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Exodus 15. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses and the people sang a song of deliverance: “ Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea .
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After crossing the Red Sea, Moses and the people sang a song of deliverance: “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him” (Exodus 15:1-2).
Immediately following the crossing of the sea and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army, the Bible says, “. . . and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses” (Exodus 14:31). But now three whole days have passed and another emergency is at hand. What will they do now?
They went out into the wilderness three days and finally came upon water. But the water was too bitter to drink. Their response was to murmur against Moses. The Hebrew word for murmur is “luwn” and means literally to stop. In this case it means to be obstinate and complain.
The reason Moses was the leader of this people is shown by the reaction to situations they faced. The people murmured against Moses and he cried unto the Lord. The Bible says the Lord showed Moses a tree.
The people moved from Marah to Elim where there were twelve wells of water (twelve tribes of Israel) and seventy palm trees.
When they got to the Wilderness of Sin the people murmured against Moses and Aaron. Again, the people had a reason to be disturbed; they were thirsty at Marah and now they were hungry. It was getting to be one thing right after another. They looked back to Egypt and remembered the food they had there.
Moses told the people they were complaining against him and Aaron but their murmurings were against the Lord (vs. 8). Still God gave the people bread from heaven to eat. Part of the reason for this blessing is that it was another test for the people, “. . . that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no” (vs. 4).
The first test was—they were to gather a certain rate every day. All the people had enough to eat that day, “. . . he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating” (vs. 18).
As with all the other miracles, some try to explain this as some natural things that grow in that part of the wilderness. This was a miracle because: • There was enough of this to feed some two million people that were traveling in close quarters. • The manna didn’t appear until the day after Moses and Aaron said it would. Then it lasted forty years until the people reached the border of Canaan. • Every sixth day there was twice as much as normal and then none appeared the next day. • If it was kept until the next day, the manna bred worms except the portion gathered on the sixth day.
The instructions were given to the people: 16:19 “And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.” Some of the people disobeyed. The reason—they didn’t believe the word of the Lord
Some of the people failed the first test, so the second test was—they were to gather twice as much on the sixth day and none on the seventh day. Moses plainly told the people, “Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none” (vs. 26).
And yet, “And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none” (vs. 27). The Lord said, “How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?” (vs. 28). In this case the disobedience was its own punishment.
The people journeyed out of the wilderness of Sin and went to Rephidim according to the commandment of the Lord (vs. 1) but had no water to drink. This shows we can be completely in the will of the Lord and still be having problems. The key is how we handle the situations when they appear.
Their question at this time was, “Is the Lord among us, or not” (vs. 7). They seemed to be thinking that if the Lord was with them it was His job to see their lives ran perfectly without any trials or glitches along the way. That is not too far removed from what some health & wealth ministers are preaching today.
Two main points of this lesson: First, this was the fourth time the Israelites had spoken out against Moses. At the Red Sea At Marah In the Wilderness of Sin Moses got angry at them once but most of the time his first reaction was to call on the Lord.
How did Moses find the patience to deal with these people? He knew these attacks on him were unfair but he also knew God had called him to lead the people. Leaders often have to guide the people while under pressure from those very people.
In this case, he was told to “Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel” (vs. 5). He was to go on following the Lord and to take help with him.
Second point: The time Israel spent in the wilderness was an example for us to learn from, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:10-11).
Hebrews 3:8-12, “Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”
The departing, or falling away, from God is not a purposeful act; but rather, the result of a heart of unbelief. The people of that time constantly tempted the Lord even though they saw His works for forty years. Still they had a heart of unbelief.
We wonder how could you see God’s visible mercy everyday and still not believe. The things we see sometimes lose their value, they become common to us. That is why we walk by faith and not by sight.
