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Redeemed for a Purpose Arlen L. Chitwood
Chapter 2
From the Sea to the Mountain
Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!
The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He 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 army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. . . .
You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation. . . .
You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O LORD, that You have made For Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
The LORD shall reign forever and ever.” (Exodus 15:1-4, 13, 17, 18).
Exodus 15:1-18 records the song that Moses and the children of Israel sang to the Lord after the deliverance of the Israelites through the Red Sea and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his armed forces in the Sea. God had miraculously parted the waters of the Sea, producing “a wall” of water on both sides of the Israelites as they crossed “on dry ground.” And then, completing the miraculous event, after Pharaoh and his armed forces had marched out onto the dry ground “in the midst of the sea,” pursuing after the Israelites, the Lord “took off their chariot wheels” and then released the waters of the Sea upon them as they sought to flee (Exodus 14:21-31).
And Moses and the children of Israel, having seen all of this, stood on the eastern banks of the Red Sea and sang a song of redemption to the Lord. This is the first recorded song in Scripture, and it typifies the song that Israel will sing at this same point in the antitype yet future, referred to in Isaiah 54:1ff:
Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud . . .
Enlarge the place of your tent . . .
For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited . . .
For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. (vv. 1a, 2a, 3, 5)
This is the same song to which the writer had previously referred in chapter fifty-two (v. 9). The people were to “break forth into joy, sing together,” because the Lord had “comforted his people,” He had “redeemed Jerusalem.”
Textually, this is seen to be at that future time when the Lord will be the “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” This will be the time when “He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high” (52:13-15; cf. 54:5; Revelation 19:16).
And, chronologically, this song will occur in connection with Israel’s confession of the true identity of the nation’s Messiah — as Jehovah’s witness — after the nation has received her Messiah (53:1-12; cf. Genesis 45:1-5, 9, 26; Isaiah 52:9, 10).
The song that Israel sang in the type (Exodus 15) and the song that Israel will sing in the antitype (Isaiah 52, 54) both follow Israel's appropriation of the blood of the Passover Lamb and the overthrow of Gentile world power, in that order (Exodus 12, 14; cf. Isaiah 52:4-6, 15; 53:1ff); and they both have to do with the deliverance of a redeemed people and the Lord's reign over the earth, also in that order (Exodus 15:2, 13, 17, 18; cf. Isaiah 52:9, 13, 15; 54:5).
This would all be to say, as Israel saw the overthrow of the power of Egypt in the type, following the Passover, Israel will also see the overthrow of Gentile world power in the antitype, following the nation’s appropriation of the blood of the Passover Lamb. And, as a song of redemption to the Lord issued forth at this time in the type, a song of redemption to the Lord will issue forth at this time yet future in the antitype.
There is a dual deliverance seen in the overall type, which has to do with Christ’s dual work in the antitype as both “the Lamb of God” and “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (John 1:29; Revelation 5:5, 6).
His work as “the Lamb of God” is past. This occurred at Calvary, with a continuing work based on that which occurred at Calvary. But His work as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah [the kingly line]” is yet future. This will occur in that coming day when He returns as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” — as “a man of war” — to “judge and make war” (Revelation 19:11-20:6; cf. Exodus 15:3).
There is first the deliverance seen in Exodus, chapter twelve. Israel has slain the Lamb, the blood has been shed, but Israel has never appropriated this blood. Israel must first be redeemed. Israel must first appropriate the blood. Israel must first “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” which the nation will do when Christ returns and the Jewish people “look upon” the One “whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10; 13:6; cf. Acts 4:12; 16:30, 31). Then, and only then, can Israel be delivered from a worldwide dispersion and Gentile world power subsequently be overthrown.
The former will be made possible because of Christ’s past work as “the Lamb of God”; and the latter will be made possible because of Christ’s future work as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The One who was “despised and rejected,” who didn’t say a word as He was “brought as a lamb to the slaughter,” will be the same One who “shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath,” and “kings shall shut their mouths at Him” (Psalm 110:5; Isaiah 52:15; 53:3, 7).
Israel’s Deliverance
Israel’s deliverance from Egypt through the Red Sea would set forth a number of different related biblical truths. “Egypt” and the “Sea” in Scripture are used in a similar typical sense. “Egypt” is used typifying the world, and the “Sea” is used typifying the place occupied by the Gentile nations in the world (Genesis 12:10; 13:1; Exodus 3:7-12, 20; Isaiah 30:7; 31:1; Daniel 7:2-7, 17; Jonah 1:4ff; Revelation 13:1). Then, beyond that, the “Sea” points to the place where the dead are to be buried, with resurrection being pictured as the Israelites were led up out of the Sea onto the eastern banks (Jonah 1:12-2:9 [cf. Matthew 12:40]; Romans 6:4, 5; Colossians 2:12).
As there was a revealed manner and order to the way things occurred in biblical history, so is there a revealed manner and order to the way things will occur in biblical prophecy; and much of the revealed manner and order in biblical prophecy is set forth through observing the revealed manner and order in biblical history.
And herein lies a major reason for and importance of studying and knowing the types in Scripture (i.e., moving beyond the “letter” to the “spirit” within the historic accounts [cf. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18]). Biblical history is highly typical in nature, and the antitype must follow the type in exact detail, which includes the manner and order in which events occur in both. That would be to say, the manner and order in which they occurred in the type is the same manner and order in which they will occur in the antitype. And, apart from observing the historic manner and order, one cannot properly ascertain the complete, correct prophetic manner and order.
The type, in this respect (and other respects), forms a mold, a pattern; and the antitype, in every detail, must fit the mold or pattern set forth in the type. This is the manner in which God has seen fit to reveal a major part of His plans and purposes to man.
1. Deliverance from Egypt
Israel, under Moses, was delivered from Egypt after Moses had returned from Midian (Exodus 3:7-10; 4:19, 20), after God’s complete judgment had fallen upon Egypt (the ten plagues [Exodus 7:20-12:29]), after Israel’s appropriation of the blood of the paschal lambs (which was in connection with the tenth and final plague [Exodus 11, 12]), but before the actual complete overthrow of the power of Egypt (Exodus 14:21-31).
In the antitype it will have to be the same. Israel, under Christ, will be delivered from a worldwide dispersion after Christ returns from heaven, after God’s complete judgment has fallen upon the world, after Israel has appropriated the blood of the Passover Lamb (which, as in the type, will have to be in connection with the end of God's complete judgment upon the world of that day), but before the actual complete overthrow of Gentile world power.
Present popular thought in Christendom concerning Israel’s prophesied restoration views the beginning of this restoration as already occurring. Many Christians see the remnant of Jews back in the land today as associated with a beginning fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies surrounding Israel’s restoration to the land (prophecies such as the vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37).
But such a view is completely contrary to Scripture. Israel is to return only after the nation’s Messiah returns; Israel is to return in belief, not in unbelief; and the Old Testament saints are to be raised from the dead and return with the living (e.g., the numerous Israelites who died in Babylon during Daniel’s day, etc. [Genesis 50:25, 26; Exodus 13:19]).
The preceding is the order at any point in Scripture, whether in Exodus, the Jewish festivals in Leviticus, chapter twenty-three, or prophecies dealing with the overall matter such as in Joel (reference Chapter 1 of this book, “I Will Bring You Out . . . To”).
The Israelites were still in Egypt when Moses returned, and the Israelites will still be dispersed throughout the world when Christ returns. And the sequence of events in the latter must follow the sequence of events in the former.
A major part of the second book in Scripture has been given over to teachings surrounding Israel's restoration, and had those Christians misunderstanding the matter today looked to the writings of Moses, they wouldn't have gone wrong in this realm (or, for that matter, other realms of biblical study as well). They wouldn’t have tried to make Ezekiel, chapter thirty-seven, among other related Scriptures, fit into a mold where it doesn’t belong and can't possibly be made to fit.
Ezekiel, chapter thirty-seven, along with any other portion of Scripture throughout the Old Testament that deals with Israel’s restoration, fits within the framework of that which is revealed in Exodus concerning Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Again, according to the clear teaching of Exodus, Israel’s restoration will occur only after Christ returns, after Israel sees and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and after the Old Testament saints have been raised from the dead.
Until these things occur, there can be no restoration; when these things occur, as they will, then restoration can only follow.
(The remnant in the land today is there preceding Christ’s return, is there in unbelief, and is there alone [apart from the remainder of living Jews in the world and apart from resurrected Old Testament saints]. Further, the several million Jews in the land today [approaching six million], will, at a future time [during the days of Antichrist, beginning in the middle of the Tribulation], be uprooted and driven out among the Gentile nations once again [or be killed], save for a remnant that will escape to a place prepared of God in the mountainous terrain of the land [cf. Matthew 24:16-20; Revelation 12:6, 14]. And, at that time, the nation of Israel in the Middle East, as it is known today, will cease to exist [cf. Luke 21:20-24; Revelation 11:2].
Thoughts of the Holocaust that occurred in Europe immediately preceding and during WWII have captured the attention of many in the world today after a fashion not seen since the Allied armies marched into Germany and Poland toward the end of WWII in the spring of 1945, saw the atrocities committed upon Jews [and others, though particularly the Jews] by the Third Reich under Hitler, and came out to tell the world what they had seen. And it is interesting that the Holocaust has come back into the forefront today, for a Holocaust far worse than that which occurred under the Third Reich during the years 1939-1945 is about to befall the nation of Israel.
The Jewish people say, “Never Again!” But it will happen again — within the next few years — and the coming Holocaust will be far worse than the last.
Under Antichrist, during the last three and one-half years of the coming Tribulation, Jews are going to be taken captive and either be sold as slaves to the Gentiles or be killed. This will occur, not just in Europe as during WWII, but worldwide [cf. Joel 3:6-8; Luke 21:20-24; Revelation 12:13-17]. And, according to Scripture, when this does occur, things are going to become so catastrophic that,
And except those days [the days of the Tribulation, the days of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the closing days of Man’s 6,000-year Day] should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake [for Israel’s sake] those days shall be shortened. [Matthew 24:22]
This is the fate awaiting Israel, typified by the experiences of the Israelites in Egypt during the time Moses was in Midian, pointing to the present time while Christ is in heaven. But, as Moses returned, so will Christ return. And, as Moses delivered his people from Egypt, so will Christ deliver His people from throughout the Gentile world.
And, as the deliverance under Moses was for a purpose, so will the deliverance under Christ be for a purpose: “Let my son go, that he may serve me” [Exodus 4:22, 23]:
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.
So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me [which would be in their own land, at the head of the nations, within a theocracy]. . . .’”
For related material, refer to the author’s book, The Time of the End, Appendixes 1, 2, “The Intractable Middle East Problem” and “The Death of the High Priest.”)
2. Deliverance from the Sea
There is a twofold picture seen in Israel’s passage through and deliverance from the Sea; and the subsequent overthrow of Gentile power in the Sea completes the picture.
As previously stated, the “Sea” is seen in Scripture typifying both the place where the dead are to be buried and the place occupied by the Gentile nations. Drawing from the former typical significance, baptism, typified by the Red Sea passage, is pictured as a burial, with the removal from the waters pictured as a resurrection (1 Corinthians 10:1, 2; cf. Romans 6:4, 5; Colossians 2:12).
And drawing from the latter typical significance, Gentile world power, centered in Babylon during “the times of the Gentiles,” is seen coming up “from the sea” (Daniel 7:2-7; Revelation 13:1). In this respect, Gentile world power, though seen in the place of “death,” will be allowed to “live” (“rise up” from the sea [Revelation 13:1]) until “the times of the Gentiles” has been fulfilled.
Both aspects of the way the Sea is used in Scripture can be seen, in relation to Israel, by viewing the experiences of Jonah; and another type, the death and resurrection of Lazarus will add details. Then, climaxing the matter, the end of Gentile world power and the conclusion of the times of the Gentiles can be seen in the text from Exodus — again, in relation to the way the Sea is used in Scripture.
A) Jonah
Jonah forms a dual type, typifying, in his experiences, those of both Christ and Israel. That would be to say, Jonah forms a dual type of both of God's firstborn Sons; and teachings within both parts of the type are rich and instructive beyond degree.
Jonah is seen as a type of Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Christ, during His earthly ministry, following the Jewish religious leaders' blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, called their attention to one thing when they asked for a sign. He called their attention to Jonah, for, of necessity, His ministry from that point forward would progress more in the direction of the Cross than it would the Crown:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly [belly of a large fish]; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40; cf. Jonah 1:17)
Jonah, in the type, died in the belly of the fish (Jonah 2:1, 2 [the word translated “hell” in v. 2 is Sheol in the Hebrew text — equivalent to Hades in the Greek New Testament text — which is the place of the dead]). Christ, in the antitype, died at Calvary; and He descended into Sheol (or Hades) as did Jonah (Acts 2:31 [a quotation from Psalm 16:10, with Sheol used in the Old Testament reference and Hades in the New Testament reference]). Both Jonah and Christ were in the place of the dead “three days and three nights,” and it is also said of Christ that He was raised on “the third day” (cf. Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40; Luke 24:7, 21, 46; 1 Corinthians 15:4).
(The expressions “three days and three nights” and “the third day” in the preceding references can be reconciled with one another only when viewing them as Scripture presents the matter. The former expression — “three days and three nights” — was a reference by Christ to the Hebrew text of Jonah 1:17 and must be understood in connection with parallel or similar Hebrew usage elsewhere in the Old Testament, not in connection with our Western way of thinking.
The Old Testament, in parallel or similar Hebrew usage, clearly presents the teaching that “part of a day” is to be looked upon as comprising the whole of that day [cf. Genesis 40:13, 20; 1 Samuel 30:12, 13; 2 Chronicles 10:5, 12; Esther 4:16; 5:1]. Thus, within a Scriptural framework, in the New Testament, it could not only be said of Christ that He was in the place of death for “three days and three nights” but it could also be said that He was raised on “the third day.”
It is a mistake to view the expression, “three days and three nights” [an Eastern idiomatic expression] as constituting seventy-two hours, as some Bible students attempt to do. This is a Western interpretation of that which has an Eastern origin, and it is clearly revealed by Scripture to be incorrect.
But if the expression “three days and three nights” is not synonymous with seventy-two hours [which clearly it isn’t], when was Jonah raised in relation to the third day? The answer is easy to ascertain.
In the light of related Old Testament Scripture, Christ, by saying that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for “three days and three nights,” revealed that Jonah was raised on the third day, short of seventy-two hours [for had he been in the belly of the fish an entire seventy-two hours, he, of necessity, would have had to be raised after seventy-two hours, on the fourth day. Then, from a Scriptural standpoint, “four days and four nights” would have been involved (“day” and “night” would form an inseparable unit in this respect, similar to that seen in Genesis chapter one)].
Aside from that, Jonah, as previously stated, forms a type of both Christ and Israel; and Christ was raised on the third day [1 Corinthians 15:4], as Israel also will be [Hosea 6:1, 2]. In this respect, Jonah also had to be raised on the third day; else the type-antitype structure of Scripture at this point would be imperfect.)
Then viewing Jonah as a type of Israel, Jonah was commissioned by God to carry His message to the Gentile city of Nineveh, but Jonah refused and went in another direction (Jonah 1:1-3). Jonah then found himself on board a ship out on the Sea — where a great storm arose — and he ultimately found himself in the sea itself (1:4-16).
The Lord “prepared a great fish” to swallow Jonah (1:17), and Jonah died in the belly of the fish (2:1, 2). Then, after “three days and three nights” Jonah was deposited alive upon “the dry land,” re-commissioned, and he then went to the Gentile city of Nineveh with God’s message (1:17; 2:10; 3:1ff).
Exactly the same thing was/will be true of Israel — the nation God called into existence to carry His message to the Gentile nations of the earth, to be Jehovah’s witness to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 43:9-12).
Israel, in the past, as Jonah, refused to go and ultimately ended up in “the sea,” i.e., Israel ultimately ended up in the place of death, scattered among the Gentile nations, where Israel remains today (except for a lifeless remnant in the land).
Israel, in connection with being in the sea for two days — for 2,000 years — is looked upon as dead in God’s sight (for there is no spiritual life). And beyond that, Israel, with respect to both disobedience concerning her calling and a remnant presently dwelling in the land in unbelief, is the direct cause of all the current unrest among the surrounding Gentile nations, typified by the great storm on the Sea in Jonah’s day.
The day is coming though — “after three days and three nights,” on “the third day” — when Israel, exactly like Jonah, is going to live again, be removed from the Sea, be placed back in the land, and then go to the Gentile nations with God’s message (cf. Genesis 45:1-5, 26; Isaiah 53:1ff).
Then, returning to the textual type in Exodus, Israel being made to live once again can be seen through both the events of the Passover (chapter 12) and the Red Sea passage (chapter 14).
There was a vicarious death in every Israeli home where a lamb was slain the night of the Passover; and the blood of the slain lamb, applied to the doorposts and lintel of a house, showed that the firstborn had already died (via a substitutionary death). Thus, the Lord, seeing the blood, passed over that house. The firstborn had died, and God was satisfied.
Then, the dead (the firstborn, having died in a substitute) were to be buried, which occurred in the Red Sea passage. But, because a substitutionary death was involved, the dead, who were also very much alive, could be brought up from the place of death on the eastern banks to “walk in newness of life.”
To see the dual picture in its complete scope, note a person's salvation experience today in the light of the type in Exodus 12-14.
At the point of salvation the person is pictured both as dead and as having passed from death to life.
The person is dead because of the vicarious nature of Christ’s death. That is, the firstborn must die; and a Christian has experienced this death via a Substitute. Then, the person is alive because he has been brought forth from above; he is “in Christ” and has “passed from death into life” (John 3:3; 5:24; 11:25; Colossians 3:3).
And all of this is shown through baptism, typified by the Red Sea passage of the Israelites — “Buried with Him in baptism . . . risen with Him” to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4, 5; Colossians 2:12).
(Also, there is a dual aspect to the death of the firstborn in the type, which can be seen in the antitype following the future adoption of Christians, when the complete picture, in line with this aspect of the type, will exist.
Note that the experience surrounding the death of the firstborn in the type were not only individual [an individual firstborn son inside an Israeli home] but also national as well [the entire nation formed God’s firstborn son].
Death had been decreed upon all the firstborn throughout the land. Thus, the execution of this sentence could only have been both individual and national. And the same thing could only apply in the antitype as well. Though separated in time, God, of necessity, in the antitype, would have to recognize a corporate or national death of the firstborn in connection with an individual death.)
B) Lazarus
The death and resurrection of Lazarus in John chapter eleven is the last of seven recorded signs in the gospel of John. And these signs are all Jewish, having to do with some facet of God's future dealings with the nation of Israel (John 20:30, 31; 1 Corinthians 1:22).
At the time of his resurrection, Lazarus had lain in the grave for four days, and Christ had been out of the land of Judea for two days (vv. 6, 7, 17, 39). At that time — after two days absence from the land — Christ said, “Let us go into Judea again”; and the purpose for His return at this time was to raise Lazarus from the dead (cf. vv. 3-6, 24, 25, 43, and 44).
The “two days” in the text (v. 6) point to the two days — the 2,000 years — Christ has been absent. At the end of these two days, exactly as in the sign (forming a type), Christ will say, “Let us go into Judea again”; and the purpose for His return will be the same — to raise the one whom Lazarus typified from the dead, i.e., to raise Israel from the dead. According to Hosea, it will be “after two days . . . in the third day” that Christ will return and Israel will be raised up to live in His sight. And, according to the text, this two-day period not only began when Christ was here the first time and was offended (crucified), but it will climax with the Jewish people being afflicted during a future time of trouble — the Great Tribulation (5:13-6:2).
Then, the “four days” in John chapter eleven (vv. 17, 39) can only point to the four days — the 4,000 years — of Jewish history, going all the way back to Abraham. Israel has never realized her full calling in relation to the blessings of Genesis 12:2, 3; and the nation, in the seventh sign in the gospel of John, is looked upon as having never lived in God’s sight in this respect (Israel, through continued disobedience within the Old Testament theocracy, never realized the heights to which the nation had been called, eventually resulting in the nation's dispersion among the Gentiles and the ensuing “times of the Gentiles”).
But the day is coming, at the end of two and four days, when matters will change completely. Israel, following the return of the nation’s Messiah, will appropriate the blood of the Passover Lamb, be led up out of the Sea, and live. Israel, as Lazarus, is going to come forth. And, as Lazarus, the nation will be caused to live in God’s sight.
The Old Testament saints, as Lazarus, will be raised from the dead in natural bodies of flesh, blood, and bones; and the living Jews who survive the Great Tribulation will enter the kingdom in the same type of bodies. And the nation — in natural bodies — will dwell in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob within a theocracy as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” under a new covenant (Exodus 19:6; Jeremiah 31:31-33).
Then, and only then, will the fullness of God's blessings flow out through Israel to the nations of the earth.
(Not only will the Jewish people dwell on the millennial earth in natural bodies but on the new earth throughout the eternal ages as well. As seen in Luke 1:33, Christ is to reign over “the house of Jacob [the natural man],” and this reign over the house of Jacob will not end with the Millennium but will extend into and throughout the eternal ages as well:
“And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”)
C) Gentile World Power
The overthrow of Gentile world power is presented in the type as an overthrow “in the midst of the sea”: “The depths have covered them: they sank to the bottom as a stone,” and “. . . there remained not so much as one of them” (Exodus 14:23, 27, 28; 15:5).
Again, the “Sea” in Scripture points to both the place of death and the place occupied by the Gentile nations. Thus, the overthrow of Pharaoh and his armed forces in the Sea foreshadows an overthrow resulting in death (destruction) that will occur within the Gentile nations’ own place in the world.
Pharaoh and his armed forces had not previously appropriated the blood of the paschal lambs, as Israel had done. They, going down into the place of death, could not walk out onto the eastern banks of the Sea as they were attempting to do. There was no resurrection to life for them. They had not “passed from death to life.” They were still “dead in trespasses and sins.” Thus, that which occurred is really the only thing that could have occurred. They had to be overthrown in the Sea, not only in the place of death but also in their own place. And that was exactly what occurred.
They were overthrown in the place of death within their own place — in the Sea. This is the dual place that Scripture pictures all the Gentile nations occupying. And, apart from appropriating the blood of the Passover Lamb, they will remain in this position, awaiting a future destruction, in their own place.
And that future destruction will come, just as surely as it came during Moses’ day.
Israel, under Moses, stood in resurrection power on the eastern banks of the Sea, singing to the Lord concerning the nation’s redemption, the destruction of the power of Egypt, and that which lay ahead.
And just as surely as this occurred, Israel, under Christ in that future day, brought up from the place of death (from the Sea), will sing to the Lord concerning the nation’s redemption, the overthrow of Gentile world power (ending “the times of the Gentiles”), and that which will lie ahead.
Inheritance in another Land
This then brings us to the climactic point in the song that Moses and the children of Israel sang to the Lord on the eastern banks of the Red Sea. Most of the song concerns itself with the greatness of the Lord’s power in delivering the Israelites from the hand of the enemy. And this power was manifested after a fashion that would cause amazement, fear, and long-lasting remembrance on the part of the surrounding Gentile nations (Exodus 15:14-16; cf. Joshua 2:9, 10; 9:9; 1 Samuel 4:8).
The song, following details concerning the greatness of the Lord’s power surrounding Israel’s deliverance, then ends with the reason for Israel's deliverance:
You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which You have made For Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. The LORD shall reign forever and ever. (Exodus 15:17, 18)
A “mountain” in Scripture signifies a kingdom (cf. Isaiah 2:2-4; Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, 45; Matthew 16:28-17:5). “The mountain of Your inheritance” had to do with the theocracy about to be brought into existence at Sinai. The theocracy though was not to be realized at Sinai. It was only to be brought into existence at this point, along with Israel, through Moses, being given the rules and regulations governing the people within the theocracy (i.e., being given the Law). The theocracy, under the governing rules and regulations of the old covenant, was to be realized in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
This is why, once the rules and regulations had been given and the theocracy brought into existence, the march of the Israelites under Moses was directly to the borders of the covenanted land. The people of Israel were to go in and, under God’s power (as had been manifested at the Red Sea passage), take the land from the Gentile nations dwelling therein. They were then to dwell in this land within a theocracy, and the surrounding nations were to be both ruled over and blessed through Israel (Exodus 4:22, 23; 19:5, 6).
Israel was to be established in this land within a theocratic kingdom, inheriting the kingly and priestly rights of the firstborn as God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22, 23). It was this place, under these conditions, which was referred to by the Israelites on the eastern banks of the Red Sea as “the mountain of Your inheritance”; and this was also the place where the Lord’s “Sanctuary” would be established and the place from whence the Lord would “reign forever and ever.” |