The song of Moses and of the Lamb Revelation 15v3-4.
The song of Moses is the song of deliverance from Egypt's bondage for the nation of Israel (Exodus chapter 15). The song of the Lamb is the song of deliverance from the bondage of sin for every individual in the world who will follow Him. The story of Israel's slavery in Egypt was a microcosm of the worldwide slavery engulfing the human race. Jesus makes this clear in John 8v34. Paul describes the deliverance from the bondage of sin through Jesus Christ in Romans 6v7,6v14,6v18, 6v22. Few in the world today are prepared to accept that the human race is in bondage to darker powers, but it is the realisation of that very fact which brings deliverance. The details of the song of Moses are found in Exodus chapter 15, on the day when the people of Israel were finally delivered from four hundred years of cruel bondage. The marvellous details of the song are found in the whole chapter up to verse 22 and the more notable portions of the song are in verses 1,2,3.6,7,11 & 21. The link between the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb is two seas. The deliverance under Moses took place when they crossed the Red Sea; the deliverance under the Lamb from the bondage of sin takes place in the context of the saints of God standing on the sea of glass in joyful mode. Thus by the genius of the Holy Spirit the two songs are brought together, (yet centuries apart), and we shall see that in essence the two songs are one. The substance of the song is as follows, and includes a number of glorious features:
- The song is of the works of God. "Great and marvellous are Thy works Lord God Almighty." Of all people Moses was aware of the greatness of God. The man who witnessed the mighty works of God in Egypt also wrote the first five books of the bible outlining the wonders of creation and the bringing of people of faith in vast numbers before Him. Jesus, who was described as "a prophet like unto Moses," brings the divine revelation to a close in this last book of the bible. From Genesis to Revelation it is indeed a book of the mighty works of God which are great and marvellous. We as the people of God have been given a heritage which is second to none in the form of narrative, and prose, and prophecy, all of which combine to proclaim the greatness of our God. How much do we really know of it? Only by reading this book do we understand how great and marvellous our God is. We need to grasp more and more the greatness of God.
- The song is about the ways of God. "Just and true are Thy ways Thou King of saints." Some versions put the last expression as "the king of ages" referring to His eternal existence rather than His dealings with His people; the issue however is the same because the point is of the ways of God, how He operates. His ways are just and true, which means they are fair towards men and true to His own character. God, in dealing with men, cannot diminish in anyway His character, because you cannot better perfection. In a wonderful and glorious way God has married His eternal and perfect character to the just and fair needs of men and women whom He is wooing to Himself. In simpler language, He is always right, and He is always fair. Justice alone truly only belongs to the Lord.
- The song is of the worship of God. And in verse 4 we have a threefold definition of the meaning of worship. The first aspect is fear; "who shall not fear Thee O Lord?" this is not a fear of terror, it is a reverential fear of one who is so awesome that all we can do is revere Him for what He is. The second aspect of worship is to glorify Him; "who shall not glorify Thy name?" This is simply to make it known, to make it public, to boast about Him, to magnify Him in the eyes of all those we know by word and by deed. The third aspect is His holiness "for Thou only art holy for all nations shall come and worship before Thee." We love to think of God as being with us, but here is an aspect that only true heart worship can appreciate; it is this, there is none to be compared with Him in all the earth; that is what holy means. The portions in Isaiah chapters 40-43 saying "to whom then will you liken Me", or something similar, places God apart from all created beings and in worship we express this. All nations shall come and worship before Him. This puts all of us on the same level and God at a higher level.
- The song proclaims the wisdom of God. "For Thy righteous judgments are made manifest."(RV). The God of eternity has involved Himself in the lives of men and women both individually and nationally. His judgments have been made manifest, and they are right. There is an astonishing revelation in Ephesians 3 that the reason why God created this world was to create a church through whom He would demonstrate to the angels, whom He had created, His manifold wisdom. In other words, through us the believing saints, God is increasing the education of angels! All of this is very humbling and our song is of the many aspects of divine wisdom revealed in day to day living.
Here is the very essence of life "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." When we have begun along that pathway there are endless things to be learned of the God whose wisdom will never be exhausted.
Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
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