Schoolmaster to Christ
EXODUS CHAPTER 15
Schoolmaster to Christ
EXODUS CHAPTER 15
Scripture Reading: Exodus 15 (KJV)
This chapter opens with Israel's magnificent song of triumph on the shore of the Red Sea, when they had seen "that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians." They had seen God's salvation, and, therefore, they sing His praise and recount His mighty acts – "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord." Up to this moment, we have not heard a single note of praise. We have heard their cry of deep sorrow, as they toiled amid the brick-kilns of Egypt; we have hearkened to their cry of unbelief, when surrounded by what they deemed insuperable difficulties; but until now, we have heard no song of praise. It was not until they found themselves surrounded by the fruits of God's salvation, that the triumphal hymn burst forth from the whole redeemed assembly. It was when they emerged from their significant baptism "in the cloud and in the sea," and were able to gaze on the rich spoils of victory that their voices were heard chanting the song of victory. The waters of the Red Sea rolled between them and Egypt, and they stood on the shore as a delivered people, and, therefore, they were able to praise Jehovah.
In this, as in everything else, they were our types. Like them, we too must know ourselves as saved before we can offer clear and intelligent worship. There will always be reserve and hesitancy in the soul, no doubt proceeding from positive inability to enter into the accomplished redemption in Christ Jesus. We may acknowledge the fact that there is salvation only in Christ; but this is different from apprehending, by faith, the true character and ground of that salvation, and realizing it as ours. With unmistakable clearness, the Spirit of God reveals in the Word that the Church of our Lord1 is united to Christ in death and resurrection; and that a risen Christ, at God's right hand, is the measure and pledge of the Church's acceptance. When this is truly understood and believed it conducts the soul beyond the region of doubt and uncertainty. How can Christian’s doubt when we know that we are continually represented before the throne of God by an Advocate – "Jesus Christ the righteous"? It is the privilege of the very feeblest member of the Church of our Lord to personally know representation by Christ on the cross; that his/her sins were confessed, borne, judged, and atoned for there. This is Divine reality, and must give the faithful peace. However, we may be earnest, anxious, and have most sincere desires after God; and we may have the most pious and devout intentions on all the ordinances, offices, and forms of religion. But there is no other possible way in which to get the sense of sin removed from the conscience, except by seeing it judged in the Person of Christ – as a sin-offering on the cursed tree. And, if judged there by Christ, it is to be regarded by the Christian as an eternally-settled question. "I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it that men should fear before him" (Eccl. 3:14).
However, while it is generally accepted and admitted that all this is true regarding the Church of our Lord as a body, many find considerable difficulty in making personal application. Such are ready to say with the psalmist, "Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me . . ." (Ps. 73:1, 2). They are looking at themselves instead of the death and resurrection of Christ; in being occupied with their appropriation of Christ than with Christ Himself – thinking of their capacity rather than their title. Thus, they are kept in a state of distressing uncertainty; and consequently, they are never able to be happy, intelligent worshippers; always praying for salvation instead of rejoicing in the possession of it – looking only at their imperfect fruits instead of Christ's perfect atonement.
Looking through the various notes of this song in Exodus 15, we do not find a single note about the doings, sayings, feelings, or fruits of self. From beginning to end it is all about Jehovah. It begins with, "I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." This is a specimen of the entire song; a simple record of the attributes and actions of Jehovah. In Exodus 14, the hearts of the people were pent up by the excessive pressure of their circumstances: but in Exodus 15, the pressure is removed, and their hearts overflow in a sweet song of praise – self is forgotten. Circumstances are ignored. One object, and only one, fills their vision, and that object is the Lord Himself. They were able to say, "Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the works of thy hands" (Ps. 92:4). True worship occurs when self is lost and only Christ fills the heart. There is no need for the efforts of a fleshly pietism to awaken feelings of devotion in the soul. Nor is there any demand whatsoever for the adventitious so called appliances of religion to kindle the flame of acceptable worship in the soul. No; let the heart be occupied with the Person of Christ, and "songs of praise" will be the natural result. It is impossible for the eye to rest on Jesus Christ and the spirit not be bowed in holy worship. If we contemplate the worship of the hosts surrounding the throne of God and the Lamb, we will find that it is evoked by the presentation of some special feature of Divine excellence or Divine action. Thus it should be with the Church of our Lord on earth; and when it is not so, it is because we allow things that have no place in the regions of unclouded light and unalloyed blessedness to intrude. In true worship, God Himself is the object, the subject, and the power of worship.
Exodus 15 is a fine specimen of a song of praise. It is the language of a redeemed people celebrating the worthy praise of Him who had redeemed them.
"The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my fathers God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name . . . thy right hand, O Lord is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy . . . who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? . . . Thou, in thy mercy, hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation . . . The Lord shall reign for ever and ever."
The range of this song is comprehensive. It begins with redemption and ends with the glory. It begins with the cross and ends with the kingdom. It is like a beauteous rainbow, with one end dipped in "the sufferings;" the other in "the glory which should follow." It is all about Jehovah – an outpouring of soul produced by a view of God and His gracious and glorious actions.
Also, it does not stop short of the actual accomplishment of God’s purpose; as we read, "Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation." They were able to say this, even though they had just planted their feet on the edge of the desert. It was not the expression of a vague hope. It was not blind chance. No; when the soul is wholly occupied with God, it is enabled to launch out into the fullness of His grace, to bask in the sunshine of His countenance, and delight in the rich abundance of His mercy and loving-kindness. There is never a cloud on the future when the believing soul takes its stand on the eternal rock of a risen Christ. Clouds of doubt vanish when we look up into the spacious vault of God's infinite plans and purposes, and dwell on the effulgence of the glory God has prepared for those who have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
This accounts for the peculiarly brilliant, elevated, and unqualified character of such praise found throughout sacred Scripture, The creature is set aside; God is the object, filling the entire sphere of the soul's vision. There is nothing of the feelings, or experiences of man, and, therefore, the stream of praise flows copiously and uninterruptedly. How different this is from some of hymns so often head in Christian assemblies, so full of our failings, our feebleness, and our shortcomings. The fact is, we can never sing with real, spiritual intelligence and power when looking at self. Sadly, many think it is a Christian grace to be in a continual state of doubt and hesitation; and, as a consequence, their hymns are in character with their condition. However sincere and pious they may be, such people have never gotten over themselves. They have not yet passed through the sea, taking their stand on the shore in the power of resurrection. They are too occupied with self. They do not regard self as a crucified thing, with which God is forever done.
May the Holy Spirit2 lead God's people into fuller, clearer, and worthier apprehensions of their place and privilege as those who are presented before God in the infinite and unclouded acceptance in which Jesus Christ stands as the risen and glorified Head of His Church. Doubts and fears do not become them, because Christ has not left a shadow of a foundation on which to build doubt or fear. Their place is within the veil. They "have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (Heb. 10:19). Are there any doubts or fears in the holiest? No; a doubting spirit calls in question the perfectness of Christ's work – a work attested by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. That blessed One could not have left the tomb unless all doubt and fear had been removed on behalf of His people. Therefore, it is the Christians privilege to triumph in a full salvation. The Lord Himself has become our salvation; and we have only to enjoy the fruits of God's work – to walk under His praise while waiting for that time, when "Jehovah shall reign forever and ever."
But there is one note in this song to which we should give attention. "He is my God and I will prepare him an habitation." It is worthy of note that when the heart is full to overflowing with the joy of redemption, it gives expression to its devoted purpose in reference to "a habitation for God." We should ponder this. God dwelling with man is a grand thought pervading Scripture from Exodus 15 to Revelation. Hearken to the following utterance of a devoted heart: "Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob" (Ps. 132:3-5); again, "For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (Ps. 49:9; Jn. 2:17). We will not attempt to pursue this subject here; but we do encourage you to pursue it from the earliest notice of it in the Word until that soul-stirring announcement, "Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Rev. 21:3, 4).
"So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; and they went out into the wilderness of Shur: and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water" (v 22). When we get into a wilderness experience, we are put to the test regarding the real measure of our acquaintance with God. There is a freshness and exuberance of joy connected with our Christian career when we receive a keen blast of the desert. However, unless there is a deep sense that God is above and beyond everything, we are likely to break down and "in our hearts, turn back again into Egypt." The discipline of the wilderness is needed to make us acquainted with God and our own hearts; enabling us to enter into the power of our relationship, and to enlarge our capacity for the enjoyment of the Promised Land when we actually get there.3
The greenness, freshness, and luxuriance of spring have peculiar charms that pass away before the scorching heat of summer. But, with proper care, the very heat that removes the traces of spring produces the mellowed and matured fruits of autumn. Thus it is in the Christian life. There is a striking and deeply instructive analogy between the principles that characterize the kingdom of nature and those characterizing the kingdom of grace; seeing it is the same God whose handiwork gave us a view of both.
There are three distinct positions in which we may contemplate Israel: in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan. In all these, we find "our types." This may seem paradoxical, but it is true. In type, we are in Egypt, surrounded by natural things that are adapted to the natural heart. But, because God has called us into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ, we, according to the affections and desires of the new nature, find our place outside of that which belongs to Egypt, i.e., the world in its natural state.4 This causes us to get a taste of wilderness experience. In other words, it places us in the wilderness. The Christian nature earnestly breathes after a different order of things – after a purer atmosphere than that with which we find ourselves surrounded; thus causing us to feel Egypt to be a moral desert.
But then, because in God's view we are eternally associated with Jesus Christ who has triumphantly and majestically taken His seat in the heavenlies, we are by faith "sitting together with him" there (Eph. 2). So that although our human bodies are in Egypt, and our experience is in the wilderness, we are by faith conducted, in spirit, into Canaan, and able to feed on "the old corn of the land," i.e., on Christ, not as One who merely came down to earth, but as One gone back to heaven – seated there in glory.
The concluding verses of this 15th chapter find Israel in the wilderness. Up to this point it seemed to be fair sailing. After all, heavy judgments were poured out on Egypt; but Israel was exempt – the army of Egypt was dead on the sea shore; but Israel was triumphant. All this was apparent; but the aspect of things speedily changed. The notes of praise were soon exchanged for the accents of discontent. "When they came to Marah they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?" Again, "The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: and the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full! for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
Here were the trials of the wilderness: "What shall we eat?" and "What shall we drink?" The waters of Marah tested the heart of Israel and developed their murmuring spirit; but the Lord showed them that there was no bitterness He could not sweeten with the provision of His own grace. "And the Lord showed them a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet; there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them." Here is a beauteous figure of Him who, in infinite grace, was cast into the bitter waters of death, so that those waters might yield sweetness to us forever. We can truly say, "The bitterness of death is past," and nothing remains for us but the eternal sweets of resurrection.
Verse 26 sets before us the momentous character of this first stage of Gods redeemed in the wilderness. At this point, we are in great danger of falling into a fretful, impatient, murmuring spirit. The only remedy is to keep the eye steadily fixed on Jesus – "looking unto Jesus." He unfolds Himself according to the need of His people; and instead of complaining about circumstances, they should make their circumstances an occasion of drawing close to Him. In this way, the wilderness ministers to our experience of what God is. It is a school in which we learn His patient grace and ample resources. "Forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness" (Acts 13:18). The spiritual mind knows that it is worth having bitter waters for God to sweeten.
"We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:3-5).
However, the wilderness has its Elims as well as its Marahs; its wells and palm trees, as well as its bitter waters. "And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped thereby the waters" (v 27). The Lord graciously and tenderly provides green spots in the desert for His journeying people; and though, at best, they are but oases, still, they are refreshing to the spirit and encouraging to the heart. The sojourn at Elim was eminently calculated to soothe the hearts of the people, and hush their murmurings. The grateful shade of its palm trees, and the refreshing of its wells, came in sweetly and seasonably after the trial of Marah, and in our view significantly set forth the precious virtues of that spiritual ministry God provides for His people down here. “The twelve” and “the seventy” are numbers associated with ministry.
But Elim was not Canaan. Its wells and palm trees were just foretastes of that happy land beyond the bounds of the sterile desert on which the redeemed had just entered. No doubt, it furnished refreshment, but it was wilderness refreshment – for the passing moment; designed to encourage their depressed spirits, and nerve them for an onward march to Canaan. Thus it is with ministry in the Lord’s Church. It is a gracious provision for our need, designed to refresh, strengthen, and encourage our hearts, "until we all come to the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ" (Eph. 4).
Footnotes:
1
For more information on the church see "God's Church" in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
2 For more information on the Holy Spirit see ‘God the Spirit’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
3 See Deuteronomy 8:2-5.
4 It is important to understand that there is a wide moral difference between Egypt and Babylon. Israel came out of Egypt. They were later carried into Babylon (compare Amos 5:25-27 with Acts 7:42, 43). Egypt expresses what man has made of the world; Babylon expresses what Satan has made, is making, and will make of the Church of our Lord. So, we are not only surrounded with the circumstances of Egypt, but also by the moral principles of Babylon. This renders our "days" with what the Holy Spirit has termed "perilous" (calepoi - "difficult"). To meet the combined influence of the realities of Egypt and the spirit and principles of Babylon demands a special energy of the Spirit of God, and complete subjection to the authority of the Word. The Spirit of God meets the natural desires of the heart; while subjection to God's Word connects with the religiousness of nature. Man is a religious being, and peculiarly susceptible to the influences arising from music, sculpture, painting; pompous rites and ceremonies. When these things connect with our natural wants - with all the ease and luxury of life, nothing but the mighty power of God's Word and Spirit can keep us true to Christ. We should also remark that there is a vast difference between the destinies of Egypt and those of Babylon. Isaiah 19 sets before us the blessing in store for Egypt. It concludes thus: "And the Lord shall smite Egypt; he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even unto the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them . . . in that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance" (vs 22-25). The close of Babylon's history is different; whether viewed as a literal city or a spiritual system. "I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts" (Is. 14:23). "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation" (Is. 13:20) - so much for Babylon literally. Looking at it from a spiritual point of view, we read its destiny in Revelation 18. The entire chapter is a description of Babylon, concluding in this way: "A strong angel took up a stone, like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus, with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all" (v 21). Those words should solemnly fall on the ears of all who are connected with Babylon - that is to say, with man's creeds, dogmas, and religious organizations he has founded and controls. "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 18:5). The "power" of the Holy Spirit will produce or express itself in a certain "form," and the enemy's aim has always been to rob the Lord's Church of the power, while he leads her to cling to, and perpetuate the form - to stereotype the form when all the spirit and life has passed away. In this way, he builds the spiritual Babylon. The stones on which this city is built are lifeless professors; and the mortar binding these stones together is a "form of godliness without the power." May we fully, clearly and influentially understand these things.
