Israel Met God in the Wilderness Exodus 13:17-20:21

The Wilderness Way God chose to take Israel through the wilderness of the Red Sea rather than the land of the Philistines (Exodus 13:17- 22) –He did not want the sight of war to change their mind

The Wilderness Journey They took the bones of Joseph with them –Partial fulfillment of his faith filled instructions (Genesis 50:25) The Lord went before them –By day in a pillar of cloud –By night in a pillar of fire

Facing Pharaoh at the Red Sea Exodus 14:1-12 God had Moses camp before the Red Sea –He foresaw that Pharaoh would harden his heart again and pursue them –He would use this to “gain honor over Pharaoh” and show Egypt that he was Lord When Israel saw Pharaoh and 600 chariots, they were afraid and called out to the Lord –They blamed Moses for bringing them out –They said it would have been better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness

See the Lord’s Salvation Exodus 14:13-16 Moses said the Lord would fight for them –“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.” The Lord asked why Moses cried to him –He told them to go forward, with Moses stretching out his rod over the sea to divide it –He said Israel would go through on dry ground through the middle of the sea

God Fought for Israel Exodus 14:17-25 God would gain honor over Pharaoh, his army, his chariots and horsemen The angel of God went between Israel and the Egyptians –He was a cloud of darkness to the Egyptians and a cloud of light to the children of Israel

God Parted the Sea Israel went through on dry ground It was about 5 miles across the sea at this point If the opening was 700 feet, it would have taken 2 million people 4 hours to cross at 2 ½ miles per hour

God Overthrew the Egyptians Exodus 14:26-31 The Egyptians pursued, but God troubled them by taking off their chariot wheels The Egyptians recognized God fought for Israel God directed Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea –The sea returned to its place so all Pharaoh’s army drowned

Moses and Israel Praised God Exodus 15:1-26 The Lord saved Israel –They saw the Egyptian dead on the seashore –The people saw the Lord’s work, feared him and believed him and his servant, Moses Moses and Israel sang a song of praise to the Lord for all he had done –Miriam also sang a song of praise

Murmuring Over Bitter Water They moved to the Wilderness of Shur After three days of no water, they found bitter water at Marah –They murmured against Moses –God directed Moses to cast a tree into the waters and they were made sweet God promised to give Israel none of the diseases the Egyptians had, if they obeyed him

The People Murmured Against God Exodus 15:27-16:36 They camped at Elim and moved to the Wilderness of Sin in the 2 nd month They murmured against Moses and Aaron –They missed the foods (meats) and bread of Egypt –God would rain manna and quail from heaven –Notice, murmuring against God’s messenger is murmuring against God (Exodus 16:8) –God provided double before the Sabbath –An omer of manna was put before the testimony

Lessons in the Manna God takes care of his people’s needs. When people did not listen to God and kept some of the manna overnight, it turned wormy. When people did not listen to God and collect extra on the 6 th day, they found no manna on the Sabbath.

God’s Continued Protection At the next stop, Rephidim, the people complained because of lack of water (Exodus 17:1-7) –God commanded Moses to strike a rock in the presence of all the elders of Israel so they would know God had provided for them The Amalekites attacked, but Israel won with the help of God (Exodus 17:8-16) –God promised to utterly destroy them later

Israel at Sinai In the third month, Israel came to Sinai and God began to establish a covenant relationship with his people (Exodus 19:1-2) The law God issued at Sinai is called the law of Moses, law of God or law of the Lord (Nehemiah 8:1, 8; Luke 2:22-24) –Given by God to Moses on Sinai (Nehemiah 9:13-14) –It was a code of law, means of showing man a sinner (Romans 7:7), separation between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14) and schoolmaster to bring man to Christ (Galatians 3:24)

The Ten Commandments and Man’s Relation to God The first commandment rejects polytheism, which is the worship of multiple gods, atheism and materialism (Exodus 20:1-3) The second emphasizes our service to a living God (Exodus 20:4-6) The third stresses reverence due to God (Exodus 20:7) The law of the Sabbath, as all the 10, was given exclusively to the Jews (Exodus 20:8-11) –It was to be a day of rest kept as a memorial to God giving them rest from bondage

The Ten Commandments and Man’s Relation to Man The remaining commandments (Exodus 20:12- 17) were all summed up by the Lord in Matthew 22:39-40 –And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. The people were awed by the sights and sounds on the mountain (Exodus 20:18-21) –Moses said they should have reverential fear of God and not sin