MOSES AND

THE EXODUS
Readings for Session 8, From Creation to Captivity

After reading this material, you should be able to:

• Trace the events of the Book of Exodus to locations on a map of the
Middle East
• Explain the background of why the Pharaohs didn’t like the Hebrews
• Defend the ethical decision of the Hebrew midwives to disobey their civil
government
• Distinguish the Biblical boyhood of Moses from that in the movies
• Contrast what Moses knew of God before and after Sinai
• Give three alternative ways God could have delivered Israel, and state
why God’s way was best
• Link the Passover with the work of Jesus Christ
• Give the four tests God sent to delivered Israel, how they failed, and
how they are similar to our common failures
• Link worship and warfare from the battle with the Amalekites
• Defend God’s almost excessive use of miracles with Israel in Exodus

Read the material below and the handout that we will review in class.
Memorise Exodus 3:14

A WHOLE NEW ERA

We are now finished Genesis and the first two eras of the Old Testament –
the Creation and Patriarchal Eras. We looked at mankind before the Flood,
then narrowed our focus upon one man, Abraham, who slowly but surely
fathered a blessed nation through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, who
was later renamed Israel. Jacob’s family of 70 settled in Goshen, Egypt, and
430 years later, his descendants left as an ethnic nation of 2-4 million
people.

In this session, we begin to look at the Exodus Era which extends through
the other four books of the Pentateuch: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy. We will spend four sessions here before we enter the
Promised Land. The four key men in this era are Moses, Aaron, Joshua and
Caleb. Here we will learn about a river of blood, a backed up sea, and a
poisonous brook. We will see a golden calf, a talking donkey, and a bronze
snake. We will read of a burning bush on a mountain, and a burning cloud
in the sky.
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 2

A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE EXODUS ERA

(Exodus – Deuteronomy)

PASSAGE EVENTS TIME PERIOD PLACE

1 Exodus 1-18 From bondage in Egypt Eighty years (1525 – Egypt

to freedom at Mount 1445 BC)
2 Sinai
3 Exodus 19 –
Leviticus
The Law, Tabernacle,
Feasts & Priests
One month (1445 BC) Sinai

4 Numbers From Sinai; Rejecting Forty years (1445 – Wilderne

Canaan; Desert 1405 BC) ss
Wanderings
Deuteronomy The Restatement of the One month (1405 BC) Moab
Law Before Entering
Canaan

The Date of the Exodus: Remember

that Jacob and the family of 70 came to
Egypt in about 1875 B.C. and settled in
Goshen. Scholars know that Solomon’s
fourth year of reign was 965 B.C., and 1
Kings 6:1 tells us that the Exodus was 480
years before the fourth year of Solomon’s
reign, i.e., in 1445 B.C.

Moses either wrote or supervised the

writing of the Book of Exodus during the
wilderness wandering from 1445 to 1405
B.C. probably at the same time or just
after writing Genesis. The narrative
logically flows from Genesis to Exodus; even the first word in Exodus is the
conjunction “now” or “and.”

Exodus embraces about 430 years of history, from the arrival of Jacob in
Egypt in 1875 BC to the setting up of the Tabernacle in the wilderness in
1445 BC. Exodus 12:40-41 states that the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430
years, and Genesis 15:13 states that the oppression lasted for about 400
years (40 and 400 are numbers of God’s testing). Acts 13 mentions 450
years of hardship.

Key Divisions Of The Book

Of Exodus
There are three basic “scenes”
in Exodus:
• Israel in Egypt (1:1-
12:30)
• Israel in the Desert
(12:31-18:27)
• Israel at Sinai (19:1-
40:38)
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 3

Significance of the Book: The Book of Exodus contains more miracles

than any other book in the Old Testament. It is the stuff movies are made
of! It is also the Book referred to elsewhere in the Old Testament more than
any other book. In the New Testament, only Psalms and Isaiah are quoted
more often.

THE PREPARATION OF MOSES (EXODUS 1-2)

Multiplication; Not Just Addition: Exodus 1:7 states that the children of
Israel multiplied over the years, a sign of God’s blessing throughout the Old
Testament. Genesis 12:37 states that, after leaving Egypt, there were
600,000 men (over age 20), plus women and children and others who were
called a “mixed multitude.” Thus, the total number was easily more that 2
million.

Three centuries had gone by. During that time, and perhaps due to mobs
coming to Egypt from Palestine during the famine, Egypt was overrun by
Semitic rulers from Palestine and northern Mesopotamia now known as the
Hyksos (“rulers of other lands”).

From 1674-1560 BC, these non-Egyptians

ruled Egypt. When the Egyptians rose up
under Ahmose, and later Amenhotep I and
Thutmose I, and expelled the Hyksos in
1560 BC, they “purified” the land by
ridding public records of any trace of the
Hyksos Dynasties. They began what is
known as the “New Kingdom” era of the
18th – 20th Dynasties (1560 – 1070 BC).
The Exodus took place 120 years into the
18th Dynasty, likely under Thutmose III
(1479-1425 BC – 54 years!). Some
scholars place the Exodus during the reign
of Rameses II of the 19th Dynasty (@ 1250 BC).

A Little Background On Pharaoh: Since he was only age 9, Thutmose III

shared power from the beginning of his reign with Hatshepsut, his father's
wife, who acted as co-regent and
eventually as the dominant co-ruler and
real ruler of Egypt. For approximately 22
years, Thutmose III had little power over
the empire – and he despised the woman.
During Hatshepsut's reign there were no
wars, and Egypt’s neighboring countries
regularly paid tribute. She imitated male
behaviour, even wearing the fake beard of
the Pharaohs! Oh well, the lady
eventually died.
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 4

As is often the case when a new king comes to the throne, subject nations
tested his resolve by declaring that they were no longer subject to Egypt.
Thutmose III then showed them his steel for the next 30 years. He is
compared with Napoleon, but unlike Napoleon, he never lost a battle. He
conducted sixteen successful campaigns in Palestine, Syria and Ethiopia.

He manifested all of the qualities of a great ruler. He excelled as an

administrator and statesman. He was an accomplished horseman, archer,
athlete, and discriminating patron of the arts. Besides his military
achievements he carried out many building works at Karnak. He also set up
a number of obelisks in Egypt, one of which, mistakenly called Cleopatra's
Needle, now stands on the embankment of the Thames in London (see
photo).

You can be sure that as a New Kingdom Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty who
was subjugating every nation around him, Thutmose III would have no
respect for the historical Joseph (Genesis 1:8). He would further see the
Israelites, along with any other Palestinian people, as a threat since they
might align themselves with an invading enemy
like the Hyksos to overthrow Egypt again. He also
liked to build. So, he used the Hebrews as slave
labor to build the two cities that later became
known as Pithom and Rameses under Pharaoh
Rameses of the 19th Dynasty.

Plans For Genocide: Pharaoh has Plans A, B, and

C.
• Plan A: Stalin once said that tired and hungry
people will never revolt; this was also Pharaoh’s
approach, but the bitter bondage didn’t stop the
baby boom.
• Plan B: Order the Hebrew midwives to kill
any male child as soon as they are born (1:16).
Infanticide was common among ancient peoples.
The Hebrews wives feared God more than man, and disobeyed Pharaoh’s
decree by moving a little slow to the delivery chambers. God blessed them
for this by giving them families. What does Romans 13:1-4 tell us about
government leaders? Why then did these ladies disobey the king? What do
Acts 4:19-20 and 5:29 say about conflicts between the commands of
government and the commands of God?
• Plan C: Order all women to throw their own Hebrew baby boys into the
Nile (1:22).

Floating My Son: A Levite woman named Jochabed (Genesis 6:20) could

no longer hide her three month old son, so, at God’s leading, she put him in
a sealed basket (same word tehvah translated as “ark”) and floated him on
the Nile – once again, salvation of a prophet on the water in an ark! In one
way, she obeyed Pharaoh’s command – she threw her son into the Nile.
Moses’ sister Miriam watched from the edge. The daughter of Pharaoh had
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 5

her maids fetch it, and she paid the Hebrew mother to nurse her own son!
The princess named him “Moses” - drawn from the water.

Young Moses: The Bible doesn’t indicate that Moses was given equal
status with his Egyptian relatives or that his Hebrew identity was hidden, as
the movies sometimes portray. Acts 7:22 states: “And Moses was learned in
all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
Hebrews 11:24-25 adds: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.”
How did these choices affect Moses’ “upward mobility” in Egypt? Have you
ever had to suffer because you identified yourself with God’s people, God’s
Word or doing the right thing?

Escaping Capital Punishment: Moses had real

compassion for his fellow Hebrews who were slaves, and one
day he killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating a
Hebrew (2:12). When he was afraid he could be caught for
this crime he fled through the desert to Midian (2:15).
Moses helped the shepherdess daughters of Jethro by
watering their sheep and saving them from harassment. He
stayed with Jethro and later married his daughter, Zipporah
(2:21). He named his first son Gershom, meaning “banishment,” so this was
a bitter time for him. He worked as a shepherd for some 40 years.
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 6

The divisions of Moses’ life are easy to remember:

YEARS LOCATION DEVELOPMENT

1st 40 In Egypt Learning
years (impulsiveness)
2nd 40 In Midian Relearning (humility)
years
3rd 40 In Sinai Leading (usefulness)
years Wilderness

THE CALLING OF THE DELIVERER (EXODUS 3-4)

Meeting Yahweh: Exodus 3 sets forth

the famous burning bush incident; God’s
calling of Moses to be His agent in
delivering the Hebrews from Egyptian
slavery. God calls Himself the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses was
an analyst, a manager-type of leader
who evaluated everything. Moses
expressed his feelings of inadequacy to
God (3:11-12), foresaw the challenges
to his authority which the Hebrews would raise (3:13-4:9), and
affirmed that he was not a public speaker (4:10-17).

At this point in history, God was known to the Hebrews as “He Who Has No
Name.” Remember that “God” is a title of deity; it is not God’s name.
Moses knew that if he told people he had spoken with God, their first
question would be, “Oh? What is His name?” God therefore gave Moses His
name – I AM (the eternally self-existent One, the uncaused Cause, literally “I
am because I am”).

The answer God gave to Moses was four Hebrew letters – YHWH. The four
letters are called the Tetragrammaton. Although Yahweh is the best
pronunciation, the Hebrew scribes used the vowels in the Hebrew word
“lord” (Adonai) to form the word Jehovah.

God’s name gives us a characteristic that only God can have – he is totally
and eternally self-existent. No created thing can say that. People exist
because parents gave birth to them; things exist because of a creator. The
Hebrews had such reverence for this name that from then on they merely
called Him “The Name.” When Jesus showed His disciples how to pray, He
said “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” – not just a reference
to His name, but to God Himself.

Genesis 3:13-4:17 makes it possible for us to gain great insight into Moses'
feelings about God's promises to his forefathers and about his own life.
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 7

Moses had become thoroughly disillusioned. He regarded himself as a

failure, the objects of his ministry as hopeless, and God as unfaithful,
uncaring, and unable to deliver His people. He had learned his own inability
to deliver Israel, but he did not yet believe in God's ability to do so. Even
the miraculous revelation of God at the burning bush and the miracles that
God enabled Moses to perform did not convince him of God's purpose and
power. God had much to teach Moses. God promised to enable Moses
wherever needed help (4:2-9,11), and to overcome the stubbornness of
Pharaoh with many powerful miracles (3:19-20).

In the process of time, the Pharaoh who wanted to kill Moses died. The only
Pharaoh to live more than 30 years during this time (@1479-1425 BC) was
Thutmose III.

Where Was God During Israel’s Suffering?

• WORKING AN UNKNOWN PLAN: There
are a lot of facts we don’t know about from
Scripture. God was ordering the timing and
the circumstances for His glory and Israel’s
good. For instance, when the Hebrews left,
the Egyptians gave them huge treasures.
Perhaps God was building Egyptian sympathy
for the Hebrews.
• BUILDING DESIRE: God was preparing
Israel to want to leave. We will see later that as soon as times got hard,
Israel wanted to return to Egypt. Egypt was a place of great food, nice
climate, and productive land. Israel was NOT in bitter bondage for 400
years. Exodus 1 says that during the 400 years they were made slaves
and they served with rigor. But this new Pharaoh put them in bitter
bondage.
• INTRODUCING HIMSELF: God wanted the Hebrews to turn to him as
their helper. The slavery became so hard that they “cried out,”
something they had not done before. Most of the Hebrews did not
know the God of Abraham at this time. God allows human evil to push
individuals and nations back to Him. In the chapters that follow, God
will show Israel repeated and undisputable miracles, and still, most will
not believe in Him.

Romans 8:28 says that God is orchestrating all things for our good. Not all
things are good, but together they work for good. As a general rule, God
has chosen to give each of us the ability to choose – to choose good or evil.
He will not stop human evil, but he can use it for good.

Eventually God “heard.” Exodus 2:24-25 tells us four things that God did:
God heard, God remembered, God saw, and God knew. God is an eternal
spirit. Romans 11:33 says that his ways are past finding out. Thus, God
often expresses himself in human ways in the Scriptures – his eyes search
the earth, his hand is not too short to save, etc. These are called
“anthropomorphisms.” When God “remembered” his covenant with
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 8

Abraham, it isn’t as if he forgot. It means he finally decided to act (see

Genesis 15:14).

THE DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT (EXODUS 5-15)

The Ten Plagues: Moses returned to

Egypt, and went in to Pharaoh who
rejected their first demand from God to
“Let My people go.” In response, Pharaoh
ordered that the Hebrews collect their
own straw for the bricks (5:7-18). The
Hebrews were very angry with Moses, but
God reassured him. When God directs
you as a leader, it doesn’t mean He will
make the pathway easy or keep you from
opposition. The beginning of all change
in a church or organization is bumpy and meets with anger, impatience, and
misunderstanding.

God again sent Moses in to Pharaoh and told Moses He would harden
Pharaoh’s heart to judge Egypt and its gods, and to show His power (7:3). In
all of these plagues, the Israelites were protected while the Egyptians and
their property were destroyed. God normally protects His children from His
own wrath, but not necessarily the wrath of man. During the Great
Tribulation, believers will incur the wrath of the antichrist but be spared
God’s wrath.

JEHOVAH INSULTING FALSE EGYPTIAN GODS

THE PLAGUE VERSES WHAT EGYPTIAN GOD?

1 The water of the Nile River
turned into blood
2 Frogs overran the
countryside
3 People and animals were
infested with dust and gnats
(lice)
4 Swarms of flies covered the
land
5 Disease killed the livestock of
Egypt
6 Boils and sores infected the
Egyptians and their animals
7 Hail destroyed crops and
vegetation
8 Swarms of locusts covered
the land
9 Thick darkness covered
Egypt for three days
10 The firstborn of people and
7:14-25 Khnum, god of its source; Hapi, spirit of
the Nile; Osiris, Nile his bloodstream
8:1-15 Hapi and Heqt, frog goddesses related
to fertility
8:16-19 Seb, the earth god
8:20-32 Uatchit, the fly god
9:1-7 Ptah, Hathor, Mnevis, Amon, gods
associated with bulls and cows
9:8-12 Sekhmet, goddess of epidemics;
Serapis and Imhotep, gods of healing
9:13-25 Nut and Shu, the sky goddess; Isis and
Seth, agricultural goddesses
10:1-20 Serapia, protector from locusts
10:21-29 Ra, Amon-Ra, Aten, Atum, Horus,
Harakhte, sun gods; Thoth, moon god
11:1- All Egyptian gods, including Pharaoh
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 9

animals were killed by the 12:30 himself

death angel

Pharaoh’s Heart – Hardening … And Being Hardened: God made

Pharaoh's heart progressively harder as the king chose to disobey God's will
(cf. Lev. 26:23-24). After the first five plagues, the hardening is invariably
represented as Pharaoh hardening his own heart. It is not till after the sixth
plague that it is stated that Jehovah made the heart of Pharaoh firm (9:12).
The hardening was a consequence of self-will, high-mindedness, pride, and
obstinate resistance to the word and chastisement of God even until death.

God graciously let Moses know before he came to Egypt that this would
happen, so as to prepare Moses for the stubborn reaction and to keep his
heart steady as the conflict between God and Pharaoh intensified.

The First Passover: Pharaoh would not release Yahweh's metaphorical

son, Israel. Therefore, Yahweh would take Pharaoh's metaphorical son,
namely, the Egyptians as a people, and his physical
son, thus proving His sovereignty.

The Hebrews were delivered from the final plague of

the Death Angel when they marked their houses, at
God’s command, by sprinkling the blood of a lamb
on the lintel and doorposts (12:1-20). Inside, they
ate a meal of roasted lamb, bitter herbs and
unleavened bread – the bread of haste.

“And when I see the blood, I will pass over you” said
the Lord, and the Death Angel took the lives of the
firstborn in Egypt that dreadful night, even Pharaoh’s own son (12:29-30).
Isaiah 37:36 records the Death Angel taking the lives of 185,000 men in the
attacking Assyrian army in one night.

The Passover lamb is obviously a type of Jesus.

• God was going to judge people with death (Romans 6:23)
• Jesus was the Lamb God provided to fully take away sin (John 1:29)
• Death of the lamb meant nothing unless applied personally (John 1:12)
• None of the lamb’s bones were to be broken (Gen 12:46, Jn 19:31-37)
• We can cheat death by being covered by the blood of the Lamb of God
(1 Peter 1:18-19)

Following the Pillar of Cloud and Fire: Pharaoh called for Moses and
said the Hebrews should leave; Egyptians gave them anything they wanted
as long as they left (12:33-36). Several million people in orderly ranks
marched southeast along the wilderness of
the Red Sea. Per his instructions, Israel took
Joseph’s mummified body with them.
Genesis 13:21-22 tells us that they were
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 10

guided by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night – must have
been an awesome sight!

At various times throughout the Bible, God gave a visible and luminous
indication of His presence. The Shekinah Glory of the Lord, both light and
cloud, filled the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle for the first time in Exodus
40:34-35. The Lord was present in a similar way at the dedication of the
Temple in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14. His glory also surrounded the Bethlehem
shepherds in Luke 2:9.

Test #1 – Facing Pharaoh’s Chariots: Over time the Lord again

hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he came after them with over 600 chariots.
Trapped against the Red Sea one evening, the unbelieving Hebrews
revolted against Moses (14:11). The Israelites showed remarkably little faith
in light of what they had seen, and praised their golden past – something
people are apt to do when change brings difficulties. We will see this
pattern repeatedly: it was easier to get Israel out of Egypt than to get Egypt
out of Israel. Never get the idea that most of Israel were believers at this
point (Romans 2:28-29, Hebrew 3:7-19).

Moses didn’t know the

future, but he knew the
character of God and told
the people to stand still. In
the next verse, God tells
him to stop crying, so
Moses apparently went
straight to his tent and
cried to the Lord. God told
him that they would go
through the sea.

The Divine Warrior: The

Angel of the Lord in the
pillar now did something
spectacular – dividing into a
cloud of darkness on one
side and a pillar of light on
the other. It was getting dark, but God’s fire lit up the night for the Hebrews
(14:19-20). Then the Lord parted the sea with a strong east wind all night,
and dried up the bed.

The millions followed Moses down into the dry bed and took all night to
cross. Come dawn, the cloud lifted and Pharaoh and his army followed into
the sea bed; the wind let up, and the waves came in drowning them. The
Jews view this Exodus as the single greatest event in
Jewish history.

Where Did They Cross? There is still a lot of debate

about where Israel crossed the Red Sea (the upper
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 11

neck of which is now known as the Gulf of Suez). The Hebrew phrase is yam
sup, meaning “the sea of the end,” used to refer to the farthest body of
water they knew. It is not the “Reed Sea” as some scholars try to argue.
The Bitter Lakes of today were known by the same name back then.
Regardless of where they crossed, the sea bed had to be dry enough to get
a hoard of millions through in one night, and yet have enough water nearby
to come crushing in and drown Pharaoh’s army.

The Analogy of Leaving Egypt: There are incredible pictures of salvation

here.
• Egypt is an unbelieving world
• Pharaoh is Satan, the evil hardened ruler of the world’s system
• The Hebrew is someone who is captive to sin, who God is going to
save
• Moses is the evangelist, one who says that God can save
• The Pillar of Cloud is the Holy Spirit leading the captive to salvation
• The Red Sea is the place of faith and commitment
• Sinai is the place of learning about God
• Canaan is the place of embattled but victorious living and serving
God
Notice that the waters had to part. We cannot save ourselves – it took a
miracle of God. Notice that, as Israel walked through on land, they went
from darkness (night) to light (morning)! What great pictures of salvation.

Moses and Miriam – A Seminar on Real Worship: In Exodus 15, we have

a great song of worship. No doubt there was spontaneous cheering when
the sea drowned Pharaoh’s army, but this was probably written for the
celebration that followed. Some people have a grim idea of worship, but
what is worship, really?

Worship is telling someone about their incalculable worth to you, telling

them how incredibly incredible they are, telling them about their wonderful
characteristics. Worshipping God does not come easy to sinful people.
Some, like Satan, have been hardened by sin and refuse to even recognize a
god higher than themselves, let alone worship one. Some who are aware of
their sin feel embarrassed to talk to God. Normally, you have to be
obedient and confident of God’s love to worship Him easily and naturally.
Moses understood worship – see Psalm 90.

STRUCTURE OF THE SONG OF MOSES

Verses 1- A proclamation to the people about what happened and about how great
5 the Lord is.
Verses 6- Addressing the Lord in pure worship (notice the repetition of “you” and
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 12

13 “your”)
Verses A prophecy about what will happen in the future, given the Lord’s track
14-18 record in the past.

In Exodus 15, the focus is on JEHOVAH – his special name is mentioned 10

times. Moses’ sister, Miriam, picks up on the spirit of the song and adds a
chorus (from verse 1) with tambourines and ladies dancing.

LIFE AS THE CHILDREN OF JEHOVAH (EXODUS 16-18)

Test #2 – No Water: Israel didn’t do so

well in its first test of faith when they
were stuck between Pharaoh and the
Red Sea! So how did they do with test
#2? With two exceptions, every mention
of the word “murmuring” or grumbling in
the Old Testament has to do with when
Israel followed God. They traveled about
75 kilometers south through the
Wilderness of Shur, a stony desert followed by blinding white sand with the
Red Sea (now known as the Gulf of Suez) on the right and mountains on the
left, about 16 kilometers per day, and ran out of water.

The sickening waters of Marah were enough to make them forget all of the
miracles of the past few weeks. They didn’t pray to God; they grumbled to
their leaders. God showed Moses a log/tree. Perhaps the change in water
was a miracle, or perhaps, as the Arabs claim, certain thorn bushes can
counteract the sickening levels of minerals in the water. Still, God showed
them the answer!

In our own journeys, many of us have reached

the pools that promised us satisfaction, only
to find them brackish. That marriage, that
friendship, that new home, that partnership,
that new avenue of pleasure, that promised
us such great joy turns out to be absolutely
disappointing. Who has not muttered 'Marah'
over some desert well which he strained
every nerve to reach, but when reached, it
disappointed him? Some commentators have
seen the tree cast into the water as a type of
the cross of Christ or Christ Himself that, applied to the bitter experiences of
life, makes them sweet. Well, that’ll preach!

TEST #3 – No Food: The food starts to run low. Again Israel grumbles and
starts pining for Egypt – a direct slap in God’s face. In the morning, God
sent both a provision and a test wrapped up in little wafers: “manna” –
literally “what is it?” They were to gather each day so much as they
needed, on average about an omer or 2 liters. Anything more would rot by
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 13

morning. On Friday, they would be more so that they would not have to
gather on the Sabbath. At night, quail was blown in to provide them with
meat.

Israel ate manna for forty years (17:35). Why didn’t God just
make goat and beef cattle appear in the desert? Why did
God send this gift of food from heaven in exact portions
with all these restrictions?
• To develop their daily dependence on Him
• To show them His faithful provision
• To test them and to see if they would obey

TEST #4 – Water From The Rock: Our greatest natural desire is to be the
God of our own life so that we can control everything and everyone and
thereby experience happiness. We get angry, sad or frustrated when that
doesn’t happen … unless we give up on being God.

Many people are their own God, but they believe there is some kind of
supernatural being in heaven. When the
going gets tough, they instinctively try to get
the supernatural God to fix things, and to
increase the incentive, they say, “If you really
exist, you’ll do X. Prove to me you exist by
doing X.” This makes God into a subservient
genie-of-the-lamp. This is called “testing
God.” God hates it and normally refuses to
act.

When the water ran out again, Israel did this.

They said, “Kyeah right, where is God? If He is with us, why isn’t He
providing water?” They didn’t respond with submissive prayer to the God
who had proven His faithful protection and provision over and over again.
They got angry. This was more than complaining – it was a wrangle. They
called the place Massah & Meribah – “Testing and Contention.”

Today, Wadi Refayid (see photo) is a little stream that flows in this area
except in the dry season. When Israel came it was dry. Moses, as he often
did, went to Jehovah – these were God’s people, not his. Moses and the
elders (leaders of each tribe) went ahead. Moses’ rod was the symbol of
God’s authority. He struck the rock once, and from it waters flowed that
brought life. Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-6. The rock that Moses struck was a
symbol of whom? What did Jesus say about himself and water in John 4:4-
15?

The First Military Clash – A Battle with Amalek:

In Exodus 17:8-16, Israel runs into bandits. Who were the Amalekites
according to Genesis 36:12? Historians tell us that they were a fierce
nomadic tribe that lived in this desert area and made their livelihood by
conducting raids on settlements and caravans. They killed for pleasure.
Israel had some treasures of Egypt, so in came the raiding parties.
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 14

Here we are introduced to Joshua for the first time. He is a military man
who will (40 years later) succeed Moses as Israel’s leader when they go into
to conquer Canaan. His name – Hoshea – means “Jehovah is salvation.”

According to Jeremiah 9:23-24 and Psalm 20:7, there are no “odds” or

“chances” with God. The battle is the Lord’s; if we are failing, he is trying to
teach us to depend upon Him more. God had preserved them from thirst
and starvation; here He shows He can preserve them from defeat.

Moses takes “the rod of God” (the symbol of God’s authority) on top of an
overlooking mountain and holds it up … as long as he could (try to hold out
a small book for 2 minutes). The Bible doesn’t say that this encouraged the
troops, nor that Moses prayed while holding it up. Stretching to God was an
appeal to Him (as a child would do) for victory. Aaron and Hur helped Moses
hold up his arms. What does that teach us about spiritual leadership?

Rescuing the Micro-Manager - The Jethro

Principle: The Israelites finally came to Horeb
– the mountain of God (in the next Session, we
will look at where this was – in Sinai, or in
Midian). In Exodus 18:1-27, Moses got a visit
from his father-n-law, a sheik of Midian,
someone with some experience in organization.
Jethro spots a problem with Moses that is
typical of conscientious leaders – failure to
delegate. “No one can do this as well as I can.
I am indispensable.” Not only is this not true of the leader, it can also build
too much dependence on one person – something that will wear out both
the leader and the people.

Jethro’s suggestion – use broad leadership! What were the qualifications for
the men who would act as judges? In verse 23, Jethro gave wise counsel –
use this idea if it’s alright with God. Apparently it was, and Israel used the
plan from then on.