Devotions: Exodus 15:22-18

Today I decided to read that I forgot about in the Bible, trying to fill in the gaps so I'd get the bigger picture. I looked through an outline in Exodus, and decided to read chapters 15 to 18, which is about Israel complaining and Jethro giving Moses advice.

15:22-27 is about Israel lacking drinking water. I think that a person could only last about three days max without water. In v.22, it said they went three days with no water. They went to a place called Marah, but the water wasn't good for drinking. If I was an Israelite at that time, I'd be pissed off, or rather dying of thirst. I'd be mad at Moses for taking me out of Egypt where there was plenty of drinking water, only to die in the wilderness. But because the Israelites were complaining, God provided, telling Moses to...cast a tree into the water to make it sweet? The most important part of this passage is that they eventually came to a place called Elim, which had all the water that they needed. So if the Israelites DID trust in God to provide, they would have drank at Elim.

Chapter 16 was Israel complaining about food. Yum. God provided by...raining down Manna, or bread, from the heavens during the mornings, and also providing quail in the evenings. V.6-8 shows that Moses and Aaron agree that they're nothing. They told Israel, "Who are we, that you complain against us?" Israel is not complaining against them, but against the LORD Himself. In v.27-30, some people tried to gather some Manna during the Sabbath, just to find nothing. This disobedience led the LORD tell Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?" So not only did those few people become responsible for their disobedience, but Israel corporately had the blame.

Chapter 17 was about water again. The LORD told Moses to strike a rock, that water may come out of it. The rest of the chapter is about Moses defeating te Amalekites. The Israelites prevailed when Moses took his rod and held up his hands.

Chapter 18 is about Jethro's advice to Moses. It's very practical. Basically Moses told Jethro about what has been happening, that whenever Israel was in a struggle, they came to him for guidance. Jethro said that it would eventually be too burdensome, and suggested that Moses should find able men with qualities such as these: fear God, men of truth, hates coventousness. These men were to lead groups of people, from tens of people to thousands of people. So basically, instead of millions of people going to Moses for advice, the burden would be separated toward these new leaders.

Thoughts: Did you know that Manna means "What?" The Israelites didn't know what it was, so they just called it...what?