Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 16:9-12

9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord: for he hath heard your murmurings.

10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

The Lord spoke to Moses, Moses spoke to Aaron, and Aaron spoke to the congregation. This arrangement suggests that in their hierarchy Moses stood as a representative for the Lord and Aaron stood as a representative for the congregation. Heaven and earth were communicating to one another through their diplomats: these two brothers. Viewing Aaron as a representative of Israel may also explain why he would later assist them in the creation of the golden calf. Though he may have personally opposed it, perhaps he saw himself as their representative, bound to carry out their will.

In any case, after the message was conveyed to all of Israel, the Lord came in a cloud that emerged from deeper in the wilderness. There is a reassurance in this, it shows that where they had yet to go, He had already been.

After His manifestation in the cloud, the Lord declared that He had indeed heard all the people’s murmurings and would send them the promised bread, and also meat as well. Later on in this chapter we will learn that the meat would be quail.

This story of Israel receiving manna and quail is very similar to another account that is given later in Numbers, Chapter 11.In fact, they are so similar that I suspect they are actually the same account. It appears to me that this chapter in Exodus is abbreviating the more detailed account that is given in Numbers. If so, we learn from the version in Numbers that after Israel complained for the lack of bread, God gave them the manna. Then, some time later, they complained again for the lack of meat, and God sent them the quail. The Numbers account makes clear, though, that the quail was actually a curse, bringing a plague upon the people as they ate it. They were punished even in the very act of getting exactly what they wanted.

We won’t hear about all of these details in this chapter, but we can keep in mind that this is likely the fuller picture of what transpired.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 16:6-8

6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:

7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?

8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.

Moses points out to the Israelites that when the manna appears it will be yet another evidence that the Lord is real and that He is the one guiding them. Though He cannot be seen in the flesh, when the manna appears His presence will be manifest and they will know that He truly walks among them.

What a great gift to see that the Lord listens to you and responds directly. Most of us seem to spend the majority of our time feeling that God is inscrutable and imperceptible, so moments where the veil grows thin are sacred and profound.

But this great gift is also a condemnation to the Israelites. Moses lays out very clearly in verse 8 that the Lord’s presence means He is actively listening to them and knows everything they said in their complaints. And if God really is present in Israel’s affairs, if He really is the one calling the shots, then any criticism directed at Moses has actually been a criticism of the Almighty! As Moses tells the people, “the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him… Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.” A word to the wise, any time you choose to make a complaint, be sure you know who it is you’re really criticizing!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 16:1-3

1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died 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.

After a time at the oasis that the Lord had provided for them, the Israelites continued further into the wilderness. At this point, Israel had not been consigned to wander for 40 years, so they were still on the route to the Promised Land. We did hear earlier that it wasn’t the most direct route, which passed by the Philistines, but a more roundabout way. Scholars identify the Wilderness of Sin from verse 1 as being to the east of both the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba, two bodies of water that extend out of the north shoreline of the Red Sea. This would mean that the Israelites were in what is now the North-Western corner of Saudi Arabia.

And this would mean that Israel was already half the distance to the Promised Land, at least as the crow flies. They were well on their way, but now we will see things starting to go backwards. In verse 3, the Israelites start a pattern of faithless murmuring, which will ultimately lead to serious repercussions. We did already hear how they complained for the lack of water in the last chapter, but today’s verse is the first time they go so far as to say that they preferred things in Egypt as slaves.

This is also the first time that the Israelites say that Moses is going to get the entire company killed. Often I hear the Israelite’s criticized for not approaching Moses in a more cooperative manner, for not expressing their distress with a faithful expectation that God would have a solution. Personally, I don’t feel that we have enough information to judge them so certainly. We do not know just how dire the situation was, perhaps the old and the feeble really were on the brink of death. We do not know what prior conversations they had had, perhaps they had been patient for a while but felt at their wits’ end now. Or perhaps they really were faithless, over-reacting, and demanding from the slightest of hardships. We just don’t know.

None of which is to say that the Israelites might have been justified in turning against the Lord, but simply to appreciate the fact that many of us might not have fared much better in the same situation. Hardship brings out the most base instincts in a people, and most of us probably don’t know who we really are on that level. The Israelites were finding out exactly that, and the revelation was not good.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 14:11-12

11 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?

12 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.

When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army approaching they first begged the Lord to save them, but then they complained to Moses. Their conduct towards him was entirely inappropriate, and shows that they did not honor the station that he held as God representative. The people gave Moses three accusatory questions, and each reveals a different form of insincerity and disrespect.

  1. Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?
    In their first question the people utilized great sarcasm and irony. At face value, the question wondered whether Moses thought Egypt was too inadequate of a place to die, and so had he thought it better to instead bring them here for their demise? Obviously that question wasn’t genuine, though. It was a rhetorical question, meant only to mock Moses for his lack of foresight.
  2. Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
    This question had the Israelites dodging any personal responsibility for this situation. The way it was phrased suggested that they had no choice in the matter, that Moses made them pack up their belongings and leave the land. Yes, Moses had told them to do it, but of course they could have refused. They didn’t refuse, though, they chose to leave, presumably with gladness because they thought they would make a clean getaway. Now that the tables have turned, though, they behaved as if they were being compelled against their will all along.
  3. Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?
    They doubled down on the idea that Moses was short-sighted. This time, though, the accusation was genuine. When Moses first demanded the release of Israel, Pharaoh had doubled the burden on their backs. Then the people had complained to Moses, stating that they were better off before. It is this moment that they are referring back to with this final question. They are, in essence, saying, “We told you that it was better to leave us be! Now just look what you’ve done!”

It is understandable that the people would have felt hurt by the sudden turn of events. Because of their infantile faith, it is understandable that they would have even felt betrayed. But the way that they manifested these pains and fears was completely inappropriate and dishonest. They had chosen to throw their lot with Moses when things looked promising, but then they turned against him when things looked bad. They pretended to have not been complicit in the making of this situation.

The fact is, they had been complicit for many years, even before Moses came to them. For generations they had begged God to free them. They had requested some sort of divine intervention millions of times over in their prayers. Probably they hadn’t anticipated that their deliverance would transpire in this particular way, but that just shows that they weren’t as converted to the idea of freedom as they thought.

This was an important lesson to the Israelites, and also to us all. Do we really want the deliverance that we ask God for if we don’t get to control the form that deliverance takes? Are we praying for substantial changes in our lives, but imagine it happening by magic with no involvement and no risk on our part? When we pray for what we want, do we really want it no matter the cost? If we are going to petition the Lord to get involved in our lives, then we need to be compliant with whatever “mysterious ways” He uses to grant our request.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 5:20-23

20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

21 And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Now begins a pattern that we will see many times over. The Israelites would suffer some setback, they complained to Moses, and Moses entreated the Lord. Most commonly during these complaints the Israelites would desire to return to things as they previously were, and that is also the case here. In verse 21 the Israelites’ complaint was that they were no longer valued slaves of the Pharaoh. They had lost their savor to their cruel taskmasters. What a strange thing to want to go back to!

Obviously, there is a little more to it than that. They made clear that they were afraid of “the sword,” meaning afraid that the Egyptians would slay them now. But still, when they had prayed and prayed for the Lord to deliver them, did they not fathom how His doing so would incense the Egyptians against them? Did they not realize that they would necessarily make enemies by gaining their freedom? So yes, it makes sense to be afraid for one’s life, but if they would rather have enslavement than the dangers of freedom, why pray for the freedom?

Perhaps because they did not expect the Lord to save them this way. Perhaps they expected the Lord to send heavenly angels to slay all their enemies for them and make their departure smooth and easy. Certainly, many of us do the same in our own lives. We pray for God to just magically evaporate all of our problems at no cost to ourselves. But as we’ve already seen in the Biblical record already, and as we will continue to see many times throughout it, that doesn’t tend to be how God solves problems. God gives us what we need, but He does so through a process, through dangerous and difficult means. He most often makes us an active part in our gradual deliverance. If we want the worthy reward at the end, we have to be prepared to take the difficult path that leads us there.