Burunche’s Blog

Exodus 17:8 – 16 “After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”

Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner. “Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

It’s one of the most enduring images from the story of the Exodus. The Israelites are facing their first real battle, and they need divine help. Remember that although these people are very strong from years of slavery, they also have a “go along to get along” slave mentality. These people are NOT seasoned warriors, at least, not yet. Moses knows that he will have to contribute his share if there is to be victory.

Moses ascends a nearby hill and holds up the staff of God as a symbol of God’s help and protection for Israel. As long as Moses keeps holding up the staff, the Israelites are winning. But eventually Moses’s arms get tired of holding the staff, and Moses’s legs are giving out after hours of standing. Aaron, Moses’s brother, and Hur, another one of the elders, have accompanied Moses. For victory to be complete, Moses must continue to hold up the staff; neither Aaron nor Hur have been selected by God for that task. But Aaron and Hur have been called to a ministry of helps; they arrange a large rock for Moses to sit on and then each of them holds up one of Moses’s arms so that the staff of God remains uplifted and the victory is assured and complete.

APPLICATION: This is a great story, and we should note several points:

1. Moses had a special calling from God and an anointing to fulfill that calling. Moses was the one who had to hold up the staff of God; neither Aaron nor Hur could take that calling away from Moses. If you have a calling to be a leader, you must do everything you can to fulfill that call as God guides you. You cannot delegate a calling to someone else!

2. Although Moses was not physically in the battle, he was certainly there spiritually. The Amalekites knew nothing of the One True Living God; therefore, any spirits they invoked for help in the battle would have been demonic. Remember that when Lucifer rebelled against God, one third of the angels in heaven followed him and became demons. This battle was not merely a physical one, but also a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12 describes spiritual warfare well. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The territorial spirits whom the Amalekites had been serving were now having a power encounter with God, perhaps for the first time since they had been rebellious angels who got evicted from heaven.

3. If Aaron and Hur had failed to help Moses, the Israelites would have lost and might have been annihilated. Their ministry was just as vital to success that day as was Moses’s. Those of us who have been called to a ministry of assisting others have an important role to play. If we succumb to self – pity because we haven’t gotten as much attention as the head person, we will fail and the enterprise to which we have been called will also fail.

4. For Aaron and Hur to fulfill their mission, they had to be willing to let Moses be the star while they remained in the background. This was no time for anybody to have an ego trip! When someone asked John the Baptist about Jesus, John told them, “He must increase and I must decrease.” (John 3:30) John the Baptist knew that his mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah, Jesus. Once the Messiah arrived, John’s work would be complete. Those of us engaged in helping must have a sense of when to back off.

For years I ran a bush hospital in a remote part of northeastern Ghana as the only doctor. I was on – call 24/7. I faced all kinds of challenges, many of them related to our location in a small town with few amenities. At times I had very little administrative support. I handed over my responsibilities as head of the institution in November 2015. My challenge since then has been to help, support, and advise without infringing on someone else’s authority.

What is God calling you to do? Very few of us are called to the kind of leadership role that Moses fulfilled; however, helpers are always needed. Is there someone whom God wants you to support? Is there a situation to which you can contribute greatly if you will only be willing for someone else to get the credit?

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the example of Aaron and Hur! Lord, help us to copy their actions. Help us to be effective helpers, supporters, and encouragers. And thank you for your love and your grace that empowers us to be helpers. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 17:1 – 7 “Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.”

“Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”

But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

And the LORD said to Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb; when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” (“Massah” means “testing,” and “Meribah” means “quarreling.”)

KVETCH! KVETCH! KVETCH!!! All the Israelites seem to do is to complain! Are these people grateful for what God has already done and the miracles that He is currently doing? Not a chance! At the first sign of any inconvenience, the Israelites begin reproaching Moses. By this point, Moses is wishing that he had remained in the desert herding sheep. At least all the sheep could say was “Baaa!” And no sheep ever threatened to stone Moses!

No matter that God has delivered the Israelites out of Egypt by making a way through the sea and then wiping out Pharaoh’s crack troops. No matter that God has been regularly supplying quail and manna. When it comes to trusting God, the Israelites don’t have a clue and they don’t want one either! These people still have a whole lot to learn about God!

Moses follows God’s instructions to the letter, taking some of the elders with him as far as the rock at Horeb. Why bring the elders along? It’s likely that these were the very guys who were stirring up the people against Moses; after all, THEY were elders. Shouldn’t THEY get lots of respect also? What makes Moses so great? God wanted to make certain that when He brought water out of the rock, there would be reliable witnesses who would be afraid to go back on their own words.

Why strike the rock? There are several places in the Middle East where there are underground streams. Perhaps one of these streams was close to the surface at Horeb; God would certainly know. Then if Moses would strike with his staff at just the right place, water would gush forth. The “How?” of the situation really doesn’t matter as much as the “Why?” For all time, God wanted the Jews to see that He, the Lord, could bring forth living water, that is, flowing water that would be safe to drink and that would give life to people and animals.

APPLICATION: WOW! Do people ever have short memories! Viewing this story from a few thousand years, we begin to feel smug. Had WE been there, surely we would have trusted God and WE would not have threatened to stone Moses….. or would we?

How many times has God done something wonderful for us, only for us to fail to thank Him? How many times have we told ourselves, “Well, yes, God helped me in that bad situation; but what about the problems facing me today?”

Human nature has not changed since the Garden of Eden. We are just as likely to fall into the trap of not trusting as were the Israelites. As you are reading this devotional, take time to think about the ways God has helped you in the past. After all, you are alive to read these words; others with whom you attended school or worked are now in the graveyard. Just the fact that you are alive today is in itself a miracle.

PRAYER: Father God, we are so swift to criticize and complain and so slow to thank you! Thank you for preserving our lives, for giving us hope, and for sending Jesus to live as a man, to die for our sins, and to defeat death, hell, and the grave! Thank you for all the blessings that you have given us. Help us from this day forward to be perpetually and eternally grateful for your love, your guidance, and your watch care. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 16:31 – 35 “Now the house of Israel called the bread manna It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.” And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.” (The Israelites gathered 2 omers per person; 2 omers is approximately 4.0 dry quarts or 4.4 liters per person.)

“What’s happening?” you ask. “Why are we repeating part of yesterday’s scripture?” We are repeating because the miracle of manna deserves its own discussion.

Is there such a thing as manna? In an online article in Moment for the Winter 2019, (https://momentmag.com/manna-is-real-and-not-so-heavenly/) Ered Guttman gives a fascinating discussion entitled “Manna Is Real and Not So Heavenly.” The entire article is well worth reading, but here are a few highlights:

Several years ago, researchers from Hebrew University in Jerusalem were studying the route taken by Moses and the Children of Israel in the desert when they noticed white drops on the green stem of a desert shrub. When asked about this shrub, a passing Bedouin responded, “This is mann-Rimth that you ate when you left Egypt.” The Rimth shrub is the Bedouin name for the Haloxylon salicornicum, a plant found all over the Middle East. ,

The description of manna in the Bible matches what these researchers found in the Sinai Desert. The white drops on the shrub’s stems were the digestive byproduct of insects that feed on the plant’s sap, known as honeydew. The secretion, formed at night, is loaded with sugar. The sweet liquid hardens to the form of white granules and is still collected from spring to early fall in many places in the Middle East today.

Manna also appears in the New Testament and the Quran. Persian medieval writings on the Quran, as well as a medicine book by the 10th-11th- century Persian scholar Al Biruni, didn’t mention Haloxylon salicornicum but say manna was the sweet drops that formed on the tamarisk tree, which is common in the Sinai Peninsula as well as in what today is Iraq and Iran. Manna from the tamarisk tree was called taranjabin (Tar-angabin) manna, which means “wet honey” in Farsi.

Guttman concludes: “But although we cannot be certain which plant produced the “bread from heaven” that the Jewish people ate on their journey, we do know that “manna” is still harvested and used in parts of Iran and Iraq. The word refers to either sweet sap of any plant (tree or bush) that appears in the region or the secretion from insects that feed on trees such as the tamarisk.”

So, there really is such a thing as manna, but does this take away from the awe of the miracle? Not in the slightest! Notice that in recent times, manna – gathering is seasonal, not year round. But the Israelites ate manna for forty years! And remember that when the Israelites left Egypt, there were 600,000 men, not to mention women and children. Many estimate that there might have been as many as two million people taking part in the Exodus. No matter the source of the manna, that’s still a huge amount of manna! Two omers per man for seven days of the week would amount to 18,480,000 liters for 600,000 men for a single week!

APPLICATION: So many times we are desperately worried about having enough money and other resources to care for our families. These uncertainties have only become much worse during the COVID pandemic as businesses have gone under, leaving people without jobs.

Consider the plight of the Israelites: they were out in an unknown desert with practically no resources. If God didn’t provide for them, they were definitely going to starve to death or die from thirst. The flocks and herds that accompanied the Israelites also needed fodder and water, enormous problems all by themselves. And the miracle of the manna was repeated daily and weekly for forty years!

Hebrews 13:5 – 6 tells us, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

PRAYER: Father God, thank you so much for your magnificent provision! Help us not to worry but to look to you and to trust that you will help us just as you did the Israelites. Thank you for the various ways you bring manna into our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus.

Exodus 16:22 – 35 “On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person —and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses. He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”

So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field. For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”

Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything. Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions? Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”

So the people rested on the seventh day.

Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. (“What is it?”) It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” (An omer is approximately 2.0 dry quarts or 2.2 liters.) So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.” And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

Imagine trying to train roughly two million people in the ways of holiness! That’s the task that God has undertaken. Having delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, God now has to begin training them regarding regular days of rest and worship. Wisely, God starts by training His people to keep the Sabbath, that is to regularly and repeatedly keep one day per week as a day of “solemn rest.”

 Remember that God is the Power who has just delivered the Israelites miraculously from the Egyptians. Ridiculous as it might seem, despite specific instructions from God, the some people fail to follow His clear instructions and trot out into the fields to gather manna on the Sabbath. Big surprise! No manna!

APPLICATION: Perhaps we read the story of the Israelites and feel a bit smug. After all, WE would certainly obey God, were we in their position. But is that assumption really true? How many times have we had quiet nudges from God to do something, only for us to question and argue, dragging our feet?

Several years ago when I was in surgery residency, we had a lady who had been admitted with abdominal pain, the cause of which had baffled our best specialists. Nothing that we had tried had really helped, and we finally had to give up and discharge her. I was in my apartment across the street from the hospital when I felt that God wanted me to dress up in my uniform and return to see this lady. Clearly, God wanted me to speak to this lady. I did NOT want to return to the hospital; I was tired after a night on call. Finally I got ready, grumbling all the time to the Lord that if He didn’t give me something to say, I was going to feel silly sitting there with my teeth in my mouth and nothing new for this lady! I was anything but a model of Christian obedience.

I returned to the hospital and began chatting with the patient. Within minutes, I had told her of the miraculous changes God had made in my life, and she had prayed for God to take over her life and to lead her and guide her. I discovered that the underlying cause of the abdominal pain was spiritual and emotional and not physical. Once we prayed, the lady was beaming and told me she felt free from the resentment she had carried for the first time in ten years. We prayed again, thanking God, and then I returned home. Ten minutes after I returned to my apartment, the patient’s relatives picked her up and took her to her home town more than an hour’s drive from the hospital.

There are two lessons to be learned from this passage. The second has to do with the Sabbath. The creation story in Genesis states that God rested on the seventh day. Now God is ordering the Israelites to rest every seventh day as a “solemn Sabbath,” in other words, a serious day of rest. In the last few years, many people who have done research on stress have verified the fact that scheduled periods of rest and relaxation are necessary to maintain one’s health. Nobody is designed to keep working 24/7.

When I was growing up on an Illinois farm, we had to care for our animals twice a day, including milking our cows. But Sundays we did chores and then got ready and went to church. Sunday afternoons were devoted to visiting friends and relatives or doing something fun and relaxing, keeping in mind that by 4 PM we needed to be home to start our evening chores. Unless it was absolutely impossible, my dad never did field work on a Sunday, trusting that the God who had called him to rest would handle the weather. Dad was right.

Are you allowing God to give you Sabbath rest, or are you driving yourself? Sometimes families become so wrapped up in kids’ sporting events or other activities that Sundays pass in a blur, leaving everyone exhausted by Monday morning. Why not ask God to help you discern what is really important and necessary and what activities might need to be put aside so that you have time for rest and rejuvenation?

PRAYER: Father God, help us to listen for your voice and to obey rather than arguing. Teach us how to truly enter into Sabbath rest so that we may be refreshed to serve you. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 16:1 – 3 “On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”

The Israelites are at it again! Never mind that God has miraculously delivered them, never mind that God has sweetened the bitter waters at Marah, and never mind that God has given them the chance to stop at Elim with all its springs and palm trees. Now the Israelites are furious because their food is BORING!!! Notice what they DON’T say; they don’t say that they have run out of food. Nope, the Israelites are mad because they can’t get all their favorite foods when they want them. Roughly two million people are having a massive pity party, and they want to make sure that Moses and Aaron know just how disgusted they are!

Despite the fact that the Israelites are free men and women, all they can think of now is the food they ate as slaves. They are so wrapped up in self – pity that now they are wishing that they had all died in Egypt! “Say what???” And they are blaming Moses and Aaron for bringing them into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!” Hmm. Back in Egypt on the night of Passover, nobody was forcing anybody to leave; in fact, there was a “mixed multitude” that went along with the Israelites because they feared what God might do next.

APPLICATION: Ever find yourself in a tough place and realize that you are the one who has chosen to be there? That’s really what has happened with the Israelites. The price of freedom is turning out to be higher than anticipated, and poor Moses and Aaron are getting the blame. Good things don’t come easy; something that the Israelites are going to have to learn the hard way. And another thing the Israelites are about to learn: don’t play games with God!!!

v. 4-10 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions. Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we that you should grumble against us?”

And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’” And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.

Whoops! It was so easy when all the Israelites had to do was to rain insults on Moses and Aaron. But now the God who delivered the Israelites from Egypt is showing up, and He is disgusted!

v. 11 – 21 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. (“Manna literally means “what is it?”)

So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”

So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less. When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.

Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.” But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning they each gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.”

WOW! Bread and quail! God has really come through in a big way! Are the Israelites grateful? Are you kidding? Not only are they not grateful, but they won’t even follow instructions about not keeping manna overnight. Good thing Moses doesn’t know that he’s going to be stuck with these people for forty years!

Application: How many times have we behaved just as badly as the Israelites? We BEG God to help us and God does. Do we thank Him? No! And we don’t even follow his commands. Never is God’s mercy more in evidence than in these times of our ingratitude and disobedience.

PRAYER; Father God, thank you for your gracious provision for our lives! Forgive us for our ingratitude. Help us to truly be thankful and to be obedient even in little things. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

 Exodus 15:20 – 21 “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang back to them:

“Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted;

the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”

CELEBRATION!!!! The bodies of Pharaoh’s soldiers and horses are lying all over the seashore! The Israelites are safe! Right now the only appropriate response is singing and dancing! But celebrations can only last for so long before it’s time to move on.

V. 22 – 26 “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah, or “Bitter.”)

So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them, saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

“Hey, God! What are you doing??? You bring us into a waterless desert and then the first water we can find in THREE DAYS tastes horrible! Is this your idea of a joke?” From the euphoria of celebration, the Israelites are now plunged into gloom and doom. Nobody, including Moses, has yet figured out that God wants to teach them things through the desert experience; instead, the Israelites figure that the miraculous deliverance from Pharaoh means that God is going to make everything smooth.
“A week or two in the desert….. a few stops for water….. and we’ll be in the Promised Land! No problem!”

APPLICATION: Notice these things:

1. GOD USED A NEED TO GET THEIR ATTENTION: Moses led Israel from the Red Sea into the desert for three days. That was long enough for the Israelites to use up all the water they had and to become thirsty. Remember there are also large herds of animals requiring regular watering as well.

2. GOD DID NOT MEET THEIR EXPECTATIONS: Until now, water had never been a problem. The Israelites were used to getting their drinking water from the Nile or from wells or canals. Suddenly the Israelites realized that they were in a hostile environment and began doing what they did best – they complained! There is a wonderful word in Yiddish, “Kvetch.” “Kvetching” is not merely grumbling; it’s grumbling plus whining, plus nagging, all at once! There’s no doubt that the Israelites were kvetching!

3. GOD USED THE NEED FOR WHOLESOME DRINKING WATER TO TEST AND TEACH THE ISRAELITES IMPORTANT LESSONS. “There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them, saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” God was fully aware that hidden in the baggage of many Israelite families, there were small statues of Egyptian gods or charms and amulets indicating worship of the Egyptian pantheon of gods. God wanted the Israelites to become a holy people, and there could be no shortcuts.

By healing the waters of Marah using some kind of wood, God wanted to demonstrate to the Israelites that He was fully capable of keeping them whole and healthy. But to receive these promises, the Israelites would have to:

a)listen carefully

b)do what was right in God’s eyes, not in theirs

c) pay attention to God’s commands and

d) keep all God’s statutes.

Hundreds of years later, the Prophet Samuel would tell King Saul that “Obedience is better than sacrifice and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23) The Israelites were already rebelling – not a good start to a long journey!

After using the bitter waters of Marah to get the attention of the Israelites, God first healed that water and then led them on to a wonderful oasis.

v. 27 “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters.”

So many times, we want God to fulfill our expectations, to make everything smooth for us; meanwhile, God is trying to use the difficulties of our situations to teach us and to reach us. We must learn the same lessons as the Israelites: a)listen carefully b)do what is right in God’s eyes, not in ours c) pay attention to God’s commands and d) keep all God’s statutes. But we don’t want to obey! We want God to do our will in His Name, and that will never happen!

Psalm 95:7-8 says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…” Have you ever heard God’s voice? If you have, obey quickly! That voice is the voice of your Heavenly Father, who loves you far better than any earthly father can ever hope to. That voice is the voice of the Father who sent his only Son to die for your sins, so that you could join Him in heaven, if you would just believe.

PRAYER: Father God, we believe, but help our unbelief! Help us not to complain or grumble or kvetch! When we find ourselves in tough spots, let us learn everything that you want to teach us and let us listen carefully to you and obey. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 15:1 – 19 “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:

“I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.

The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.

He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name. Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has thrown into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them; they sank there like a stone.Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy. You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble. At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’ But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand, and the earth swallowed them up. With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.

The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away, and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You bought pass by. You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance— the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever!” For when Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.”

COMPLETE DESTRUCTION AND COMPLETE DELIVERANCE!!! The Israelites still can’t believe it! Pharaoh’s army with 600 of his best chariots plus the men and horses, all wiped out in an instant! Such a catastrophe sounds almost unbelievable, until you view videos of tsunamis. When tsunamis hit, the first thing that happens is that the water is sucked away, only for it to come rushing back later. Around the world, there have been cases of unsuspecting people who went out to investigate the seabed as the water was sucked away, only to be washed away when huge walls of water returned. Suddenly the nightmare was over! Suddenly the armies threatening to destroy the Israelites were destroyed themselves.

APPLICATION: Today is Easter Sunday morning. Throughout the world, Christians are celebrating deliverance from sin and death, from oppression, and from hopelessness. Through his death on Calvary, Jesus Christ defeated hell, death, and the grave. Because of Jesus Christ, those who believe in Him and who are willing to follow Him are assured of eternal life after death.

Satan drove Pharaoh to act as he did, and God allowed it because He knew that the result would be deliverance for the Israelites. The Israelites were not delivered because they were wonderful sinless perfect people – far from it! But God had made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God always keeps His promises.

Satan drove the religious leaders of Jesus’s day to act as they did, and God allowed it because He knew that the result would be deliverance for anyone in the world willing to accept what Jesus had done for them and to follow Him. That first Easter morning, Jesus’s friends went from total despair to incredible joy within minutes as they realized that Jesus really had risen from the dead.

Today, Jesus continues to offer eternal life to anyone who will believe in Him and who will follow Him.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, we confess that we are sinners unable to free ourselves. Thank you that because you died for our sins, if we will only believe in you and trust in you, you will give us eternal life and a place in heaven with you. Thank you for your love that reaches out to each of us, no matter how wretched we have been. We bless your Name and glorify you. Amen.

Exodus 14:15 – 31“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them, so that it came between the camps of Egypt and Israel. The cloud was there in the darkness, but it lit up the night. So all night long neither camp went near the other.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. And the Egyptians chased after them—all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen—and followed them into the sea. At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. While the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea. The waters flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had chased the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on their right and on their left. That day the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore. When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.”

INCREDIBLE! ASTOUNDING! BEYOND ALL IMAGINING! There were at least 600,000 Israelite men, not mentioning women and children and the “mixed multitude,” plus all the flocks and herds. And yet, God cleared a path through the Red Sea so that all of these people and animals crossed over on dry land. Only after the last sheep or goat and the last Israelite had crossed over did God remove the pillar of fire between the Israelites and the Egyptians.

God confused the Egyptians and hardened their hearts. At no point did Pharaoh stop to think “Where did all that water go and when is it going to return to normal?” The confusion among the Egyptians is almost a bigger miracle than the parting of the water. It wasn’t until the chariot wheels began wobbling that somebody tumbled to the fact that they were in a precarious position, “For the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”

APPLICATION: Have you ever experienced a miraculous deliverance from a situation that seemed impossible? Several years ago, we were working with one organization who refused to accept our reports regarding individuals who were making demands to misuse funds and equipment. We felt pushed into a corner with no escape. Finally, God delivered us from that situation, helping us to temporarily get re-established in America until He moved us on to our next assignment. At the time, we weren’t very happy with the means of deliverance God used; but looking back, God brought us out of a nasty situation just in time. Those who followed us learned from our problems and were able to work far more effectively because of the things we had reported.

Are you trapped in an untenable situation? God is still a miracle – working God and He doesn’t play favorites. Ask God to help you, and then wait for His deliverance. But don’t be surprised if that deliverance has a different appearance than you expected.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you never fail! You never change! You are still mighty to save and you are still a strong deliverer! Lord, I lift up everyone reading this who feels caught somehow. Save them out of whatever messes they are in. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 14:1 – 14 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.

For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.” So Pharaoh prepared his chariot and took his army with him. He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out with fists raised in defiance. The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

The Israelites had marched out of Egypt with fists raised in defiance. The Exodus was going just fine, thank you, until Pharaoh and his army showed up! It’s actually amazing that in view of all the plagues that had hit Egypt, there were still any horses left; however, evidently, Pharaoh’s stables had somehow been spared and his army was still strong. Despite the fact that the rest of the country was in a shambles and that his first born son lay dead back in the palace, Pharaoh still had the crazy idea that he could herd the Israelites back into Goshen and make them slaves again.

Nobody knows the exact location of the camping place of the Israelites; however, speculations include several places where the water would not be too deep and where a strong wind might conceivably help clear the way. God Himself chose the camping place and directed Moses and the Israelites there.

APPLICATION: Everything looked hopeless for the Israelites! They had nowhere to go as they were caught between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea. But God was about to do an incredible miracle, one that would echo down the ages.

Notice that the Israelites were not exactly people of faith. “They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Actually, the Israelites had been BEGGING God to deliver them, but they were hoping for a comfortable deliverance, one that didn’t cost them anything. There is no point at which it is recorded that the Israelites demanded that Moses should leave them alone; they were perfectly happy to have Moses run interference with Pharaoh. But freedom isn’t free and the Israelites had yet to learn that lesson.

Verse 14:13 – 14 are the key verses in this passage. Sometimes we feel that we have reached an impasse, that we have taken a stand for righteousness but that there’s no deliverance in sight. Here God is reminding us through Moses that when we have done everything that we can do or should do, we need to hold our peace and trust God. God who is rich in mercy will do what we cannot do and He will fight for us. But our part is to make sure that we have completely followed His commands. The Israelites did not get delivered while they were sitting back in the Land of Goshen; they only got delivered when they were between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you are a strong Deliverer! Thank you that your promises never fail! Help us to trust you so completely that when we have reached the end of ourselves, we will confidently look to you, anticipating a wonderful deliverance. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 13:17 – 22 “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt arrayed for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place.”

They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people.”

If God wanted to get the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land quickly, He should have sent them along the coast. There was likely a good road and traveling conditions would have been easy. But just up the coast a short distance was the land of the Philistines. Remember that among the Philistines there were still giants, and the Philistines had organized armies. Even though the Israelites were leaving Egypt dressed for battle, these people hadn’t fought anyone in 430 years. For much of that time, the Israelites had been slaves and still had a slavish mentality. No, if God sent the Israelites straight up the coast, they were going to take one look at the Philistines, turn around, and high tail it back to Egypt, begging Pharaoh to take them back as slaves.

APPLICATION:

Before the Israelites could successfully enter the Promised Land, they were going to have to undergo mental, emotional, and physical changes. Sure, these people had been working as slaves in Egypt, but they also had had decent food and they had been living in the best part of Egypt as far as grazing for animals was concerned.

The Israelites NEEDED the wilderness! This group of people needed to learn to depend on God and to follow His leading, no matter what. Had Moses led these people along the coast, they would have trusted to their own thoughts; as it was, the wilderness forced them to choose to follow God and not their own inclinations. The Israelites needed to become far stronger physically and spiritually. They needed to learn how to cope with extreme conditions, the likes of which they had not seen since their arrival in Egypt. They needed time to learn who God really was and to learn how to serve Him. And harsh as it might seem, some of the Israelites were going to have to die off because they would refuse to follow God and would have only served to drag their friends and relatives down.

DOES GOD HAVE YOU IN A HARD PLACE??? DO YOU WONDER WHY YOU ARE SUFFERING??? God never wastes anything in our lives. If you are struggling right now, rest assured that God is in the midst of this struggle and that He will bring you through it. Your job is to ask God to teach you everything you need to learn so that when your current trial has ended, you will be shaped into the person God wants you to be.

The COVID experience has forced many people to re-evaluate those things that are most important in their lives – friends, family, community. While COVID has brought suffering to many, it has also helped many to clarify those things that are truly important.

PRAYER: Father God, help us to accept our trials and to search for your perfect will and your leading in the midst of them. Help us to learn everything you want us to learn and help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.