Focus Passage: Exodus 14:30 - 15:21
"The Victory Celebration"
Three major ideas stand out in this majestic hymn of victory. First, there was the realization and affirmation that the deliverance over Pharaoh was the result of G-d's act. He may have used the wind to accomplish it, but it was G-d who did it. When Israel looked at the events of the sea, they did not seek to explain the event away by appeals to secondary causes; they simply saw G-d at work.
Second, there was a magnificent hope for the future. Based upon G-d's acts in the past, they placed their fidelity in Him to complete His purposes to bring them in and plant them in the place which He had promised them. We must recognize that their fidelity and confidence would not always be so strong. But at the moment of G-d's victory, they could look forward confidently to future victories.
Third, the most profound set of ideas in this hymn are those concerned with the nature of G-d (vv. 2-3, 11-12, 18). The hymn states with boldness that G-d was the source of "strength," "song," and "deliverance." "Deliverance" in this context referred to a military and physical deliverance. Further, the hymn lays claim to the conviction that the G-d of their heritage ("The G-d of my father") had become real to them ("my G-d," v. 2). Men and women do not come to believe in G-d through argument but through historical experience via a Torah filled life. We must meet Him, through understanding and obedience to the entire Tanach. One dimension of their trust in G-d which we sometimes miss was that He was a "Warrior"(v. 3). In those ancient times they saw G-d's visible power in the conquest of His enemies. It was not until later that they realized that the greatest enemy was averah and that the greatest power was love of G-d, love of Torah, and the love of one's fellow man.
The most profound statement of confidence in this hymn is the concluding verse: "The L-rd will reign for ever and ever" (v. 18). The use of the term "reign" indicated a recognition of the fact that G-d was King. Egypt had Pharaoh. Israel had G-d. Further, this acknowledgment of His Kingship carried with it an implicit submission to His authority. This glorious shout of assurance and confidence was to serve as the foundation of Israel's highest faith throughout her history.
"If you want to raise a man from mud and filth, do not think it is enough to keep standing on top and reaching down to him a helping hand. You must go all the way down yourself, down into mud and filth. Then take hold of him with strong hands and pull him and yourself out into the light."
-Hasidic rabbi Solomon ben Meir ha-Levi of Karlin (1738-1798)
Shalom U'Bracha,
Thomas Roper
