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 SeaExodus 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 IsraelExodus 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 2nd 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 6th 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