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Exodus
15:1-21 The song of Moses
1 Peter 1:13-25 An appeal for holiness
John 14:18-31 Fellowship with Christ
The song of Moses is a poem of praise for the Lord’s deliverance of his
people from Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea.
Although composed later than the actual event, it quotes the song of
Miriam (Exodus 15:21) which may have been an eye-witness account. The
author sings praises to the Lord for his great triumph. The Lord has
destroyed Pharaoh’s horses and riders in the sea. The psalmist has
trusted and loved the Lord, and the Lord has become his salvation;
therefore the psalmist acknowledges that he has accepted his father’s
God as his own.
The Lord is mighty to protect and avenge. The victory over Pharaoh’s
army is entirely by the hand of God. The enemy was drawn into his
demise by his own greed and rapacity. The Lord far surpasses comparison
with other gods in holiness and in mighty works. The Lord has led the
people whom he has redeemed, and guided them by his strength to his
holy dwelling.
The native peoples of the Promised Land are in fear and dread of the
greatness of the Lord’s power, as the people whom God has purchased (by
his saving act) pass by. The Lord will bring them in and establish them
in his Temple (on Mount Zion,
in Jerusalem).
The people of Israel
walked through the sea on dry land, but the Lord brought back the
waters upon the Egyptian army and they were drowned. Miriam the
prophetess, Aaron’s sister, led the women of Israel
in a dance of celebration for their salvation.
Peter tells believers to focus their thoughts on their hope of
salvation at the revealing of Jesus Christ. We are not to be conformed
to our worldly passions, but conformed to the holiness of God. If we
name, as Father, God the impartial judged who judges all people
according to their deeds, we should be careful that our deeds conform
to his standards during our life on earth. We have been ransomed from
futile worldly ways, not by perishable things like silver and gold, but
with the truly eternally precious blood of Christ, who was like the
perfect sacrificial lamb.
Christ was God’s plan for our salvation from before the creation of the
world, but has been revealed at the end of the age for our benefit.
Because God has raised Jesus from the dead, we can have faith and hope
in God through Jesus. We are to love one another, since our souls are
purified by obedience to God’s word in order to make that possible. We
have been born again, “not of perishable seed (biological; flesh) but
through the living and abiding word of God (the Holy Spirit). All flesh
is as transient as grass, but the word of the Lord is eternal. That
word is the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Jesus promised not to leave his disciples desolate of Jesus’ presence.
Jesus promised to be with his disciples in this present world and that
they would be able to see Jesus even though the world would not be able
to see him. Because Jesus lives, his disciples too will live eternally.
When the risen Jesus comes to his disciples, they will know that Jesus
is God and that he is present within his disciples, and that his
disciples are in Jesus.
Jesus promised that “he who has my commands and keeps them, he it is
that loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21) Judas (son of
James; not Judas Iscariot, the betrayer) asked how Jesus could manifest
(reveal) himself to his disciples and not to the world. Jesus
reiterated his promise, explaining that if a person loves Jesus he will
keep Jesus’ commands. That will please the Father, and that “we” (God
the Father and the Son, in the Holy Spirit) will come and make their
home within him.
Jesus said that obedience to Jesus’ word reveals a person’s love
for Jesus. Jesus was telling his disciples this while he was
still with them in his earthly ministry (before he rose from the dead
and ascended into heaven). He told them that after Jesus had ascended
into heaven, God would send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name. The Holy
Spirit would be their Counselor, teaching Jesus’ disciples, recalling
to their remembrance Jesus’ words, and imparting the Lord’s Peace; a
peace which the world cannot provide.
Jesus wanted to comfort their coming fear and grief. He reminded them
of his promise to come to them. He offered them the consolation that
Jesus was going to return to his Father, whose glory surpasses his own.
He wanted his disciples to know all this in advance, so that when it
happened they would believe. This was Jesus’ last opportunity to
prepare his disciples before his crucifixion. Jesus told them that what
was about to happen was by Jesus’ choice, in obedience to God’s will;
not because Jesus lacked power to prevent it.
The song of Moses commemorates the central saving work of God in the
Old Testament. The miracle of God’s saving of his people by bringing
them through the Sea is a parable and a prophecy, as well as history.
Jesus’ death and resurrection is the central saving work of all
creation, to which the Exodus and the parting of the Sea points.
Judaism effectively ended at the Crucifixion; the Christian Church is
the “New Israel.” As God delivered the Israelites from slavery in
Egypt and delivered them from death at the hands of Pharaoh through the
waters of the Sea, so, through Jesus, God saves from slavery to sin and
death those who trust and obey Jesus. The Lord will lead the “new
people of God,” the Church, to the “new Temple”
on the eternal “Mount
Zion” in
Heaven.
Peter tells the Church that we are to be obedient to the teachings of
Jesus. We are to be careful that our deeds match what we profess in
Christ. We are to commemorate and rejoice in God’s work of Salvation in
the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which God has
revealed to us and which we have witnessed. We are to be born-again by
the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Jesus promised his disciples that he would manifest himself to those
who were truly his disciples and who obeyed his teachings. His
disciples will know, by the Lord’s Spirit within them, that they belong
to him and have eternal life in him. The Holy Spirit will teach, guide,
empower and comfort his disciples.
Much of the ‘visible” Church today (those who profess to be
"Christian," in contrast with those who are truly born-again disciples)
is in a dangerously similar situation to that of Judaism at the time of
Jesus’ earthly ministry. They may know a lot about God, but they don’t
have a personal relationship with Jesus, because they don’t understand
that they must be *disciples;* that they must be obedient to Jesus in
order to be born-again by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Psalmist acknowledged that as God’s people trusted and obeyed God,
God provided their salvation (Exodus 15:2a). As the people of God
trusted and obeyed the Lord, the Lord became their personal savior, not
just the God of their fathers (Exodus 15:2b). Peter told the Church
that believers must be conformed to God’s standards, not those of the
world.
Sadly in many instances the Church (the professing, ‘visible’ Church)
is adopting the world’s standards. The Holy Spirit isn’t just the
experience of being “moved” by an emotional feeling. Even pagans can
experience an emotional response in the worship of idols (1 Corinthians
12:2). The Holy Spirit is a personal relationship with the risen,
living Lord Jesus Christ.
Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and
obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you
first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus
Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew
28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1
John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
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