Good Morning.
“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Exodus 15:11)
This verse is of particular interest because, first of all, it celebrates the fact that the God of Israel is God. The people of Egypt, and of all nations, were exposed to the reality that their gods aren’t gods at all. Only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has to power to deliver His people in spite of the powers that are arrayed against them. In fact, other verses in the Song of Moses mention nations that would tremble and be afraid; Edom, and Moab would tremble and be dismayed. The inhabitants of Canaan would melt away because of the fear and dread that would take hold of them. This is verified later when Rahab said to the Hebrew spies:
“I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt.” (Joshua 2:9-10)
When our God acts on our behalf, it incites us to celebrate and our enemies to tremble because, there is no God like the God of Israel. He alone delivers His people from their enemies and leads them to victory over those who would destroy them. Interestingly, the first letters of the Hebrew words that comprise the phrase, “Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods” — mi kamokha b’elim YHVH — form an acrostic pronounced Maccabee. The Maccabees were those Jewish warriors who, against all odds, defeated the superior Greek forces that were oppressing them and cleansed the Temple of God that had been defiled by Antiochus IV. It is believed that these people were called Maccabee because their rallying cry was, “Who is like You O LORD among the gods?”
As God’s people, we should remind ourselves each and every day what is given to us in Scripture: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Who will be able to stand against Him when He moves on our behalf? Therefore, let us not fear the Pharaohs and other such tyrants, whose power is limited in scope and length of days. We serve the Eternal One to which no god or any such thing to be presumed as a god can compare. Who is like our God, indeed?
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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