Month: October 2022

Exodus 16:27-28 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

In spite of God’s explicit instructions not to gather manna on the Sabbath Day, some went out to gather anyway. This response was a direct sin and disobedience to God. They disobeyed a specific command in addition to keep the Commandment that says, ”Remember the Sabbath Day.” The Lord’s rhetorical response was, ”How long will you refuse?” The ironical answer is: ”Til the end of time!”

Sinners will continue to refuse to keep. We will always challenge God and test authority. We have done so since childhood, and refusing continues through adulthood. We must admit that we are no different than they were. After gathering every day for a week we would naturally try on Saturday, too.

”Keeping the Sabbath” is important to God, for it foreshadows Christ, but the most significant issue is the attitude of the heart that disobeys all God’s Commands. Every sin is a disrespect for God and a despising of God’s Love. Faith fears God and receives grace.

Exodus 16:20 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.

When the manna began to be poured out, it came with instructions from God: Do not save up any of the one day’s allotment until the next day. But some of them kept some of the manna until the next day. Then what was hoarded rotted and stank. The people disobeyed a direct order from God, and suffered the consequences. Sin and disobedience always has consequences. Disobedience of any part of God’s Law will make life rotten and stinky. Of course, most consequences are unintended, but they are still real.

Furthermore, in order to prove that the Lord is in charge, He instructed them to gather double in Friday, keep it over for the Sabbath, and it will not rot. This shows that God’s will is right and God’s way is always best. The Obedience Response Lesson is made abundantly clear in the rotting and the not rotting. For a good life, it will always be best to do what God commands.

This response of disobedience arises from mistrust, or unbelief. They saw God provide daily bread for today, but would He do it tomorrow? I don’t trust Him, so I’d better take it into my own hands. If one believes God he will also obey Him. If God said it, believe it. If we trust, then we can do as He says. The old hymn, ”Trust and Obey,” is still good advice for a good life. Trust God for today, and let Him take care of tomorrow. We need to pray and believe: ”Give us this day our daily bread.”

Exodus 16:2-3 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

The people complained once again to Moses and Aaron, and by implication to God. They were hungry and had no food. The natural response is to complain. The supernatural response would be to pray. Even though they had just seen the miraculous salvation of God from bondage in Egypt, they wanted to go back into the world, into slavery and misery, where at least they had meat and bread to eat.

God responded to the needs of His people by sending manna from heaven. God always proves Himself to be good, even when we call Him bad. Even after we have been saved out of the world by the mighty work of God the natural man still has a hankering to go back to the old life from which he has been saved. The temptation to trust in self and the world to provide security and provision is always present to the rescued believer.

Sin and unbelief remain in the hearts of the saved, and complaining about God and blaming Him is the outward evidence. The New Man makes the better response by turning complaints into prayers. The amazing thing is the amazing grace of God: He still responds to the needs, the hunger and the emptiness, of His people. He sends manna to unbelieving and complaining people. No matter what man does, God is still good. He moves us to ”thank the Lord in every circumstance.” Thus, our lifestyle is one of thanking instead of complaining, for God is always good.

Exodus 15:24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

Even after the children of Israel witnessed and personally experienced the Lord’s miraculous power and awesome love in the Exodus Salvation Event, they still could not fully trust God. Ten times in the desert they griped, grumbled, murmured, complained and blamed God.

Murmuring can be construed as an outward display of inward unbelief, for if we could truly trust God 100% we would have nothing to grumble about. The Lord proved His goodness time and again, responding in mercy for provision. In this instance, the Lord answered Moses’ prayer cry by showing him a tree, which, when cast into the water, made the bitter waters sweet.

The tree symbolizes the cross of Christ: the cross was cast into the waters of our life made bitter by sin, and life became sweet and refreshing. Forgiveness, love and acceptance gives life to the soul. The amazing truth this story proclaims is that God responds to our complaints when turned into prayers. He hears our prayers even if they are mixed with the murmurings of unbelief.

We are like Israel also. We have been miraculously saved, but yet we complain and blame when trouble arises. Complaining is a sin, a sign of pride and unbelief. We learn, by God’s grace, to turn worry and complaint into prayer. Then the tree is placed on our life to save it and change it. Murmuring becomes thanksgiving.

Exodus 15:14-16 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be still as stone; till thy people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

The unbelieving earth-dwellers and pagan false gods of the surrounding peoples respond to God’s mighty act of Judgment and Deliverance with fear and dread. The mighty judgments of God during the Exodus Event certainly produced fear and dread in the Egyptians, so much so that they pushed Israel out, even giving them gifts to just leave.

Fear of God’s judgments fell not only on Egypt, but also on the nations of Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Canaan, and their gods. The purpose of the Judgment was to bring about the Salvation of the people of God. In the same way, the purpose of the judgment on Sin, Death, and the Devil suffered by the innocent Son of God and Son of Man on the cross and the victory of the tomb was to deliver all people and set them free.

Another purpose of the judgments was to bring about repentance and faith, but that was not successful then, nor is it now, nor will it be at the end. Even the severe judgments of Revelation did not bring about repentance for most people: ”The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent [Revelation 9:20).” Instead the earth-dwellers hid themselves from the presence of God and from the wrath of the Lamb [Revelation 6:15-17]. However, a few pagan people did repent and join with God’s people.

The Fear of God is designed to bring people to the Gospel for faith and salvation, and it works when folks are led to seek safety and comfort in Jesus. Even the demons, who cannot be saved, believe in God, and tremble. We, too, may respond to a holy, just, and righteous God with fear and trembling, shock and awe when convicted of sin through the Law. Then we are gently led to the Gospel that tells of our gracious, merciful, forgiving, and loving God. We respond to that Message with faith that saves from the justly deserved wrath of God.

Exodus 15:1-2 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.

The Song of Moses is the most ancient song recorded. The people worshiped the Lord with songs of thankfulness and praise in response to God’s great deliverance and salvation. They had just witnessed the Gospel in living color, and the surpassing joy of God’s salvation prompted them to sing. They exalted the Lord for being their strength and song and salvation. The mighty work of God brought forth faith (“He is my God”). And they determined to make a place for Him in their life (“prepare a habitation”).

Music was given as a gift to humans so that we could appropriately and with exuberant singing respond to God’s grace and goodness. After we see, hear, and believe the Gospel it is ”meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to God; therefore we laud and magnify the name.” Thanks and song becomes the regular habit of daily life, for we may continually respond to the Gospel. Then, at least once a week, we gather together to worship the Lord in the fellowship of the saints.

God has done everything there is to do for our life and salvation. There is nothing left for us to do except to thank God continually. Worship is always in the back of our minds, and often in the front. This Christian mind-set and lifestyle is reinforced by hearing and reading the Gospel (the Exodus) of judgment on enemies and salvation of the soul. Worship in spirit and truth is a joyous life.

Exodus 14:31 And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.

The one great work of God, the miraculous Crossing of the Red Sea, was a work of both judgment and salvation: Judgment upon the Evil Enemy, Salvation for the people of God. The same water saved the one and destroyed the other. The same result occurred at the Great Work of God in the Cross and the Tomb: Judgment upon our spiritual enemies and salvation for us. This same Event prefigures our Baptism and our daily remembrance of baptism: the old man drowns and the new man arises.

Two opposite responses result from this great Event: FEAR! 1) Fearing God with the meaning of being afraid of God’s wrath and judgment without knowing love and mercy: Ex. 14:25 ”The Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fights for them.” And 2) Fearing God in the proper sense of believe God, being in awe of amazing grace and abounding love: Ex. 14:31 ”The people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord.”

Which kind of fear one responds with depends on which side he’s on. If one is on the side of well-deserved judgment, without faith in mercy, he will flee. Fleeing takes different forms: rationalizing actions, excusing behavior, defying God, ignoring God’s Word, or just stubbornly refusing to believe, atheism, false doctrine, idol religions, keeping Self on the throne in place of God. If one is on the side of undeserved salvation, with faith in grace, he will believe.

Faith (fear) comes after they ”saw that great work which the Lord did.” After we see the great work of judgment and salvation that the Lord did on the Cross we believe. And we can see the cross and hear the Gospel every day. Then faith comes.

Exodus 14:11-12 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.

The approaching army caused fear, which led the people to cry out to God, but then their response was to complain: Why? Why, God, did you do this bad thing to us? They complained to Moses, but essentially they complained to God. They blamed Moses, but essentially they blamed God. They had been saved from servitude to evil, but they wanted to go back to the world. Serving the Egyptians was better, for at least they could live and not die.

We have been saved from the Evil World, but when ”bad things happen to good people” our first response is to ask ”Why?” We may genuinely want to know what good reason God has for allowing this present trouble to happen, but the Lord won’t explain it to us yet. As it turned out, the reason for allowing Pharaoh’s army to come close was to drown the Evil Army in the waters that saved the people (like in Baptism). It also turns out that the innocent, bitter, sufferings and death of the Son of God is the defeat of Sin and victory for us. We might genuinely ask, ”Why did Jesus die? He was a good man,” The Bible gives the answer.

However, what lies underneath the ”why” question, the complaining, and the blaming, is pride and unbelief. The natural response of pride claims that it’s not my fault, I don’t deserve this, and so we blame. The natural response of unbelief cannot fully trust God that He knows what He’s doing and will do it right, and so we complain. “Why (wherefore)” accuses God of not being good or of not being God. It all goes back to original sin: why did God forbid the Tree?

Exodus 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

Pharaoh had changed his mind and was chasing after the fleeing Israelites. When they saw Pharaoh’s army marching after them they feared greatly. Panic set in, and their first response was the right one: they cried out to the Lord.

Worry, anxiety, panic, and fear of the Enemy closing in should also cause us to pray and cry out to the Lord. This is what the Word tells us in Philippians 4:6: ”Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” The issues that arise in life (the ”in everything”) prompt us to turn to the Lord and cry out in prayer in place of the natural response of worry and fear. Then the “peace of God will guard your hearts and minds (v. 7).” God answered their prayer by saving His people and destroying the Evil Enemy in the Sea’s waters (signifying Baptism).

This response was fine, but their next response not so much: they complained against Moses and blamed God. This is the choice we all have: complain or pray. The saint in us prays; the sinner in us complains.

Exodus 14:8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children out with an high hand.

Pharaoh proved that His previous repenting and relenting was shallow and insincere, changing his mind again to pursue after Israel. After resisting God in unbelief and hardening his heart many times, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. And when that happens it’s too late. And now with a firmly solid heart against God’s judgment and mercy, he regretted relenting and tried to get his slave labor back again.

We Christians may wonder at and even mock unbelievers who resist the Holy Spirit, ignore Jesus, spurn the love of God, and reject the Gospel. However, we should look at our own hearts and admit to the hardness that is still there. Even godly believers retain a residue of hardness that pridefully resists the judgments of the Law and can’t fully believe the unconditional forgiveness, amazing compassion, and absolute love of God.

It easier to change our mind and fall back to the old ways than we would like to admit or confess. The temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh are more powerful and ever present than we would like to believe. For this reason repentance and faith, or conversion, is not just a once and done deal. Thus we are constantly on guard lest the heart becomes harder. Daily repentance is the best preventative. We respond by confessing a Pharaohic heart and receiving eternal forgiveness and grace to help.