Introduction: How do you feel when you are hungry or thirsty? What if getting a drink or food was not something you could easily do? The problem for most people, even poor people in the United States, is that we are “over secure” when it comes to food. For most of us, the problem is having the willpower to eat less. We die from eating too much, not from eating too little. While we might have a problem getting into the minds of the Hebrews for our study this week, let’s do our best as we turn to our study of Exodus.

I. Thirsty

A. Read Exodus 15:22. What is significant about the fact that the Hebrews were three days without finding water? (Several sources reported that humans can live between three and five days without water. It depends on the health of the individual.)

1. What do you think is the attitude of the people? (The people were looking at dying without water. Remember that there are about two million people in this group.)

B. Read Exodus 15:23. Have you ever felt that you must go to the bathroom, but when you found a bathroom, it was locked! How did you feel? (Between the last questions and this, we see how the people could be desperate!)

C. Read Exodus 15:24-25. Notice that the verses say that the people grumbled “against” Moses, and Moses “cried out to the Lord.” Is this the proper chain of command? (Yes.)

1. Are the people doing something different from what Moses is doing? (Yes. They were saying negative things about Moses. While Moses is turning to God for help.)
2. It sounds like God pointed Moses’ attention to a specific piece of wood. Why would God have to find a particular wood for Moses? (Some believe this wood had properties that counteracted the bitterness of the water and made it drinkable.)

D. Read Exodus 7:20. Assume the wood actually played an important role in fixing the water. Why would God do that? Why not have Moses strike the water with his staff just like he struck the Nile to turn it to blood? (Exodus 15:25 tells us that these events were a test.)

E. Read Exodus 15:26. What do you think is the test referred to in Exodus 15:25? (They are tested on listening carefully and paying attention to God. Changing the Nile water to blood and changing this lake water from bitter to sweet are similar, but God uses a different technique involving wood.)

F. Let’s stay with Exodus 15:26. Why does God talk about future health? Why is disease a logical question to bring into this discussion? (We have two things going on. First, bitter water is changed to sweet because people need to drink. Beyond that, God promises that He will not put plagues of disease on the people if they obey Him.)

G. Read Exodus 15:27. God leads the Hebrews to a place where there is obviously good water. Is God giving the people a lesson? If so, what is it? (God is showing the people that He can do two things. He can lead them in the right direction so their needs will be met. At the same time, when there is an emergency, God can perform a miracle (or provide the means) to fix the problem.)

II. Meat Lovers Special

A. Read Exodus 16:1-3. Do you think the slaves had “all the food they wanted?”

1. Why would they be complaining about meat when, according to Exodus 12:32, they had their “flocks and herds” with them?

B. Read Exodus 16:4-7. Is God answering the request of the people? (They complained about starving, but they dreamed of eating meat. God is sending them bread instead. Or is He?)

1. Notice that Moses and Aaron in verse 7 tell the Hebrews that they should not be the target of criticism. Do you agree? (When I’m a leader, I think it is proper that criticism be directed to me when individuals think something is going wrong.)

C. Read Exodus 16:8. What argument do Moses and Aaron make that they should escape criticism? (They are God’s agents and therefore they should escape criticism because God is the One being criticized.)

1. What do you think about their argument?

D. Read Exodus 16:10-14. Consider the ways God has answered the people’s complaints. Are they the same? (They are much different. Bringing quail is directing what could have been a natural occurrence. Bringing manna is an unprecedented miracle.)

III. Manna

A. Read Exodus 16:15-18. Let’s focus on verse 18. What is God teaching the people? To be Communists? To be lazy?

1. Why would a person gather too much? (This shows a lack of trust in God. He is teaching the people to trust Him. Even if you underestimated the amount you should gather, God would make it sufficient?

a. Is there a lesson here for retirement savings? Or are the two completely unrelated?

B. Read Exodus 16:19-25. Are each of these details a separate miracle? (Yes. Manna comes six days a week. You cannot keep it overnight, except on Friday, otherwise it spoils. If you are lazy and do not gather it in the morning, it will not be available to you.)

1. Why do we have this odd pattern of extra on Friday and none on Saturday? Notice that the Ten Commandments, requiring Sabbath rest, have not yet been given. See Exodus 20:8-11. (This shows that, as Exodus 20:11 states, the Sabbath rest was instituted at the Creation. God patterns His distribution of manna to reinforce His Sabbath rest commandment.)

C. Read Exodus 16:35. What does this teach us? (God can be trusted to help us for as long as we need it.)

IV. Rock Water

A. Read Exodus 17:1-3. Is this quarreling with Moses understandable? (No. God is giving them food to eat, and He solved their last problem with water.)

B. Read Exodus 17:4. Is Moses doing the right thing? (I vote, “yes.” He turns to God for help in this time of trouble.)

C. Read Exodus 17:5-6. At the beginning of our study, I asked why God did not have Moses strike the bitter water with his staff. But here, He has Moses strike a rock with his staff. Why the difference?

1. Is there a lesson in this for us? (This promotes the idea that there was something special about the wood God selected to counteract the bitterness of the lake. Turning water into blood or getting water from a rock demonstrates undeniable miracles. The lesson for us is that God can deal with our needs in many ways.)

V. Working Intelligently

A. Read Exodus 18:13-14. The back story is that when Moses and the multitude came by Horeb, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought Moses’ wife and children to him. Jethro advises Moses. What is Jethro suggesting? (The situation does not seem to reflect common sense.)

B. Read Exodus 18:15-16. What does Moses say is the reason why he is the one judging all disputes? (He says the people come to him to know what God would do. Moses explains the law of God.)

C. Read Exodus 18:17. How can Jethro claim it is “not good” for Moses to resolve disputes and educate the people about God’s law? This is an obviously important task to advance the Kingdom of God!

D. Read Exodus 18:18. How can Moses’ hard work on God’s behalf be improved? (Moses needs to share the burden. Moses is doing a great thing. But sometimes you can do too much of a great thing!)

1. Do you feel “burned out” with your church related tasks?
2. Do some in your church who are doing important work quit because they say they are “burned out?” (From time to time we lose important people who say they must quit because of “burnout.” I’m not a good person to consult on this. I’ve been writing these weekly lessons for 29 years, and I’m starting my 50th year of litigating and teaching. I would be sad if I stopped.)

E. Read Exodus 18:19-22. Jethro gives two suggestions to make Moses’ work more efficient. What are they? (First, Jethro says that Moses should educate all the people about God’s rules. It is inefficient to do it case by case. Second, Moses should organize a group of judges and delegate all of the smaller issues to them.)

1. Will these new judges be as good as Moses? (Not in the abstract. But they will have more time to devote to a case.)
2. Think about Jethro’s advice and see if you can apply it to your ministry.

F. Friend, we need to trust God in times of stress and to listen to the good advice of fellow believers. That will make your life better. Why not consider this right now how to improve your ministry?

VI. Next week: Covenant at Sinai.

Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

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