1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the I AM, and spoke, saying, “I will sing to the I AM, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.
We don’t write enough victory songs in our culture.
2 “The I AM is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and He will live with me; my father's God, and I will exalt Him.
3 “The I AM is a man of war. The I AM is His name.
God is not a sissy. He is a warrior King.
Of course, this all rhymes in Hebrew.
4 “Pharaoh's chariots and his army has He thrown into the sea. Pharaoh's chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
5 “The depths have covered them. They sank to the bottom like a stone.
6 “Thy right hand, O I AM, is become glorious in power! Thy right hand, O I AM, has smashed the enemy.
7 “And in the greatness of Thine excellency Thou have overthrown them that rose up against Thee. Thou sent forth Thy anger, which burned them up like dry grass.
8 “And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
To congeal means to “set, clot, thicken, solidify, harden, or gel.” This does sound like God sent a wind to blow a path in the waters and freeze them into ice.
9 “The enemy said, ‘I will chase them, I will overtake them, I will divide the spoil! My lust shall be satisfied on them! I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
10 “Thou did blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
A second wind blew to cover the Egyptians with water, probably from the west this time.
11 “Who is like Thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
12 “Thou stretched out Thy right hand and the earth swallowed them.
13 “Thou in Thy mercy have led out the people which Thou have redeemed. Thou have guided them in Thy strength to Thy holy home.
14 “The people shall hear, and be afraid. Sorrow will take hold on the inhabitants of Canaan.
15 “Then the leaders of Edom will be astonished; the mighty men of Moab will tremble; all the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.
Moses and Israel are predicting that the inhabitants of the land they are heading to will be so afraid of their God that they won’t be able to fight.
Edom is the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother.
Moab are the descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew.
16 “Fear and dread shall fall on them. By the greatness of Thine arm they shall be as still as a stone, until Thy people march by, O I AM, until the people march over, that thou have purchased.
17 “Thou will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, in the place, O I AM, which Thou have made for Thee to live in, in the Sanctuary, O I AM, which Thy hands have established.
18 “The I AM shall reign for ever and ever.
19 “For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the I AM brought again the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.”
As beautiful as this song is in English, it was probably even more beautiful in Hebrew.
It says specifically here that Pharaoh’s horse was drowned. There would be very little chance of Pharaoh escaping if his horse drowned.
20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines dancing.
God gave us dance to express joy with. It is appropriate anytime we are celebrating. Christians today don’t dance enough.
Picture this with 600,000 women dancing and singing praises to our God. What a marvelous scene that would have been!
21 And Miriam answered them, “Sing ye to the I AM, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.”
22 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.
They are on the Arabian peninsula now. This is one of the biggest desert regions in the world.
23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. That is why the name of it was called Marah.
Marah is the Hebrew word for bitter.
24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
Unfortunately it is human nature to be discontent and complaining.
25 And he cried to the I AM. The I AM showed him a tree, which when he had thrown it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a law and an ordinance, and there he tested them,
26 And said, “If thou will diligently listen to the voice of the I AM thy God, and will do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His laws, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians. For I am the I AM that heals thee.”
We change tense in the middle of this verse from Moses talking to God talking.
Anyway, God promised that if the Children of Israel will obey, they won’t have the diseases the Egyptians had. Now, I believe He was speaking of the plagues, but did He mean more than that?
Autopsies on mummies have shown that the ancient Egyptians (especially the rich ones) had diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Could it be that keeping The Law won’t save us (Salvation only comes by the Blood of Christ. The sin offerings of the Old Testament “paid the rent” on sins, bringing them up to the Cross), but that we might be healthier if we did? Could it be that eating only clean meats, un-aged and thoroughly cooked, without the blood or fat, plus lots of dairy, and “herbs of the field,” abstaining from leaven for a week each year, plus washing frequently would, in fact, protect us from the most common diseases of our culture?
27 And they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water, and 70 palm trees. And they camped there by the waters.
There is a place on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula near the suspected crossing point that fits this description and still has signs of a very large group of people camping there a long time ago.