Song of the Lamb

As the Jewish people found themselves surrounded by Pharaoh's army, Moses addressed the nation with a prophetic statement, "Stand firm... Today you will see God's salvation!"

Song at the Sea

As the Jewish people found themselves surrounded by Pharaoh’s army with their backs against the sea, Moses addressed the nation with a confident and prophetic statement, “Don’t be afraid! Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that He will wreak for you today!” (Ex. 14:13).

Immediately after Moses’ statement, God commanded Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea and split it. The sea parted, Israel crossed safely, and Pharaoh’s army drowned.

According to Jewish tradition, the day that Moses announced this declaration and delivered the people from Pharaoh and the sea was none other than the seventh day of Passover. Being filled with so much redemptive imagery, our Sages taught that the first two days of Passover correspond to the past redemption, while the last two days of Passover represent the ultimate redemption that will take place with the future coming of Messiah!

In synagogues around the world, it is the custom for Jewish communities to read the account of the crossing of the Yam Suf (Sea of Reeds) on the seventh day of Passover (Ex. 13:17-15:26). Included in the day’s reading is the song that was sung by Moses and the people upon their passing through the sea.

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and they spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for very exalted is He; a horse and its rider He cast into the sea. (Ex. 15:1-3)

There are many famous lines from the Song at the Sea for which many are familiar with. For example, verse 11 contains the words of Mi Chamocha – “Who is like you among the powerful, O Lord?”

Interestingly, the song goes by many names, The Song at the Sea, The Song of Redemption, and The Song of Moses. Furthermore, it is a song that is not regulated in use to the seventh day of Passover, but is a song that is sung as part of the morning liturgical service every day of the year! Who knew that Moses was such an accomplished composer!

Song of Moses

Yes, believe it or not, Moses was not only the giver of the Torah and leader of the Jewish people, but he was a magnificent composer. In fact, numerous other songs are credited to him in Torah: The Song of the Well (Numbers 21), Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32); not to mention numerous other songs throughout Scripture such as Psalm 90. Not bad for being slow of mouth and tongue!

When examined closely, it is apparent that all of Moses’ songs contain powerful themes of redemption; and not just redemption in the present tense, but redemption in the future.

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak! And let the earth hear the words of my mouth! My lesson will drip like rain; my word will flow like dew; like storm winds on vegetation and like raindrops on grass. When I call out the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God (Deut. 32:1-4).

As the agent of God’s first redemption, Moses cared deeply about the destiny of his fledgling nation. Thus, the heavens are called to witness for they endure generation to generation.

One of the commands associated with Passover is the precedent to remember and retell the story of the exodus year after year. This is encapsulated in the words of the hagaddah: “In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt (Ex. 13:8)… Not only our ancestors did the Holy One, blessed be He, redeem, but rather also us [together] with them did He redeem (Deut. 6:23).”

The sense is that redemption is not a linear concept, but rather a cyclical concept by which we are experiencing and continue experience redemptions generation after generation. The redemption process is ongoing, and whatever we can learn from past redemptions continue to serve as a model for the ultimate redemption in the last days.

In this regard, Moses’ song contains recollections of deliverances past, yet there are strong linguistic clues in the Hebrew text that hint toward the final redemption.

Every Jot and Tiddle

Yeshua tells us that every single jot and tiddle in the Torah is important (Mt. 5:17). Therefore, we can rightly assume that even when words and phrases appear to be ambiguous in translation, the jots and tiddles of the original text contain critically important clues and information.

When examining the Torah’s introduction to Moses’ song (Ex. 15:1) the Hebrew text contains one of those clues:

The Song is introduced with the words, ‘Az yashir Moshe’. The very first word in Hebrew ‘Az’ can be translated ‘then’. And the second word, ‘yashir’ can be rendered ‘to sing’. Thus, the general translation reads: “Then Moses sang, etc.”

However, any literate Hebrew scholar will tell you that the word ‘yashir’ is not in the past tense. In fact, had the verb for ‘sing’ described the act of singing in the present or past tense the verse would read, “Az Ashirah” as apposed to “Az yashir”. What separates the act of singing (ashirah) and the Torah’s description (yashir) is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet that appears at the beginning of the word, the letter ‘yod’.

Remember, even the smallest letters are important! With the letter ‘yod’ at the beginning of the word the act of singing is described in the future tense. Thus, a more accurate translation of the introduction to Moses’ song read as follows: “Then Moses WILL sing.”

In fact, the Mechilta, one of the most ancient commentaries on the Book of Exodus explains that this passage is speaking about a future song that will be sung by Moses and the Messiah at the future redemption! The same is reflected in Rashi’s commentary:

Az Yashir Moshe… THEN SANG MOSES — with regard to the usage of the future tense ישיר, the meaning is: THEN ‘Az’— i. e. when he saw the miracle it entered his mind that HE WOULD SING a song… This explanation serves to settle the literal meaning of the text. But so far as its Midrashic explanation is concerned our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: From here (i.e. from the fact that the future tense is used) we may derive an intimation that the tenet of the Resurrection of the Dead is from the Torah (Rashi to Ex. 15:1; Sanhedrin 91b).

In this amazing commentary, Rashi explains that the literal interpretation (pashat) refers to Moses’ future intent. But on a Midrashic level, he explains that the Sages of Israel were able to deduce the future resurrection of the dead from this text (see footnote 1). In other words, Moses will sing this song together with Israel at the resurrection of the dead.

The Song of Redemption

In the Book of Revelation, we read a shocking parallel to the Rabbinic interpretation of the words ‘Az Yashir Moshe’:

And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: (Rev. 15:2-4)

Belief in the resurrection of the dead was and continues to be at the forefront of Messianic faith: “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” (1 Thes. 4:14)

John’s prediction of the future redemption and life in the Messianic Kingdom mirrors the prophecy contained in the Song of Moses. He tells of time when those who have been resurrected join to sing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb.

Perhaps now we can better appreciate the various names that are attributed to the song found in Exodus 15, such as ‘The Song of Redemption’, as well as its daily use in the recitation of Jewish prayer.

The Song at the Sea is all about the hope that is foretold in the resurrection of the dead and the ultimate redemption with the return of King Messiah!

Footnotes:

1: (The resurrection of the dead is alluded to, although only by inference, in the Torah, not explicitly stated. The Sadducees rejected belief in the afterlife and resurrection of the dead among other tenants of Jewish faith on the basis that it is not explicitly stated in the literal reading of Torah.)