“You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your possession; Lord, you have prepared the place for your dwelling; Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary. The Lord will reign forever and ever! When Pharaoh’s horses with his chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought water of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out following her with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted; he has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the clearest indicators that God was the ultimate author of all the Scriptures via the inspiration of His Holy Spirit is the sheer number of times and places where one part makes reference to another part. Backward-looking references are certainly easy to explain. The later authors simply had to be familiar (very familiar sometimes) with the earlier documents. Forward-looking references (prophecy), though, are harder to understand apart from two things: God’s inspiration, or a much later authorship of some parts of it than we think. In this final part of Moses’ song of praise (whose exact ending point in the text isn’t totally clear), we see an example of this. Let’s talk about this last stanza, what follows, and what we can learn from this whole thing.

This last part of Israel’s song of praise that Moses led them in singing when they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground after God parted the waters for them and dropped the waters on the pursuing Egyptian army, totally destroying them, is forward-looking. It looks forward to Israel’s establishment in the Promised Land. It looks forward even more specifically than that. With the rest of the Scriptures in mind, the reference to “the mountain of your possession” is clearly talking about Jerusalem. Yet it would be at least a couple hundred more years before Jerusalem would be conquered by Israel and made David’s capital city.

The stanza goes on to talk about how God has prepared a place for His dwelling and that He has “established the sanctuary.” This is clearly a reference to Solomon’s temple which was at least another half-century away than the establishment of Jerusalem. How could Moses lead the people in proclaiming such things apart from the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit? The easy and skeptical answer is that some later editor during David’s reign added this last bit to the song as a way of creating a stronger Scriptural apologetic for David’s dynasty. This was all just a bit of political and religious manipulation. Yet there is no evidence for such a thing. Such a hypothetical view comes out of a commitment to skepticism and a generally anti-supernatural worldview. All the available evidence points to a Mosaic authorship of this entire song, including this last stanza.

Yet prophecies like this (for this is indeed a bit of prophecy) very often had a contemporary understanding as well as a more typological one. That is, Moses and the people of Israel had no idea about Jerusalem and a temple even as God was clearly inspiring these ideas in such a way that when we see them through a lens shaped by later historical events the reference is obvious. So then, what could they have understood here in the moment? Well, they knew they were heading to the Promised Land. Moses had been telling them that since the beginning. When they established a capital city for themselves one day, it would likely be built on the top of a hill because that was a more defensible position than at the bottom of a hill. That explains the first part of v. 17. As for the second part and the reference to the temple, they were thinking here about God’s dwelling within their own midst. They were the sanctuary that He had prepared with His own hands. This is a both-and understanding rather than an either-or as most forward-looking instances like this in the Scriptures are.

Next, there is some debate as to whether the song of praise ends with v. 18 or extends through v. 19. Most modern English translations group v. 19 with the next part of the passage which serves as the conclusion of this section. It could be seen as a summary closing of the song or simply a summary statement after it, repeating yet again the incredible thing God had done. On balance, I think the latter is more likely.

This section closes, then, with a reference to Miriam’s leading the women of Israel in praising God with song and dance. They sing their own version of the song which includes a repetition of the first stanza of Moses’ song. This could mean they just sang this chorus, or it could be a reference to their joining in the entire song of praise. Miriam is identified as Aaron’s sister. That would also make her Moses’ sister and it is interesting that only Aaron is mentioned here. From the genealogical note toward the end of Numbers, she is definitely sister to both of them. The singular reference to Aaron here could be to indicate a spiritual leadership role that she had among at least the women of Israel. This would make Aaron the spiritual leader of the nation as a whole, while Miriam specifically led the women. This made the leadership of Israel more of a family affair than we previously understood at this point in the story.

More significantly here, given how male-dominated the ancient world was, this specific mention of women taking an active part in the worship of the nation is not something we want to overlook or pass by quickly. God has a role to play in the administration of His kingdom for everyone. While there are certainly different roles, no one role is less significant than another. Women are able to participate in it just as men are. The fact that Miriam is also here identified as a prophetess is another thing we don’t want to miss. She spoke God’s words to His people. And while she is identified specifically as leading the women in worship here, God’s words are God’s words. He does not have some words that just apply to men and some words that just apply to women. When someone is speaking God’s words, everyone should pay attention to them.

So then, as we wrap up this section, what are a couple of takeaways for us? How about this: when God has done something good for us, we should praise Him for it. How often do we experience some good thing, enjoy the moment, and then move right on to the next moment without ever pausing to express our gratitude for the one who made it possible? This applies with people. We should get into the habit of thanking people. Whether you are in some sort of leadership position in the church or not (but especially in the former situation), it is a good idea to get into the habit of expressing gratitude to people. One great way to do that is by writing thank you notes. Personalized, handwritten notes like that do a great deal of good.

We should also do this with God. We should get into the habit of expressing thanks to Him for the things He has done for us. We do this for a couple of reasons. First, it is simply right. God is the source of everything good in our lives. Giving Him credit for that actively and intentionally is right and proper for us to do. Second, by getting into the habit of expressing gratitude like this, we start to shape our hearts and minds to see the world around us through a lens of gratitude. That will make us happier, more peaceful, and more joyful. It will make us more pleasant to be around as well. We will start to see the world as the gift from God that it is which will leave us more in tune with the movement of His Spirit around us making us generally more faithful and responsive servants.

That’s probably enough of a challenge to get you started. How can you begin building the discipline of gratitude in your life today? What is one thing for which you can praise the Lord with joy and gratitude? What is a good thing you can identify that He has done in the world around you? When you’ve found one – and I understand that you may be in a season in which finding that one thing is harder than it should be – thank Him for it. Then, find another one. Then another. Start doing this each day. Perhaps make it part of your morning routine before your feet even hit the floor. By this, you will gradually shift your outlook from whatever it has been to one of gratitude. That will be a very good thing for you and for everyone around you.