Psalm 114

“When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back? O mountains, that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.” Psalm 114:1-8 (NKJV)

When we think of a sanctuary, we typically think of a church.  So, what is interesting about the psalmist’s statement today (that Judah became God’s sanctuary) is that the priests came from the tribe of Levi.  The Levites were in charge of all the articles of worship, both in the desert tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple.  We would naturally assume that Levi became God’s sanctuary, so why Judah?

Sanctuary does not always refer to religious practice.  It can denote a safe place. For instance, when a person runs into a certain city, a church, or a foreign embassy to claim “sanctuary,” they are not necessarily claiming a religious right; they are claiming that they are endangered and have fled to safety.  With respect to today’s psalm, Levi would be the tribe to whom the Lord would make His presence known in religious matters, but Judah is the tribe He chose to carry the Messianic line.  And the psalmist tells us today that God began to establish that choice at the Passover when Israel left Egypt.  Jacob had prophesied concerning the matter in his last words, recorded in Genesis 49, 400 years before the Exodus.

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” Genesis 49:10 (NKJV)

We are safe, then, to assume that the central subject of Psalm 114 is Messiah.  While Messiah Jesus is fully God and fully man, the human line (through whom Messiah would be born) was preserved through Judah.  But the presence of natural signs and wonders (earthquakes, seas, and rivers parting and water gushing from rocks) testify that while the humanity of Messiah was preserved through Judah, the eternal deity of Messiah was present with Israel in the wilderness, as well.

“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ [Messiah]. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 (NKJV)

Just as Israel in the wilderness had a faith choice to make, that Messiah was in their midst, we must also choose to believe in Him as we wander the wilderness of our generation.  God still beckons us to “Come out” of this world and believe in Jesus!