Sermon
delivered on May 17th, 2015
By: Pastor Greg Hocson
Text: Exodus 15:1-11
Introduction
We are about to read a portion of the
first song ever recorded in the Word of God. It is a song of victory written by Moses
after the LORD delivered them from the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. It is a song of exultation over the
enemies of God.
Exodus 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. 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. 3: The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is
his name. 4: Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his
chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. 5: The depths have covered
them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. 6: Thy right hand, O LORD, is
become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the
enemy. 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. 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. 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. 10: Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered
them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 11: Who is like unto thee, O
LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in
praises, doing wonders?
In the previous chapter, the
Israelites were in terrible danger. They were being pursued by the the Pharaoh
and his army and humanly speaking there is no way of escaping from this danger.
They were trapped, in front of them was the red sea, on their left hand and on
their right are the mountains, behind them were Pharaoh and his army. The enemy
had proudly and confidently said ...
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.
It would take a miracle to be able to
escape this danger. Unless God come through for them Moses and the Jews are all
history. But we all know the story. Israel was gloriously and powerfully
delivered from certain, terrible and insurmountable danger.
I - The Challenge
11: Who is like unto
thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonders?
There is the challenge to the gods of
the Egyptians and to all other gods and compare them with Jehovah. Egypt was
known for their many gods. Seems like for every need, for every circumstance,
for every situation, for every problem, they have a god or goddess that they
could call upon.
When God sent Moses and Aaron to
appear before Pharaoh and relay God's message to let the people go, how did the
Pharaoh respond?
Exodus 5:1 And
afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2: And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let
Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
Perhaps Pharaoh was thinking,
"another god?" Who is the Jehovah that I should obey Him?
To which, God responded ...
Exodus 7:3 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and
my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4: But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you,
that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people
the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5: And the
Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon
Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
If Pharaoh does not known, he will
know. Not only will Pharaoh know but the Egyptians shall know who the LORD is
and that there is none like Him!
How is God going to accomplish that?
.
Exodus 7:3 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and
my wonders in the land of Egypt.
The LORD will work one miracle after
another, until Pharaoh and the Egyptians know that Jehovah is the LORD and
there is none like Him. These "signs and wonders" are more commonly
referred to as "plagues". As Pharaoh hardened his heart and
would not let God's people go, the LORD sent one plague after another . Every
plague was meant to show that there was only one true God and this one true God
was far greater than all of the multiple gods and goddesses of the Egyptians.
Every plague was meant to demonstrate that the LORD was superior to all the
other gods of Egypt. Every plague was directed and a challenge to an Egyptian
god or goddess.
Plague #1: Water Turned to Blood - a challenge and an attack against
Hapi - Egyptian God of the Nile
Plague #2: Frogs coming from the Nile River - a challenge and an attack against
Heket - Egyptian Goddess of Fertility, Water, Renewal
Plague #3: Lice from the dust of the earth - a challenge and an
attack against Geb - Egyptian God of the Earth
Plague #4: Swarms of Flies - a challenge and an attack against
Khepri - Egyptian God of creation, movement of the Sun, rebirth
Plague #5: Death of Cattle and Livestock - a challenge and an attack
against Hathor - Egyptian Goddess of Love and Protection
Plague #6: Ashes turned to Boils and Sores - a challenge and an
attack against Isis - Egyptian Goddess of Medicine and Peace
Plague #7: Hail rained down in the form of fire - a challenge and an
attack against Nut - Egyptian Goddess of the Sky
Plague #8: Locusts sent from the sky - a challenge and an attack
against Seth - Egyptian God of Storms and Disorder
Plague #9: Three Days of Complete Darkness - a challenge and an
attack against Ra - The Sun God
Plague #10: Death of the Firstborn - a challenge and an attack
against Pharaoh - The Ultimate Power of Egypt
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was
worshipped by the Egyptians because he was considered to be the greatest
Egyptian God of all. It was believed that he was actually the son of Ra himself,
manifest in the flesh.
Who among these gods is like unto Thee?
False gods can neither save nor destroy. But Jehovah can do both in glorious
and powerful manner. The princes and potentates of the world are called gods,
but they are feeble and mortal, none of them all comparable to Jehovah, the
almighty and eternal God.
Numbers 33:4 For the
Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them:
upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.
So, we see the Egyptian gods, or the
objects of the Egyptians' idolatry, were confounded, and rendered completely
powerless, by the ten plagues and now we read the Song of Moses, celebrating
God's supremacy and glory.
II - The Affirmation
11: Who is like unto
thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonders?
I love rhetorical questions specially
the ones recorded in the Bible and the Bible is full of them. Rhetorical
questions are questions that the answer is obvious. They are questions, but
they are powerful questions that declare something.
Genesis 18:14 Is any
thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee,
according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Genesis 18:25 That be
far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked:
and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?
John 8:46 Which of you
convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
Romans 6:1 What shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
The answer to these questions are
obvious.
Here in our text, Moses asked the
question ...
11: Who is like unto
thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonders?
The answer to this question is
obvious. Of course, no one. There is no one like Him. There is no one that could be
compared to Him. Our
God is matchless and incomparable. That is what the Word of God is saying when
it says, God is holy.
1. It refers to God's uniqueness
The word "holy" means,
primarily, "to
be separate",
"to be set apart", "to be different".
When the Bible says, God is holy, it
is first of all saying that God is different from us. He is separated from us.
He is not like us. He is unique, unapproachable and incomprehensible. He is
supremely majestic above us. He is sovereign over us. God is absolutely
different or distinct from all His creatures, and is exalted above them in
infinite majesty. He is high and lifted up.
There are many verses that speak of
God as high
above all and as completely unique...
Psalm 113:4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above
the heavens. 5: Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
Isaiah 40:25 To whom
then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
Isaiah 46:5 To whom
will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? 6:
They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a
goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. 7: They
bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he
standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet
can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 8: Remember this, and shew
yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9: Remember the
former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there
is none like me,
Jeremiah 10:6 Forasmuch
as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great
in might. 7: Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it
appertain: (indeed it is Thy due) forasmuch as among all
the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto
thee.
Revelation 15:4 Who
shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for
all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
Added to the concept of
holiness is the truth that absolute holiness belongs only to God.
2. It refers to God's
sinlessness
When the Bible says, God is holy, it
is referring to His moral purity. God is absolutely pure. He is free from all sin. He is free
from pollution. He is not touched by any sin or pollution. God is untouched and
unstained by the evil of the world.
He is completely without sin and
apart from it.
1 John 1:5 This then is
the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.
He is so pure He cannot look upon
sin.
Habakkuk 1:13 Thou art
of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore
lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the
wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
Because He is holy, His attributes
are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of
as holy.
The Attribute of Attributes
11: Who is like unto
thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonders?
God is not simply holy. He is
glorious in holiness. As
one preacher said, Holiness is the Attribute of of attributes. It is the
crowning attribute of God. It is God's central attribute. This is what makes
God, God. Holiness is the most significant of all His attributes. Without
understanding of the holiness of God the cross, the crucifixion and the eternal
punishment in Hell will not make sense.
In the Bible times there were people
who were given the privilege to see a vision of God. Isaiah chapter 6 is an
account of Isaiah's vision of God. This is a vision not a dream. Isaiah
actually saw the Lord and it was so overwhelming and so consuming he barely
survived.
Isaiah 6:1 In the year
that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Tragedy struck but then Isaiah saw
the Lord sitting upon a throne.
Then he saw angelic brings flying
back and forth the throne crying ...
2: Above it stood the
seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with
twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3: And one cried unto
another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is
full of his glory.
What are the significance of these
words? .
I just learned that Biblical Hebrew
had no punctuations. And if that is the case, how do they emphasize a word that
is of crucial importance? How
do they convey that, what they are about to say is of great importance? There
many different ways. And one of the ways is term repetition or repetition of
the same word. Our Lord used this when He spoke to Nicodemus...
John 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.
John 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.
Just think about it. When God says
something once, it is important. When He says it twice, it is very important.
But when He says it three times, that means it is of supreme importance.
There is no other attribute found in
the Word of God that has this kind of emphasis. You will never find in the Bible where it says, God is love, love,
love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or justice, justice, justice, or eternal,
eternal, eternal, or faithful, faithful, faithful. Although these are all true, that God
is love, merciful, just, eternal, and faithful, but you will never find these
attribute in triplicate form. But it does say ...
Isaiah 6:3 And one
cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole
earth is full of his glory.
Holiness is the only attribute of God
mentioned in triplicate.
Two times the Bible tells us that God
is holy, holy, holy. The other place is found in ...
Revelation 4:8 And the
four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes
within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God
Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
There is no other attributes that He
delights more than this one. This is the attribute that God delights more than
any other.
This is a reference to the absolute
complete holiness of God. He is not simply holy, He is holy, holy, holy.
III
- Our Response
So, what is it to us?
There are attributes of God that we
like to read about, to hear about, to think about, to talk about and that we
delight in above others. We tend to think more often of God's grace, of God's
mercy, of God's love, of God's goodness, of God's faithfulness, than we do of
justice. Some of God's perfections we simply delight more in, because of the
benefits they bring to us. They help us, they comfort us, they bring us joy, they
bring us encouragement in our times of trials and troubles and sadness. So we
think a lot about those attributes.
But it is to our detriment if we
ignore the attributes of God that pertains to His moral perfection, His
justice, His wrath, His jealousy, His severity, and His holiness. We need to see the holiness of God.
The Result of Seeing the Holiness of
God
1. Humility and
Confession
5: Then said I, Woe is
me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD
of hosts.
Any time someone even sees a vision
of the Lord they are so overwhelmed with the power of God and the majesty of
God and the holiness of God that the posts shake, thunders and lightnings
occur,
Then said I, Woe
is me!
for I am undone ...
This is an intense word of despising
oneself. I
am in trouble. I am cursed. I am doomed.
As soon as Isaiah had a vision of
God, he knew that he was in trouble. He didn't need anybody tell him, that all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. He didn't have to be told to
acknowledge his sin and his sinfulness. No, as soon as he saw God, he knew and
he confessed that he is in a dire.
Then said I, Woe is me!
for
I am undone ...
I am ruined. I am falling apart.
When Isaiah saw God, he saw himself. And
because he saw himself, he cannot but see one thing, his own sinfulness.
2. Worship and
Adoration
11: Who is like unto
thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises,
doing wonders?
Because He is glorious in holiness,
He is fearful in praise. Holy
worship and deepest reverence and fear is the spontaneous reaction to His
glory.
Today in our churches, we desperately try to create an
atmosphere which is conducive to worship. Millions of dollars are spent to create
a worshipful atmosphere in our worship services. Dim colored lights, fog
machine to fill the room with fog or smoke, expensive musical instruments and
lightings, professional worship bands and worship teams, decors conducive to
worship, organ music, stained glass windows, etc. Nothing wrong with some of
these. But no matter how much we invest, no matter how we try, without a vision
and appreciation of God's holiness, worship will not take place.
What is worship?
Worship is a spontaneous response to
the greatness of God and holiness of God. So, you see, if that is the
definition of worship, then worship will not take place unless we see the
greatness, glory and holiness of God.
But when we see a glimpse God's
holiness, we do not need dim colored lights, smoke-filled room, stained glass
windows, worship bands and worship teams to worship. A glimpse of God's glory
and holiness, will make everyone of us true worshippers.
3. Holiness and Purity
The holiness of God demands that we
be holy
1 Peter 1:15 But as he
which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16:
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
We are not called to be omnipotent as
God is or to be omniscient as God is, but we are to be holy.
IV - A Call to the Unsaved
Psalm 113:4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above
the heavens. 5: Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, 6: Who
humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
This great and glorious and holy God who above all, who is incomparable, who is without sin, humbled Himself by coming to us, taking a human form, dwelt among us, made sin for us who knew no sin, to redeem sinners like you and me. How about it? Come to Jesus. Come as you are, confessing and believing and trusting. Why not now? Why not come to Jesus now? Come! Come! Come! Come to Jesus now! Come believing and trusting that who Christ is and what He has done on the cross of Calvary is sufficient to forgive and to cleanse and to save and to make you holy. Amen!