Exodus 15 – Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment.

Day 33 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Matthew 1 tells of the spiritual genealogy of Jesus, starting with Abraham. Joseph was of the kingly line of David and he, not being the father, adopted Jesus after having a dream that it was okay. It then tells of the birth of Jesus. It also tells of Mary remaining a virgin until Jesus’ birth.

Exodus 14 describes the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and how the pursuing Egyptian army drowned.

Exodus 15 containsf the songs of Moses and Miriam, as God had delivered them from the Egyptians. As the wandering began they arrived at the bitter waters of Marah and the sweet waters of Elim.

February 2, reading the Holy Bible in a year.

Exodus 14 describes the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and how the pursuing Egyptian army drowned.

Exodus 15 tells of the songs of Moses and Miriam, as God had delivered them from the Egyptians. As the wandering began they arrived at the bitter waters of Marah and the sweet waters of Elim.

February 1, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

The chapters chosen for today are a continuation of the sermon of the mount in Matthew and three chapters of Exodus telling of what happened in the desert after the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea.

February 1: Matthew 6, Exodus 17, Exodus 18, Exodus 19 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 6 continues the telling of the sermon on the mount. Jesus spoke of doing good, of fasting and prayer, do it without fanfare, in secret if possible and, above all, be sincere. He then instituted what is called “The Lord’s prayer” which really is a pattern prayer for us, short, direct, but covers the essentials. Then he continued by recommending to store up eternal, spiritual treasures, not physical riches, for you cannot serve two masters, you serve either God or money. Then Jesus continued telling how foolish it is to worry about the future, concentrate on what is important, seek first the Kingdom of God, and God will take care of all the other things.

In Exodus 17, lack of water is a recurring theme in the desert. In Rephidim there was no water at all, so God told Moses to strike the rock at the foot of Mount Horeb. Water gushed out and they were all filled. Good it was, for the Amalekites attacked them right afterwards. Joshua and his men fought a good fight, and Moses helped by raising his hands, and as long as he held them high Joshua prevailed. But Moses got tired, so Aaron and Hur held up his hands until sunset, and so the Amalekites were defeated.

Exodus 18 tells of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law when he visited Moses, who now was in a difficult situation trying to lead his people all by himself, and Jethro gave Moses good advice about real leadership, delegation of management, a practice essential for all governing.

In Exodus 19, time had come to visit Mount Sinai. God declared that the Israelites will be a Kingdom of Priests and a holy nation. The chapter deals with the three-day consecration that was to occur before Moses went up to meet with God.

January 31, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

Matthew 5 chosen for today is probably the most quoted scripture chapter, even by people not knowing from whence the quotation originated. Then there are two chapters of Exodus.

January 31: Matthew 5, Exodus 15, Exodus 16 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 5 is about the sermon on the mount, and begins with the Beatitudes. After that Jesus added the spiritual dimension to the Law. He had not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill the Law. Jesus first addressed murder, where vengeance is not for us to do, instead be reconciled with your adversary before you can be reconciled to God. Then He dealt with adultery, you are not only not to do it, you are not allowed to even think about it. Likewise, the only time divorce is allowed is for already committed adultery. Piling on, he addressed taking of oaths, this was serious business under the Law, but Jesus said “Let your yes be yes and your no, no”. Furthermore it was said “An eye for an eye” But Jesus told us to pray for our adversaries, no matter what, and love your enemies.

Exodus 15 tells of the songs of Moses and Miriam, as God had delivered them from the Egyptians. Then they arrived at the bitter waters of Marah and the sweet waters of Elim.

In Exodus 16 God gave them Manna (what is it?) and quail, and Moses gave the instructions on how to gather it. And they ate Manna for 40 years.

January 31, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 31: Matthew 5, Exodus 15, Exodus 16 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 5 is about the sermon on the mount, and begins with the Beatitudes. After that Jesus adds the spiritual dimension to the Law. He has not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill the Law. First Jesus deals with murder, where vengeance is out, instead be reconciled with your adversary before you can be reconciled with God. Then He deals with adultery; you are not only not to do it, you are not allowed to even think about it. Likewise, the only time divorce is allowed is for already committed adultery. Piling on, he addresses taking of oaths, this was serious business under the Law, but Jesus says “Let your yes be yes and your no, no”. Furthermore it was said “An eye for an eye” But Jesus tells us to pray for our adversaries, no matter what. And love your enemies.

Exodus 15 tells of the songs of Moses and Miriam, as God had delivered them from the Egyptians. Then they come to the bitter waters of Marah and the sweet waters of Elim.

In Exodus 16 God gives them Manna (what is it?) and quail, and Moses gave the instructions on how to gather it. And they ate Manna for 40 years.

Exodus 15,the Song of Moses and Miriam, the bitter water of Marah, the oasis of Elam.

There are two possible routes, the traditional route with Marah and Elim on the right side of the Gulf of Suez. The Manna was not yet given, the Israelis still had their provisions from Egypt, so Marah must have been only a few days journey from the Red Sea crossing.

The alternate route, favored by Muslims is to place the Red Sea crossing at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, placing Mt Sinai in the Levant rather than the Sinai Peninsula. This would have posed major logistical problems for the Israelis, going all the way from Egypt to the Gulf of Aqaba with food from Egypt.