For a full description of the (Y3) reading plan, see the “About” page.
- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ex. 16
The manna God provided has me thinking. Obedience has a lot to do with trust. And trust has a lot to do with humility. God could have provided anything for His people to eat. But He chose to give them a specific substance that they did not know. Why? To show them that He, as the only sovereign God, is the One who makes the rules. This bread from heaven came with a specific set of instructions. If the people did not follow those instructions, the manna did not serve its intended purpose. So, though they did nothing to provide the substance, their obedience was required in order to partake of it.
Jesus later said that He is the true bread from heaven. He is God’s free provision for us. As with the manna, however, our obedience is required in order for us to partake of the provision God gave. This required obedience is not about a list of do’s and don’ts that we must follow. Rather, it is about humility and trust. It is about acknowledging that God alone is God and that we need Him. We must set aside our own understanding, desire, and way of doing things and take up His. Because if we try to partake of God’s gracious provision our own way, our bowl will either be empty or filled with stinking worms.
Ex. 17
When the Israelites encountered the bitter water at Marah, they questioned, “What are we going to drink?” (Ex. 15:24b). Here at Massah, however, they took a different approach. “So the people complained to Moses, ‘Give us water to drink.’” (Ex. 17:2a). Could it be that they had figured out by this point that God was able to provide for them through Moses? It seems they were no longer complaining because they didn’t know where to get water but had progressed to complaining because they weren’t getting it on their terms.
That looks like a typical journey of faith to me. We move from disbelief to expectation and become demanding of God. Dangerous behavior! How many people, after choosing to believe in Jesus, later turn from their faith because God didn’t act in the way they expected? In truth, it wasn’t God who failed them, it was their humility that failed. Those demanding expectations come from the same lack of trust as the disbelieving doubt. And lack of trust boils down to our thinking that we know better than God. That’s pride. We need to humbly understand that, just like with the mana, God’s provision is always on His terms, not ours, because He alone is God. We must never take His grace for granted.
Ex. 18
At Jethro’s wise advice, Moses did what Jesus later did. He taught God’s ways to a small subset of people, then taught them to teach others the same. It’s the model of discipleship, and it multiples effort and impact. There is one very significant difference, however, between what Moses did and what Jesus did. Though God’s Spirit was with Moses, the only thing he was able to pass on was the teaching.
This was for the most part true of Jesus as well during His time on earth as the Son of Man. When He left this earth as the Resurrected One, however, He was able to pass God’s Spirit along as well, not just to the subset He taught, but also, through them, to all who believe in Him. As it says in Hebrews 8:11, “And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother or sister, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them.”