Exodus 16

Today we see how God providentially fed the hosts of Israel while they traveled in the desert - which will extend for forty years. It is a pretty amazing thing, the way manna is described, and the fact that God was doing this for them every day (except Sabbaths) for so long ought to have been a good demonstration to them of His power and authority... but they will still disobey from time to time, as we'll see in the rest of Exodus.

The stand-out things today to me were as follows:

- God rationed out the manna, so that each person ended up with just the amount they needed. I bet gluttony was a hard vice to find among the Israelites in that era, simply because they didn't have anything excess to eat!

- Some manna was set aside to be preserved for viewing by future generations. Was that perhaps the first time-capsule? I suppose it was never intended to be opened, though, especially once it was placed inside the Ark.

Exodus 15

I'm sure it losses something in translation to English, but the song from today's chapter is very cool nonetheless. At least for a short time it looks like the Israelites understood God's power and His love for them, though they will continue to doubt and sometimes fall away from His way.

I also noticed that Miriam is mentioned here as being Aaron's sister, rather than Moses' (or both). I wonder why that was - after all, weren't Moses and Aaron brothers? Maybe she was a sister-in-law or some such.

Exodus 14

Today's chapter is one of the better-known stories of the Old Testament, and one of God's more dramatic miracles. I wonder if the loss of a whole army is covered anywhere in Egyptian history, and moreover I wonder if Pharaoh himself was drowned with his troops or if he had stayed on the far side of the sea and just ordered his men in.

I'm also curious how many troops Pharaoh brought. The Israelites got very squeamish when they saw the Egyptians following them, and yet we know there were 600,000 men in the Exodus. Assuming even just a third of those were able-bodied and ready to fight it is still a large host - and yet they nearly wanted to turn back and enter slavery again! It is amazing how little faith we humans have in God, even when He shows all manner of signs and miracles in our lives.

Exodus 13

I think the coolest thing about the reading today is the section at the end - where it describes how God led the people of Israel. We often are told to follow God's will for our lives, but here th people literally had a pillar of cloud or fire to follow. I often wish God's plan for my life could be that clear-cut, and the sight of that must have been amazing.

Exodus 12

Wow, a long chapter today - and a sad one for the Egyptians. Having a son myself now I can say that it would be a terrible thing to lose him like this. In fact, if you take the "firstborn" rule to include adults who were the first children in their families then I, my wife, and my son would all have died.

This is a happy time for the Israelites, though, as they are not escaped from slavery! It was also the start of the Passover tradition, which extends to this day. 430 years to the day they were in Egypt, and the 70 people who were a part of Jacob's household have now grown to be 600,000 men along with their wives and children! Quite impressive.

Exodus 11

The final plague is approaching, and this chapter foretelling it is very short. Two things stand out to me, though:

- It seems that everyone but Pharaoh thinks highly of Moses and the Israelites at this point - perhaps because of fear from the things that have passed. God tells them to use this opportunity to ask for valuable goods from the Egyptians, but at the same time is about to kill all the firstborn in the land. That seems rather harsh :/

- Moses spoke to Pharaoh to warn/threaten him about this final plague, but in the last chapter Pharaoh had effectively said he would kill Moses if he saw him again. Pharaoh's words don't hold much power at this point, but Moses himself seemed to agree (not that he would die when he saw Pharaoh, but that he would not see him again). Maybe that was just posturing on Moses' behalf, or maybe there is something in the way it is translated that doesn't come through right, but it struck me as odd.

Exodus 10

I suspect we are nearing the end, as the plagues upon Egypt can't get much worse. This is very reminiscent of some of the plagues in the end times, talked about in Revelation. When I get there in a couple of years I will try to remember to refer back here and compare them.

The darkness that falls on Egypt in the later parts of this chapter is especially creepy, and really hard to imagine. Sometimes when I read things like this in the Bible I think it would make for a pretty amazing TV show - and that would be a pretty cool outreach tool, if done well.