Lesson #18

EXODUS 15
Lesson #18
THE VICTORIOUS REDEMPTION THAT HEALS

• Memory verse: Psalms 103:4

• In the past few lessons, we have discussed the various aspects of redemption as seen in the book of Exodus. We have related those aspects to redemption through Jesus Christ. There is one more parallel that scripture makes to the redemption we see in Exodus.
• Read 1Cor 10:1-6
• Read 1Cor 12:13
• These passages tell us that the experiences of the Israelites are examples to us for our lives so that we gain the victories God intended for them, and so that we do not make the same mistakes they did.
• Speaking of the Israelites, Paul says in this passage that the Israelites were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea when they crossed the Red Sea.
• What does that mean? They did not get wet in the Red Sea, for they crossed on dry land.
• Baptism is the process of immersion with the intention of giving identity to the person immersed, which results in setting that person apart for blessings, special treatment, and power.
• The crossing of the Red Sea is a type or prefigure of the baptism that the believer experiences in Jesus Christ.
• On one side of the Red Sea, the Israelites were identified with Egypt (the world). On the other side of the Red Sea, they were identified with Moses, the deliverer.
• In the same way, before baptism, the believer is identified with the world, but after baptism, he is identified with the deliverer, Jesus Christ.
• We have already seen that Moses is a prefigure of Christ, the savior.
• Remember that the cloud represents the guidance by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, because the Israelites were identified with the redeemer and led by the presence of the cloud, it represents the born-again believer who is identified with Jesus Christ, the redeemer and led by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
• Read Heb 11:29
• The Israelites crossed the Red Sea by faith. It was not their faith but Moses’ faith that brought them across.
• The believer in Jesus Christ is saved by the measure of faith that is given to him by the Holy Spirit at the moment the believer decides to give his life to Christ. (Rom 12:3b)
• This is the Lord’s salvation, the Lord’s deliverance, and the Lord’s redemption in Exodus and in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ.
• There is one baptism in the Bible (Eph 4:5) However, there are 7 aspects of this one baptism that the Bible mentions:

Seven Aspects of the One Baptism	Significance	Scripture
#1 Baptism of the Israelites in the Red Sea	Redeemed by the blood of the lamb, identified as the people of God, and set apart for blessings, sanctification, and inheritance.	1Cor 10:2 Exo 15:13,17
#2 Baptism of Repentance by John the Baptist	The sorrow and recognition of sin for which God gives the believer forgiveness of sin	Mat 21:25 Luk 3:3 Act 19:3
#3 Baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan by John the Baptist	The recognition of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.	Mat 3:13-17
#4 Baptism of believers by Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit	The believer is filled with the Holy Spirit and he is given the power of God	Mat 3:11 Mar 1:8 Luk 3:16 Joh 1:33 Act 1:5; 11:16
#5 Baptism of the cross	The believers’ total identification with Christ to the point of the sacrifice of self to the cause of Christ	Mat 20:22 Luk 12:50 Gal 2:20
#6 Baptism of believers in water	The believer’s identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as a testimony of his new birth experience	Acts 8:12, 36-38 Rom 6:3
#7 Baptism into the body of Christ accomplished by the Holy Spirit	The believer is separated from the kingdom of Satan and placed into the family of God when the person is born again.	1Cor 12:13

• Therefore, another aspect of redemption is one of baptism, being immersed in and identified with God, the Father; Jesus, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit.

• Read Exo 15:1-21 The song of the redeemed (Experience #1)
• Moses writes and sings this song to the Lord for His victories, and the Israelites join in the praise and worship of God. It is interesting that Moses’ name does not appear in this song as all the glory is given to God.
• The title for the song is in verse 1: “…for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”
• Notice that this phrase is repeated in verse 21.
• The song is divided into 3 sections:
• Part 1 = verses 2-6 The Strength of Jehovah Over Pharaoh and the Army
• Part 2 = verses 7-10 The Power of Jehovah Over the Elements of Nature and the Enemy
• Part 3 = verses 11-18 The God Who is Above All Other Gods
• The theme of the song is the destruction of the Egyptian army led by Pharaoh.
• The Name for God expressed in the song:
• Jehovah is the name used in the song. It is the covenant name for God.

• “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.”

(Exo 6:3)

• When we discussed chapter 6 of Exodus, we learned that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not experience the redemptive aspect of God’s nature and plan. They did not know that redemption was part of the covenant God was making with man.
• Now with Moses, the people have experienced God’s redemption. Therefore, they praise God using the name Jehovah.
• We will see later how God will begin to build on that concept of Jehovah, the God who redeems, through various experiences that the people must pass through.
• Therefore, there is more they must learn about redemption.
• Praises for the character of God experienced on a personal level:
• Jehovah is my strength (2)
• Jehovah is my song (2)
• Jehovah is my salvation (2)
• The word, salvation, in the Hebrew means = rescued, delivered, preserved, or redeemed from some actual or perceived evil, some danger, some enemy, or some great need. It can refer to body, soul, or spirit.
• In other words, the word salvation is linked to redemption and embodied in Jesus Christ who meets man’s needs body, soul, and spirit.
• Jehovah is my God (2)
• Jehovah is a man of war (3)
• The battle belongs to God. He will defeat His enemies as He defeated Pharaoh.
• The final enemy to be defeated will be Satan at the end of the Millennial kingdom of Christ that is yet to come.
• Jehovah is a God of power (6)
• Jehovah is a God of wrath against those who oppose Him (7)
• Jehovah is a Holy God (11)
• In His mercy Jehovah redeemed them. (13)
• Jehovah is a God of judgment (14)
• Jehovah is an eternal God (18)
• A promise made to Jehovah:
• I will make Him a habitation. (2)
• This is the first reference to the construction of the tabernacle that Moses will make for God later in the book of Exodus.
• Picturesque phrases that describe God’s actions:

• “…with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together,…”

(8)

• “Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.”

(10)

• “Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.”

(12)

• “…by the greatness of thine arm they

(God’s enemies) shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over,…” (16)

• “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance,…”

(17)

• God will fulfill His promise to RETURN them to the land He promised to Abraham.
• The pride of the enemy is displayed in the 6 phrases of determination:
• “I will pursue” (9)
• “I will overtake” (9)
• “I will divide” (9)
• “My lust” (9)
• “I will draw my sword” (9)
• “My hand shall destroy” (9)
• The high point of the song:

• “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

(11)

• God proved through the ten plagues that there was no other God like Jehovah when He defeated all the gods of Egypt.
• Future enemies who possessed the promised land will hear of Jehovah’s mighty work at the Red Sea:
• The inhabitants of Palestina.(14)
• This is one of four references in the King James Bible to either Palestine or Palestina which should read “Philistia”, the land of the Philistines.
• There was never a nation called Palestine in Bible times.
• The leaders of Edom (15)
• The leaders of Moab (15)
• The inhabitants of Canaan (15)
• The prophecy:

• “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.”

(17)

• God will establish His sanctuary on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem where King Solomon would build the first temple.
• Miriam, the first prophetess
• Miriam was Moses’ older sister. Remember, she was the one who watched over baby Moses in the basket that was found by the daughter of the Pharaoh.
• Miriam leads the women in a dance and a chant using the title of the song.
• Application:
• What do we see in this song that parallels our own redemption through Jesus Christ?
• We see that God purchased His people (16).
• This is an aspect of redemption that we see through Jesus Christ. He purchased us with His blood on the cross.
• We see the miraculous defeat of the enemy by the power of God.
• Every person that makes a decision to follow Christ, is one more defeat of Satan, the enemy of man’s soul.
• We see the promise of a future inheritance.
• God has promised eternal life to those to turn to Christ.
• Songs of redemption:
• Exo 15 is a marvelous song of redemption. There are many other songs of redemption in the Bible, but one that is most like the one here in Exodus is the song we find in Revelation that will be sung by believers in Christ that overcome the Antichrist in the Tribulation period.
• Read Rev 15:2-4
• It is because of this reference in Revelation that we can say that the Pharaoh that hardened his heart against Moses was a prefigure of the Antichrist that will come in the tribulation period.

• Read Exo 15:22-27 The Bitter Waters (Experience #2)
• Three days after this marvelous song of praise to Jehovah for His deliverance and redemption, the Israelites became thirsty. Remember they are being led by the pillar of cloud.
• There is a parallel here to the Christian life after a person is redeemed:
• After a person decides to accept Christ, is born again, and receives the Holy Spirit in his heart, the Holy Spirit makes him thirsty to know more of God.
• Read Phi 3:10
• The water of the world no longer satisfies the new believer.
• Read Joh 7:37-39
• Only the water of the Word of God will satisfy the new believer.
• The Holy Spirit guides the believer to the Word of God.
• Then the Lord leads them to a place called Marah, which means bitter. The waters were bitter and they could not drink the water.
• The Israelites complain and murmur. The Israelites complain 10 times against God and Moses, and this is the first one.
• The number 10 in the Bible is symbolic of God’s standard against which He tests the people.
• The desert is God’s training program to develop character. The people are complaining against God’s character development.
• This experience, too, parallels the Christian life:
• It is not long after a person has given his life to the Lord that some bitter experience crosses his path. It usually comes as a surprise, and the believer wonders why the Lord has led him into this bitter experience when life was great back in Egypt (the world).
• God permits this bitter experience to teach the believer a very important truth, as we will see.
• As soon as the tree is thrown into the water, it is made sweet.
• Spiritually speaking, what does the tree represent? How do we know?
• The tree symbolically represents the cross of Jesus Christ. We know it by the Word of God.
• Read Gal 3:13
• What is the significance of the tree cast into the bitter waters?
• The bitter experience that comes into the new believer’s life is supposed to test the Christian’s new faith. (25) It is supposed to drive the new believer to the foot of the cross.
• It is at this point that some new Christians complain and fall away from the Lord.
• “…If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”

(26)

• Notice that God gives the people a conditional promise.
• The conditions: The believer, like the Israelite, is supposed to:
• – follow God’s guidance.
• –

live the way God wants the believer to live.

• –

listen to God’s commandments.

• –

obey God’s principles.

• The promise: Freedom from the diseases of Egypt (the world).
• What are some of the diseases of Egypt (the world) that the believer will avoid?
• The penalty of sin.
• The consequences of sinful behavior.
• The spiritual darkness of idolatry.
• Life problems that result from a self-centered attitude.
• “…I am the LORD that healeth thee.”

(26)

• Remember that God first revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush as the “I am”.
• Moses has experienced the “I am” as a God of redemption when they crossed the Red Sea. Now God begins to reveal more of His redemptive nature by filling in the open-ended statement “I am”. He says He is the redemptive Jehovah of healing (Jehovah Rapha).
• When Jesus Christ used the name “I am” to refer to Himself, He identified himself with the “I am” of the burning bush. Therefore, healing is part of the redemption that Jesus purchased on the cross…not just physical healing, but spiritual healing, emotional healing, or whatever healing the believer needs, body, soul, and spirit.
• Later in the book of Numbers when people were bitten by snakes, God told Moses to put a serpent on a pole and everyone that looked at it was healed.
• Read Num 21:4-5
• Read 1Pet 2:24
• The waters made sweet:
• It is because of the cross of Jesus Christ that purchased us and redeemed us, that we can take every bitter experience and lay it at His feet. If we pass successfully through this test, He will turn every bitter experience to sweetness.
• After passing by Marah, they came to Elim. (Experience #3)
• This is a place of many blessings and fruitfulness.
• What is the symbolism and significance of the 12 wells and the 70 palm trees?
• Notice that there are 12 wells and 12 tribes. In other words, there was enough water for each tribe. God’s provision is sufficient at the point of need.
• There were 70 palm trees.
• The number 7 is God’s complete or perfect number, while the number 10 represents God’s standard against which God always tests.
• Therefore, fruitfulness in the Christian life is provided by God as long as the believer follows God’s principles in His Word.

HOMEWORK
EXODUS 16
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Exo 15
• What experiences have you had that parallel the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea?
• What in your life needs healing?
• Commit your life to the Lord, meet the conditions in verse 26, and watch Him gradually heal you.

• Preparation for Exo 16
• Read Exo 16:1-12
• When were the people to gather the bread from heaven?
• What did the people eat in the evening?
• Why did God place such strict conditions on the gathering of the bread? (4)
• Read Exo 16:13-21
• What does the quail symbolize in the Christian life? How do you know?
• What two things does the manna symbolize in the Christian life? How do you know?
• Read Exo 16:22-31
• What principles do you learn from this chapter that relate to the Christian life?
• Read Exo 16:32-36
• Why did they have to keep a small part of the manna for the generations to come when, on a daily basis, it would never last overnight? (32)

• Memory verse: John 6:32