A Journey Through the Bible: Exodus 17 and 18

Exodus 17:7—“So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, "’Is the LORD among us or not?’" There’s not a whole lot of good to say about these people who came out of Egypt. Just a few weeks before they had seen Jehovah perform some of the most awesome miracles in the history of mankind—for their sake—and now they are wondering if He is among them or not. It matters not how much the Lord does for someone; if they do not have the right kind of heart, they will not believe. When the Jews told Jesus that if He would come down from the cross they would believe in Him, they were lying through their teeth. Jesus had given them, for three years, plenty of evidence Who He was; a little bit more wasn’t going to change a thing. The problem wasn’t lack of evidence, it was a lack of an honest, good heart (Luke 8:15). And the same is true today. There is an abundance of evidence for the existence of God, the deity of Christ, and the inspiration of the Bible. But the only one who will see it is he with a pure heart (Mt. 5:8), with no contaminations, preconceived notions, or egotistical narcissism. We must be painfully honest with ourselves; that’s not easy to do, and excuses for rejecting God can easily be found if we wish to find them. But every excuse involves, in some way, wanting to do our will, not His, and that kind of blind selfishness can never be blessed by Jehovah for it will never submit to Him. The evidence that the Lord is among us—as with the Israelites—is overwhelming. Yet how many still ask “is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 18:8—“And 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 on the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.” A great verse if we look at it closely. “All the hardships that had come upon them.” Yes, there were some. The fright at the Red Sea, the lack of food in the Wilderness of Sin, no water at Rephidim—these are only the ones listed. God tests His people; it builds character. But notice—“the Lord…delivered them.” Wouldn’t it be nice if God simply handed us everything we wanted and needed on a silver platter, with no effort required on our part? Nice, yes; but we wouldn’t be much as human beings if He did. Current government welfare systems that encourage sloth and laziness only produce a people of little quality and worth; they are simply being taught to want more without making any effort of their own to obtain it. God provided for Israel when they could not provide for their own; otherwise, He expected them to make some effort, endure hardship, develop character and virtue. Even in the Garden of Eden, Adam was commanded to “dress and keep it,” not lay around and let God or the government do it. Moses had the right idea; hardships do come, and the Lord will deliver us from them. But we just might have to go and pick the manna up off the ground ourselves.

Exodus 18:21—“Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” A number of years ago the “Crossroads” movement used this verse as an example of how to organize evangelistic efforts in the church. Jethro’s advice here has nothing to do with evangelism, or even religion. It’s a judicial structure, designed to settle civil cases, and take a load off Moses’ back. Let’s make sure we do not abuse the Scriptures in an attempt to prove our pet ideas and fads.

A Journey Through the Bible: Mark 11 and 12

Mark 11:11—“And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.” What did Jesus see when He “looked around at all things”? He saw a people who never learned and who had no intention of changing. The next day “Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves” (v. 15). This was actually the second time Jesus had done this; about two years before “He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables” (Jn. 2:15-16). Yet, two years later, they are back at it again. It must have indeed angered and frustrated Him. There are many people today, of course, who use religion to make money, and no doubt, the Lord is just as disgusted with them. The Jews in Jesus’ day did not learn the lesson Jesus was trying to teach them; and the sellers and money changers today haven’t learned, either.

A few points from Mark 12. Please read the context yourself so that you may fully understand the lessons conveyed here.

Mark 12:9—“Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.” In this parable, the “vinedressers” are the Jews. They stoned, beat, and killed the owner’s (God’s) servants (the prophets), and then they killed his son (Jesus). Thus, they would be punished and the “vineyard” (kingdom) given to “others” (Gentiles). This is a prophecy of the mass rejection by the Jews of Christianity, and the large influx of Gentiles. This began to happen in the first century and is evident to this day where the Jews still reject Christianity and the near totality of His church is composed of Gentiles.

Mark 12:14-15—“When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it." You can’t fool the Lord. They tried to butter Him up and deceive Him, but He knew their hypocrisy. Men can be flattered into compromise and error, but not God.

Mark 12:24—“Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?” The Sadducees, to whom Jesus is talking here, did not believe in a resurrection from the dead, and they asked Him a question, trying to trick Him on the matter. They made two mistakes: they didn’t know the Scriptures, and they didn’t understand the power of God. Ignorance of God’s word will destroy us every time (Hosea 4:6), and “is there anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). “He does whatever He pleases” (Ps. 115:3), and if He chooses to raise the dead, that is certainly within His power. The Sadducees had been seduced by the liberal, human philosophy of the day and it turned them away from God. Liberal human philosophy will do the same today.

Mark 12: 37—“And the common people heard Him gladly.” Jesus never lost His following among the multitudes. That is why He had to be crucified, illegally, at night, before the “common people” discovered what had happened. Jesus’ debate was with the religious leaders of the day, whose power He undercut, exposing them for the hypocrites and self-absorbed charlatans that they were. They are the ones who killed Him, not the masses. Now, the mass of Jews eventually did reject Him; but that was later, not during His ministry.

A Journey Through the Bible: Exodus 15 and 16

Exodus 15:3—“Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name.” An interesting statement, worthy of a few comments. First of all, we must keep in mind that this “song of Moses” (Exodus 15) is poetry and thus not to be taken with absolute literalness. “Jehovah” is obviously not a “man.” And His basic quality is not “of war.” Indeed, the God of the Bible will render vengeance upon His enemies and the enemies of His people, and quite frequently in the Old Testament, He did that via warfare—using one nation of peoples to attack and/or punish another, the latter of which simply has gone beyond His grace and was in worthy of His wrath. At times, a culture or society was so abominable that it was no longer fit to live on this earth and God used war to annihilate that civilization. It is extremely likely that He does the same thing in the Christian dispensation, but we have no absolute proof of that. We do know that He fights for His people, and Moses’ glorification of Him in this very song is in praise of the deliverance Jehovah wrought, miraculously and wholly without the aid of man, for Israel. His name is “Jehovah,” which, interestingly, softens the “man of war” concept. The name “Jehovah” refers to God’s covenant nature; He made a covenant with all of mankind to send a Redeemer for our sins (Gen. 3:15), and, of course, He made a covenant with Israel to be that nation through whom that Savior would come (Gen. 12:3). That entire agreement and promise of Jehovah speaks of His wondrous grace and mercy. It isn’t His fault if men reject or ignore that covenant and thereby become deserving of meeting that “man of war.”

Exodus 16:3—“And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." How soon people forget! They were groaning under the miserable slavery and bondage in Egypt, but they hadn’t been gone two months yet before they want to go back to that condition. There is justification for their desires, but not for the way they expressed them. A “wilderness”—which is little more than a desert—is not going to have sufficient food to feed the multitude of Israelites who were making this journey. Of course, God knew that and fully intended to provide for them. However, rather than trusting Him in that matter and patiently, humbly asking Him, they have to complain and gripe about it. The Lord was patient with these people, but their constant grumbling eventually led to their punishment; grumbling is indicative of a lack of faith. It is a good example for us. Do we trust the Lord to provide our needs when things don’t look so good, or do we murmur and find fault and long for the world out of which we came? Ask the Lord, reverently, humbly, and thankfully, and wait for His answer. He knows what we need and will provide it in His time, when it is best for us.