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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, March 6, 2021
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Bitter Water Made Sweet Bible Verse:Exodus 15:22-27 (ESV) "Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log [or a tree], and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water. Exodus Map - Hammond Exodus Map 2 " Message:
At this point, we still have some idea of where the Hebrews are located, for scholars are reasonably confident that “The Wilderness of Shur” was a desolate area in the northeast Sinai. (See maps, above.) The location of Marah and Elim today are conjecture. Geography changes over millennia, and they might not exist even as discoverable ruins today.
Bitter water is common in deserts, as alkaline salts can easily become concentrated in the sparse water and render it extremely foul-tasting. (So common, in fact, that old maps of the American West are covered with indications of “sweetwater”, to indicate a lack of alkalinity, and the word has given its name to several towns.) The word “marah” actually means “bitter” in Hebrew.
Even if life gives you a thousand reasons to quit . . .
Why does God, instead of leading the Hebrews to clean water, lead them to bad water and then have Moses perform a miracle for them? One might conjecture that He wants to solidify Moses’ role as His prophet and also to remind them that they have not stumbled onto a desert spring by chance. He doesn’t want them to take their existence for granted; they live (as we do) only because Yahweh is with them.
Perhaps to reward them for their faith in continuing to follow Him, God then grants them another boon, in the form of a covenant. If they remain faithful, they will be free of certain diseases inflicted on the Egyptians. While this raises many unanswered (and unanswerable) questions, it does demonstrate God’s sympathy for human nature; for He is training and reinforcing the relationship he has imposed between Himself and the Hebrews by constant repetition. He does not want them to fail and be punished; He does not expect them to “hear once and obey.”
God the Creator is usually called the “Father,” for He acts towards humanity very much like a good father towards children. He provides. He trains the children with patience: they are allowed to make mistakes and even pay for their mistakes. He demands obedience, but understands the stubbornness and pride of human nature, and does not “throw the Israelites out of the house” for a single rebellious act. But He does punish disobedience.
The time of the exodus and the forty years following are the adolescence of Judaism. When Exodus begins, the Jews have only a crude notion of God and the simplest of covenants with Him. They will emerge with a detailed, complex and cohesive body of laws, creating an entire integrated system of conduct towards God and others.
Meditation : Prayer : Oh God who has made me, oh God who keeps me, oh God who will be my Lord through all eternity, shine down Your blessings and wisdom upon me like the sun upon a field; and may I keep You in the forefront of my every thought and deed, throughout this day, and evermore......Amen |
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