THE SONG OF MOSES of Revelation 15:3
The words of Rev 15:1-4 are interesting and so very informative.
Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Rev 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
The first thing that we can see is that these verses occur before the seven last plagues are poured out. All of chapter 16 fully describes the effect that each of the bowls of God's wrath will have. Verse 1 of chapter 15 clearly shows that these seven angels are in heaven. Verse 2 begins with a description of the heavenly "sea of glass". That sea of glass is first mentioned in Rev 4:6, "And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal:". Who is standing on that sea of glass? It will be those who had gained victory over the beast. We are well aware of the beast that the book of Revelation speaks of in such detail. The angels are never spoken of as having an on-going conflict with the beast, whereas the saints have had that struggle.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
It is important to recognize that Rev 15:2 is speaking of resurrected "saints" standing on the sea of glass. Not all of the saints are referred to. We know that the resurrection of the "first fruit" will include all of the saints and the prophets. This verse only speaks of the saints that rejected the beast, his image, his mark and his number. The power and influence of this beast will cause the world to worship him.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast) , whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
I would think the main reason for these saints to be singled out is because the world has never experienced the power of this end time deception and they rejected it. Previous to that time, that level of deception and influence had not been experienced by the world or the people of God.
Now we come to verse 3 and the "song of Moses". And we should remember that it will be only those who gained "victory" over the beast that sing the song. I have learned that there are three songs of Moses if you would include Psalm 90 which is titled "A Prayer of Moses". The second one begins in Exodus 15:1 and the third one is introduced in Deuteronomy 31:30 then begins in chapter 32:1. There is a natural question as to which one of the songs does Rev 15:3 relate to? Ps 90 teaches us "to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom". The extensive song of Deuteronomy 32 takes us from the dividing the nations of the world to rendering "vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people". Exodus 15 describes the "victory" of God over Pharaoh and the destruction of his army. "Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters." All the commentaries that I read agree that the song of Moses of Rev 15:3 relates to the destruction of Pharaoh's army. They also agree that the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb is one song but with Jesus being victorious. Verse 15:4 "for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. " These are also my conclusions.
In my song of Moses studies I was motivated to learn more of the wars of Israel in their 40 years of wandering. The following excerpts are from: https://www.biblestudy.org/maps/first-wilderness-wars.html and https://www.biblestudy.org/maps/last-conflicts-of-moses.html
1445 B.C. Amalekites Launch Surprise Attack! Exodus 17
The Amalekites, descendants of Abraham through Esau (see Genesis 36:15 - 16), carry out unprovoked raids against Israel less than two months after being freed from slavery. At Rephidim (Exodus 17:8) they target those who are sick, the elderly, women and children, and anyone else at the back of the line struggling to keep up with those traveling to Sinai to receive God's laws (Deuteronomy 25:17 - 18). The Bible states they perform such acts of war because they do not fear God (Deuteronomy 25:18).
With the aid of Aaron and Hur He (Moses) is able to keep his arms up and allow the miraculous victory of Joshua's forces to take place (Exodus 17:10 - 13).
The unprovoked and brazen attacks by the Amalekites earns them God's promise to eventually wipe them off the face of the earth (Exodus 17:14 - 16, Deuteronomy 25:19)!
1444 (autumn) Defeated Due to Sins Numbers 14
Moses selects and sends twelve spies to collect information about the Promised Land and bring back samples of its abundance.
Ten of the twelve spies (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) give a faithless and fearful report on Israel's chances of possessing their land inheritance. Israel is shocked by the punishment for their lack of faith. Although warned by God not to do so, they foolishly attempt to begin claiming their inheritance by going to war with the Amalekites and the Canaanites. They end up, near the wilderness, battling and being slaughtered by the enemy at Hormah (Numbers 14:42 - 45).
In the 40 years in the wilderness as far as I know we don't know how often the camp was moved.
1406 (autumn). The Canaanites Initiate War Numbers 21:1 - 3
King Arad the Canaanite, in the autumn of 1406, decides to go to war with Moses and the Israelites near Hormah and take some prisoners. God's people respond to the attack by vowing to destroy all the Canaanite cities if they are helped in overcoming the enemy. God answers their prayers and gives his people the victory they requested (Numbers 21:2 - 3). Many of the Canaanite cities are completely destroyed in the war.
1406 (late in the year) The Amorites Reject Peace Numbers 21:21 - 31
King Sihon is promised none of his crops, vineyards or water will be touched as they travel through his land. Sihon not only refuses to allow safe passage of the Israelites he also initiates a war with them at Jahaz (Numbers 21:23)! The Israelites, with God's blessing, decimate the Amorites and take control of their land and possessions (Numbers 21:24 - 31, Deuteronomy 2:30 - 36).
1406 (late) to early 1405 Battling a Giant King! Numbers 21:33 - 35
The Israelites, after their war victory over the Amorites, continue to travel north on the eastern side of the Jordan River. They travel to the land of Bashan and are attacked, at Edrei, by King Og and his army (Numbers 21:33 - 35, Deuteronomy 3:1 - 7, 11). Og, in spite of his gigantic size, is soundly defeated by God's people. He, his sons, and many of those who fought with him, perish. Og's bed measured 13 feet long by 5.8 feet wide.
Early 1405 The Last Battle Numbers 31
The last war God wants Moses to execute, before his death, is against the Midianites. This last battle was meant to punish Midian for its role in leading the Israelites astray by encouraging them to have relationships with pagan women. Moses dies on Mount Nebo a short time after the Midianite victory (Deuteronomy 34:1 - 6). Soon after his death the people, four days before Passover (Joshua 4:19), cross the Jordan River into Canaan and end their forty years of wandering.