Desert of Sin, huh? What an appropiate name for the place where God would work on His children's character. Remember that there is really no formal law yet........sin has not really been pointed out as law, but by God's commands to whom he spoke with (don't eat the apple, obey me or you can't get on the ark, son, a lifestyle like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah is not going to bode well for you).
God's children are just that: children....what do children think about in their immaturity? Themselves......have you ever seen a hungry baby screaming/crying for food? That's all they can think about....the Isrealites cried....their loving Daddy provides bread and meat. Manna means "What is it"....can you imagine thin wafers that taste like honey raining down from the sky? But the children want MEAT....and their loving Daddy provides that in the evening with quail.....and just like a loving Daddy, he says, "Don't be little pigs or you will get a stomach ache"........the children collect too much anyway (because children are willful, and don't trust sometimes) and they have rancid manna. God said the only day they could collect extra was on the 6th day so they could observe the Sabbath on the 7th day.....if the children would just listen, their Father really does know what is best for them. Note that the manna will be preserved for future generations to see (manna is preserved at God's command), and you will see it in the Ark (not the Big Boat.....just wait and see) in future chapters. This will be a future testimony for generations after this one.
The children leave the Desert of Sin and encounter thirst.....in their childlike crabbiness, they don't think about their deliverance from slavery....they think about how they weren't thirsty in slavery.......looking back does no good, does it? God leads Moses to get water from a rock (that staff of his is coming in handy, isn't it?).....a very cool cross reference is 1 Corinthians 10:4.........THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST.......God's plan is amazing and it all ties together....God is teaching His children about the Gospel that was to come in the future....God teaches his children now, by the Bible....different tools....same message depending on where in time God has put His children.
We meet Joshua who you will want to remember..The Amalekites were a horrible people....look at Genesis 36:12, and you will see that they come from Amalek...grandson of Esau....son of Eliphaz (remember Job)...they killed for the fun of it. They were the first to attack the Isrealites, and you see God was with them and let Joshua win as long as Moses kept his arms up.....Moses gets tired and Aaron and Hur support his arms......we are getting a bit of a change in the Leadership model......Jethro, his father-in-law reinforces this change in leadership......trust people and delegate or you will get worn out......(also remember that Zipporah is a Cushite; a lovely black woman....this is going to come up!) Jethro is not a Hebrew man, he is a priest..but recognizes the greatness of our God in the experience of God's deliverance from Egypt.....
Do you think that it is significant that Egypt is in the news right now?
Look what comes up from the depths of the sea.
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I had t play catch up....had to do three days worth of reading at once.
ReplyDeleteLot in this......God chose Moses to save the Isrealites from the Pharoah and the Egyptians....I love the part about the Red sea parting......and how he got water from a rock. Did God do this to show the people HE was God and see who truly believed.
It seems that God is becoming more powerful in actions to teach. This is some amazing stuff happening here. Can you imaging being there and seeing a sea part? Or water coming from a rock?
This was a very powerful message from God.
When Moses needed help to hold hand up, this shows we need help and support of other Christians.......