Exodus 15:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The anger of God is no longer spoken of in the context of the sea overwhelming His adversaries. Previously, it was declared that the waters parted at the sound of His wrath, allowing the people of God to pass through unharmed. Today, however, God does not express His anger towards those who sin without consequence and increasingly plunge into their wrongdoing. Like lead, they descend further into the abyss of sin, particularly as they observe that the justified, those who have faith and the hope of eternal life, face the difficulties of this present world with steadfastness. The Spirit of God fortifies them as they endure tribulation. Thus, God has dispatched His Spirit to offer solace and to test the righteous in their suffering, while engulfing the sea of the wicked.

Moses, in his song, declares, “Thou didst blow with Thy spirit, and the sea covered them.” This event, where the Israelites crossed the sea while the Egyptians drowned, serves as a foreshadowing of the sacred rite of baptism. Today’s sacrament teaches us that while guilt is submerged and sin is eradicated, righteousness and purity triumph over all challenges.

A cry of Your spirit was released, enveloping the ocean. Just a single breath or surge of Your spirit was enough to make the walls of the sea, which the Israelites had traversed in safety, collapse upon the Egyptians, engulfing them so that they descended like lead into the deepest waters.

In contrast to the fervent and lawless desires of the Egyptians, this verse illustrates the serene and powerful will of God as He directs the forces of nature: ‘the wind blew,’ or, as it is beautifully described, ‘the Lord blew with his spirit,’ causing the adversaries of Jehovah to sink like lead into the waters.