create alone. This beautiful picture shows the role of women in a godly society. They neither sang the same part as the men nor sat silently on the sidelines listening. They performed their own part, without which the song would not have been complete.21
- Exodus 14:24.
- See Parallelism.
- Exodus 3:15–16; 4:4–5; Deuteronomy 26:6–7.
- See Jacob’s Vow.
- Genesis 32:9–10.
- Exodus 1:7; 12:35–36.
- Isaiah 42:13; 63:1–6; Jeremiah 20:11; Zephaniah 1:14; 3:17; Revelation 19:11–18.
- Isaiah 14:3–7; Nahum 1:15; John 16:33; Romans 16:20.
- Psalm 147:10; Proverbs 16:32.
- Exodus 22:21–24; Isaiah 9:4–5; 49:25–26; Jeremiah 20:11–12.
- Psalms 89:6–7.
- Psalm 82:1–7.
- In Hebrew, which doesn’t mark tense, these verbs are in the perfect aspect. The perfect is usually translated with the past tense in English.
- Numbers 20:14–17; Deuteronomy 2:2–9.
- Genesis 22:14; Exodus 3:1.
- See The Name.
- Revelation 21:1–2.
- Revelation 21:3.
- Exodus 28:1.
- Numbers 12:1–2; Micah 6:4.
- See All by Himself.