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   2/16/11

 Exodus 16-18

Exodus 16-18

Bread from Heaven

Exodus 16:1     The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” I have always wondered why Exodus 16 is not read and studied with John 6.

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.’ ” 17 The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.’ ” 24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses commanded them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and instructions? 29 See! The Lord has given you the sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, in order that they may see the food with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant, for safekeeping. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 An omer is a tenth of an ephah.

Water from the Rock  (Num 20.1—13)

Exodus 17:1     From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

I hear this question often, whether video-taping a lecture, in a group Bible Study or sometimes when doing spiritual direction. It is on the hearts of many. The evidence of the Lord’s presence is what draws those who don’t know God. It is important to never lose sight of that statement. Intellectual hermeneutics are fine for some, but the rank and file, contrary to what many may think, are hungry for the presence of God. They want the real thing. Modern technology has made entertainment, theatrics, spectacles and even modern homilies readily available, but the presence of the living God cannot be manufactured. When the Holy Spirit shows up … people will show up. God can and does use our weaknesses as well as our talents to make disciples, not buildings and ministries. Discipleship is an intimate, safe space; not a stage for actors, lawyers, politicians or denominationalists. We name everything; countries, politics, religions, people, each other. Do you think God checks the name on the door before entering? If you make space for God do you think God will open your eyes and heart to see that God has always been with you, or do you think God is concerned whether you are black, yellow, white, brown or Catholic, Protestant or Native American? God told Moses God’s name and that name has not changed. If we make space for God we will make space for each other. If we make space for each other God will be in the midst.


Amalek Attacks Israel and Is Defeated  (Gen 14.7; Num 13.29; 14.25)

8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur (According to Josephus, Hur was the husband of Miriam, the sister of Moses (Antiquities 3.2.4).) went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a reminder in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner. 16 He said, “A hand upon the banner of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Jethro’s Advice  (Deut 1.9—18)

Exodus 18:1     Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro took her back, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been an alien in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came into the wilderness where Moses was encamped at the mountain of God, bringing Moses’ sons and wife to him. 6 He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife and her two sons.” 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed down and kissed him; each asked after the other’s welfare, and they went into the tent. 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had beset them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in delivering them from the Egyptians.

10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, 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.

13 The next day Moses sat as judge for the people, while the people stood around him from morning until evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?” 15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make known to them the statutes and instructions of God.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. 19 Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You should represent the people before God, and you should bring their cases before God; 20 teach them the statutes and instructions and make known to them the way they are to go and the things they are to do. 21 You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set such men over them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Let them sit as judges for the people at all times; let them bring every important case to you, but decide every minor case themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their home in peace.”

24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times; hard cases they brought to Moses, but any minor case they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went off to his own country.


  Videos and more ...

American Minute
     by Bill Federer


“From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shore of Tripoli.” The Marine Corp anthem recalls when North African Barbary Pirates were seizing American ships and cargo, and selling the crews as slaves. On February 16, 1804, in the “most bold and daring act of the age,” Lieutenant Stephen Decatur sailed his ship, the Inrepid, at night into the pirate harbor of Tripoli, burned a ship and escaped unharmed amidst fierce fire. The Arabic treaty offered by Tripoli stated: “We… agreed that if American Christians are traveling with a nation that is at war with… Tripoli… neither he nor his goods shall be taken.”

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.


Proverbs
     by D.H. Stern

Proverbs 18:16-17

A person’s gift clears his way
and gives him access to the great.

The first to state his case seems right,
till the other one comes and cross-examines.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.
My Utmost For The Highest
     by Oswald Chambers

The inspiration of spiritual initiative

Arise from the dead. --- Eph. 5:14..

     All initiative is not inspired. A man may say to you—‘Buck up, take your disinclination by the throat, throw it overboard, and walk out into the thing!’ That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, in effect, ‘Buck up,’ we find that the initiative is inspired.

     We all have any number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We cannot do the things we long to do, and we are apt to settle down to the visions and ideals as dead, and God has to come and say—“Arise from the dead.” When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life comes after we do the ‘bucking up.’ God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says—“Arise from the dead,” we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand—“Stretch forth thy hand,” and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative. If we will do the overcoming, we shall find we are inspired of God because He gives life immediately.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest


Tidal
     the Poetry
     of R.S. Thomas


     Tidal
Let despair be known as my ebb-tide; but let prayer have its springs, too, brimming, disarming him; discovering somewhere among his fissures deposits of mercy where trust may take root and grow.

R.S. Thomas Mass for Hard Times (Bloodaxe)

Exodus 17:7
     Is the Lord among us or not?
     by RSAofYAP

     I hear this question often, whether video-taping a lecture at George Fox, in a group Bible Study or sometimes when doing spiritual direction. It is on the hearts of many. It always has been.

     The evidence of the Lord’s presence is what draws those who don’t know God. It is important to never lose sight of that statement. Intellectual hermeneutics are fine for some, but the rank and file, and you and I, contrary to what some may think, are hungry for the presence of God. They, you, me, we want the real thing.

     Modern technology has made entertainment, theatrics, spectacles and even modern homilies readily available, but the presence of the living God cannot be manufactured. When the Holy Spirit shows up … people will show up. God can and does use our weaknesses as well as our talents to make disciples, not buildings and ministries. Discipleship is an intimate, safe space; not a stage for actors, lawyers, politicians or denominationalists.

     We name everything; countries, politics, religions, people, each other. Do you think God checks the name on the door before entering? If you make space for God do you think God will open your eyes and heart to see that God has always been with you, or do you think God is concerned whether you are black, yellow, white, brown or Catholic, Protestant or Native American?

     God told Moses God’s name and that name has not changed. If we make space for God we will make space for each other. If we make space for each other God will be in the midst. The irony, the mystery is that God has always been with us. Romans 1:20 makes that clear. We are in fact making space for ourselves.
Take Heart
     by D. Wallis

When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” --- Luke 15:17

     The prodigal was an exile in a far country. The memory of his home filled his heart. It was not terror that struck the prodigal deep. It was home for which his poor soul was crying. He saw the farm among the hills, and the weary oxen coming home at eventide and the happy circle gathered round the fire and his father crying to heaven for the wanderer. [The prodigal’s] sorrow was remembering happier things. He came to himself, and he was homesick.

     Wickedness is not the homeland of the soul, and the unrest and the dissatisfaction of the wicked is the craving of the heart for home. We were not fashioned to be at home in sin. We bear the image of God, and God is goodness. The native air of this mysterious heart is the love and purity and joy of heaven. So when someone deliberately sins and all the time hungers for better things, it is not the hunger for an impossible ideal; it is the hunger of the soul for home. You can satisfy that hunger instantly. Out of the furthest country you may come home. God waits. Christ says, “Return this very hour.”

     We were made in goodness, and we were made for goodness, and we will always be dissatisfied, always homesick, if we are trying to live in any other land. [Thus,] people cover evil with a veil of goodness, longing to give a homelike touch to their surroundings. When people take the names of goodness and label their vices and their sins with them, when we use a kindly term for some habit or frailty that is most unkindly, it is the soul telling where it was born, confessing unconsciously that it is homesick and trying to give a homelike touch to the far country.

     We can understand the loneliness of sin when we remember this homesickness of the soul. The individual who is homesick is always lonely. Sin is a power that makes for loneliness. Slowly but surely, if you live in sin, you drift into spiritual isolation. And the sins we call social sins, the sins that begin in fellowship and company, are the very sins that leave you at last utterly alone. That loneliness is homesickness of the soul. It is the heart craving for home again. If you are drifting away on a great sea of self-indulgence, God grant that, drawn by the love of Christ, you may come home.      --- George H. Morrison

 Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers (27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

Teacher's Commentary
     by Lawrence O. Richard
     The Law

     This first revelation of Law to Israel performed two clear functions. First of all, it revealed the character of God. If Israel was to reflect God’s character, and thus bring Him praise, they must understand His character. The Ten Commandments are our first sharp revelation of the moral character and the deepest values of our God.

     Oh, we can infer much from earlier revelation: for instance, we know that God is faithful to His promises. But His moral character still remained something of a mystery. But no more. The Ten Words from Sinai reveal the moral nature of this God who had taken it on Himself to redeem a people to become like Him.

     A second important function of the Law is that it defines God’s expectations. In objective, clear, and well-defined standards, the people of God are told how He expects them to behave.

     There is a tremendous value in any relationship in having expectations revealed. Some of us grew up in homes where we simply did not know how to please our parents. Nothing we did seemed to meet with their approval, and their commands to us would change from day to day. There was to be no such uncertainty for Israel in its relationship with God. God defined clearly the way He expected them to go; so clearly that even a child could not miss his way.

     With the limits established, and with God’s expectations clearly expressed, the people would now have a standard by which to measure their own responses and behavior.

     In modern terms this might be called an “immediate feedback system”—something very important when anyone is being trained. For example, imagine a golfer practicing daily to eliminate a slice from his drive. He stands on the tee, swings, and watches the ball … adjusts, and tries again. He gauges each effort by watching that ball in flight, and, when he begins to straighten out the drive, he continues to practice to make sure that he has mastered the correct swing. Now, how much chance would the golfer have to improve if a screen were placed so he could tee up and hit, but not watch the ball’s flight?

     Obviously, without the feedback of seeing how he is doing, he simply could not correct his problem. In the same way, the Law provided an objective standard and served as a background against which the Israelites would obtain immediate feedback on their behavior. They could measure their plans, their goals, their values, and their actions against the divine revelation of morality.

     There are other functions of the Law as well, but these two help us see its tremendous value to Israel at this point in history. The Law would be for Israel a dual revelation. In it they would see the moral character of God. And in it they would also see themselves.

Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

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