Exodus 13–16: Deliverance & Provision

Read the Bible in 2023 ◊ Week 17: Monday

Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to Yahweh and said,
“I will sing to Yahweh, for He is highly exalted;
The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.
Yah is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will extol Him.”

Exodus 15:1–2 LSB

–

Monday’s reading of Exodus 13–16, takes the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Chapter 13 gives God’s commands for the redemption of the firstborn and the observance of Passover, and describes God leading them on their journey by going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Chapter 14 describes the pursuit of the Egyptians, the parting of the Red Sea, the crossing made by the Hebrews and the destruction of the Egyptian army when they are drowned in the Sea.

Chapter 15 contains Moses’ song of praise and gratitude to God for their deliverance. In his commentary on Exodus, Philip Graham Ryken writes,

“In one of his last sermons, Dr. James Montgomery Boice described music as “a gift from God that allows us to express our deepest heart responses to God and his truth in meaningful and memorable ways. It is a case of our hearts joining with our minds to say, ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ to the truths we are embracing.” This is what the Israelites were doing on the shores of the Red Sea: They were saying “Yes! Yes! Yes!” to the power and glory of God, as it had been revealed in their salvation.”¹

Their thankfulness is short-lived, unfortunately, and at the end of this chapter, the Hebrew people begin their incessant grumbling when they come to the bitter waters of Marah.

In chapter 16, in answer to their grumbling and looking back to the meat and bread of Egypt, God provides manna and quail for them to eat. The Hebrew people gather manna daily, but they disobey God’s commands both about keeping the manna until morning and about the Sabbath rest. God had told Moses His reason for His command to gather daily:

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My law.”

Exodus 16:4 LSB

–

Their testing revealed their hearts, and these chapters begin a continuing pattern of their unbelief during their wanderings in the wilderness.

Chapter 16 concludes with Moses and Aaron following God’s command to save a jar of manna and keep it throughout their generations that Israel may see bread that the Lord fed them.

–

Silvesterzug Laterne: Bk muc. (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1–18), from a Sefer Torah: Elihu Shanun, Public Domain.
Exodus 15:1b quoted on the home page is from the English Standard Version. I used it because it closely tracks with the lyrics of “Moses’ Song” that have been sung by many.
¹Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved For God’s Glory (Crossway Books, Wheaton IL: 2007) 403.

I’m using Michael Coley’s Bible reading plan (one page PDF to print) to read through the Bible in 2023. Each day my posts are on different books because he divides Bible readings into seven categories, one for each day of the week: Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and Gospels. There’s more information on his plan and other ones at Read the Bible in 2023.

Choose a category to read: