wilderness of Sin

Things Are About to Get Serious

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1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” – Exodus 19:1-9 ESV

Three months after leaving the land of Egypt, the people of Israel arrived at “the mountain of God” in the wilderness of Sinai. This event marks a major turning point in the story of God’s people. For them, it was just another trip from one obscure place in the wilderness to another. As they continued their long journey from Egypt to Canaan they made several stops along the way, and each had been marked by its own unique and memorable moment of divine intervention.

Three days into their journey, the people became anxious because their provision of water was running low. At Marah, in the middle of the wilderness of Shur, they discovered a water source, but it was unfit for consumption. So, frustrated by this unacceptable situation, they turned their anger on Moses. But God intervened and miraculously transformed the bitter water at Marah into a refreshing, life-giving source of sustenance. And it was there that God gave them a command:

“If you will diligently obey the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” – Exodus 15:26 NLT

At this point in their relationship with Yahweh, He had given them no written commands to obey. They had simply been instructed to follow His lead as the pillar of cloud guided them through the wilderness. But the bitter water at Marah had been a test to see if they would trust God. Their fear and frustration at finding the water to be undrinkable gave evidence that they didn’t trust God to provide for all their needs.

And their tendency to doubt God’s capacity to provide continued as they entered the wilderness of Sin. There they angrily vocalized their concern over their diminishing bread supply, and God had responded by providing “bread from heaven” (Exodus 16:4 ESV) along with a daily diet of quail. And that miracle was accompanied by a strict set of rules from God.

“This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. – Exodus 16:16-17 ESV

And the people were forbidden from hoarding any of the bread. God would provide exactly what they needed for each day – nothing more, nothing less. But on the sixth day, they were commanded to gather twice as much so that they would have enough for the seventh day, a day that God had deemed as “a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord” (Exodus 16:23 ESV).  But when that seventh day arrived, some of the people disobeyed God’s command and went out in search of manna, only to find that none was available. And God expressed His anger in no uncertain terms.

“How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” – Exodus 16:28-29 ESV

Not long after this, at a place called Rephidim, the people’s lack of faith got exposed again. Unable to find a source of water in this arid region, the Israelites expressed their dissatisfaction with Moses, even accusing him of trying to kill them. But God graciously intervened again, providing them with life-giving water from a rock.

Now, the people find themselves encamped at the base of a mountain in the middle of the Sinai wilderness. To them, this was just another mountain in the middle of nowhere. But for Moses, it was a return to a very familiar place and a reminder of the promise he had received from God. It was at this very spot that Moses had seen the burning bush and heard the voice of God. That divine encounter had been a game-changer for Moses, transforming him from a reclusive shepherd of sheep to God’s divine agent of deliverance. There, at Mount Sinai, Moses had received his commission to deliver the people of Israel from their captivity in Egypt and lead them to the land of promise. And God had assured Moses that he would one day return to that very spot with the people of Israel in tow.

“I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” – Exodus 3:12 ESV

Now that promise was being fulfilled. Upon their arrival at Sinai, the people set up camp at the base of the mountain, while Moses made his way to the top. He somehow knew that he had another divine appointment with God Almighty. And, as before, Moses heard the voice of God calling to him.

“Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.  And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.” – Exodus 19:3-6 NLT

God gave Moses a message for the people of Israel. He wanted them to understand the significance of what He had done for them. It was essential that they grasp the greatness of the gift they had received. Their deliverance had not been their own doing. The plagues that had come upon their captors were manifestations of God’s divine judgment. The people of Israel were now free people but they owed that freedom to God. And they also owed Him their allegiance and obedience.

God was preparing to set them apart as His kingdom of priests and a holy nation. But that lofty position came with conditions. Any hope they had of enjoying status as His special possession was tied directly to their willingness to live according to His will. This entire message from God is a conditional statement that communicates God’s uncompromising expectation of the people of Israel. The if-then nature of God’s message is meant to communicate that their special status as His chosen people will come with non-negotiable conditions.

God was setting the people of Israel apart. From this point forward, they would be distinctively different than all the other nations of the earth. They were to become God’s people, living according to God’s will and in keeping with His commands. God refers to them as “a holy nation.”

The word “holy” is קָדוֹשׁ (qāḏôš) in Hebrew, and it can mean “sacred, separate, or set apart.” God was letting the Israelites know that their deliverance from Egypt had a purpose. There was a reason why God had set them free and its significance was far greater than they currently realized. God had great things in store for them, but it was going to require that they embrace their distinctiveness and readily adopt God’s standards of behavior. Moral purity and conformity to His will would be mandatory.

Little did they know that God was about to give them His non-negotiable rules of conduct. They loved the idea of becoming a kingdom of priests and a holy nation but had no way of understanding the burden that would accompany that lofty status. So, when Moses returned from the mountaintop and delivered God’s message to the people, they eagerly and enthusiastically replied, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8 ESV).

What would happen next would be a game-changing moment for the people of Israel. Nothing they had witnessed up to this point had prepared them for what they were about to experience at Mount Sinai. The plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, manna, water from a rock, the defeat of the Amalekites – nothing would come close to the spectacle they were about to witness from their vantage point in the valley of Sinai. God was about to reveal Himself in all His terrifying and jaw-dropping glory. The familiar pillar of cloud that had led them through the wilderness was going to transform itself into a dense and foreboding storm cloud, accompanied by flashing lightning and loud thunder. God was about to make Himself known and it would be an unforgettable experience.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Lord Is My Banner

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8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and 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 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, while 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 going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” – Exodus 17:8-16 ESV

After miraculously providing water for His disgruntled and dissatisfied people at Rephidim, God followed that gracious act with a much more dangerous and deadly demonstration of His power that also served to validate Moses’ role as His chosen leader. To quench their thirst and assuage their anger, God ordered Moses to use his staff to strike “the rock” so that it gushed forth water. This blatant demonstration of divine authority, accomplished through God’s official spokesman, was intended to bolster Moses’ credibility and credentials among the people.

“Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” – Exodus 17:5-6 ESV

God allowed Moses to play a significant role in meeting the people’s need for water. It would have been just as easy for God to cause water to spring up from the dry ground, but He chose to deliver this miracle through Moses. And one of the lessons God wanted the Israelites to learn was that Moses was His personal representative. Moses spoke and acted on behalf of God. And by questioning the quality of Moses’ leadership, they were actually raising doubts about the reliability of Yahweh Himself. In a sense, their anger-filled rants against Moses were really a vocalization of their lack of faith in God.

…the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?” – Exodus 17:7 NLT

So, with the people’s thirst temporarily satisfied, God brought a new and even more demanding trial for the people to endure. This time, the problem wouldn’t be a lack of water or meat, but it would be an overabundance of enemies.

While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. – Exodus 17:8 NLT

The timing of this attack is impeccable and thoroughly ordained by God. The people had just satisfied their thirst with water from the rock when suddenly and as if out of nowhere, a force of Amalckite warriors descended upon them.

The Amalekites were a nomadic people who had descended from Esau, the son of Isaac and the twin brother of Jacob.

These are the descendants of Esau who became the leaders of various clans:

The descendants of Esau’s oldest son, Eliphaz, became the leaders of the clans of Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. – Genesis 36:15-16 NLT

These descendants of Esau were close relatives of Israelites who had settled in the southern region of Canaan, between the border of Egypt and Mount Sinai. During the Israelites’ 400-year sojourn in Egypt, the Amalekites had grown in number and considered the wilderness of Sin as their homeland. The scene of millions of Hebrew refugees setting up camp on their home turf must have alarmed the Amalekites. Water rights and pasture land would have been of great value in that arid part of the world. So, the Amalekites decided to give the Israelites ample reason to move on.  But rather than ordering the Israelites to run, Moses put together a battle plan, formed a makeshift army, and assigned a young man named Joshua to serve as commander. Then he gave this new general his strange-sounding strategy for achieving victory.

“Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.” – Exodus 17:9 NLT

The Israelites were shepherds, not warriors. None of them had any military training or battle experience. Yet, Moses was ordering them to go up against an Amalekite force comprised of seasoned and well-equipped warriors.

So, the next day, as Joshua led his rag-tag group of citizen soldiers into battle, Moses ascended a nearby hill in the company of Aaron and Hur. There on the mountaintop, Moses took the very same staff he had used to strike the rock and raised it above his head with both arms. The text states that, as long as he held the staff aloft, the Israelites were able to get the upper hand in the battle taking place in the valley below. But as time wore on, Moses’ arms grew weary, and as he lowered them to rest, the battle went in favor of the Amalekites. The key to victory over the Amalekites was directly tied to God’s chosen leader raising his staff over the enemies of Israel.

In the heat of the battle taking place in the valley, Joshua had no way of knowing what was happening on the mountaintop. One minute his forces gained the advantage, only to find themselves retreating in apparent defeat. It was a touch-and-go affair that could go either way.

But Moses’ two companions could see exactly what was going on and knew that they were going to have to intervene or the battle would end in tragedy. Moses was insufficient for the task. He had the heart and possessed the staff through which the power of God was displayed, but he lacked the stamina necessary to stay the course.

Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. – Exodus 17:12 NLT

The power of God was more than sufficient to meet the need. What was lacking was Moses’ ability to serve as the unwavering conduit through whom God’s power could flow unchecked. God’s chosen leader was well into his 80s when this battle took place and the physical demands on his elderly body proved to be too much. He understood that victory hinged on his ability to keep the staff aloft but he lacked the personal strength to do his part. That’s when Aaron and Hur stepped in. These two men immediately understood the role they were there to play.

First, they provided a stone on which Moses could rest. The exhausted octogenarian was completely worn out from the physical exertion and the emotional toll he suffered every time he lowered his arms and watched the battle turn against Joshua and his troops.

Next, they each stood alongside Moses, lifting his arms into the air and using their combined strength to serve as conduits of the power of God. The staff remained aloft, the power of God flowed, and the army of Israel won the day.

Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle. – Exodus 17:13 NLT

In the aftermath of this great victory, God ordered Moses to make a permanent record of this victory, along with a promise regarding the eventual destruction of the Amalekites.

“Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” – Exodus 17:14 NLT

God specifically told Moses to deliver this divine promise to Joshua. It was as if God was letting Joshua know that this battle was far from over. They had not destroyed the Amalekites but had simply defeated them in battle. That meant they would live to fight another day. But God wanted Joshua to know that he would lead one more battle against these enemies of Israel and, when that day came, Joshua would have the pleasure of wiping them off the face of the earth.

This promise would not take place until long after the Israelites had entered the land of Canaan and made it their own. Some forty years later, Moses would pull out his written record of God’s promise and read it to Joshua again.

Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this! – Deuteronomy 25:19 NLT

And at the scene of the battle, Moses erected another record of their decisive victory. He erected an altar and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”). This memorial or tribute to God’s faithfulness celebrated His sovereign role in Israel’s victory. Moses, Aaron, and Hur were simply instruments in God’s hands. Joshua and the men who fought alongside him, each served under the banner of the King of kings. They were the army of God Almighty. But the victory was God’s alone.

And Moses recognized that the Amalekites would pay dearly for their decision to stand against the God of the universe. Their assault on the Israelites was a direct attack on the sovereignty of Yahweh, the ruler of heaven and earth. And God would hold the Amalekites accountable for their actions.

“They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.” – Exodus 17:16 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Doubting God’s Presence

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1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And 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 grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” – Exodus 17:1-7 ESV

Since leaving Egypt, the Israelites have displayed a clear pattern of behavior when encountering what they believe to be unexpected and undesirable difficulties. As soon as things take a perceived turn for the worse, they express their disapproval to Moses and Aaron. At Marah, they discovered that the water was undrinkable, so they took their dissatisfaction with the situation to the two brothers.

So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” – Exodus 15:24 NLT

Rather than reprimand them for their mistreatment of His appointed leaders, God miraculously transformed the bitter water of Marah into fresh drinking water. But He also gave them a warning about their ongoing behavior. He demanded that they begin to do what is right and obey His commands or they could find themselves suffering some of the same plagues that befell the Egyptians. His constant care for them came with conditions.

Not long after that event, as the people made their way through the desolate wilderness of Sin, their supply of unleavened bread ran out, and their growing hunger caused them to lash out in frustration yet again.

The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 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 pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!” – Exodus 16:2-3 NLT

Once again, God intervened and performed yet another miracle. He provided them with quail each evening and a bread-like substance every morning that would supply all their nutritional requirements for the rest of their journey. But just days later, when the people arrived at a place called Rephidim, they found another reason to complain. There was no water. It seems that the water they had gathered at Marah had run out and now Moses and Aaron had led them to yet another desolate and dry spot that provided no hope of quenching their thirst. So…

…the people were very thirsty there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world did you bring us up from Egypt—to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” – Exodus 17:3 NLT

In each successive encounter, their complaints become increasingly darker and more desperate. Their inflammatory rhetoric reflects their growing disillusionment with the entire enterprise. They expressed their regret of having ever left Egypt and accused Moses and Aaron of leading them on a virtual death march into the God-forsaken wilderness.

The further they got from Egypt and the closer they got to Canaan, they began to second-guess the leadership of Moses and the reliability of Yahweh. Despite all that God had done for them, they questioned the very nature of His “deliverance” by declaring it to be headed to certain failure. In their minds, each difficulty they faced provided further evidence that this problem-plagued trip to the promised land had been a huge mistake.

Driven by thirst and fear, they accused Moses of trying to kill them. Their deliverer had become their executioner. But what they failed to understand was that Moses was simply following directions. He was being guided by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. These manifestations of God’s presence were always with them and had been guiding them all along the way. Their arrival in Marah had not been a mistake. God had led them to a place where the water was undrinkable. He had known all along that their bread would eventually run out and their hunger would cause them to question His goodness.

God was not lost. He had not become disoriented in the trackless wilderness of Sin. He knew exactly where He was going and what He was doing. He was testing His people to see if they would trust Him. He was placing them in situations that were designed to expose their doubts and fears. And here at Rephidim, He provided them with yet another test of their confidence in Him. There was no water. But the pillar of cloud remained at the head of their column. As they made camp, the divine presence of God was visible for all to see. He had not left them or forsaken them.

But the people had their doubts. They could not understand why this God of Moses and Aaron would allow them to suffer. If this Yahweh was so powerful and great and if He truly was with them, why did they keep ending up in less-than-satisfactory situations? Did He not know that Rephadim had no water source? But rather than take their questions and concerns to God, they turned on Moses and Aaron, and their anger was so intense that Moses feared for his life.

“What will I do with this people?—a little more and they will stone me!” – Exodus 17:4 NLT

But, once again, God intervened. He gave Moses the following instructions:

“Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” – Exodus 17:5-6 NLT

God could have acted on His own, but He chose to use His servant Moses as the means of addressing their perceived problem. As the elders looked on, the pillar of cloud moved from the camp and repositioned itself above a particular rock. In a desert filled with rocks, this relocation of God’s divine presence provided Moses with a clear indication as to which rock he was to strike. Not just any rock would do. In fact, God clearly indicates that His presence will reside over “the rock” in Horeb.

This rock had already been set apart by God as the source of their sustenance. He had known all along that Rephidim would be an arid region devoid of water. But “the rock” was already in place and ready to deliver what the people needed. So, when Moses obeyed the command of the Lord and struck the rock, water poured from it in a steady stream. That ordinary-looking rock became a source of life-giving refreshment in the midst of a barren wilderness. And it became a symbol of God’s salvation that, centuries later, the apostle Paul would use as a foreshadowing of Jesus

I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. – 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 NLT

This divine deliverance would be repeated multiple times during the peoples’ wilderness journey. God delivering water from a rock would become a symbol of His providential care and life-sustaining power. Even in the midst of a waterless desert, God could provide salvation from the most unlikely of sources. But would the people trust Him? Would they stop judging His character based on the nature of their surroundings?

God knew that the real problem with the people was not a lack of water, but a lack of trust. Despite the pillar of cloud, the manna and quail, and the miracle at Marah, the Israelites continued to doubt the presence of God.

…they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” – Exodus 17:7 ESV

And to commemorate this place of testing, Moses gave it two different names: Massah and Meribah. Massah means “place of testing” and Meribah means “place of murmuring or discontentment.” It was a place of testing because the people tested the patience of God. But it was also a place where God tested the faith of His people and, sadly, they failed. Rather than recalling God’s past provision in times of difficulty, they murmured and complained. Instead of trusting in God’s proven ability to provide for all their needs, they allowed present circumstances to raise doubts about His power and presence.

Reluctantly and rather slowly, they were learning to trust in God. He was sufficient to supply all their needs. There was no circumstance too dire, no enemy too great, or difficulty too large that God could not overcome. But that lesson would take years for the Israelites to learn.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Food for Thought

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1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of 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 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At 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 grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And 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 of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. – Exodus 16:1-18 ESV

In the wilderness of Shur, God had answered the Israelites’ bitter discontentment over their lack of water by graciously and miraculously transforming the bitter water of Marah into a safe and plentiful source of refreshment. In doing so, He had proven His ability to care for any and all of their needs. They had been given a powerful lesson in the providential provision of their God, but it had come with a condition.

“If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” – Exodus 15:26 ESV

In return for God’s gracious provision, the Israelites were expected to “do that which is right in his eyes.” God was demanding that they live in obedience to His revealed will. Up to this point, He had not articulated any of His commandments or statutes, but that day was quickly coming. As they made their way to the land of Canaan, the Lord would begin to reveal His will for them, and these incidents in the wilderness were designed to test their readiness to hear and obey what He had to say. The Hebrew word יָשָׁר (yāšār) can be translated as “right” or “pleasing, correct, proper, or upright.” It conveys the idea of doing that which is righteous in the eyes of God.

God described Himself as their “healer” or physician. He was the only one who could restore them to full spiritual health. The Hebrew word רָפָא (rāp̄ā’) was used to describe one who makes another whole or complete. God was in the process of transforming His spiritually deficient people into a nation of committed followers who would live in obedience to His sovereign will for them.

And He repeatedly showered them with undeserved grace and mercy in order to prove His love for them. In fact, when they left Marah and headed toward the wilderness of Sin, He led them to a place called Elim, “where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water” (Exodus 15:27 ESV). Had they only trusted God and followed His leading, they would have arrived at Elim and found an ample source of water to meet their needs. The events at Marah would never have had to happen. But this was all part of the learning process they would have to go through as they made their way to Canaan. God was testing the degree of their faithfulness and assessing the level of their commitment to live according to His will.

So, as they made their way south, they eventually arrived at the wilderness of Sin, which Moses describes as lying “between Elim and Sinai” (Exodus 16:1 ESV). This point of reference will become important as the story unfolds because it will be at Sinai that the people receive the full complement of God’s law. But before they ever reach the base of Mount Sinai, they will have to answer for their less-than-righteous response to the situation in Sin.

For the third time since leaving Egypt, the Israelites will reveal their propensity for vocalizing their dissatisfaction. After completing the long and difficult journey from Shur to Sin, the people find another reason to complain.

…the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. – Exodus 16:2 ESV

This time, their complaint had to do with their lack of food. After nearly two months of traveling through some rather inhospitable places, the unleavened bread the people had brought with them from Egypt must have run out. This basic staple to their diet was essential for their survival and they began to worry that they were going to starve to death in the wilderness. Their overly dramatic portrayal of their circumstances conveys the degree of their concern and their lack of faith in God.

“If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!” – Exodus 16:3 NLT

This melodramatic outburst from the people did not phase God. He simply responded by telling Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them” (Exodus 16:4 NLT).

He had heard their complaint and He was going to address it in a miraculous way. But the key would be whether they were willing to obey the conditions that came with His provision. He was going to graciously “rain bread from heaven” so that they would have more than enough to eat each day. But would they do the right thing and follow God’s commands? Would their greed get the best of them? Whether they realized it or not, this was a divine test of their faith and faithfulness.

Moses gathered the people together and informed them of God’s plan to meet their perceived problem. Moses also let them know that their grumbling, while directed at him and Aaron, had really been an expression of dissatisfaction with God.

“…the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” – Exodus 16:8 ESV

The people had a bad habit of shooting the messenger. But Moses wanted them to understand that God took their complaints seriously personally. They were a blatant display of disrespect for the very one who had delivered them from their captivity in Egypt.

As Moses and Aaron addressed the people, God appeared before them in the pillar of cloud. Somehow, God manifested His presence in a visual and audible way. Perhaps the people saw flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder emanating from the cloud. But whatever the case, they knew that God was near. And from the cloud, Moses heard God say, “During the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God’” (Exodus 16:12 NLT).

God had decided to address their need by providing two different sources of sustenance. First, He would provide them with meat in the form of quail that would appear every evening in such vast quantities that the Israelites could catch as many as they wanted. Then, in the morning, God would cause a bread-like substance to appear on the ground. This would happen every day for six days, and the people were told to “Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent” (Exodus 16:16 ESV). And Moses makes it clear that if the people followed God’s instructions, no one would go without.

Once again, God proved Himself to be their faithful provider. He could and would meet all their needs, but He demanded that they trust and obey Him.  He wanted them to replace their complaints with willing compliance to His will. He would provide for them. He would graciously sustain them. They would never face a need that He could not meet. But His provision must be accompanied by their adherence to His commands. They were going to learn to do things His way or suffer the consequences. Providing His people with bread and meat was no problem for God. But convincing His people to comply with His commands was going to be another matter altogether.

Moses would later remind the Israelites of the lesson found in the miracle of the manna.

“Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” – Deuteronomy 8:3 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.