Scripture: Exodus 15:1–27
The Israelites had finally left the rule of Pharaoh, escaping into the wilderness, where God continued to guide them, giving them pillars of fire and cloud to follow. Eventually they were led to the sea. It wasn’t too long after they left, though, that Pharaoh changed his mind and wanted the Israelites back, so he got out his chariots, called up the army and officers and began pursuing the Israelites. As Pharaoh grew closer, the Israelites were trapped with a body of water on one side and the Egyptian army on the other…the only options they could see unfolding were death…either in the sea or from the army. What would they do?
Moses told the Israelites to not be afraid, for the Lord would fight for them. God gave Moses instructions to lead them to freedom. Moses stretched his hand out towards the sea, and the waters parted; dry land appeared for the Israelites to walk through in safety to freedom. When the Egyptians chased after them, Moses stretched out his hand again and the waters returned, drowning the Egyptians in the sea.
What would the Israelites do now? They were safe!
There was now a sea between any surviving Egyptians and the Israelites. For generations, the Israelites had been enslaved. For generations, Pharaohs made their lives harder and harder, trying to oppress and control not only their bodies but their spirits. Then came the promise from Moses that God would free them, but Pharaoh played games with the Israelites…saying no, you can’t go; then yes, you can but actually no again…and God responded with plagues that affected everyone…for all suffered when the Nile turned to blood, all smelled the stench of the dead frogs and all heard the buzzing of gnats…would this game ever end, the Israelites had wondered. Suffering seemed to follow suffering and asking for freedom had just made life harder. But finally, after tragedy, after death, the Israelites had been told to leave. They had rushed to get their things together and then escaped into the wilderness. Relief ran through their bodies, as they were finally free, they had escaped, yet tension remained for they knew Pharaoh had changed his mind before—would he do it again, and try to bring them back? What punishment, what miserable life would they have if they were forced to return? But all of that is over now, Pharaoh and the Egyptians are no longer a threat, they have seen their enemy washed into the sea. For the first time in generations, they are free, truly free. So what do they do? What are their first impulses as they experience liberation? They sing and dance, giving praise to God! Hear now our text for today, coming from Exodus 15:
The Song of Moses
15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
‘I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my might,
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 warrior;
the Lord is his name.
‘Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;
his picked 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, shattered the enemy.
In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;
you sent out your fury, it consumed 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 splendor, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
‘In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;
you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
The peoples heard, they trembled;
pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;
trembling seized the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.
Terror and dread fell upon them;
by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone
until your people, O Lord, passed by,
until the people whom you acquired passed by.
You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession,
the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
The Lord will reign for ever and ever.’
19 When the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his chariot drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
The Song of Miriam
20 Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:
‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’
What a beautiful song of praise! Rich with adjectives and vivid imagery, expressing the glory and power of God and the relief they must have felt. Miriam led the women to pull out their instruments and make a joyful noise to the Lord. Still bodies could not express this praise. Excitement was in the air, adrenaline was still rushing through their veins, all they could do was praise God with all that they were! And so they danced and laughed. The Hebrew word here could mean dancing, whirling, doing somersaults or flips—they are praising God with their full bodies! They pounded their tambourines to the beat of their newly freed hearts, singing their story of freedom, praising God.
“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea,” the women sang and danced together.
What a song of praise! What a powerful picture—the people of God, finally free, dancing and singing by the seaside.
“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea….”
Wait, that doesn’t describe a characteristic of God I like to think of…God throws people and horses into the sea to drown? Hearing that makes me uncomfortable. I prefer to think of the Lord as the Prince of Peace, not as a warrior, but that is me, in my twenty-first century mindset. In this story, the Israelites needed a warrior. After being enslaved for generations, enduring trauma and hardship, they needed God to show up and fight for them, and God did just that.
While there is violence in this song, that is not its focus. The focus is on God’s goodness, faithfulness, and power. It is about how God stands on the side of the oppressed and triumphs over oppressors. The Israelites are not gloating over and celebrating the death of their enemies. Addressing this tension, in Jewish tradition, there is actually a story that watching from heaven, the heavenly host cheered and shouted in celebration when the Israelites crossed the sea, but God stopped them from cheering when the Egyptians drowned. God said, “No, I will not allow you to celebrate while my children the Egyptians drown!” While this song is descriptive in its imagery of the Egyptians being cast into the sea, it is not a song celebrating death. It is a song of pure praise to God, for showing up, for being with them, for delivering them.
WWho is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in splendor, doing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
“In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;
you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.”
This song is all about praising God’s power, naming that out of love for the Israelites, God led them to freedom and looking forward, God will guide them to a new home that has been set apart just for them.
There is also ancient creation imagery in this song where God makes order from chaos of the waters and the deeps. The Israelites are saying that God has control over everything—even the chaos; God is more powerful than any oppressor or enemy they can experience. Then, the song even goes further, saying that when their enemies hear of these powerful works God has done, they become seized with fear and trembling; terror and dread cause them to be still as they realize the awesome power of God.
“The Lord will reign for ever and ever,” the song of Moses ends.
But how does a song that is thousands of years old speak to us today? As Americans who I am guessing have never experienced trauma and oppression similar to that of the enslaved Israelites, what is its message to us today? For sure, it can remind us of God’s faithfulness and deliverance, but upon meditation on this passage this week, embodied joy was a theme I could not shake. After a traumatic, exhausting, frightful experience, the Israelites could not help but sing and dance, praising God. As I imagine the Israelites on the other side of the sea, looking over the waters, seeing no path for the Egyptians to get to them, it dawns on them that they are finally safe and free. I can see them begin to jump, and shout, hugging and laughing with one another as the reality of their deliverance sinks in, and then the singing arises, tambourines are pulled out, and dancing begins. What became this beautiful song probably started out less coherent and more simply these outbursts of praise, song, shouting, dance.…proclaiming God’s faithfulness and goodness, celebrating the love God showed through delivering them from the control of the Egyptians. They were free and their first instinct was to sing and dance in praise to God.
Now, we at First Baptist in Lawrence Kansas are a pretty calm group during worship. We love our music, but we don’t move around much with dancing, jumping, nor raising our hands while we sing. And that’s okay. People worship in different ways, people express joy in different ways, but, as Christians, we are called to be a joyful people.
- C.S. Lewis said that “joy is the serious business of heaven.”
- Mother Theresa said “Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
- But Christian joy is not naive happiness, turning a blind eye to the suffering of the world. No, joy is actually the opposite. Jesuit Priest James Martin says, “Joy does not ignore pain in the world, in another’s life, or in one’s own life…it goes deeper, seeing confidence in God—and for Christians, in Jesus Christ—as the reason for joy and a constant source of joy.”
- Author Osheta Moore says that joy tells a counter-story to the despair of the world; it is an act of resistance. In the kingdom of God, Moore says, we never lose sight of joy.
- Jesus gave us a pathway to that joy in John 15, telling us to abide in him and his love and to keep his commandments, so that his joy may be in us and that our joy may be complete.
There are moments in our lives, while probably not as dramatic as crossing the sea to escape an Egyptian army, that automatically lead us to joy… but those should not be the only moments where we express joy.
Christianity is all about embodiment…God coming to earth, in a body, as Jesus in the incarnation. As followers of Jesus, we are called to embody the love and joy of Christ in our own lives. Jesus tells us to abide in him and follow his commandments. He wants the story of God’s love to become written on our hearts and ingrained in our lives. When we understand God’s love, joy naturally follows, just as the Israelites’ first impulse after crossing the sea was an act of embodied joy. As we embody the love and joy found in God, we are implicitly telling the world the story of Jesus as we act out that story out with our lives. When we take communion, as we will in a few minutes, we remember and reenact with our bodies Jesus’s actions. Hopefully by abiding in him in this way, we will also feel his joy.
This week, I want to invite you to reflect on two questions. First, how do you embody joy? Yes, we have the “joy, joy, joy, joy, down in our hearts,” as the Sunday School song goes, but we also need to show that joy through our lives. This world is in desperate need of some joy. Everyone embodies joy differently and that is a good thing…we need all types of embodied joy! There are those who embody joy in the traditional sense that most people think of…by smiling a lot, being bubbly, the first one on the dance floor, or that person clapping a little louder than everyone else. But that isn’t the only way to embody joy. I have a friend who embodies joy by cooking meals for other people. Some people embody joy through making art, music, or writing. Every week I watch Sunday School teachers embody joy as they teach our kids the stories of God in the Bible, and I watch the kids embody joy when they greet their friends or learn something new. People embody joy every month when they help serve at the mobile food pantry. How do you embody joy?
Next, I want you to consider a new way to bring joy in your life. Maybe this is a new way to embody joy for others, a way you realize you want to embody joy but don’t yet. But it could also be a new way to experience joy yourself, taking up a hobby, reading a good book, intentionally keeping in touch with friends. Osheta Moore says part of joy is simply being present to the goodness around us. She encourages us to look for “joy triggers”…small acts that help her practice joy instead of despair. Her joy triggers include: seeing a new baby at church, tasting fresh sweet potato fries, and getting an actual letter in the mail. Practice seeking joy triggers in your life because the more joy you experience, the easier it will be to share that joy with others.
Another way we can embody joy in a few moments is by sharing communion together, remembering on World Communion Sunday that the love and joy of Christ extends throughout the world, and that God wants us to be one in God’s love.
We all have reasons to be fearful and reasons to be joyful. The Israelites could have collapsed from fear and exhaustion after crossing the sea but instead turned to embodied joy, praising God with their whole selves. This week, let’s practice seeking and embodying the joy of the Lord each day.
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