Israel from Egypt bible study Exodus chapters 13 through 20, Deuteronomy 5

 

These next 8 chapters in Exodus, chapters 13 through 20, take the Israelites out of Egypt and up to Mount Sinai, but not without pursuit as God for one last time hardens Pharaohs heart, causing him to pursue the Israelites into the Red Sea, which God so graciously opens for Israel to let them pass on the dry ground yet closes it back over the Egyptian army and even presumably Pharaoh destroying them all. Then Israel after praising and worshipping  God for their deliverance, starts complaining almost immediately about not having provisions such as food and water,and even wants to be back in Egypt. God bears with it somewhat patiently, and then the Israelites end up at Mount Sinai where they receive a powerful visit form God and the commandments. Here is a link to the prior study of all the plagues and events that happened in Egypt done by God to set Israel free

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/moses-and-the-plagues-bible-study-exodus-chapters-3-through-12/10200695026991644

In Exodus chapter 13 then God has the Israelites consecrate all the first born to Him, as He used the death of the first born to get them out of Egypt. He has chosen the route through the wilderness and not the Philistines, and that God also accompanies them on their journey by a cloud in the daytime and a pillar of fire by night

(Exodus 13:1)  The LORD said to Moses,

 

(Exodus 13:2)  "Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine."

 

(Exodus 13:3)  Then Moses said to the people, "Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.

 

(Exodus 13:4)  Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out.

 

(Exodus 13:5)  And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month.

 

(Exodus 13:6)  Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.

 

(Exodus 13:7)  Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.

 

(Exodus 13:8)  You shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'

 

(Exodus 13:9)  And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.

 

(Exodus 13:10)  You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

 

(Exodus 13:11)  "When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,

 

(Exodus 13:12)  you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD's.

 

(Exodus 13:13)  Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

 

(Exodus 13:14)  And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

 

(Exodus 13:15)  For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.'

 

(Exodus 13:16)  It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt."

 

(Exodus 13:17)  When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt."

 

(Exodus 13:18)  But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

 

(Exodus 13:19)  Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here."

 

(Exodus 13:20)  And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

 

(Exodus 13:21)  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

 

(Exodus 13:22)  The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

 

In Exodus chapter 14 then the Lord sets His plan into action positioning the Israelis by the Red Sea and hardening Pharaoh so he comes after the Israelites with all of his army. Then God acts on the situation causing the Israelites to go through the Red Sea by dry land, opening a passage for the Israelites through the sea and then closing the Red Sea back up in a way to destroy the entire Egyptian army

(Exodus 14:1)  Then the LORD said to Moses,

 

(Exodus 14:2)  "Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.

 

(Exodus 14:3)  For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, 'They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'

 

(Exodus 14:4)  And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." And they did so.

 

(Exodus 14:5)  When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"

 

(Exodus 14:6)  So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,

 

(Exodus 14:7)  and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

 

(Exodus 14:8)  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.

 

(Exodus 14:9)  The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

 

(Exodus 14:10)  When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.

 

(Exodus 14:11)  They said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

 

(Exodus 14:12)  Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

 

(Exodus 14:13)  And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

 

(Exodus 14:14)  The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

 

(Exodus 14:15)  The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

 

(Exodus 14:16)  Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

 

(Exodus 14:17)  And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.

 

(Exodus 14:18)  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."

 

(Exodus 14:19)  Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,

 

(Exodus 14:20)  coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

 

(Exodus 14:21)  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

 

(Exodus 14:22)  And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

 

(Exodus 14:23)  The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

 

(Exodus 14:24)  And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,

 

(Exodus 14:25)  clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."

 

(Exodus 14:26)  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."

 

(Exodus 14:27)  So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

 

(Exodus 14:28)  The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.

 

(Exodus 14:29)  But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

 

(Exodus 14:30)  Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

 

(Exodus 14:31)  Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

 

Exodus chapter 15 then is a series of praise songs to celebrate the safe passage through the Red Sea and the resultant destruction of the Egyptian army when the Red Sea closed again after it had opened to allow the Israelites to pass through the Red Sea on dry ground, delivering the Israelites from Egypt. The Israelites encamp at the end of the chapter at Elim with its springs of water

(Exodus 15:1)  Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

 

(Exodus 15:2)  The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

 

(Exodus 15:3)  The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.

 

(Exodus 15:4)  "Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.

 

(Exodus 15:5)  The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.

 

(Exodus 15:6)  Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.

 

(Exodus 15:7)  In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.

 

(Exodus 15:8)  At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

 

(Exodus 15:9)  The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.'

 

(Exodus 15:10)  You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

 

(Exodus 15:11)  "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

 

(Exodus 15:12)  You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.

 

(Exodus 15:13)  "You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

 

(Exodus 15:14)  The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

 

(Exodus 15:15)  Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

 

(Exodus 15:16)  Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.

 

(Exodus 15:17)  You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

 

(Exodus 15:18)  The LORD will reign forever and ever."

 

(Exodus 15:19)  For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.

 

(Exodus 15:20)  Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.

 

(Exodus 15:21)  And Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea."

 

(Exodus 15:22)  Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

 

(Exodus 15:23)  When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.

 

(Exodus 15:24)  And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"

 

(Exodus 15:25)  And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

 

(Exodus 15:26)  saying, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer."

 

(Exodus 15:27)  Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

 

In Exodus chapter 16 then the people complain of the lack of food, wishing they had not left Egypt at all, but the Lord then supplies them with bread (manna from heaven) and quail, in His mercy, giving directions on how to use the provision that he freely supplied and also concerning what to do on the Sabbath day, where they needed twice as much as the day before as they would not be able to collect on the Sabbath day

(Exodus 16:1)  They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

 

(Exodus 16:2)  And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

 

(Exodus 16:3)  and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

 

(Exodus 16:4)  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am about to 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 they will walk in my law or not.

 

(Exodus 16:5)  On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."

 

(Exodus 16:6)  So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

 

(Exodus 16:7)  and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?"

 

(Exodus 16:8)  And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him--what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD."

 

(Exodus 16:9)  Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'"

 

(Exodus 16:10)  And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

 

(Exodus 16:11)  And the LORD said to Moses,

 

(Exodus 16:12)  "I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"

 

(Exodus 16:13)  In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.

 

(Exodus 16:14)  And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.

 

(Exodus 16:15)  When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

 

(Exodus 16:16)  This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'"

 

(Exodus 16:17)  And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.

 

(Exodus 16:18)  But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

 

(Exodus 16:19)  And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over till the morning."

 

(Exodus 16:20)  But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

 

(Exodus 16:21)  Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

 

(Exodus 16:22)  On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

 

(Exodus 16:23)  he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'"

 

(Exodus 16:24)  So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.

 

(Exodus 16:25)  Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.

 

(Exodus 16:26)  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none."

 

(Exodus 16:27)  On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.

 

(Exodus 16:28)  And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

 

(Exodus 16:29)  See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."

 

(Exodus 16:30)  So the people rested on the seventh day.

 

(Exodus 16:31)  Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

 

(Exodus 16:32)  Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'"

 

(Exodus 16:33)  And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations."

 

(Exodus 16:34)  As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.

 

(Exodus 16:35)  The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

 

(Exodus 16:36)  (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

 

In chapter 17 the people again complain, to the point of stoning Moses, this time about the lack of water. Moses is then directed to strike a rock with his staff, and the water is then supplied. Amalek then attacks the Israelites and is defeated. Moses had help holding his hands up so the Lord would help Israel

(Exodus 17:1)  All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

 

(Exodus 17:2)  Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?"

 

(Exodus 17:3)  But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

 

(Exodus 17:4)  So Moses cried to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."

 

(Exodus 17:5)  And the LORD said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

 

(Exodus 17:6)  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

 

(Exodus 17:7)  And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

 

(Exodus 17:8)  Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

 

(Exodus 17:9)  So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand."

 

(Exodus 17:10)  So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

 

(Exodus 17:11)  Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

 

(Exodus 17:12)  But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

 

(Exodus 17:13)  And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

 

(Exodus 17:14)  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."

 

(Exodus 17:15)  And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner,

 

(Exodus 17:16)  saying, "A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

 

In Exodus chapter 18 Jethro, Moses’ father in law, then counsels Moses to get help running the things of the people, with captains over varying size groups, so that Moses would not be overwhelmed and wear himself out trying to do all of it all by himself for it is too much for one person

(Exodus 18:1)  Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

 

(Exodus 18:2)  Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home,

 

(Exodus 18:3)  along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land"),

 

(Exodus 18:4)  and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh").

 

(Exodus 18:5)  Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God.

 

(Exodus 18:6)  And when he sent word to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,"

 

(Exodus 18:7)  Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent.

 

(Exodus 18:8)  Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.

 

(Exodus 18:9)  And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.

 

(Exodus 18:10)  Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

 

(Exodus 18:11)  Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people."

 

(Exodus 18:12)  And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.

 

(Exodus 18:13)  The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.

 

(Exodus 18:14)  When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?"

 

(Exodus 18:15)  And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God;

 

(Exodus 18:16)  when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws."

 

(Exodus 18:17)  Moses' father-in-law said to him, "What you are doing is not good.

 

(Exodus 18:18)  You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.

 

(Exodus 18:19)  Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God,

 

(Exodus 18:20)  and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.

 

(Exodus 18:21)  Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

 

(Exodus 18:22)  And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

 

(Exodus 18:23)  If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace."

 

(Exodus 18:24)  So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

 

(Exodus 18:25)  Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

 

(Exodus 18:26)  And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.

 

(Exodus 18:27)  Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

 

In Exodus chapter 19  the powerful encounter with God at Mount Sinai is described with all of the awesome trumpets, thunders and signs, where Moses goes up the mountain to meet with God to receive the commandments.

(Exodus 19:1)  On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

 

(Exodus 19:2)  They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain,

 

(Exodus 19:3)  while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel:

 

(Exodus 19:4)  You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

 

(Exodus 19:5)  Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;

 

(Exodus 19:6)  and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

 

(Exodus 19:7)  So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.

 

(Exodus 19:8)  All the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

 

(Exodus 19:9)  And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever." When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD,

 

(Exodus 19:10)  the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments

 

(Exodus 19:11)  and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

 

(Exodus 19:12)  And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, 'Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.

 

(Exodus 19:13)  No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."

 

(Exodus 19:14)  So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments.

 

(Exodus 19:15)  And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman."

 

(Exodus 19:16)  On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

 

(Exodus 19:17)  Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

 

(Exodus 19:18)  Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

 

(Exodus 19:19)  And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

 

(Exodus 19:20)  The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

 

(Exodus 19:21)  And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish.

 

(Exodus 19:22)  Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them."

 

(Exodus 19:23)  And Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, 'Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.'"

 

(Exodus 19:24)  And the LORD said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them."

 

(Exodus 19:25)  So Moses went down to the people and told them.

 

In Exodus chapter 20, God then gives Moses the Ten Commandments for all to live by and then has Moses tell the people of them.

(Exodus 20:1)  And God spoke all these words, saying,

 

(Exodus 20:2)  "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

 

(Exodus 20:3)  "You shall have no other gods before me.

 

(Exodus 20:4)  "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

 

(Exodus 20:5)  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

 

(Exodus 20:6)  but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

(Exodus 20:7)  "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

 

(Exodus 20:8)  "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

 

(Exodus 20:9)  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,

 

(Exodus 20:10)  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

 

(Exodus 20:11)  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 

(Exodus 20:12)  "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

 

(Exodus 20:13)  "You shall not murder.

 

(Exodus 20:14)  "You shall not commit adultery.

 

(Exodus 20:15)  "You shall not steal.

 

(Exodus 20:16)  "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 

(Exodus 20:17)  "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

 

(Exodus 20:18)  Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off

 

(Exodus 20:19)  and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."

 

(Exodus 20:20)  Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."

 

(Exodus 20:21)  The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

 

(Exodus 20:22)  And the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.

 

(Exodus 20:23)  You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

 

(Exodus 20:24)  An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

 

(Exodus 20:25)  If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.

 

(Exodus 20:26)  And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.'

 

This is so important, the giving of the commandments for then Moses also shares the commandments in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 5, which I am sharing for emphasis of their importance:

(Deuteronomy 5:1)  And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:2)  The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:3)  Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:4)  The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire,

 

(Deuteronomy 5:5)  while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

 

(Deuteronomy 5:6)  "'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:7)  "'You shall have no other gods before me.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:8)  "'You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:9)  You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

 

(Deuteronomy 5:10)  but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:11)  "'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:12)  "'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:13)  Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

 

(Deuteronomy 5:14)  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:15)  You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:16)  "'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:17)  "'You shall not murder.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:18)  "'And you shall not commit adultery.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:19)  "'And you shall not steal.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:20)  "'And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:21)  "'And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'

 

(Deuteronomy 5:22)  "These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:23)  And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:24)  And you said, 'Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:25)  Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:26)  For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived?

 

(Deuteronomy 5:27)  Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.'

 

(Deuteronomy 5:28)  "And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, 'I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:29)  Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

 

(Deuteronomy 5:30)  Go and say to them, "Return to your tents."

 

(Deuteronomy 5:31)  But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.'

 

(Deuteronomy 5:32)  You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

 

(Deuteronomy 5:33)  You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

For the continuing story of Israel in the wilderness and their expedition to check out the promised land and what happens after please go to this link

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jay-dougherty/book-of-numbers-bible-study-chapters-9-through-16/10200700931339249

 

God is so awesome to give us such guidelines to live by, though He knew we could really never live up to them. It is why He would send His Son Jesus to die for us on the cross, so that our sins could be atoned for in a perfect way, and therefore restore a good relationship with God. There is no relationship like a love relationship with God. I am now including a prayer which when said will invite Jesus in your heart to begin or resume a love relationship like there is no other. Please pray the following prayer with me:

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin. You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess Jesus as our Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.

Amen.

God bless you and yours