The end of yesterday’s reading really fits more with today’s reading in that it shows some of the ways that God miraculously provided for His people now that they were free from Egypt. Though freedom is a wonderful thing, wandering freely in a desolate dessert could be potentially fatal. What strikes me as humorous throughout all of these chapters is how quickly the people turn to grumbling and complaining after what they just experienced in Egypt. How quick they were to forget God’s amazing power and to just give up and expect to die. I know I’ve been guilty of this in my life too… perhaps you can relate?
In any case, what God doesn’t do is let them starve and die. What God does do, despite their complaining and grumbling, is provide for them in a variety of ways that we read about yesterday and today. First and foremost, we see God’s provision for the people’s physical needs. Immediately after crossing the Red Sea, the people walked into the wilderness. In the modern world, this would still be considered Egypt, but whether then or now, this area is rough and relatively uninhabited. There would have been very little in the way of food, and even less ways of getting it. The people were also on the move, no time to plant some crops and stuff. So God provides bread from heaven in the form of “mana” every morning and meat every evening in the form of quail. Certainly not a diverse diet, but certainly better than nothing at all. God also provides the people’s water supply by both bringing them to places in which there was water, and also through the water coming out of the rock event.
Next we see God providing for their physical safety by protecting them from the attack of Amalek. This isn’t the first encounter with Amalek that God’s chosen people have had, and as we read it won’t be the last. Be that as it may, God provides here as well through the hands (and arms) of Moses. Realistically speaking, the Israelites should have been no match for army at that time. They were slaves with no real fighting experience among them. Yet they prevail by the power of God. I think its important to note what they did immediately upon their victory: they worship God and write it down so as to make sure they will never forget! Sometimes I wonder how many awesome things God has done in my life that I have forgotten because I didn’t pay attention or write them down.
Finally (for today)… God also provides for the needs of Moses, and thus all the people of Israel in their day to day life by way of their judicial system. Though it may have been logical for Jethro to say what he did to Moses, I think that it was wholly inspired by God. There is really no way that Moses could have handled the burdens of the people long term and I tend to think that, with Moses taking on all the burdens, it would be too much like him being a king, and could possibly lead this young nation of impressionable grumblers astray. God works through the advice of Jethro to form a judicial system that works for them… and for us today as well. The modern judicial system of layered court systems (local, county, state, federal) is something that has come out of this idea of Moses appointing people over “thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.” I suppose whether our system actually “works” is a matter of opinion… we do live in a broken world after all…
P.S. Did you notice again… the symbols of God’s presence on the mountain? Smoke and Fire! We also see some new ones as well with the lightning and the trumpet sounds!
