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Awesome Hands – part 60

“The Horse and his Rider”
July 9, 2014

In the previous study, we left off with the Israelites both fearing and believing the Lord as the destroyed Egyptians washed up on the shore of the Red Sea.

In the study today, we are going to visit the Israelites as they joy and sing unto the Lord, and very shortly after being delivered, we will see that they once again murmur against the servant of the Lord.

Take heed, because the Israelites are “us”.

“He is become my salvation”

Exo 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

The baptism of the red sea is the first experience of us truly being given a measure of faith of the Lord.

Just as a babe must learn to crawl, then walk and eventually run, we start off this part of our walk being given a bit of Faith to know the Lord is fighting on our side.

In the beginning of Exodus 15 we see the horse and his rider being thrown into the sea.

It is right after the Egyptians were utterly overthrown that this happens. So, I want to look a little closer at this type and shadow of what happens in our walks regularly as Egypt is conquered in our lives little by little, giant by giant, city by city.

Exo 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Exo 15:21  And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Of course, the direct reference found in chapter 15 of the “horse and his rider” would be that of the Egyptian and their chariots which were pursuing after Israel.

For us, there are also admonitions of what these riders and their horses represent and just what the Lord is doing with His people as He works out this war in their lives.

The Lord knows the beginning from the ending, and with that in mind, we can know that the Lord is working a work in us for our good but also for the good of others around us.

Here is another mentioning of the “horse and his rider” which bears out how the Lord uses Israel and Judah for His purposes.

Jer 51:17  Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
Jer 51:18  They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
Jer 51:19  The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
Jer 51:20  Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
Jer 51:21  And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
Jer 51:22  With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
Jer 51:23  I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
Jer 51:24  And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
Jer 51:25  Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

As we can see and read, the Lord uses His people to bring His visitation upon brutish knowledge, graven images, molten images, work of errors with no breath or life in them, and He does this with “the portion of Jacob” who is not like “them”.

Why is the “portion of Jacob” not like them? The portion of Jacob is the “former of all things” found in Jer 51:19.

The “former of all things” is found in another place in Jeremiah and adds a little more detail to what we are witnessing.

Jer 10:16  The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
Jer 10:17  Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
Jer 10:18  For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
Jer 10:19  Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
Jer 10:20  My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
Jer 10:21  For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
Jer 10:22  Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Jer 10:24  O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
Jer 10:25  Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

What does this mean for us today?

What we have just read in both places in Jeremiah is a contrast of two different peoples, but with the contrast there is also a comparison, a “measuring stick” that can be easily missed.

The contrast is obviously between the “portion of Jacob” and “Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea” found in Jer 51:24. The comparison or measuring stick is against Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Thus saith the Lord …. Woe is me for my hurt ….my wound is grievous ….this is a grief I must bear … my tabernacle is spoiled …..my cords are broken ….my children have left and are not ….none stretch forth my tent and set up the curtains”

What we are being told in these examples is that the “portion of Jacob” is just like their counterparts “in times past,” like the “former of all things” of which they are being compared.

In addition to that, it is “with thee / the portion of Jacob” found in the verses in Jeremiah mentioned above which the Lord uses to bring His judgments to “them”.

The only way that can happen is that the “portion of Jacob” has to be rescued from their previous bondage of the “former things” in order to be used in this way. We must obtain mercy to show mercy, in other words.

Isa 10:20  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Isa 10:21  The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

Jer 31:7  For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.

Mic 2:12  I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

Mic 5:7  And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
Mic 5:8  And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.

Isa 46:3  Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

“A habitation prepared”

This is all to say that the Lord has the Israelites come through the Red Sea experience to be born into a life of protection by the Lord.

Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The red sea experience is an event in our lives that happens over and over in the sense that we are able to LOOK BACK at it (the Egyptians dead on the shore), and then re-live that experience in our hearts and minds so that we do not repeat the steps that it took to get us to the “red sea doubt” which we had in the Lord.

In not so many words, the Lord gives us the ability to recall what it is He has done for us in dragging us to Himself and in doing so our Faith is increased because of the past deliverances we have witnessed.

Keeping those events in mind causes us to put on His mindset found “in the heavens.”

Exo 14:31  And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.

Exo 15:4  Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Exo 15:5  The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
Exo 15:6  Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Exo 15:7  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
Exo 15:8  And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
Exo 15:9  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.
Exo 15:10  Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11  Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12  Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

The “right hand” of the Father is where Jesus Christ sits, and we are seated in the heavenlies with Christ.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

The “rod” is also representative of the power of God.

Heb 8:5  Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Jer 51:19  The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.

Exo 15:13  Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
Exo 15:14  The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
Exo 15:15  Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
Exo 15:16  Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
Exo 15:17  Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
Exo 15:18  The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.

The “habitation of God”, which Israel is being led into, is also the “holy habitation” and the “mountain of thine inheritance”, the Sanctuary.

This temple is not one made with hands, unless of course you are speaking about the spiritual “awesome hands” of God.

Mar 14:58  We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I peak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Act 7:48  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Act 7:50  Hath not my hand made all these things?
Act 7:51  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Notice “fear and dread” falls upon all those that see this happening with the people of God, INCLUDING the people of God themselves which we SAW with the ending of chapter 14.

They are the first ones to have fear come upon them as set forth in the pattern which we all must follow. However, one fear leads to belief and the other leads to destruction.

The “horse and his rider” which are thrown into the sea perish and are replaced with the one who comes riding on a white horse.

In the next study we are going to continue to read this chapter of Exodus and show that even though the Lord starts His work in us, there is a long process being worked in His people, until that work is finished.

The fire must burn everything thoroughly and completely and there will be much purified before we are perfected. Israel in this chapter will be a proof of just that to us.