End-zone Dance
Notes
Transcript
Our songs of Jesus are songs of hope
Our songs of Jesus are songs of hope
There is a rule in sermon construction that says no sermon introduction should last more than five minutes.
I’m going to break that rule today.
This really isn’t introduction - it’s more like a footnote.
You don’t read every footnote, right?
Some people never read the footnotes
So with that in mind, this footnote is addressed to two groups in particular: students and deep thinkers.
Ya’ll need this footnote.
As I have studied each week, I’ve used a variety of resources - that’s the right thing to do.
But what I’ve been reminded of is that not everyone agrees with our understanding of the path of the Israelites.
If you are going to college and you ever take a introductory Bible class, your professor will invariably hit you right between the eyes with this.
And, if you are anywhere other than a conservative Bible college or seminary, they will tell you that what you’ve been taught is wrong.
See, when it comes to translating ancient languages, there is some ambiguity sometimes.
The Red Sea in Hebrew is “Yam Suph.”
Yam is sea and Suph is the problem.
It can either be Red or Reeds and some theologians are pretty adamant about it being the Sea of Reeds.
It’s more believable that way.
In fact, I read a scientific article where some scientists did some science
They researched at what speed and what angle would the wind have to blow in order to blow the water back on the Reed Sea
So the Israelites could cross it on dry land.
And, astonishingly enough, it was less than hurricane force - somewhere right around 70 miles per hour.
What allows this discussion is the fact that none of the cities mentioned, Pi-hahiroth, Midgol or Baal-zephon exist any more and no one knows where they were.
That doesn’t mean they didn’t exist - now stay with me here, we just don’t know where they are.
It is estimated the world population around 1000 BC, and the exodus happened around 1400 BC
The entire population of the world was between 50 - 70 million people.
That’s about the size of Uganda on the low side to the United Kingdom of the high side.
Great swaths of land were unpopulated or they just had the random bedouin family wandering around.
These cities weren’t huge cities and as time passed they were abandoned and they died.
You might wonder how that could happen and I would encourage you to drive through rural Georgia.
You’ll find little places that used to be towns that are now abandoned buildings that nature is reclaiming.
So, all of that to say this - no one knows exactly where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea or, according to some scholarship, whether they crossed the Red Sea at all.
My own personal view is they crossed the Red Sea at the north end of the Gulf of Suez.
See that little indention just below where the Gulf begins.
If that existed then, that little peninsula would be the perfect place for the Lord to place the Israelites to make Pharaoh think they were trapped.
The sea on three sides with Pharaoh behind.
That’s what I believe.
Let me tell you why I believe they crossed the Red Sea.
I know some of you are glazing over - I’ll get back to you in just a moment.
In hermeneutics - that the art of interpreting the scripture - we take classes on that in seminary
There is a principle that says, “Scripture interprets scripture.”
In other words, let the parts of scripture that are crystal clear help us understand the parts that might strike us as fuzzy.
So, what are we dealing with that is fuzzy?
What did the Israelites cross, the Red Sea or the Reed Sea?
How will scripture help us figure this out?
Our text today is Exodus 15:1-21.
We’re going to read it in a moment, but let me refer you to a couple of verses.
Look at Exodus 15:4 ““Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.”
Still not real clear right - if they crossed the Reed Sea, Pharaoh’s chariots could have sunk in the mud.
Look at Exodus 15:5 “The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.”
Floods can’t cover you in the Reed Sea - the water never goes over your head
Nor if you fell would you sink into the depths.
The Hebrew word for depths means deep deep.
Look at Exodus 15:8 “At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.”
Floods mean a whole lot of water - stood up is the phrase you would use for a high wall.
Reed Sea - maybe the water would pile up in a 6 foot wall - maybe.
Red Sea - it would be a towering wall and the Israelites would have crossed over in the deeps with a great wall of water on either side.
So, Moses’ own words support a crossing of the Red Sea.
When you go to college and you take a Bible class, you’re going to hear the Reed Sea on steroids.
Remember today - remember what we said - Clear scripture interprets less clear scripture.
Yes, they will have PhD’s and will speak like an expert - you remember that they have an agenda
And that agenda is to make much of man.
I only have a Master’s degree and I too have an agenda.
But my agenda is to make much of the Lord.
For I believe “The Lord is great and greatly to be praised.”
There is your footnote - thank you for indulging me this lecture.
Children, Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and the Lord drown all of Pharaoh’s army
It was like Moses and Team Israel had just won the Super Bowl.
So you know what they did?
They did an end-zone dance.
Yep - the three words you are listening for today are Song, Strength and Jesus.
Our text is Exodus 15:1-21 and I wish we could sing it like they did it on the shore of the Red Sea.
First, Moses would have sung the song.
Then Moses and the men would sing a verse and then the women would repeat the verse.
And when that was over, the women would dance and sing the entire song themselves.
But for the sake of time, I’ll read but maybe with some gusto.
Hear now the Word of the Lord from Exodus 15:1-21
Exodus 15:1–21 (ESV)
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.
“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.
“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O Lord, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
I took a course in college called “An Introduction to Music.”
It was way back in the day - we were assigned different kinds of music through history to listen to
And our test was - the teacher would drop the needle of the phonograph and play 10 seconds of a song
And we’d have to identify the song and it’s composer.
I made the A but with lots of anxiety and hours of listening to pirated versions of the songs on my cassette tape player.
But the point - I obviously misunderstood something because I fully remember being taught that music wasn’t invented until the motets came out in the middle ages - around 1300 ad.
And I thought then, that can’t be right.
As long as people have been alive, people have been singing.
Music is part of who we are.
Music fills nature - even the Cicadas that have passed away now - there was a rhythm to their sounds.
In 1,300 BC, Moses and a whole bunch of Israelites were standing on the shore of a great body of water.
The wind was blowing like it does at the beach and the waves were lapping at the shore.
Many were out of breath from climbing the hill from the bottom of the Red Sea to the shore.
Moment’s ago, right before their eyes, without them doing a thing - they watched as the water that had piled up into great walls for them
Collapsed on Pharaoh’s army.
The cries of the charioteers urging their horses to go faster, the rumbling of the chariot wheels on the ground
The fear of what was about to happen
All of it was gone, in an instant, with thunderous sound of a wave.
Then the breeze blowing, and waves lapping and sea gulls cawing in the wind.
After a few moments of stunned silence, Moses burst into song.
Then he led the Israelites in the song
And then the women, as was their tradition, took the song for themselves and sang and danced and played their tambourines.
Verse 1 says why they were singing, “Exodus 15:1 ““I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously...”
He didn’t win just a little bit, but He won big.
Verse 2 tells everybody why this is such a big deal.
Exodus 15:2 “The Lord is my strength
When I couldn’t win, He could.
“He has become my salvation
When I was hopeless, Yahweh saved me.
How can I keep my mouth shut?
“I will praise him, my father’s God
My father told me of the Lord of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, but I’ve seen more than my father ever did.
I will lift my voice to the heavens.
Ya’ll, we’ve seen more of the Lord than all generations past
And I believe we are about to see more of the Lord than we’ve ever seen before.
When we do, let’s not forget to sing the Song of the Sea
The Lord is our strength, the Lord is our salvation, we will praise the Lord with everything we’ve got.
Verse 3 makes some people allergic Exodus 15:3 “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.”
Some years back, there was talk of taking “Onward Christian Soldiers” out of the Baptist Hymnal.
It was too militant, too warlike.
And yet, Moses sings, “The Lord is a man of war...”
Do you know what that means?
Listen, listen, it means that the Lord God Almighty fights for you.
Yahweh fights for you.
Jesus fights for you.
I don’t know what you are going through.
I don’t know what slings and arrows the evil one and his minions are aiming at you right now.
But this much I know for sure, the Lord is fighting for you.
The Lord is fighting to make you victorious.
To give you that future and that hope with Him.
The Lord hasn’t left you alone
I don’t care how dark your life feels
I don’t care how alone the evil one has convince you you are
Listen to me, the Lord God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth
Has you on His mind and He had you on His heart
And He IS fighting for you.
Don’t you dare give up.
Remember the Psalm.
Psalm 30:5 (ESV)
Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
It might seem so dark to you right now that the darkness itself feels like it will crush you.
Listen to me, the morning is coming.
The Lord is a warrior.
He’s fighting for you in places you cannot see and you cannot know.
He is our deliverer.
Your enemies are his enemies and listen to what happens to them
Exodus 15:7 “In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.”
The evil one who is harassing you will be bound and consumed like stubble.
Your day to stand on the shore and see your problems drowned in the sea is coming.
You hold fast to the Lord and know - you know - that He’s holding fast to you.
He. Will. Set. You. Free.
Let me tell you about our Lord.
Exodus 15:13 ““You have led in your steadfast love
Do you know what steadfast love means?
It means that He is faithful to lead.
You don’t have to worry and fret about the decisions you are making
Follow Jesus - follow Jesus to the best of your ability and watch Him faithfully lead you.
But why should He lead you, right?
I mean, we know who we are and what we’ve done.
Listen
““You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
Do you know what redeemed means?
It means He bought you back
From all of the sin you’ve committed - where your sins were polite sins or heinous sins
Whether they were victimless sins or sins where you left a path of destruction behind you a mile wide.
He redeemed you.
You were a slave to sin - you were in bondage to sin - your every desire was to sin
And what did He do?
He bought you back - and then what did He do?
“[He has] guided them by your strength to your holy abode.”
By His strength - the strength that only his breath was needed to wipe out the greatest army on the face of the planet.
At the final battle in history, it will be a single Word from Jesus that will obliterate every army standing against us.
That strength that cannot be defeated
Is delivering - listen to me - is delivering you to His holy abode.
And just where would that be?
For now - it’s wherever you are.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
Wherever you are is holy and set apart because the Lord is there with you.
Guiding you with His strong hand.
But listen to me, where you are is not your ultimate destination.
Jesus is still fighting and the battle will soon be won.
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
What did Moses sing in Exodus 15:18 “The Lord will reign forever and ever.””
And here we are at the other end of the book hearing the same thing - “And he shall reign forever and ever.”
And still there is one more part of the story that Moses’ song hints at:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
That’s the Holy Place Moses didn’t know He was prophesying.
Exodus 15:13 ““You have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.”
By His strength He is guiding us - and I promise, I promise one day we will live with Jesus face to face
And we’ll live happily ever after.
If you are a Christ follower - this is yours.
And if you haven’t followed Christ - this can be yours.
He bought you out of sin by the blood that dripped down His cross.
He buried that hideous part of you that torments you with guilt and shame in His tomb.
And He rose to new life to bring you with Him
So you’d never again be alone.
So you’d never again fight alone.
So that you will overcome all that torments you
And you’ll live free with Jesus forever.
That is yours if you will follow Jesus.
Come join the family.
We’ll pray and sing.
Christian - sing exuberantly.
And friend, if you want to follow Jesus - come during the song - come after the song.
Talk to me - He wants to save you.
Let us pray:
