Israel in Egypt
A Sermon
(No. 136)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, June 14, 1857, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
"And they sang the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of
the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty;
just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints."–Revelation 15:3.
AT THE OUTSET, let us remark the carefulness of the Holy Spirit in
guarding the honor of our blessed Lord. This verse is often quoted as
if it runs thus–"They sang the song of Moses and the Lamb." This
mistake has led many weak minds to wonder at the expression, for they
have imagined that it divided the honor of the song of heaven between
Moses and the Redeemer. The clause–"the servant of God"–is doubtless
inserted by the Holy Spirit to prevent any error upon this point, and
therefore it should be carefully included in the quotation. I take it
that the song of Moses is here united with the song of the Lamb,
because the one was a type and picture of the other. The glorious
overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea shadowed forth the total
destruction of Satan and all his host in the day of the great battle of
the Lord; and there was in the song of Moses the expression of the same
feelings of triumph which will pervade the breasts of the redeemed when
they shall triumph with their Captain.
May God the Holy Spirit enable me to exhibit the parallel which exists
between the condition of Israel when passing through the sea, and the
position of the church of Christ at the present day. Next, we shall
compare the triumph of the Lord at the Red Sea with the victory of the
Lamb in the great and terrible day of the Lord. And lastly, I shall
point out certain prominent features of the song of Moses, which will
doubtless be as prominent in the song of the Lamb.
I. First, it is our business to regard THE POSITION OF THE CHILDREN OF
ISRAEL AS EMBLEMATICAL OF OUR OWN. And here we observe that, like the
church of God, the vast host of Israel had been delivered from bondage.
We, my brethren, who constitute a part of the Israel of God, were once
the slaves of sin and Satan; we served with hard bondage and rigor
while in our natural state; no bondage was ever more terrible than
ours; we indeed made bricks without straw, and labored in the very
fire; but by the strong hand of God we have been delivered. We have
come forth from the prison-house; with joy we beheld ourselves
emancipated–the Lord's free men. The iron yoke is taken from our
necks; we no longer serve our lusts, and pay obedience to the tyrant
sin. With a high hand and an outstretched arm, our God has led us forth
from the place of our captivity, and joyfully we pursue our way through
the wilderness.
But with the children of Israel it was not all joy; they were free, but
their master was at their heels. Pharaoh was loth to lose so valuable a
nation of servants; and therefore with his chosen captains, his
horsemen, and his chariots, he pursued them in angry haste. Affrighted
Israel beheld her infuriated oppressor close at her rear, and trembled
for the issue–the hearts of the people failed them while they saw
their hopes blighted and their joys ended by the approach of the
oppressor; even so it is with some of you; you think you must be driven
back again like dumb cattle, into Egypt, and once more become what you
were. "Surely," you say, "I can not hold on my way with such a host
seeking to drive me back; I must again become the slave of my
iniquities." And thus dreading apostacy, and feeling that you would
rather die than become what you were, you this morning are filled with
trepidation. You are saying, "Alas for me! Better that I had died in
Egypt than that I should have come out into this wilderness to be again
captured." You have tasted for a moment the joys of holiness and the
sweets of liberty; and now again to go back to endure the bondage of a
spiritual Egypt, would be worse than before. This is the position of
the sacramental host of God's elect; they have come out of Egypt, and
they are pursuing their way to Canaan. But the world is against them;
the kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his people, saying, "Let us scatter them;
let us utterly destroy them." From the fiery days of the stakes of
Smithfield even until now, the world's black heart has hated the
church, and the world's cruel hand and laughing lip have been for ever
against us. The host of the mighty are pursuing us, and are thirsty for
our blood, and anxious to cut us off from the earth. Such is our
position unto this hour, and such must it be until we are landed on the
other side of Jordan, and until our Maker comes to reign on the earth.
But once more: the children of Israel were in a position more wonderful
than this. They came to the edge of the Red Sea; they feared their
enemies behind; they could not fly on either hand, for they were
flanked by mountains and stupendous rocks; one course only was open to
them, and that course was through the sea. God commands them to go
forward. The rod of Moses is outstretched, and the affrighted waters
divide; a channel is left while the floods stand up right, and the
waters are congealed in the heart of the sea. The priests, bearing the
ark, march forward; the whole host of Israel follow. And now behold the
wondrous pilgrimage. A wall of alabaster is on either side, and myriads
are in the pebbly depths. Like a wall of glass the sea stands on either
side of them, frowning with beetling cliffs of foam; but still on they
march; and until the last of God's Israel is safe the water stands
still and firm, frozen by the lips of God. Such, my hearers, is the
position of God's church now. You and I are marching through a sea, the
floods of which are kept upright only by the sovereign power of God.
This world is a world which is suddenly to be destroyed; and our
position in it is just the position of the children of Israel, for
whose sake the floods refused to meet until they were safely landed. O
church of God! thou art the salt of the earth: when thou art removed
this earth must putrify and decay. O living army of the living God! ye,
like Israel, keep the floods of providence still standing fast; but
when the last of you shall be gone from this stage of action, God's
fiery wrath and tremendous anger shall dash down upon the ground
whereon you now are standing, and your enemies shall be overwhelmed in
the place through which you now walk safely. Let me put my thoughts as
plainly as I can. Naturally, according to the common order, the Red Sea
should have flowed on in a level and even manner, constant in its
waves, and unbroken in its surface. By the might of God the Red Sea was
divided into two parts, and the floods stood back. Now mark. Naturally,
according to the common course of justice, this world, which groaneth
and travaileth until now, ought, if we only consider the wicked, to be
utterly destroyed. The only reason why the Red Sea afforded a safe
passage for the host was this–that Israel marched through it; and the
only reason why this world stands, and the only reason why it is not
destroyed by fire, as it is to be at the last great day, is because
God's Israel are in it; but when once they shall have passed through,
the parted floods shall meet their hands, and embrace with eager joy to
clasp the adverse host within their arms. The day is coming when this
world shall reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man. Every
Christian may say, with due reverence to God, "The earth is dissolved;
I bear up the pillars thereof." Let all the Christians that are in the
world die, and the pillars of the earth would fall, and like a wreck
and a vision all this universe of ours would pass away, never to be
seen again. We are to-day, I say, passing through the floods, with
enemies behind, pursuing us who are going out of Egypt up to Canaan.
III. And now the TRIUMPH OF MOSES was a picture of the ultimate triumph
of the Lamb. Moses sang a song unto the Lord by the sea of Egypt. If
you will turn to holy Scripture you will find that my text was sung by
the holy spirits who had been preserved from sin and from the
contamination of the beast; and it is said that they sung this song
upon "a sea of glass mingled with fire." Now the song of Moses was sung
by the side of a sea, which was glassy, and still; for a little season
the floods had been disturbed, divided, separated, congealed, but in a
few moments afterward, when Israel had safely passed the flood, they
became as glassy as ever, for the enemy had sunken to the bottom like a
stone, and the sea re. turned to its strength when the morning
appeared. Is there ever a time, then, when this great sea of
Providence, which now stands parted to give a passage to God's saints
shall become a level surface? Is there a day when the now divided
dispensations of God, which are kept from following out their
legitimate tendency to do justice upon sin–when the two seas of
justice shall commingle, and the one sea of God's providence shall be
"a sea of glass mingled with fire?" Yes, the day is drawing nigh when
God's enemies shall no longer make it necessary for God's providence to
be apparently disturbed to save his people, when the great designs of
God shall be accomplished, and therefore when the walls of water shall
roll together, while in their inmost depths the everlasting burning
fire shall still consume the wicked. O, the sea shall be calm upon the
surface; the sea upon which God's people shall walk shall seem to be a
sea that is clear, without a weed, with-out an impurity; while down in
its hollow bosom, far beyond all mortal ken, shall be the horrid depths
where the wicked must for ever dwell in the fire which is mingled with
the glass.
Well, I now want to show you why it was that Moses triumphed, and why
it is that by-and-by we shall triumph. One reason why Moses sung his
song was because all Israel were safe. They were all safely across the
sea. Not a drop of spray fell from that solid wall until the last of
God's Israel had safely planted his foot on the other side of the
flood. That done, immediately the floods dissolved into their proper
place again, but not till then. Part of that song was, "Thou hast led
thy people like a flock through the wilderness." Now, in the last time,
when Christ shall come upon earth, the great song will be–"Lord, thou
hast saved thy people; thou hast led them all safely through the paths
of providence, and not one of them has fallen into the hands of the
enemy." O, it is my strong belief, that in heaven there shall not be a
vacant throne. I rejoice that all who love the Lord below, must at last
attain to heaven. I do not believe with some that men may start on the
road to heaven, and be saved, and yet fall by the hand of the enemy.
God forbid, my friends!
"All the chosen race
Shall meet around the throne,
Shall bless the conduct of his grace,
And make his glories known."
Part of the triumph of heaven will be, that there is not one throne
that is unoccupied. As many as God hath chosen, as many as Christ hath
redeemed, as many as the Spirit hath called, as many as believe, shall
arrive safe across the stream. We are not all safely landed yet:
"Part of the host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now."
The vanguard of the army have already reached the shore. I see them
yonder;
"I greet the blood-besprinkled bands
Upon th' eternal shore."
And you and I, my brethren, are marching through the depths. We are at
this day following hard after Christ, and walking through the
wilderness. Let us be of good cheer: the rearguard shall soon be where
the vanguard already is; the last of the chosen shall soon have landed;
the last of God's elect shall have crossed the sea, and then shall be
heard the song of triumph, when all are secure. But O! if one were
absent–oh! if one of his chosen family should be cast away–it would
make an everlasting discord in the song of the redeemed, and cut the
strings of the harps of Paradise, so that music could never be
distilled from them again.
But, perhaps, the major part of the joy of Moses lay in the destruction
of all the enemies of God. He looked upon his people the day before.
"He looked upon his people,
And the tear was in his eye;
He looked upon the foeman
And his glance was stern and high."
And now to-day he looks upon his people, and he says, "Blessed art
thou, O Israel, safely landed on the shore;" and he looks not upon the
foeman, but upon the foeman's tomb; he looks where the living were
protected by the shield of God from all their enemies; and he
sees–what? A mighty sepulcher of water; a mighty tomb in which were
engulfed princes, monarchs, potentates. "The horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea." Pharaoh's chariots also are drowned therein.
And soon, my hearers, you and I shall do the same. I say that now we
have to look abroad on hosts of enemies. What with the wild beasts of
Rome, what with the antichrist of Mohammed, what with the thousands of
idolatries and false gods, what with infidelity in all its myriad
shapes, many are the enemies of God, and mighty are the hosts of hell.
Lo, you see them gathered together this day; horseman upon horseman,
chariot upon chariot, gathered together against the Most High. I see
the trembling church, fearing to be over-thrown; I mark her leaders
bending their knees in solemn prayer, and crying, "Lord, save thy
people, and bless thy heritage." But mine eye looks through the future
with telescopic glance, and I see the happy period of the latter days,
when Christ shall reign triumphant. I shall ask them where is Babel?
where is Rome? where is Mohammed? and the answer shall come–where? Why
they have sunk into the depths; they have sunk to the bottom as a
stone. Down there the horrid fire devours them, for the sea of glass is
mingled with the fire of judgment. To-day I see a battle-field; the
whole earth is torn by the hoofs of horses; there is the rumble of
cannon and the roll of drum. "To arms! to arms!" both hosts are
shouting. But you wait awhile, and you shall walk across this plain of
battle, and say, "Seest thou that colossal system of error dead? There
lies another, all frozen, in ghastly death, in motionless stupor. There
lieth infidelity; there sleepeth secularism and the secularist; there
lie those who defied God. I see all this vast host of rebels lying
scattered upon the earth. "Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed
gloriously; Jehovah has gotten unto himself the victory, and the last
of his enemies are destroyed." Then shall be the time when shall be
sung "the song of Moses and of the Lamb."
III. Now, turning to the song of Moses, I shall conclude my address to
you by noticing some interesting particulars in the song which will
doubtless have a place in the everlasting orchestra of the redeemed,
when they shall praise the Most High. O! my brethren, I could but wish
that I had stood by the Red Sea, to have heard that mighty shout, and
that tremendous roar of acclamation! Methinks one might well have borne
a servitude in Egypt, to have stood in that mighty host who sung such
mighty praise. Music hath charms; but never had it such charms as it
had that day when fair Miriam led the women, and Moses led the men,
like some mighty leader, beating time with his hand. "Sing unto the
Lord, for he hath done gloriously." Methinks I see the scene; and I
anticipate the greater day, when the song shall be sung again, "as the
song of Moses and of the Lamb."
Now, just notice this song. In the 15th chapter of Exodus you find it,
and in divers of the Psalms you will see it amplified. The first thing
I would have you notice in it is, that from beginning to end it is a
praise of God, and of nobody else but God. Moses, thou hast said
nothing of thyself. O great lawgiver, mightiest of men, did not thine
hand grasp the mighty rod that split the sea–that burned its fair
breast, and left a sear for awhile upon its bosom? Didst not thou lead
the hosts of Israel? Didst not thou marshal their thousands for battle,
and like a mighty commander led them through the depths? Is there not a
word for thee? Not one. The whole strain of the song is, "I will sing
unto the Lord," from beginning to end. It is all praise of Jehovah;
there is not one word about Moses, nor a single word in praise of the
children of Israel. Dear friends, the last song in this world, the song
of triumph, shall be full of God, and of no one else. Here you praise
the instrument; to-day you look on this man and on that, and you say,
"Thank God for this minister, and for this man?" To-day you say,
"Blessed be God for Luther, who shook the Vatican, and thank God for
Whitefield, who stirred up a slumbering church;" but in that day you
shall not sing of Luther, nor of Whitefield, nor of any of the mighty
ones of God's hosts; forgotten shall their names be for a season, even
as the stars refuse to shine when the sun himself appeareth. The song
shall be unto Jehovah, and Jehovah only; we shall not have a word to
say for preachers nor bishops, not a syllable to say for good men and
true; but the whole song from first to last shall be, "unto him that
loved us and hath washed us from our sins in his own blood, unto him be
glory for ever and ever. Amen."
And next will you please to note, that this song celebrated something
of the fierceness of the enemy! Do you observe how, when the songster
describes the attack of Pharaoh, he says, "The enemy said, I will
pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be
satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them."
A song is made out of the wrath of Pharaoh. And it shall be so at the
last. The wrath of man shall praise God. I believe the last song of the
redeemed, when they shall ultimately triumph, will celebrate in
heavenly stanzas the wrath of man overcome by God. Sometimes after
great battles, monuments are raised to the memory of the fight; and of
what are they composed? They are composed of weapons of death and of
instruments of war which have been taken from the enemy. Now, to use
that illustration as I think it may be properly used, the day is coming
when fury, and wrath, and hatred, and strife, shall all be woven into a
song; and the weapons of our enemies, when taken from them, shall serve
to make monuments to the praise of God. Rail on, rail on, blasphemer!
Smite on, smite on, tyrant! Lift thy heavy hand, O despot; crush the
truth, which yet thou canst not crush; knock from his head the
crown–the crown that is far above thy reach–poor puny impotent mortal
as thou art! Go on, go on! But all thou doest shall but increase his
glories. For aught we care, we bid you still proceed with all your
wrath and malice. Though it shall be worse for you, it shall be more
glorious for our Master; the greater your preparations for war, the
more splendid shall be his triumphal chariot, when he shall ride
through the streets of heaven in pompous array. The more mighty your
preparations for battle, the more rich the spoil which he shall divide
with the strong. O! Christian, fear not the foe! Remember the harder
his blows, the sweeter thy song; the greater his wrath, the more
splendid thy triumph; the more he rages, the more shall Christ be
honored in the day of his appearing. They sung the song of Moses and
the Lamb.
And then will ye note, in the next place, how they sang the total
overthrow of the enemy. There is one expression in this song, which
ought to be and I believe is, when set to music, very frequently
repeated. It is that part of the song, as recorded in the Psalms, where
it is declared that the whole host of Pharaoh were utterly destroyed,
and there was not one of them left. When that great song was sung by
the side of the Red Sea, there was, no doubt, a special emphasis laid
upon that expression, "not one." I think I hear the hosts of Israel.
When the words were known by them, they began and they proceeded
thus–"There is not one of them left;" and then in various parts the
words were repeated, "Not one, not one." And then the women with their
sweet voices sang, "Not one, not one." I believe that at the last, a
part of our triumph will be the fact, that there is not one left. We
shall look abroad throughout the earth, and see it all a level sea; and
not one foeman pursuing us–"not one, not one!" Raise thyself never so
high, O thou deceiver, thou canst not live; for not one shall escape.
Lift thy head never so proudly, O despot, thou canst not live; for not
one shall escape. O heir of heaven, not one sin shall cross the Jordan
after thee; not one shall pass the Red Sea to overtake thee; but this
shall be the summit of thy triumph–"Not one, not one! not one of them
is left."
Just let us note again, and I will not detain you too long, lest I
weary you. One part of the song of Moses consisted in praising the ease
with which God destroyed his enemies. "Thou didst blow with thy wind,
the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters." If we
had gone to work to destroy the hosts of Pharaoh, what a multitude of
engines of death should we have required. If the work had been
committed to us, to cut off the hosts, what marvelous preparations,
what thunder, what noise, what great activity there would have been.
But mark the grandeur of the expression. God did not even lift himself
from his throne to do it: he saw Pharaoh coming; he seemed to look upon
him with a placid smile; he did just blow with his lips, and the sea
covered them. You and I will marvel at the last how easy it has been to
over-throw the enemies of the Lord.. We have been tugging and toiling
all our life-time to be the means of overthrowing systems of error; it
will astonish the church, when her Master shall come, to see how, as
the ice dissolveth before the fire, all error and sin shall be utterly
destroyed in the coming of the Most High. We must have our societies
and our machinery, our preachings and our gatherings, and rightly too;
but God will not require them at the last. The destruction of his
enemies shall be as easy to him as the making of a world. In passive
silence unmoved he sat; and he did but break the silence with "Let
there be light; and light was." So shall he at the last, when his
enemies are raging furiously, blow with his winds, and they shall be
scattered; they shall melt even as wax, and shall be burned like tow;
they shall be as the fat of rams; into smoke shall they consume, yea,
into smoke shall they consume away.
Furthermore, in this song of Moses, you will notice there is one
peculiar beauty. Moses not only rejoiced for what had been done, but
for the future consequences of it. He says–"The people of Canaan, whom
we are about to attack, will now be seized with sudden fear; by the
greatness of thy arm they shall be as still as a stone." O! I think I
hear them singing that too, sweetly and softly–"as still as a stone."
How would the words come full, like gentle thunder heard in the
distance–"as still as a stone!" And when we shall get on the other
side the flood, see the triumph over our enemies, and behold our Master
reigning, this will form a part of our song, that they must henceforth
be "as still as a stone." There will be a hell, but it will not be a
hell of roaring devils, as it now is. They shall be "as still as a
stone." There will be legions of fallen angels, but they shall no
longer have courage to attack us or defy God: they shall be "as still
as a stone." O how grand will that sound, when the hosts of God's
redeemed, looking down on the demons chained, bound, silenced, struck
dumb with terror, shall sing exultingly over them! They must be "as
still as a stone;" and there they must lie, and bite their iron bands.
The fierce despiser of Christ can no more spit in his face; the proud
tyrant can no more lift his hands to oppress the saints; even Satan can
no more attempt to destroy. They shall be "as still as a stone."
And last of all, the song concludes by noticing the eternity of God's
reign; and this will always make a part of the triumphant song. They
sang, "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." Then I can suppose the
whole band broke out into their loudest strain of music. "The Lord
shall reign for ever and ever." Part of the melody of heaven will
be–"The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." That song has cheered us
here–"The Lord reigneth; blessed be my Rock!" And that song shall be
oar exultation there. "The Lord reigneth for ever and ever." When we
shall see the placid sea of providence, when we shall behold the world
all fair and lovely, when we shall mark our enemies destroyed, and God
Almighty triumphant, then we shall shout the song–
"Hallelujah! for the Lord
God Omnipotent shall reign;
Hallelujah! let the word
Echo round the earth and main."
O! may we be there to sing it!
I have one remark to make, and I have done. You know, my friends, that
as there is something in the song of Moses which is typical of the song
of the Lamb, there was another song sung by the waters of the Red Sea
which is typical of the song of hell. "What mean you, sir, by that
dread thought?" O! shall I use the word music? Shall I profane the
heavenly word so much as to say, It was doleful music which came from
the lips of Pharaoh and his host? Boldly and pompously, with roll of
drum and blast of trumpet they had entered into the sea. On a sudden
their martial music ceased ; and ah! ye heavens and ye floods what was
it? The sea was coming down upon them, utterly to devour them. O! may
we never hear that shriek, that awful yell of hideous agony, that
seemed to rend the sky, and then was hushed again, when Pharaoh and his
mighty men were swallowed up, and went down quick into hell! Ah! stars,
if ye had heard it, if the black pall of waters had not shut out the
sound from you, ye might have continued trembling unto this hour, and
mayhap ye are trembling now; mayhap your twinklings by night are on
account of that terrible shriek ye heard; for sure it were enough to
make you tremble on for ever. That dreadful shriek, that hideous moan,
that horrible howl, when a whole army sank into hell at once when the
waters swallowed them up!
Take heed, my friends, take heed, lest you should have to join in that
terrible miserere; take heed, less that horrible howl should be yours,
instead of the song of the redeemed. And remember, so must it be,
unless ye be born again, unless ye believe in Christ, unless ye repent
of sin and renounce it wholly, and with trembling hearts put your
confidence in the man of sorrows, who is soon to be crowned the King of
kings and Lord of lords. May God bless you, and give you all to taste
of his salvation, that you may stand upon the sea of glass, and not
have to feel the terrors of the mingled fire in the lower depths
thereof! God Almighty bless this vast assembly, for Jesus' sake.