The trip to Sinai starts off with the complaining continuing. We saw the theme of grumbling before the salvation in the Sea of Reeds/Extinction and here we see it again. It is important that it is directed at God and His anointed (Moses) because you will see the same thing happened to His anointed one (Jesus). It all began back when Moses killed the Egyptian and tried to break up a fight amongst the Hebrews. But that grumbling response of the Hebrews was in stark contrast to the reception that Moses had from Jethro's daughters when he saved them (Exodus 2:11-20). In this section we will see Jethro again. This time his reception is in contrast to the grumbling nation of Israel but even more in contrast to the Amalekites. Amalek was the son of Esau's concubine (see our discussion of Genesis 36:12).

The verse after the Song of Miriam mentions that Israel had gone for three days without water in the desert (Exo 15:22). When they finally found water it was bitter (Exo 15:23). So the people grumbled against Moses (Exo 15:24). God turned the bitter water into sweet water. God had Moses throw a log into the water and then the water became sweet (Exo 15:25). This is a picture of the gospel movement from death to life. It is the movement from diseased to healed. The LORD tested them (Exo 15:25). He tells them that if they listen to Him (literally 'listen to the voice of,' which is an idiom for obey) then he will not visit them with the diseases he brought on Egypt (Exo 15:26). Thus if they disobey the plagues will fall upon Israel. This eventually happened and ultimately happened for Christ.

To summarize -- grumbling about water, God tested them.

Then theme of grumbling continues as the word tells us, "And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness" and they accused Moses and Aaron of bringing them into the wilderness to starve when they were full back in Egypt (Exo 16:2-3). They have a selective memory.

And the LORD tested them to see "if they will walk in [His] law or not" with "bread from heaven" (Exo 16:4). On the sixth day they got a double portion but the first five days of the week they would get a day's portion. Since they have accused Moses and Aaron of brining them into the wilderness to starve, Moses tells them that this bread from heaven will show that the LORD brought them out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Moses tells them that they have been grumbling against the LORD. He says, "For what are we, that you grumble against us?" (Exo 16:7). Meat in the evening and bread in the morning will show them that grumbling against Moses and Aaron is really grumbling against the LORD (Exo 16:8). And they got quail in the evening and bread from heaven in the morning. They called the bread from heaven "manna" meaning, "What is it?" because they did not know what it was (Exo 16:15).

The manna was a test because when they tried to keep some left overs they bred worms and stank (Exo 16:20). God was training them to trust Him for their daily bread. And the double portion on the sixth day did keep for the seventh day without going bad so that they could keep Sabbath. It is instructive that they were required to keep Sabbath before the giving of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments was a summary of the law from creation. But that first Sabbath after the Exodus Event they went and tried to gather manna and the LORD said, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?" (Exo 16:28). It is significant that the manna tasted sweet like wafers made with honey because the Promised Land was a land flowing with milk and honey. Thus the manna was a reminder to them of where they were going and of God turning the bitter water sweet. And they kept some manna as a reminder to all generations.

To summarize -- grumbling about food (complaint that they were brought into the wilderness to starve), God tested them.

The next chapter begins with the same grumbling: "the people quarreled with Moses" about water to drink (Exo 17:2). And they again accused him of bringing them into the wilderness to kill them -- this time with thirst. Moses asks them "Why do you test the LORD?" (Exo 17:2). Here Moses brings water from the rock by striking the rock where the LORD was standing.

To summarize -- grumbling about water again (complaint that they were brought into the wilderness to die of thirst), Israel tested God (Exo 17:2 and 17:7).

This is something we see in the gospels as Satan and then the elders and chief priests, etc., all tested Jesus. It is instructive that Moses notes that the people are ready to stone him (Exo 17:4). And because the wilderness wandering began and ended with water coming from a rock (see Numbers) the tradition arose that the rock followed them in the wilderness. Paul tells us, "the Rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:4). This is not a stretch since we call God our Rock all of the time. Paul says that these examples were written down for us "for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come" (1 Cor 10:11). The lesson is that we should not grumble in our wilderness wandering but know "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Cor 10:13). And this Paul ties into idolatry and the Lord's Supper. We are in the wilderness with one big difference -- we are not under God's wrath (compare Psalm 95 and the quote of Psalm 95:7ff in Hebrews 3:7ff).

The other part of this section shows us the contrast between the Amalekites and Jethro. In Exo 17:8, the Amalekites came and attacked but in Exo 18:5-7 Jethro comes and greets. In both Exo 17:9 and 18:25 men are chosen for a specific task. In Exo 17:12, Moses sits on a stone and in Exo 18:13 he sits to judge. Both activities are said to commence on the next day and last all day until evening (Exo 17:12; 18:13-14). And in both Exo 17:12 and 18:18 Moses is said to be tired, with help provided in each instance. See Enns commentary, 367).

The judgment of the LORD on the Amalekites is a total ban -- "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" (Exo 17:14). See our comments on Genesis 36:12. Jethro blessed the LORD and showed that he had learned the lesson of the plagues and Exodus event saying, "Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods" (Exo 18:11).

At this point Moses had to tell the people the law of God and how it applied to particular situations, he was deciding every case brought before him and Jethro saw that he would get burnt out quickly. So Jethro wisely suggested this: "warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do" and then appoint judges (who "hate a bribe") to decide the easier cases (Exo 18:20-21). This is the climax of the transition to the giving of the law before they arrive at Sinai. The theme of testing Israel has carried the idea throughout this section.

Labels: amalekites, exodus, grumbling, jethro, law, manna, plagues, salvation

The plagues and the Exodus Event demonstrate the omnipotence of the true God over the people, livestock, and gods of Egypt. The LORD says, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD" (Exo 12:12). And God establishes a statute or ordinance -- the Passover meal. It will be one of the ordinary means of God's grace and salvation until the Passover lamb is slain on the cross. The Gospel of John even understands the fact that the instruction, "do not break any of the bones" (Exo 12:46) with Psalm 34:20 as the reason Christ did not have any bones broken (cf. John 19:36). It is this Passover lamb, who says, this is my body; this is my blood. Thus the Lord's Supper, derived from the Passover meal, is one of the ordinary means of God's grace and salvation today.

And we have an early example of catechizing children: "And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses'" (Exo 12:26-27). And concerning the feast of unleavened bread, it says, "You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt'" (Exo 13:8). This is something that also should continue today as the Lord Christ taught us to teach them to observe everything that he commanded (see Matt 28:20, Great Commission). Baptism being mentioned in the previous verse, what they are to observe especially includes the Lord's Supper. See Flavel's defense of catechizing in my first quotes of Flavel's Exposition of the Assemblies Catechism on this page.

We also see a glimpse of language that will be elaborated in the Shema (Deut 6:4-9) "And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt" (Exo 13:9). The catechizing continues, "And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem'" (Exo 13:14-15). And the next verse continues the Shema-like language (Exo 13:16).

This Exodus account is very much a continuation of the narrative of Genesis and we see this in the comments fulfilling prophecies of Genesis. In particular, Genesis 15:13-16 says that the people will be "in a land that is not theirs and will be servants [we could say slaves] there" 400 years and come out with great possessions. Then we see Israel plunder Egypt (Exo 12:36) and it is noted that they had lived in Egypt for 430 years (Exo 12:40). And, as in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit hovered over them like He did the waters at creation in the form of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exo 13:21-22, 14:24). And then we have the parting of the waters by the wind/Spirit to give way to dry land, also just as in Genesis 1:7-9. Israel is born (they even change their calendar to reflect this new creation (Exo 12:2). And thus how beautiful is the description, "Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses" (Exo 14:31).

And then we see the Song of Moses, which then Miriam takes up (the repetition of the first line implying that she led the people in singing the whole song too). She led the song, played the tambourine, and all the women danced. This is an interesting example of a prophetess leading worship and proclaiming the good news of salvation in the LORD. Anything that can be said, can be sung, and vice versa. This song was a type of proclamation -- a sermon in verse. And the lesson, fitting what we have said of the purpose of the plagues and the exodus event, is "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?" (Exo 15:11). And the song foreshadows what will come to pass in the days (and unfortunately years) ahead, as it talks of the inhabitants of Canaan having melted away when they heard.

The principle of the firstborn in the exodus event is most critical in understanding how Jesus' death can cover our sins. It is worth saying that faith in God the Father and in his servant the Lord Christ is the Spirit wrought response of the one who is born again and that this application of salvation depends on the accomplishment of salvation in the death and resurrection of Christ as the firstborn of his people. And that given this accomplishment and application of salvation we too should have our tongues loosed (not because we are drunk, but because of the Spirit) to sing many new songs.

Though things end well, it is ominous that right before the Exodus event the people expressed such unbelief and grumbling saying, "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness" (Exo 14:12). And Moses tells the people, to best translate the verse, to "Shut up" (Exo 14:14). This foreshadows the rest of the story of the Torah, beginning with the verses immediately following this section (Exo 15:22ff). And is in stark contrast to Jesus who remained silent when accused by the chief priests and elders of Israel rather than complaining.

Labels: catechizing, exodus, feast of unleavened bread, Genesis 1, grumbling, Lord's Supper, miriam, moses, new songs, ordinary means of grace, passover, women