Exodus 14-16 Study

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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. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Moses does not know what YHWH will do. Yet, he insists that the Israelites stand still, for YHWH will fight for them.

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, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel.

There is a repetition here: The messenger of God was in front of the Israelites and moved behind them. The pillar of cloud was in front of the Israelites and moved behind them. This is not the Angel of the Lord we see in Exodus 3. Rather, it seems, this is a description of the pillar of cloud - it is God’s messenger (angel).

And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.

the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud

This cloud and darkness that lights up the night should remind us of day one of creation. Beyond the obvious miracle of the cloud lighting up the night, it seems that the darkness is for the Egyptians and the light for the Israelites, which is why one could not come near the other all night. Even though it doesn’t say pillar of fire here, it is implied that the pillar is both. And the Lord is in the midst of it.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Day two of creation. Moses lifts his staff between the waters above and the waters below.

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.

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

Day three of creation. The Lord separates the waters from the dry land.

for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”

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.”

Just as Moses had declared to the Israelites. It is my theory that YHWH doesn’t always give prophets the words to speak, but rather shapes them into the kind of person that wants what He wants. Therefore, when they declare something in His name, He honors their declaration by making it so. (In His Name means much more than just invoking His title. It is more akin to “in alignment with His will”).
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In the story of Manna and quail, YHWH tells Moses that He will rain bread from heaven. The Moses tells the people of Israel that YHWH will give them meat in the evening as well as bread in the morning. Then, in verse 12, YHWH tells Moses they shall eat meat in the evening.

“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea,

and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.

The floods covered them;

they went down into the depths like a stone.

YHWH delivers His people through the flood, again. Genesis 7.
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Who is like you,

This is the root of my name.

“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;

you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

The peoples have heard; they tremble;

pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;

trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;

all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

This is what the 12 spies should all bring back as their report in Number 13. Fearless dependence on and assurance in YHWH is the standard. For every exhortation like this one there are numerous faithless and fearful declarations by the people.

They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah,

This is one of those instances where the reader hears the name of a place, but it gets its name from the story that is about to be told.

Then they came to Elim

Another example of where the reader hears the name of a place which gets its name from the Israelites being there. Elim comes from a root word meaning “Mighty Tree”.

on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

This does not mean “two months later”. Rather, this is the 15th of Month 2. They have been traveling for one month, or more accurately, 29 days, since the passover (beginning of the 15th day of month 1).

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.”

Such short memory these people have. When they had chains, He broke them. When they were pursued by enemies, He killed them. When they were thirsty, He gave them water. They cannot seem to learn this lesson in faith and dependence.

You shall each take an omer

About two quarts.

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.’ ” So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.

This is the providence of YHWH. All it takes on the part of the people is that they are obedient. They gathered enough for seven days. Nothing special there. Yet, any other day and extra Manna would go bad. If they gathered a little less than they needed, they would have enough. If they gathered a little more, not meaning to keep it for the next day, they would have just enough. But if they gathered enough for two days, it would rot. Except for when they did it for Sabbath. Then, by God’s providence, it would be good the next day. To live this way is to be truly tested. But the reward for faithfulness and trust is rest.

The LORD has given you the Sabbath;

The Sabbath is for man. YHWH gives it to us.

let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”

This should be understood in the context of the story. Do not go out on Sabbath to gather what the Lord has given you already.

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.’ ” 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.” As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept

This is a sidebar for the reader. This event does not happen here, chronologically. We know this because the “Testimony” has not been given.

(An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

The measurement “Omer” is probably not used in later Israel and is thus explained here for the reader. This explanation is completely useless to an average reader, though.
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