Exodus 16-18

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Chapter 16: Let’s look at where we are:

1.  We left Goshen
2. Succoth- where the Lord began leading with a cloud by day and fire by night,
3. Pi-Hahiroth-where God parted the Red sea
4. Marah- meaning bitter, this is where God changed the water from bitter.
5. Elim-12 springs and 70 palm trees
6. The wilderness of Sin-God provided their daily needs.

The Lord is leading us the long way to the promised land for a reason.  🙂

Manna- means “what is this”.  I KNOW you can all slip this into your day…when my students hand in a paper today without their name on it I am going to yell MANNA!!

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

The LORD will give a small commandment and test people to see if they will follow.  (I am not your Holy Spirit, I am just my husband’s,  but I am sure the Lord will speak to you personally in today’s read)

Manna is Israels’ food for their journey.

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³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.

Jesus is the only food for our journey towards our promised rest. (trying to keep this post short for anyone catching up, so moving on…but feel free to dig a little on this)

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Chapter 17-  This is kind of a big chapter for me and you will see why when we get to Numbers 20.   I will explain in Numbers. But the area they are in has an enormous amount of limestone that holds pockets of water.  The Lord gives specific instructions SO THAT the people will recognize that the water being provided is from the Lord, not Moses.  If you have a notepad write down the instructions and tuck them in your Bible for later.

Anyway, look back to your map up top: Rephidim.  Was it just me or were you reading and thinking…did I miss a page?  All of a sudden we went from a picnic with manna and water to someone named Joshua and an attack.

Amalekites: Flip back to Genesis 36:12.  I am sure you did not skim this page at all.  Oh, you did skim?  Ok, I will give you a visual then:

Amalek is the grandson of Esau!

Oh my stars!  The Amalekites will be a thorn in Israel’s side often but eventually, God will wipe them off the map as promised.

Who fought the battle?  The Lord did.  The reason for the this tactic of holding up his arms…letting them fall a little…was to show the Israelites that they had God as a Deliverer, a Provider, and now as his Warrior.

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Joshua.  Suddenly we see this name and we know he must be pretty important if a book is going to be named after him.  Joshua is Moses’ assistant.  God takes this opportunity to show Joshua that without the Lord (represented by the staff), you can do nothing without Him.  Joshua is going to need this lesson because what he does not know yet is he will be the one to bring the Israelites to the promised land.  Only 2 adults live to tell the tale of being in slavery and being an eyewitness to the Promised Land!!   The only battles that will be won in the Bible and in our lives are the ones that Jesus is fighting for us.

I urge you to seek application to your own life.  The battles will be won by the Lord.  We must be dependent on him for our needs (manna and water) as well as, the battles we face. The people in our lives merely support the mission by holding up God (the staff) in front of us.  Did the staff actually strike the enemies down or the trust and faith of it?  When the battle is won an altar was made and named JEHOVAH NISSI “The Lord is my Banner”. Do a little digging today and tell me what that means?

Chapter 18: Back in Chapter 17:14 we see here the first reference to “writing the Bible”.  In 18:20 “Teach them the decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave”.  The Lord has begun setting up future events where Judges will be called up for His purpose and Glory.

So if you want to do some extra digging:  What were the tribes of Joshua and Hur (not the same), and why is it significant to the coming of Christ?  What are the Hebrew names for cities?  Where did Jethro reside that made his proclamation to only One God a big deal? What does the name Joshua mean in Hebrew,  and how is he a typology?  My precious husband tells me the blogs are too long so I leave you here.