One of the members of theres.life (a Mastodon instance) posted about a different portion of Exodus 15 earlier this week and, as I typically do, I looked up the chapter to read in its entirety. This portion of the chapter jumped out at me, I guess I hadn’t realized, or had forgotten, that there was such a song/psalm in Exodus, but the big thing that caught my attention was how the event they were discussing was described…
I remember once when Pete and I were driving through Kentucky, and suddenly as we came around a bend, there was an airplane in the road! We were stunned, apparently it had just made an emergency landing on this 2-lane blacktop, and we were the first to arrive. As Pete got out of the car and ran to the plane, several others also stopped to see if they could help, including an off-duty first responder – I don’t recall what his occupation was but he instantly took over the scene, for which all were glad. The pilot of the plane was uninjured but angry that his plane had been damaged when it landed on its belly.
All of the above gave us a great story to tell for months afterward. Because it was something so unusual we tended to emphasize certain parts of it, repeating them multiple times within each retelling. It isn’t something that everyone sees, after all!
I got the same feeling in reading what Moses and the sons of Israel were singing as they praised their Lord:
– The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.(v.1c)
– Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea…(v.4a)
– You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters.(v.10)
I can almost hear Moses and the sons of Israel in my mind as I read. “Did you guys SEE that?!?! I’ve never seen anything like it! The Lord just caused the sea to close right over those guys! I mean, one minute we’re crossing the dry land, with the walls of water towering over us on each side, and the next – WOW – the walls came crashing down over the army and drowned them all! Even their horses!! It was so amazing, that water coming down and covering the entire army!” And even the ladies got in on it, as Aaron’s sister Miriam played her timbrel and sang “The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”(v.21b)
Reading this passage with that kind of excitement and wonder really set it on fire to me, and I could almost feel what the Israelites must have felt in their joy and celebration!
Read it for yourself, and see if you agree, and if you do, praise the Lord for His care of His own!
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+15%3A1-21&version=NASB
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