Exodus 15:22-27
Summary for Exod 15:22-17:7: 15:22–18:27 a On the journey from the sea to Sinai, God continued his providential care for the people’s needs. In the events of rescue, he primarily revealed his power. Here he revealed that he cares about his people’s basic needs.Summary for Exod 15:22-27: 15:22-27 b First at Marah and then at Elim, God provided water for the people.
• The precise location of the desert of Shur (15:22 c) is unknown.
15:23 d The water was probably heavily alkaline, as is typical in the Sinai Desert.
15:24 e Instead of reflecting on the lessons of faith so recently experienced, the people lost heart and began to complain, as we often do under adverse circumstances. If this complaining becomes a pattern, disaster can befall us in the ultimate test, as it did the Israelites (see Num 14 f; Ps 95:7-11 g; Heb 3:7-11 h).
15:25 i See 2 Kgs 2:19-22 j for a similar incident.
15:26 k The connection between obedience to God’s commands and health is not arbitrary. God made the body, and our bodies will last longer if we follow the Creator’s guidelines. Since this statement was made in the context of a need for water, it might indicate that the Egyptians had been drinking polluted water.
Exodus 16
Summary for Exod 16:1-36: 16:1-36 l God demonstrated care for his people by providing manna and quail as food for them.16:2 m complained: The people were developing a pattern of faithlessness manifested in complaining.
16:3 n all the bread we wanted: The Israelites had been oppressed slaves in Egypt! One of the great dangers of complaining is that it blinds us to reality. Faith is grateful for what is, and believes the best is yet to come. Complaining focuses on what is wrong with the present and glorifies an unreal past.
Summary for Exod 16:4-5: 16:4-5 o These are the Lord’s instructions for gathering the food that he would provide in the wilderness. Enough was provided for each day, with a double amount provided on the sixth day so that the people would not have to gather any on the Sabbath (see 16:21-30 p). The Israelites thus observed the Sabbath even before it was codified in the Decalogue. We instinctively resist a style of life in which it is necessary to depend on God each day to supply our needs. We wish to have supplies in advance so that we can feel independent. God was training the people for a life of faith (cp. Matt 6:11 q).
16:7 r The Hebrew word translated glory connotes weightiness, substance, and reality. It is not the flimsy, ephemeral quality we often associate with the English term glory. It is more the idea of royal grandeur.
16:15 s The Hebrew man hu’ (What is it?) came to be the name of the miraculous food (“manna,” see 16:31 t). For forty years, the people ate what is it? Jesus referred to himself as the fulfillment of the meaning of this miracle. He was the “true bread from heaven” that gives life (John 6:32-35 u, 48 v, 51 w, 63 x).
Summary for Exod 16:19-20: 16:19-20 y Regarding these instructions, see study note on 16:4-5.
Summary for Exod 16:21-30: 16:21-30 z Although the Sabbath was a day set apart for the Lord (16:23 aa), it was also the Lord’s gift to his people (16:29 ab). Rest and worship are not meant to be an obligation, but a privilege. However, given the human determination to meet our needs in our own way, rest and worship are given as commands (16:28 ac).
Summary for Exod 16:32-36: 16:32-36 ad The container of manna was to be preserved as a reminder of God’s providential care for his people. He is powerful and deeply caring. Not only can he supply our needs, he wants to do so.
16:35 ae until they arrived at the land: God’s care for us is normally demonstrated in ordinary ways, as it would usually be for Israel after they arrived in Canaan (see Josh 5:10-12 af). That care is just as real as when it comes in extraordinary ways, as it did while Israel was in the wilderness.
Exodus 17
17:1 ag from place to place: With a large and diverse group, travel was undoubtedly slow and arduous. It is also possible that God was using this time to demonstrate his care by miraculously providing for their needs before bringing them to Mount Sinai and offering his covenant to them.17:2 ah testing the Lord is explained in 17:7 ai. They doubted that God was really with them or cared for them, and they demanded that he prove his presence and care. God invites a test based on faith (“I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief,” Mark 9:24 aj), but he abhors a test based on doubt (i.e., I don’t believe, and I think God should prove himself to me, as in John 6:30 ak). The test based on doubt makes us the judge and God the defendant.
17:3 al Regarding a similar complaint, see study note on 16:3.
17:6 am Mount Sinai: See study note on 3:1.
• water gushed out: Note the similar provision in Num 20:11 an (see also Ps 78:15-16 ao; 105:41 ap; 114:8 aq; Isa 48:21 ar).
Summary for Exod 17:8-16: 17:8-16 as Israel was enabled to defeat the Amalekites only by God’s blessing and providential care. 17:8 at Amalek was Esau’s grandson (Gen 36:11-12 au). His descendants were nomadic, though loosely based in the land of Edom. They seem to have supported themselves by raiding more settled peoples.
Summary for Exod 17:9-13: 17:9-13 av This victory was a gift from God, as the description here makes clear. The determining factor was God’s blessing, as indicated by Moses’ upraised hands. This principle was illustrated again and again in the conquest of the land of Canaan. Without God’s blessing, Israel could do nothing (see Num 14:42-45 aw; Josh 7:10-12 ax). 17:9 ay Joshua was Moses’ trusted assistant (33:11 az) who would eventually become his successor (Deut 31:7-8 ba). This early experience was important training for leading the people later in the conquest of the land. The Hebrew name Joshua, which means “savior,” is equivalent to the Greek name Jesus (see also study note on Heb 4:8).
Summary for Exod 17:14-16: 17:14-16 bb By their unprovoked attack on the people through whom God was extending his blessing, the Amalekites incurred the unending wrath of God. God’s hand can be extended in blessing, or it can be extended in curse. Those who reject the hand of blessing experience the curse (see 1 Sam 15 bc).
17:15 bd This banner was a battle flag. In Isa 5:26 be, God lifted up a banner to call the nations to war against Israel. In Isa 11:10 bf, 12 bg, the Messiah would be the banner calling the nations to bring his people home.
17:16 bh They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now: The NLT sees the fist raised against the Lord’s throne as Amalek’s aggression against the Lord and his people. The alternate interpretation sees a reference to Moses’ own hands that were lifted to the Lord in prayer (17:15 bi).
Exodus 18
Summary for Exod 18:1-12: 18:1-12 bj Moses had apparently sent his wife and children back from Egypt at some point to stay with his father-in-law. In the intense confrontation with Pharaoh, Moses might have been afraid for their lives. Jethro now came to meet Moses and the Israelites, bringing Moses’ family with him (18:2-6 bk). In the context of the visit, Moses gave him a report, and Jethro was brought to faith through the testimony of the Lord’s work.18:7 bl bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other’s welfare: These were all typical customs of greeting in that society.
Summary for Exod 18:13-27: 18:13-27 bm Jethro’s wise advice is a further example of God’s providence, although it was not given in a miraculous way. Jethro introduced Moses to a style of leadership that involved delegation of authority. It appears that Moses had been following an Egyptian style of leadership that was heavily hierarchical and based on circumstances. No Egyptian law code has yet been discovered. It appears that all authority flowed downward from the pharaoh, who ruled by fiat. Jethro proposed a structure of delegation that would make Moses’ life easier.
Summary for Exod 18:13-16: 18:13-16 bn Moses had set himself up in place of Pharaoh, making himself indispensable to the people.
Summary for Exod 18:17-18: 18:17-18 bo Such a leader-centered approach is not good for either the leader or the people (see also 18:23 bp).
Summary for Exod 18:19-22: 18:19-22 bq Moses needed to distinguish between his teaching function, in which he received and declared God’s decrees and instructions (18:19-20 br), and his administrative function, in which he applied all of those decrees and instructions (18:21-22 bs).
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