Let My Life Be Like a Love Song

The Nature of the Kingdom Week 2 – Pictures of the Kingdom: Exodus Exodus 15.1-18

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Sea of Reeds. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. Your right hand, Lord, is majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ But you blew your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone – until your people pass by, Lord., until the people you bought pass by. You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance – the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. The Lord reigns forever and ever.

Aim of Study To look at the first picture of the Kingdom in the Old Testament: how God intervened in human history through the Exodus and set his people free from bondage.

Key Verse The LORD will reign forever and ever. (Exodus 15. 18)

Study: Observation, Interpretation and Application The following questions are a mix of observation, interpretation and application. Observation is not determining what the passage means, but looking to see what the text says. The motto of observation is look, look, and look. Interpretation is not what this passage means to us, but what it meant to the original audience. This involves understanding the author’s viewpoint as well as the viewpoint of his audience. Consider how the author’s first readers understood the passage. Application: with observation and interpretation as the foundation, you are ready to ask the question, “How do the basic truths of this passage relate to my life?”

1) As you read this passage, what stands out to you? Ultimately, Exodus is the first picture of the kingdom and this text forms the climax of a deliberate build-up. God acted in human history and set a people free. It is in the Exodus account that we are given the first clearly expressed mention of the kingdom of God. The way the kingdom is presented in Exodus has a lot to do with the structure of the narrative. The actual text is a kingdom confession: “The Lord will reign forever and ever” (Ex. 15.18) and it forms the climax of a deliberate build-up. The reign of God is not a place but rather, an event: God intervenes and breaks through into the affairs of people. God establishes the Israelites as his people; he is their King. The statement The Lord is King reflects the major sections of the OT that are pre-prophetic: the Pentateuch, the Historical Writings and the Wisdom Literature.

2) What do you think this passage is about? What seems to be the main point? The Lord is King and he is for his people. This song may have come spontaneously as Moses led the nation of Israel into the wilderness. Both he and Miriam, his sister sang it with the intent of giving glory to God. It is a song of praise because God heard the cries of his people and intervened in mighty ways to set them free. In Exodus 3, He began with a kingdom announcement by declaring himself as “I AM WHO I AM”. He is the eternal God: he resides in the past, present, and future. He is the One true God, above all other gods. He is the King and he is for his people. When we speak in Kingdom terminology, we are talking about power, battle, conquest and victory – with God being the one who is victorious. The King is a mighty warrior and he fights for his people – he fought for the Hebrew slaves and he fights for us. Why? Because he loves us and is for us.

The people of Israel saw two kingdoms collide: the kingdom of God, the great I AM against the spiritual powers of darkness, represented by Egypt and her gods. The first battle that had to be fought was the spiritual battle. God declares, “On all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment: I AM the LORD.” The way of scripture is to show the invisible before the visible. Once the invisible battle is won, it translates into the visible battle, a point that is well understood by those who are intercessors. Behind the political and military might of Egypt (or really, any empire) were (and are) the spiritual powers of darkness. God declares judgment on the gods of Egypt – what’s interesting is that almost all the plagues (or judgments) correspond with the Egyptian gods, all of whom had physical representations. The plagues were God’s way of saying, “your gods are defeated.” Again and again his power breaks into the affairs of nations and of humanity, confronting the forces that hold against him; the very forces that oppress and imprison people and he sets them free.

3) What are some of the characteristics used to describe God in this passage? This song, sung by Moses and the whole of Israel, is a victory song and an exposition on the name and character of God, the Warrior God, who wages war on Pharaoh and defeats him. It is a fulfillment of the promise of God who revealed himself to Moses at the burning bus, promising freedom to an enslaved people. This is not theory but rather, it is experiential. And the LORD is the victor, he is mighty and majestic. God did what Israel could not do: fight the Pharaoh and his army. The second battle to be fought was the military battle. The powers of Egypt were defeated in the heavenly realms and so God went on to defeat them in the physical realm, on the military front. But note, it is God who fights the battle, not the Israelites. The victory of God was the final act of deliverance for Israel.

The LORD is his name. In Exodus 3:13,14 Moses asks God what his name is and God reveals his name to Moses. Within ancient Hebrew culture, the selection of a name was to reveal the character or nature of a person. So here in Exodus, we learn the name or character of God. When Moses asked God in Exodus 3.14, “What is your name”, what he was really asking was “What is your nature or your character?” God’s response in verse 15 was “I AM WHO I AM. The word YHWH derives from the Hebrew verb to be (I AM) and carries the unique ability to refer to “being” in the past, present, or future tense. It is an event-word meaning the word carries the idea of being dynamically present or “coming” to be present. It signifies the God has entered the situation, he has invaded into human history. He is manifestly now present. All this to say, when God speaks, things happen. The King rules over his people – he brings his people redemption and freedom.

4) How has God reveled his character to you?

5) How does God intervene in our lives today? Through the Holy Spirit God intervenes in our lives and he begins to transforms us and sets us free from whatever bondage we may be in, bringing us out of our enslavement to whatever sin – whether it was sins committed against us or whether sins we have committed. But not only does he set us free from sin, he brings healing to our lives both spiritually and physically. He sets us free from demonic bondage – which is a spiritual battle and he heals us from sickness – a form of physical battle. God does what we are unable to do. The very act of salvation is an intervention: we can’t save ourselves, we can’t even get ourselves to want salvation – these are all acts of God (Jn 12.32).

6) What are some that ways has God intervened in your life? (This would be a good place to reflect and share on some areas where God has brought his kingdom into your life) One of the key elements with the kingdom of God is that it is meant to be experiential – it is never intended to be merely academic and theoretical. God wants to bring his kingdom into our lives in ways that truly set us free – whether it is the effects of sins from our past or we find ourselves trapped in habits and attitudes that hinder us and keep us distant from God. Perhaps we struggle with addictions like alcoholism or drug addiction or some kind of sexual sin. The fact is God wants to get his way in our lives, setting us free so we can be whom he has made us to.