Exodus 17

Exodus 17:2

Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?"

This is obviously the Divine Abridged Version of the story.

Just looking at this briefly, I don't really see a problem. You have a huge number of people, literally in the middle of nowhere, with no water source. These people need water (naturally), they don't have water, which means that unless something amazing happens, they're dead. So they go the person who's been providing miracles, a guy by the name of Moses, and present their need. He gets a bit cranky about their request, though.

That's where you have to look again. Then, you realize that the Israelites are going about this all wrong. They do need water, of course, but they go looking for it in all the wrong places. They go to Moses, which I can understand; he has been their conduit to God recently. However, they don't ask God for water, or go requesting for Moses to intervene with God. They go and issue a demand of Moses, as if he's the one who can quirk an eyebrow and an aquifer appear. If they had instead gone to Moses and said, "please ask of God to give us water that we may drink," the place would have had a very different name.

Exodus 16

Exodus 16:29

See, the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

It's troubling how often I hear Christians talking about their weeks being so busy that they have to do something on Sunday. Back in college, I was even one of those people. However, I grew up with the mentality that (non-church) work isn't to be done Sundays, if it can be helped. Part of what always irritates me about the people saying that, is that they're often the ones who spend Saturday and/or Friday night "carousing." They choose to relax and have fun first, then suddenly realize that there is still stuff to do, and spend Sunday madly rushing around to get things finished.

Now, I can understand the occasional pre-planned activity, but my mentality just doesn't work so well with the idea of waiting to the last minute on Sunday to finish things. I think this verse gives the proper mindset: plan out your time, so that you don't need to work on the sabbath. In Moses' time, it was a forced decision; they didn't work on Sunday, because there was nothing to work on (the manna didn't deliver). If you didn't plan, you went hungry. Today, we actually have to think about it, and plan it out, then we can enjoy our time, and truly find the rest God offers us.

Exodus 15

Exodus 15:26

And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer."

Interesting progression of "and"s here. First, the people must heed God. But not just pay attention; they must earnestly pay attention. They must be taking careful note of what God is saying. Second, they must do what is right in God's sight. How do they know what is right? Presumably, He will have just told them -- thus, they have to have been paying attention. Third, they must give ear to God's commandments. This almost seems like a repeat, except that now we are told that God's not just talking to them, he's telling them what to do. To hear him, they have to be paying attention. Finally, they have to keep the statues He has laid down, which they had to hear, which they have to be doing right, so they have to pay attention to know what is right and what isn't. Confused yet? It almost feels like a recursion loop to me, which is fair, because in effect it is.

Then, if they do all this, God gives them a promise, that He will not do to them what He has done to the Egyptians. With that comes the implication that if they stray, the Egyptians might look like they had it good. However, there is a point of hope even then, for God names Himself their healer. As Jesus would later say, a doctor is for the sick, not the well. So even if they mess up and are punished, God suggests that He may bring them back, rather than destroy them.

Exodus 14

Exodus 14:25

He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians."

I had forgotten about this part of the story. I remembered how they were blocked by the cloud and pillar of fire, and of course everyone knows the ending, but I didn't remember about God actively messing with the army.

After all that has been inflicted upon the Egyptians, they still keep coming around and thinking it was a fluke. How here, as they are rushing to crush the Israelites (rushing through a miraculous parting of the sea, in case they hadn't noticed), they are confounded by what we would today call "equipment failure," and wise up once again that this is a bad idea. Unfortunately, this time they wised up too late.

Exodus 13

Exodus 13:17

Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, "The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt."

Interesting that God kept the people away from the fastest route. Given what little I know about the Philistines' territory at the time, they may have controlled the entire Mediterranean coastline in the region, which would mean that any way to the promised land would have to go through them. If I'm right about that, then God was leading them away from the only path to what He had promised them.

Also, it's interesting what reason God lists. Despite everything that has happened, all the plagues and tragedies God struck the Egyptians with, the people have never seen combat. They don't know if God would protect them in a standard battle, and apparently would be afraid of entering one. That makes sense, in many ways. They were slaves, not soldiers. They may be physically able to fight, but that doesn't mean that they knew how. Moses and Aaron were spiritual leaders, not military commanders. So God leads them another way, until they're ready to do battle, and ready to trust Him to provide when their strength is insufficient.

Exodus 12

Exodus 12:42

It is a night to be observed for the Lord for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for the Lord, to be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.

This verse caught my eye because it doesn't fit with the rest of the passage. It would make sense earlier, when God is issuing instructions to Moses, or when Moses is giving instructions to the people. It would even make sense later on. But this verse is dropped right into the middle of a long narrative about the exodus itself.

It appears to be the first commentary. We have a sudden, brief switch from relaying history to a statement about the importance of this event and of remembering it. This event was so significant, God had Moses step outside the narrative for a sentence, to emphasize how vital the commemoration of the liberation of God's chosen people is.

And then back to the history...

Exodus 11

Exodus 11:3

The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people.

I have to say, this statement surprises me. This people has been the cause of so much angst and suffering recently. Their desire to leave has caused nine terrible plagues to occur. Yet despite all that, the Israelites still have favor with the native Egyptians. What's more, Moses, the one man who is the harbinger, perhaps the cause, of these terrible occurrences, is thought of highly by those he has tormented.

I have three guesses on why this may be. The first is the obvious, that God has supernaturally inspired the Egyptian people to see the Israelites in high regard, though I have to say this feels like a cop-out answer. The second is that the Egyptians all realize the power of God, with the sole exception of Pharaoh (who is restrained unknowingly from that realization by God's direction).

The third is something closer to the effect modern politics, where the people think something needs to be done, it isn't done, so they blame the person who prevents it from happening (and I'm specifically not trying to point out any single issue as an example of this). In this case, the Egyptians know that the Israelites want to leave, they've suffered terribly because Pharaoh won't let them leave, so they blame Pharaoh and praise Moses.

Personally, I think the second explanation is probably closest to being accurate, but that's my opinion. Some factors of the other two may well have been influences as well. Or it could be there's a fourth alternative I'm not thinking up right now. Feel free to speculate.

Exodus 10

Exodus 10:2

and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord."

The reminder to tell their children about the things God has done for them is a frequent recurrence for the Israelites, especially between the Plagues and when the conquer the Promised Land. However, it's something they never seem to do very well, for whatever reason.

However, this got me thinking about how poor many of us are today at telling our own children about the things God has done for us. Maybe it's partially human nature, in how events lose their power over time. Perhaps it is just forgetfulness or laziness, or part of the human thinking of "what have you done for me lately?" But for whatever reason, I know that I'm not very good at remembering the things that God does, and I don't even have kids yet. How will I ever recall them once my hypothetical kids are old enough to understand, if I don't remember them a week later, or a day, or an hour? I think I'm going to start some kind of journal, to chronicle those times when God's power is evident in my life.