Exodus, Message 8.1: The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War

Crystallization-Study of Exodus, Message 8.1:

"The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War"

The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War

1 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!
2 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.
3 The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. (Exodus 15:1-3 NKJV)

After crossing the Red Sea, Moses spontaneously sang a song of praise to the Lord out of his heart, which appears in Exodus 15. He praised the LORD for His salvation, which was for His people, and for His victory, which was over the enemies. The LORD was the man of war who had fought and would fight for His people.

Interestingly, even in this song of praise, Moses gave some prophecies about what were about to happen. Furthermore, knowing God's heart, he mentioned about the 2 goals of salvation that God would accomplish through His people - to build up His tabernacle on the earth and to bring in His kingdom. 

You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation. (Exodus 15:13 NKJV)

17 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.
18 The LORD shall reign forever and ever. (Exodus 15:17-18 NKJV)

He mentioned about these things as if they had already happened. He realised that in God's eye, there was no time. God created time, but He was not limited by it. For God, everything that was going to happen had already happened. Even though the children of God had never fought with those enemies indicated in the song (Exodus 15:14-15 ), they had already won the battle in God's eye. Likewise, God's tabernacle had not been built up and His kingdom had not established yet. In typology, these 2 purposes of God were going to be fulfilled in Exodus 18 when the children of Israel built up tabernacle, and then centuries later when Solomon built up the temple. But in God's eye, these things had been accomplished. He knew exactly what was in God's heart and he was also 100% sure that everything God desired would be accomplished. No wonder why Moses was called the man of God.

Let us have the attitude like Moses. We praise God not only for what He has done, but also for what He is going to do for us, with us, in us and through us. When we are in a difficult situation, we can still praise the Lord, knowing that He will surely work all things, either good or bad, just for our good and will surely help us get through it victoriously. Praising the Lord is the key to overcome any situation, because as we praise Him, we are transcending and soaring over our problems. In any situation, let us praise the LORD, for He is Yahweh the man of war who will always fight for us, and we will share victory over our enemies with Him.

Furthermore, as the army of God, we must be ready for the spiritual warfare. We must be after the desire of God's heart as Moses did. We must aim to build up His habitation on the earth, the reality of which is the Church, the Body of Christ. And together with our brothers and sisters in the Body, we must aim to bring in His kingdom. This is the means whereby God's eternal purpose is fulfilled in us and through us.

 Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Exodus, week 8.
• Life Study of Exodus, messages 29.