Thru the Bible on Oneplace.com - Exodus 15

0:00How firm a foundation is, say, So the Lord is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. Welcome to Through the Bible. As we arrive at Exodus chapter 15, we're celebrating something that only God could have done. When we left the Israelites last time, they were in a crazy dangerous spot. Cornered between the Red Sea and the Army of Egypt, everyone knew they were doomed. But then God stepped in. With a sweep of His mighty hand, the waters of the Red Sea split into, opening up not just land, but dry land for them to pass through to the other side. And when the armies of Egypt were in the same spot where the Israelites had been minutes before, the hand of God closed the sea. Picture yourself standing with them. Watch in this happen. They're shocked at first, and then maybe they start to dance, and then someone picks up a tambourine, and someone else begins to sing.

1:01And pretty soon a party breaks out. It must have been a great scene. Worthy of all the songs and music and gusto that they could muster. Well, we all know that life has those beautiful light moments, and we also know that life comes with those heavy moments too. And we'll see both in this study with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Now let's pray as we open God's Word together. Father, we know that in some seasons of our lives, we must drink from the bitter waters. When those times do come, Lord, please, through your grace, make them sweet. Teach us what it means to trust you in every season. In Jesus' name, amen. We're off to Exodus 15 on through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Now today we come to the 15th chapter of the book of Exodus. And the children of Israel have now crossed the Red Sea. And after crossing over, they now join with Moses, singing the song of Moses. Before they were singing the blues, the desert blues.

2:04And they'll be returning to the desert blues. That was their theme song when they went through the desert. But right now, having crossed over and been redeemed while they very lustily sing out the song of Moses, I'll merely lift out several things in this song because we want to continue to move along. This song is to be compared, I think, with the song of Deborah and Beirak that we'll be coming to in the book of Judges. Then you'll recall that David sang many songs. You'll find that his songs are great, great songs. And you'll find that even Jeremiah, his was a whale and a woe many times, but he had a song. And you'll find that other prophet said songs as we move along through the Old Testament. The New Testament opens with some songs, Dr. Luke records them. There was the song actually of Elizabeth.

3:06And word was brought that she was to have a child. There was the song of Mary, the marvelous wonderful song that she sang. There were other great songs connected with the birth of Christ. And finally, there was the heavenly hosts with their tremendous piano praise. And then the book of Revelation, when we get our glimpse into heaven, why we see a great company gathered around the throne of God and they're singing a new song. And that'll be probably the first time I'm going to ever sing up to the present I've never been able to hit a note. But by that time with a new body and a new voice, I'm sure, I'll be able to sing and join in on the new song. But here is a song and it's a great song, by the way, and let me read it, then sang Moses and the children of Israel, this song unto the Lord and spakes saying,

4:06I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and the rider had he thrown into the sea. Now notice this song is a wonderful one. The way the Lord is my strength and my song. And he's become my salvation. He is my God and I will prepare him in habitation. My Father's God and I will exalt him. The Lord is our Jehovah, is a man of war. The Lord is His name. All of us talk about peace today. It might be well to read this song again. And the one who is Jehovah is a man of war, then turn to the 19th chapter of Revelation. You see him coming to this earth and he's going to come to put down all in righteousness. And friends, untailed that time. This earth will never have peace and it can be truly said that God is and the Lord Jesus,

5:09that he is a man of war. My Lord said he didn't come to bring peace but a soot. That's what he did the first time. The second time he's coming to bring peace with the soward, because that's the only way you can go into get rid of unrighteousness on this earth. Now this is a song like so many of them. It recounts the wonderful experience they've had in crossing the red sea and what they've seen God do. I think and I know very little about music, but I think these folk songs today do that same sort of thing, and I don't mean their praise to God, but they do recount an episode that takes place. That makes a song meaningful. And I'm not sure what that is the reason that songs have affected the young people so much today. That is this current type of music, which to me is atrocious, but after all I'm just a square.

6:09But the songs do tell a story. Now this song is a story that it tells. It gives the account of the crossing of the red sea, something that they were not apt to forget, but this song certainly kept it before them. And it is a song that tells of what God has done for them. And we can't go into great deal of detail here, but you notice he says, Faryot's chariots and his hosts, hath he cast into the sea. His chosen captains all so were drowned in the red sea. The depths have covered them. They sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right-handle Lord has become glorious in power. Thy right-handle Lord hath dashed in pieces the enemy. They're celebrating their deliverance, you see. The Egyptians and Egypt represented for them the slavery that they were in in the world, their hopelessness, their helplessness.

7:10And now they've been delivered. They have been redeemed. And that is the summon substance of their song. And then in verse 11 and I'll drop down, who is like unto the O Lord among the gods? Now they've come out of a land of idolatry. And we've seen the battle of the gods. Each one of these plagues leveled against them. All right, what is the conclusion they've come to now? Who is like unto thee, O Lord among the gods? No comparison. Who is like thee, glorious in holiness? Be careful in praises, doing wonders. Now God was teaching them His people a great lesson concerning Himself. And He says thou stretchest out thy right hand, the earth's swalloweth them. And verse 13, thou in thy mercy, has led forth the people which thou hast redeemed.

8:10You see, they were a redeemed people. There had to be the redemption of the people. And that is the thing that's important today. God is not asking you to do one thing for Him, friends. Until you've been redeemed. Until you've accepted His salvation. And He's not asking you for anything. God has the world today shut up to a cross. And He's not demanding the world to do something. He's not saying, now if you'll improve yourself and come up a little higher standard, wash your face, break your yard and put up a good front, God says, I'm willing to be your good neighbor. That's not it. God's not asking the world for anything. God has the world shut up to a cross. And He's saying to a lost world, what will you do with my son who died for you? Listen again, verse 13, thou in thy mercy, has led forth the people which thou hast redeemed.

9:12Thou hast guided them and thy strength under thy holy habitation, just as if they're already in the land. And as far as God is concerned, they are, because He's going to take them there. Then they recount their experiences here and what they've seen over in verse 18, the Lord shall reign forever and ever, for the horse of Pharaoh went in with His chariots, and with His horsemen into the sea. And the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. And now we're introduced to a girl we haven't seen since the birth of Moses, verse 20, and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances, and Miriam answered them, saying ye to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously,

10:14the horse and his rider hatheth thrown into the sea. So you can see that there's great praise and thanksgiving to God for His deliverance. Now, verse 22, so Moses brought Israel from the red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of sure, and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. Now friends, we're beginning here, something that I want you to pay particular attention to because what we have, and I have put it in our notes and outlines, marching to Mount Sinai, and it was at Mount Sinai that they got the law. And here you have in chapters 15 through 18, seven experiences that these people had along the way, and these seven experiences correspond to Christian experience today.

11:15Remember, all of these things happen under them for examples unto us, and you see the spiritual education that God gave these people. So here in this section, especially verse 22, why we find in the wilderness of sure that they are certainly not on a better roses. You can put that down. There's no better roses here for them at all, and that's very important to see. Now let me call your attention to this again. They crossed over now, and they had this wonderful time of praise, singing the song of Moses, and they're redeem people. But notice what happened. You would think that from now on, they would be on a better roses, all the stones would be removed, and that they would not have any problem at all. You would think that since they are redeemed, they'd be delivered from all their difficulties,

12:17that not a cloud would be in the sky, not a thorn would be along the way, and that would not be a sigh on what happened. They thirsted. They went three days in the wilderness, and they found no water. And what happened to them? This is a pretty how they do. Is it not to have this happen to God's people? After all, it's a legitimate experience. Egypt had been a land of plenty, that was water and abundance, and quite suddenly they crossed the Red Sea, and they found themselves in different circumstances. That water was not available anymore. The systems of Egypt were gone, and they have not found the fountains of living waters. And I believe that this is the experience of every born, a gangchild of God. After redemption, he finds that the systems of Egypt do not satisfy at all, and there is a period of soul thirst, and it's that period in which Paul said

13:19what things were gained to me, I counted loss, and then the great apostle reveals a great thirst, a great yearning. He says that I might know him and the power of his resurrection. That is the experience, I think, of a child of God. After you've been redeemed, I wonder if I may give you a personal experience. I remember when God put his hand definitely upon me, and I came to know the peace of God through trusting Christ, and then I wanted to study for the ministry, and I had been living. I worked in a bank and traveling with a purdify's crowd. Thought I was having a great time. I was actually chairman of the Daints Committee, and in those days they always had to have bootleg liquor to dance, and I decided that I wouldn't break off all of a sudden. I would go to that dance, that night,

14:19I wouldn't dance, I'd just stand in the stag line, I'd just sort of visit around, and I'd make a gradual break, and I went, and I was offered a drink, I suppose, a dozen times, and I turned it down, and I never shall forget. I met a fellow at the bank, I had been put ahead of him, and he had never forgiven me for it, and it wasn't my fault, because I wasn't the one that had charged you the bank, and he always took advantage of every opportunity, and so he came up to me, while I was standing in that stag line, and he says, this is a pretty place for a preacher to be, and he used some pretty strong language, when he said that to me, and I came to conclusion he was right, and so I never shall forget, like a little whip dog, I went down the stairway, and I went out on the street, and I could hear that orchestra playing in the distance, and you know that I almost turned around, went back up there, and I was going to look him up and say,

15:19look here, I think I'm just going to stay here with the gang, with the crowd, but thank God it didn't, you know there's always that tripping to the wilderness, I feel you're safe, when you get a little thirst, dear friends, the sisters of Egypt, they just won't satisfy you anymore, and you are looking for living waters, and I didn't know where to find them, to tell the truth, I knew very little about the Bible, I could not find my way around in it at all, but may I say to you, I soon found out that there had been one, who John says, and John 737 in the last day, that great day of the feast, the Lord Jesus, you remember stood and said, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, what a wonderful thing it was to come to him, and then that was their first experience, they had, and then they had a second experience with what much better, and verse 23, listen to this,

16:21and when they came to Mara, and Mara is not only name of a place, it means bitterness, they could not drink of the waters of Mara, but they were bitter, therefore the name of it was called Mara, and the people murmured against Moses saying, what shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet, there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, if thou will diligently harken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and will do, that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that He lit thee. Now, here is their second experience,

17:24it's at Mara, and there were bitter waters when they got there. Just think of it, they've gone three days in the wilderness without water, and they're thirst, and when they finally come to them, they're bitter waters, and now you must remember, these are redeem people, and this place was right on the line of March. God had it marked out for them. You know the Oasis of Mara is a normal Christian experience, a bitter experience comes to Christians, and it's something that'll puzzle and perplex you. You hear this said today, why does God let this happen to me? Well, friends, I can't tell you why, but I can say this, he's not punishing you, he's educating you, he's preparing you, for something in the world, our Lord says you're going to have trouble. It's right on your pathway, there's a Mara, and I think that in the pathway of every believer,

18:25there is a Mara, and he arranged it. Someone has said, as you know, disappointments or God's appointments, I hear this, and these are the things I've come across. A young person says to me, I wanted to go to school, I wanted to prepare for the mission field, but this tragedy, this came up, my father died, and I couldn't go to school, I had to help support my mother, and I recalled that when I was passed in Nashville, that was there a very beautiful grey-haired, prematurely grey, because she was a young woman, and she was superintendent of the junior department, never complain, sweet, and I asked somebody, when they asked me, what's the explanation of, why are hairs grey like that? This was way long time ago. They said, you remember World War I, when she was engaged to one of the finest boys

19:26here in the church, and he went away to France, and he was killed, and her hair turned grey, because they were to be married. That was that Mara in her life. Friends there are the frustrations, and the disappointments, and the sorrows, and your plans can just be torn up like a jigsaw puzzle, and it could be that there's a little grave out on a hillside somewhere. I have one like that. Now I say to you that we all have a Marra's, and you won't bypass them, it's a Christian you can't detour them, you can't skip over them, and you can't tunnel under them. May I say to you, don't let the seed be choked out, but the thorns are the cares of the world. Don't let them choke it out. You know God does use a brand and iron. I remember as a boy in West Texas, then the spring of the year

20:26when those cares would come in and had brand them, and you'd hear the little fella, Bella, oh you could hear him cry. It didn't sort of, you know, make you feel sad, but you know who he belonged to after that, and it was done that he wouldn't get lost. And God does that for us today. You know, what is it that will help the Marra's? We're told here that was a tree put in the water, and it made it sweet, and I'm told at concerning my law that cursed it is everyone that hangeth on a tree, and he died on a tree, and it's that cross that makes the experiences of life sweet. He tasted death for every man, and he took the sting out, oh death, where is thy sting? And we sometimes sing, must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free.

21:26You know there's a cross for you, and there is a cross for me. It's the cross of Christ that will make the better experiences of life sweet. I believe it, and then the final verse, and they came to Elam, where were 12 wells of water, and three scorned ten palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters. Believe me, this was a marvelous place. 70 palms and 12 wells of water, and Elam suggests abundant blessing and fruitfulness. You see, after Mara, God brings His children to Elam, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comeeth in the morning, and Simon Peter may be locked in the inner presence, but the angels go and open the door for him, and Paul and Silas may be beaten at midnight, but they're going to sing praises at midnight,

22:26and the doors are going to open. There's always Mara along the pilgrim pathway today, but friends, there's also Elam, the place where there's abundance of water, 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees. And you know God's plan of usefulness always leads the Mara, and by Elam. Joseph, you remember, had that experience, Joseph's dead, a Liger dead, David dead, and Judson dead, and John G. Peyton dead, and Micaiah for most of dead, and I'm sure that you and I are going to have that. Beyond ever Mara, there is an Elam. Beyond ever Cloud, there's the Sun. Beyond ever Shadow, there's the Light. Beyond ever Trial, there is the Triumph. Beyond ever Storm, there is a Rainbow. Lord, Your Majesty, I trace the Rainbow through the Rain.

23:27This is the way God leads us today, friends. All these things happened under them, for example, and to us. We leave off right there today. So until next time, may God bless you, Richly My Beloved. Well, if you love hymns, then you may recognize that last quote, Dr. McGee read from George Matheson, who wrote to him, O love that will not let me go. The complete line is, O joy that seeketh me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee. I trace the Rainbow through the Rain, and feel the promise is not vain. That mourn shall tearless be. Beautiful, isn't it? It's the experience of every believer who's found out that, beyond every Mara, there is an Elim. I call you by faith to remember that. Even if you're in a difficult season right now, you can be sure that God is with you, and that he hasn't forgotten you, and that he hasn't in mind.

24:27Spend some time in this amazing section of Scripture, or share Dr. McGee's insights on how the experience of the Israelites applies to us when you download his free digital booklet, Bitter to Sweet, God's Answers to Life's Disappointments. It's available anytime in our app, or at ttb.org. Or if we can help you find it, just call 1-865-Viable, or email BibleBus at ttb.org. Now whenever you're in touch, remember, would you let us know how you're following along with through the Bible? Are you listening on the radio, maybe through our app streaming online, watching on YouTube, or listening some other way? Just let us know. However you hop aboard the BibleBus, it really does help us with this information, because it helps us with the simple details so that we can chart the courses we take God's whole word to the whole world. Thanks for riding along with us, however you ride. Well, the children of Israel continue their march to the mountain of God and have seven experiences that relate to our experiences too. We'll learn more as we continue to make our way through the Bible.

25:29Jesus, baby, home, all to be my home. Sin had left the prince of Satan, he was quite as small. Our journey on the BibleBus today is supported by the prayers and gifts of fellow passengers as we travel through the Bible.