Burunche’s Blog

Exodus 19:1 -4 “In the third month, on the same day of the months that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. After they had set out from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

INCREDIBLE GOD!!! Appearing as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, God has led the Israelites out into the desert and away from the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Now the group is encamped before Mt. Sinai, where God previously called Moses into ministry using a burning bush to get his attention. God reminds the Israelites that just as a mother eagle will briefly carry her eaglets on her back as she flies to allow them to become used to flight, so He has carried Israel. God has delivered Israel out of Egypt with all its demonic gods and has brought them to a quiet place in which He can meet with them. Now God is sharing his vision for the Nation of Israel, and it is amazing.

v. 5-6 “Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

God has chosen Israel to be a kingdom of priests to all the earth, mediators between God and man. God wants Israel to be a holy nation to demonstrate to the rest of the people of the earth what can happen when an entire nation follows God. Does this mean that God is blind to the faults of the Israelites? Far from it! God knows every thought and every intent of the heart. God knows how many Israelites have Egyptian amulets and images hidden in their baggage. But God also knows that He can clean up the Israelites and make them holy. God wants the all the people of the earth to see that HE can sanctify them.

v. 7-8 “So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. And all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought their words back to the LORD.”

Buoyed up by the Red Sea deliverance and miraculous supplies of manna, quail, and water, the Israelites are quick to respond that they will obey God completely. SAY WHAT??? These are the same people who have nearly stoned Moses and Aaron on numerous occasions when things didn’t work out precisely the way they anticipated. But that was then and this is no. The Israelites have conveniently short memories and also absolutely no clue as to the hardness of their own hearts.

APPLICATION: We might read this story and think smugly about how we would have responded to God. We would have realized the enormous value of God’s calling! We would certainly have followed up on our promises! We would never have fallen away… or would we?

Remember Simon Peter on the night when Jesus was betrayed? When Jesus told all the disciples that they would desert him, Peter was quick to assert that he would NEVER do such a thing and that in fact, he was ready to die for Jesus. Only a few short hours later, Peter flatly denied that he had ever known Jesus, even though his Galilean accent clearly showed him to be one of Jesus’ followers.

God still calls us and the promises He made to Israel are also for all believers. God wants each of us to be holy and to be priests and priestesses to worship before Him. But there is a catch; we must keep covenant with God. Most of us are very easily distracted by all sorts of things – social media, television, hobbies – the list is endless. We are just like the sheep that Moses used to herd; we wander off in search of one more blade of delicious grass, never realizing that we are distancing ourselves from God in the process.

Today, what are the things that are taking God’s place in your life? Is it sports or your work or your family? Have you become addicted to videos on YouTube? Have you gotten caught up in online gaming? Or are there even darker things such as pornography and gambling?

God is calling you to come out! Come out of your obsessions and focus on Him! He can make you holy! He can purify your heart! And the peace and rest you are seeking in your obsessions can only be found in Him.

PRAYER: Father God, you know our hearts. Help us to leave anything behind that is not of you. Help us to answer your call to holiness, knowing that you are the one who can clean us up and make that call a reality. In the mighty and precious Name of Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 18:. 13 – 27 “The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone as judge, with all the people standing around you from morning till evening?”

“Because the people come to me to inquire of God,” Moses replied. “Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”

But Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone. Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their causes to Him. Teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way to live and the work they must do.

Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.

If you follow this advice and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”

Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. So Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.

Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.”

Not only is Jethro a godly man, but he is also a very intelligent leader. Moses is doing his best, but trying to judge every case brought by the Israelites is wearing him out! People who stand all day waiting for their problems to be considered are also becoming fed up. Everybody needs a break, and God is advising Moses through Jethro.

APPLICATION: One veteran leader has described the experience of trying to handle everyone’s problems as being akin to “being stoned to death with popcorn.” Jethro advises Moses that Moses needs time to be with God, both to represent his people before God and also to hear from God so that he can pass on God’s messages to the people. Moses is drowning in trivia! Jethro advises that the men be organized into units of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands, with God-fearing, honest and trustworthy men over each of these division. If a matter makes it all the way up to the highest level and no solution is found, only then should the matter be presented to Moses.

Jethro’s advice is outstanding for several reasons:

1. Clearly, better methods for problem – solving are needed.

2. Any system that depends on one individual is doomed to failure.

3. Depending on one man means that no other leaders are being developed. The system Jethro proposes develops leaders. Remember there were 600,000 men, so that means 600 leaders of thousands, 6,000 leaders of hundreds, 12,000 leaders of fifties, and 60,000 leaders of tens. Overall, that means that Moses (and Aaron) will train 78,600 leaders at various levels. Training this many leaders will not only relieve Moses of much of the burden he has been shouldering but will also help organize the Israelites and prepare them for the things God wants them to do in the future.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BE THE ONLY LEADER OR ARE YOU HELPING DEVELOP OTHERS AS LEADERS? Clearly, God’s plan is for leaders to multiply themselves.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the wisdom you gave Jethro and for your plans for us to develop as leaders ourselves and to develop others. Please help us to seek your perfect will as we do these things. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 18:1-12 “Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethroa the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her along with her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.” The other son was named Eliezerc because Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” (“Gershon” means “Sojourner.” “Eliezer” means “God is my helper.”)

Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent. Then Moses recounted to his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships they had encountered along the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.

And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro declared, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

Then Moses’ father-in-law Jethro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.”

Who is Jethro? Remember that when Moses murdered the Egyptian overseer for abusing an Israelite slave, he had to escape to the desert to save himself. While Moses was wandering in the desert, God led him to the camp of Jethro, who evidently was already worshiping God on his own. Jethro’s daughter Zipporah became Moses’ wife, and they had two sons. Even as Moses was wandering, God was leading him to a woman who would be a fit helpmate and not an idol – worshiping hindrance.

Jethro is Moses’ father – in – law, but the Bible also describes him as “the priest of Midian.” This was an age in which polytheism was the norm, and people were worshiping all kinds of god associated with rocks and trees and bodies of water, not to mention gods of rain, gods of harvest, fertility gods, etc. It was common for travelers to carry their teraphim, their family gods, with them. Remember Rachel stealing Laban’s teraphim and hiding them under a camel saddle?

Obviously, Jethro has outgrown these little gods and has somehow found his way to worship the One True Living God. How can we tell this? Moses makes Jethro his confidante, sharing with Jethro everything that God has done for the Israelites. What is Jethro’s response?

v. 9 – 12 “And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had rescued from the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro declared, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”

Then Moses’ father-in-law Jethro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.”

 Aaron and the Israelite elders also recognize Jethro as a godly man and share a sacrificial meal with him. In the wonderful book Eternity in Their Hearts, missionary Don Richardson has described many ways in which God the peoples of different cultures to receive Him and His Word. How did Jethro find his way to God? We don’t know, but that Jethro was worshiping God and not demons is beyond all doubt.

APPLICATION: When Moses fled Egypt, he had no idea what God was about to do; yet, God was able to guide him to Jethro and to Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah, who became his wife. Many times we long for guidance, but sometimes we question whether or not God can really lead us. Does God really know about our problems, all the details of our lives?

The story of Moses should give us courage to trust in God. Moses was an exile who could have easily died in the desert; yet, God spared him and led him to Jethro’s camp. Jethro mentored Moses in sheep – herding and taught him skills that Moses would need later when he was leading the Israelites. And Jethro was obviously a good man who believed in God’s call on Moses’ life and who was willing to help Moses and encourage him.

Do you feel lost and confused today? Remember that the same God who cared for Moses and who raised up Jethro and his family to help Moses will also come to your aid.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for your watch care and your provision! Help us to turn to you with all our needs. Thank you that you know us better than we know ourselves. And thank you for loving us and caring for us. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

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.