Page 45 - Pentateuch

Chapter 7: Pentateuch Part III:
The Old Covenant: Exodus 15:22-24:18

Connect…

The task of understanding any ancient text is difficult. We are separated from the exodus events by several
thousand years and several thousand miles. We are separated by language (even though the original
Hebrew has been translated into English) and culture. The separation tends to make us rush through
passages, hitting the highlights, perhaps just remembering the main actions.

The Holy Spirit who inspired Moses to write is the same Holy Spirit who directs us to read and illumines us
when we read. As we work through Exodus, we are reminded by the New Testament of the importance of
what we are reading and discussing. “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our
hearts on evil things as they did (1 Co. 10:6).” The thought is both striking and sobering. “These things
happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the
ages has come (10:11). Part of God’s intention in allowing Israel to go through their wilderness wanderings
was actually for us. Knowing that he would bring many millions of others to himself who were not part of
Israel, God planned for these things to happen to teach us today.

From the beginning of human life, God has planted in our consciences at least a dim understanding of right
and wrong. “The requirements of the law are written on [our] hearts, [our] consciences also bearing
witness, and [our] thoughts sometimes accusing [us] and at other times even defending [us] (Ro. 2:15). This
includes the ability to discern right from wrong and some sense of what might be right or wrong. The law
that was given to Israel simply makes clear in words on papyrus and stone what had already been
implanted in every human on earth.

The Lesson ...

The Old Covenant

Although the people saw quite vividly the power of God through ten progressively more severe plagues,
and although they were spared the effect of most of the plagues as God made a clear distinction between
them and the Egyptians, and although the people saw the destruction of Pharaoh’s powerful army in the
waters of the Red Sea, the hardships of the wilderness quickly gave
them an excuse to complain. They did not complain just once. They
complained often. In each case, God patiently met their need. In
each case, he was patiently teaching them more about himself.

After just three days of travel, the people grumble. Their journey
brings them to Marah, where the water is bitter. Moses cries out to
the LORD. He directs Moses to throw a certain piece of wood into
the water, making it fit to drink. God’s gracious provision for them,
as the God “who heals,” brings certain instructions. “If you listen
carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if
you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will
Fig. 29: Coriander Seed
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