The Lord provides us with the best illustrations, as if to say, “Let Me draw you a picture.” Exodus 17 begins with the children of Israel moving their camp to Rephidim. There were other encampments along the way, mentioned in Numbers 33, but nothing of note recorded. But at Rephidim there is again a lack […]
Read More… from November 19, 2021 — Rephidim: The Rod, The Rock, And The River
Interestingly, the Hebrew word translated “complain” means to make no progress. Hmmm. There is one final detail regarding the manna at the conclusion of Exodus 16. The Lord commanded, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations” (v 33). […]
Read More… from November 18, 2021 — Bread At The Door, Meat On The Wing
We need daily bread, but also “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut 8:3). We need to pause a little more to think about this manna. God called it “bread from heaven” (Ex 16:4). The psalmist wrote, “Men ate angels’ food” (Ps 78:25). Why did the people call it manna? Manna, […]
What would you expect coming down when you had just accused God of conspiracy to murder? I want to portray two scenes for you, and we are in the second scene. The first scene is in Exodus 16. After all of God’s goodness to them, His power manifested in Egypt, His breaking the bonds of […]
Read More… from November 16, 2021 — What God Rains Down From Heaven
The reality of God’s goodness can soon be overwhelmed by fictitious thoughts of the world. Next on the itinerary for Israel was Elim, the sort of place one wished was the destination, not a temporary wayside spot. “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees” (Ex 15:27). […]
Read More… from November 15, 2021 — God’s Present Blessing, Egypt’s Past Allure
Sometimes we need a heavenly nudge. It may come in many ways, including forced rests. Before the Israelites were allowed to move on from Marah, the Lord gave them a little talk. Already they seemed to be forgetting the lessons of Egypt, so it was time for a refresher—the first of many. We read: “There […]
Bitterness can spring up in our hearts when we think God has led us to the wrong place. In our last lesson, we imagined what it would be to have millions of people without water in the desert. But look up ahead. Is it an oasis? As the people drew closer, they realized the Lord […]
Read More… from November 11, 2021 — Next Stop: Marah Or Sweetwater?