Exodus 15 · The Lantern

Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and they said: “Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously magnified: the horse and the rider he has cast into the sea.

It is said in the ode, "For he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has he cast into the sea." The many-limbed and brutal affection, lust, with the rider mounted, who gives reigns to pleasures, "he has cast into the sea," throwing them away into the disorders of the world.

Our motive in going over all this, dearly beloved brethren, is that we may be on our guard, for fear that, after coming out from Egypt and hastening through the desert for forty days—for forty years, as it were—to reach the land of promise, we should long for the fleshpots of Egypt and be bitten to death by the serpents.

"For he has been gloriously extolled" who has already granted us in the bath of regeneration what we have been singing about: "horse and rider he has cast into the sea." All our past sins, you see, which have been pressing on us, as it were, from behind, he has drowned and obliterated in baptism.

The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I shall glorify him. He is the God of my father, and I shall exalt him.

The Lord is like a fighting man. Almighty is his name.

The chariots of Pharaoh, and his army, he has cast into the sea; his elect leaders have been submerged in the Red Sea.

"The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has cast into the sea, the chosen riders, the three officers he has sunk in the Red Sea." Pharaoh, as one more powerful in wickedness and holding the kingdom of iniquity, drives "chariots." It is not enough for him to mount one horse; he drives many at once, he compels many at once with the blows of the twisted lash.

And the worldly pride and arrogance and the troops of innumerable sins which were fighting for the devil in us, he obliterated in baptism.

"The elite of his officers, who were standing three deep, he submerged in the Red Sea." Who are the elite of his officers? Surely those chosen by the devil for luxury, wickedness and pride, the source of all evil. Moreover, these, standing three deep, occupy those three ways in order to subvert man to evil deeds, to tempt him to evil speech or to win him to evil thoughts.

The abyss has covered them. They descended into the depths like a stone.

Your right hand, O Lord, has been magnified in strength. Your right hand, O Lord, has struck down the enemy.

And in the multitude of your glory you have put down your adversaries. You sent out your wrath, which devoured them like stubble.

And by the breath of your fury, the waters were gathered together. The flowing waves stood still. The abyss was gathered into the midst of the sea.

The enemy said: ‘I will pursue and overtake them. I will divide the spoils. My soul will be filled. I will unsheathe my sword. My hand will put them to death.’

Your breath blew, and the sea covered them. They were submerged like lead into the mighty waters.

Who is like you in strength, O Lord? Who is like you: magnificent in sanctity, terrible and yet praiseworthy, accomplishing miracles?

You extended your hand, and the earth devoured them.

In your mercy, you have been a leader to the people whom you have redeemed. And in your strength, you have carried them to your holy dwelling place.

Peoples rose up and became angry. Sorrows took hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.

Then the leaders of Edom were stirred up, and trembling took hold of the robust of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan were petrified.

Let fear and dread fall upon them, by the magnitude of your arm. Let them become immobilized like stone, until your people cross through, O Lord, until this, your people whom you possess, cross through.

You shall lead them in and plant them, on the mountain of your inheritance, in your most firm dwelling place, which you have formed, O Lord, your sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have made firm.

The Lord will reign in eternity and beyond.

For the rider Pharaoh, with his chariots and horsemen, was brought into the sea. And the Lord brought back upon them the waters of the sea. But the sons of Israel walked across dry ground in its midst.”

And so Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took up a timbrel in her hand. And all the women followed her with timbrels and dancing.

"The prophetess Miriam took.…" How did she become a prophetess? Either, like Isaiah's wife, she had the honorary title of prophecy, although she was not a prophetess, or because she was just a woman.

And Miriam taking the timbrel led the dances with maidenly modesty. But consider whom she was then prefiguring. Was she not a type of the church, who as a virgin with unstained spirit joins together the religious gatherings of the people to sing divine songs?

This name is related to prophecy and salutary to those reborn. It is the badge of virginity, the glory of purity, the indication of chastity, the sacrificial gift of God, the height of hospitality, the sum total of sanctity. Rightly therefore is this motherly name that of the mother of Christ.

And she prophesied, saying: “Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously magnified. The horse and its rider, he has thrown into the sea.”

Then Moses took Israel from the Red Sea, and they went forth into the desert of Shur. And they wandered for three days through the wilderness, and they found no water.

And they arrived at Marah. They were unable to drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter. Therefore, he also established a name befitting the place, calling it ‘Marah,’ that is, bitterness.

And the people murmured against Moses, saying: “What shall we drink?”

So he cried out to the Lord, who showed him a tree. And when he had cast it into the waters, they were turned into sweetness. In that place, he established instructions for him, and also judgments. And he tested him there,

saying: “If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and obey his commands, and keep all his precepts, I will not bring upon you any of the distress that I imposed on Egypt. For I am the Lord, your healer.”

Then the sons of Israel arrived in Elim, where there were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees. And they camped next to the waters.

After this it says that: "they came to Elim, and there were there twelve fountains of waters and seventy palm trees". Do you suppose it has no reason that the people is not led first "to Elim", where "there were twelve fountains of waters", in which there was no bitterness, but rather where there was very great pleasantness from the density of the palms, but is led first to sal…

When the people of God went out from Egypt, their sixth resting place, in which "there were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm trees," was called Elim (that is, "of rams"), so that both by its name and by its appearance it might contain the figure of the apostles and the apostolic men.

Again, you can multiply the four cardinal virtues by the three theological, and then there are twelve: for prudence must be faithful, trusting, and loving; and so it is with the others. And they are represented by the twelve springs, the twelve gems in the High Priest's vestment, and the twelve doors of the City.

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