When God Teaches His People To Obey (Exodus 16:1-33) Series

Let's start today by rereading last week's little passage, Exodus 15:22-27:

(22) And Moses led Israel from the Sea of Reeds,

and they went out to the wilderness of Shur,

and they walked three days in the wilderness,

and they didn't find water,

(23) and they came to Marah/Bitter,

and they weren't able to drink water from Marah/Bitter

because bitter, it was.

For this reason its name is called "Bitter,"

(24) and the people murmured/grumbled concerning Moses, saying,

"What shall we drink?,"

(25) and he cried out to Yahweh,

and Yahweh showed him a tree/branch,

and he threw it to the waters,

and the waters sweetened.

There He made for them a rule and a judgment,

and there he tested him/them,

(26) and He said,

"If you actually heed the voice of Yahweh your God/Elohim,

while what is upright in his eyes, you do,

and you respond appropriately (DBL #3) to his commandments,

and you keep all of his rules, all the sickness that I placed on the Egyptians, I will not place upon you,

because I [am] Yahweh-- The One Healing you,"

(27) and they came to Elim,

and there [there are] twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees,

and they camped there upon the waters.

The thing that stands out the most in this passage, is Yahweh's testing of Israel. Yahweh wants to know if the people will obey him, or not. And the way God finds the answer to that, throughout the Bible, is through testing.

The unique thing about this, is that God tests the people by offering a promise. If you obey, God will heal you from every disease. And you have to decide if God will keep his word, if you keep his word. That's the test.

Obedience is core to what God wants from his people. It's at the very top of God's wish list.

Keeping that in mind, let's pick up at Exodus 16:1:

(1) And they set out from Elim,

and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin (it's just a Hebrew name),

that [is] between Elim and Sin, on the 15th day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt,

(2) and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled/murmured concerning Moses and concerning Aaron in the wilderness,

(3) and the sons of Israel said to them,

"If only we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt,

when we dwelled by the fleshpots of meat,

when we ate bread until we were filled/satisfied,

because you have brought us to this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger,"

One of the remarkable things about us human beings, is that we tend to remember life as better than it was. Looking back on things, we see the good. But the bad things often just fade away. Maybe 20 years ago, there were TV commercials on for Hungry Man microwavable dinners. Frozen meals, designed for men. For people who don't care about calories, or sodium, or fat. They just want a decent supper. And ideally, they want to make one frozen meal, and not two or three. The slogan for Hungry Man commercials was this: "It's good to be full."

And the only reason I remember that was because that slogan made a huge impact on my dad. It's like a group of advertisers sat around a table, and tried to figure out how to get my dad to buy frozen meals. He thought it was great; it resonated with him. "It's good to be full." I can still hear his voice.

What we see in Exodus 16:3, is hungry Israelites. Are they starving to death? I'm not sure. But what they aren't, for sure, is full. And it's good to be full.

And so they complain. If only God had killed them in the land of Egypt, where life was like a constant buffet. Meat every day. Bread, until you were full. Dying at a buffet, isn't a bad way to go. And that's how they remember slavery in Egypt at this point. Like it was life at a buffet. Selective memory, to the max.

In verses 4-5, we read Yahweh's response to this. Maybe the story is gapping a little. Or maybe Yahweh just takes care of the grumbling, without Moses having to ask first:

(4) and Yahweh said to Moses,

"LOOK! I am raining for you bread from the heavens,

that the people may come out,

and that they may take a daily portion on its day,

so that I will test him-- whether he will walk in my instruction or if not,

(5) and then, on the sixth day, they will/shall prepare what they have brought,

and it will be twice what they gathered the other days,