History of Israel: Food, Water and a Fight

As the nation of Israel makes their way through the wilderness, they come across some trouble. Lack of food and water make the people a bit testy. On top of that, they have a new enemy that has decided to attack them at their weakest spot. And in each instance, God continually provides for them. On this episode of Bible Backdrop, find out some of the details regarding the Israelites journey to Mount Sinai. What was important about the springs of Marah? What were the manna and quail like? Why did the Amalekites attack the Israelites? If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop, please tell a friend and have them subscribe. You can also get in touch with the show with the e-mail in the episode. Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Easy pickings. That’s what the Amalekite warrior thought when he saw the booty captured from the Israelites. Their baggage train had been strung out and unprotected. The only people around had been the old and weak who put up no real fight and were easily cut down. Today, they would get more as they met the Israelite army in battle.

If you could call it an army. More like a rabble. These people had no real idea of tactics or logistics. The unprotected baggage train was proof. These people were soft and would be easily defeated. Nothing like his people who had been raised in harsh conditions and constantly moved around the desert. They were toughened warriors and they’d prove it today.

Sure, he had heard the stories from Egypt about the things that happened there. How the Israelite God had almost destroyed that nation and Pharaoh was forced to set them free. But he was a practical man and didn’t believe such nonsense. 

He donned his bronze helmet and grabbed his sword and shield. The rest of the men made their way out of camp, ready to finish what they started. Together they started to make their way toward the Israelites who were gathered there. There was quite the number of them, but he wasn’t worried. More people just meant more booty for him.

Movement caught his eye on the towering hill behind the Israelites. A man was standing there with two other people. And he appeared to be holding a staff above his head. These Israelites were so odd. He looked at his brother, an archer, who saw the same thing and shook his head. Too far. Oh well. They could deal with him later.

The two lines made their way toward each other and, with a clash, the fighting started. Immediately, he realized that this fight was not going the way he thought it would. It seemed that the Israelites were everywhere. He ducked, dodged, and slashed but he felt like he was constantly being pushed back. He lost sight of his brother in the melee and didn’t have time to think of him. It was all he could do to survive.

Then, all of a sudden, it got easier. The enemy kept falling back. He saw his brother and together they went after a knot of Israelites. As he attacked, he saw the man on the hill again and his arms were down, obviously too tired to hold them up. He smiled. Yep...easy pickings.

He took the blow of a sword on his shield and stabbed back. Then another blow...then another...again, he was being forced back. He looked at his brother who had the same questioning look on his face. It seemed that the Israelites were learning on the go and there was too many of them to fight. He heard a grunt and the sickening sound of a sword scraping against bone. He saw his brother go down and there was nothing he could do. Finally, he heard the horn signaling the retreat. As he disengaged, he started running back towards the camp but he couldn’t resist one more look. Sure enough...he saw the man on the hill with his arms raised while the Israelites shouted in triumph for this victory.

Hello again everyone and welcome to another episode of Bible Backdrop. As I mentioned on the last episode, we’re going to look at a few events in Exodus that happened before the giving of the law. After the events at the Red Sea, Moses leads the Israelites into the Wilderness of Shur. Where this is is unknown although you can find many commentaries who know absolutely where it is...and each one is different. The most likely place is simply east of Egypt in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula. This may have been outside the normal trade routes so as to avoid any conflicts with traveling caravans. It is here that the Israelites short memory kicks in and this is something we’ll see over and over. Moses leads them to water but it is bitter and undrinkable, giving it the name Marah which means bitter. The people aren’t happy and start grumbling and asking why God led them into the wilderness to die. Moses prays and God tells him to take a piece of wood and put it in the water. After this, the water is made drinkable. 

In his book on the Exodus, author Jamie Buckingham offered a theory on why this happened. There may have been chemicals in the wood that caused the heavier minerals to the bottom of the pool, leaving the sweeter water on top. This does not downplay the miracle but shows how God uses things in the natural world to execute his plan. Another point Buckingham makes is that the water contained magnesium and calcium. Combined this was a powerful laxative and may have expunged diseases that plagued the Egyptians...namely amoebic dysentery and bilharzia, an intestinal disease caused by a parasitic worm and common among Egyptian peasants who had to drink from common wells and other sites. The commentary, Enduring Word, states that God not only was trying to get the Israelites out of Egypt, but get Egypt out of the Israelites. This makes sense when God says: “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.” Here the Israelites learn a new name for God...Jehovah Rapha, meaning the Lord who heals. After this, they come to a place called Elim that had 12 springs and 70 palm trees. As with most locations in Exodus, it’s exact place is debated. The likely location is in the western Sinai peninsula in a valley called Wadi Gahrendel. This is a respite between the testing at Marah and their next test.

After some time at Elim, the nation moves into the Wilderness of Sin on their way to Mount Sinai. Side note...although Israel will be test here, the word “Sin” in the title does not denote wrongdoing...it is simply a geographical location that is possibly derived from the moon goddess of the same name. Anyway, at this time, their food supplies must have been running low so, once again, the grumbling begins. They complain to Moses that they only wish they could have died in Egypt where they had all the food they wanted. Moses has to be wondering why he wanted this job all those years ago before going to live in the wilderness. So he does what the Israelites should have done...cried out to God. God answers and says he will send them meat and bread from heaven. “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way, I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” They were to be tested in a number of ways. First, each family had to gather their own as measurements were specific. The rich couldn’t pay the poor to gather it for them. Second, they could only gather enough for that day and could not keep any overnight. They were to take an omer for each person. How much is an omer? Check out episode 6 titled Bible Math to find out. Third, in exception to the second rule, they were to gather twice as much on the sixth day as the seventh day was the Sabbath. So what do the Israelites do? Disobey, of course. Well...some of them anyway. The first rule didn’t seem to be a problem. However, some kept theirs overnight when they weren’t supposed to. When they did so, it rotted so that it stunk and was full of maggots. Then on the sixth day, most of the people, as instructed, started gathering twice as much. The message must not have gotten out to everyone as the tribal leaders asked Moses about this and he told them that they were doing what they were supposed to do. The people kept it overnight and it didn’t rot. This must have taken the same faith as putting the blood on the doorposts on Passover. Unfortunately, not everyone listened and went out the 7th day but didn’t find any. Guess those people must have gone hungry that day. God then tells Moses: “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days.” Before you start wondering why God is reprimanding Moses, the word “you” in this instance is in the plural. Essentially, he’s speaking to the whole nation of Israel. 

So what was the bread like? The people named it manna and there’s an interesting description: “It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.” So it was a small and round like a seed. It was likely crushed and made into a flour. It could then be boiled, baked, or fried on a griddle. It was likely very dense and filling, giving the Israelites energy for the long journey.

What about the meat God promised? So at the same time that God announces he will send bread from heaven the next morning, he announces that on that evening they will have meat. Sure enough, a large flock of quail come and cover the camp. What were these quail? According to Enduring Word, they were small, bullet headed birds that migrated from Europe to southern Arabia across the Sinai peninsula. While they could fly, they normally roosted on the ground near nightfall and couldn’t fly again if they were exhausted, making them easy to capture for the Israelites.

Keep in mind that while God provided them with the food, the people still had to work for it. The manna still needed to be cooked and the quail still had to be captured, killed, plucked, and cooked. And everyone was treated the same...rich and poor. Nobody got more or less due to their status.

As the Israelites continue on their journey, they are met with another test with another physical need: lack of water. They tell Moses: “Why is it that you have brought us up out of Egypt to kill our children and our livestock with thirst?” Apparently, this got pretty heated since, in his prayers to God, Moses says they are ready to stone him.

God, of course, provides for the people. He instructs Moses to take the elders to a rock and strike it with his staff. When he does so, water comes gushing out of the rock. In the middle of a desert, from the driest thing they could find, God provided water to the nation. 

While content with the miracle, Moses is unhappy with the Israelites and lets them know. He reminds them first with the manna and quail then later with the water, that they are not rebelling against him but against God. Both times God does not offer rebuke, but faithfully provides for His people. However, rebuke is coming later.

Before making their way to Mt. Sinai, there are two more stories that Exodus tells. First, the attack of the Amalekites at Rephidim. The Amalekites were descendants of Amalek who was a grandson of Esau, Jacob’s brother. In a sense, they were distant cousins of the Israelites. They may have heard the stories how their ancestor’s brother had wronged him out of his birthright and blessing. This could have led to some deep seated hatred of the Israelites, so they decided to attack the nation before it could reach the Promised Land. The way they went about it, though, was pretty despicable. We can imagine that the train of people must have been several miles long. When this happens, it’s usually the very old, the very young, and the baggage train that goes the slowest and takes up the rear. Rather than face off against the men of military age, the Bible says the Amalekites struck at the ones in the rear who had much more trouble defending themselves. It also shows that the Israelites are unaccustomed to military strategy and rules of logistics. Always protect your supplies. The two nations face off at Rephidim which most scholars believe is in the southern part of the Sinai peninsula. The Amalekites probably thought they had an easy victory, but God is with the Israelites. Moses holds up his staff in prayer and while he does so, the Israelites are winning the battle. But when his arms fall, the Amalekites are winning. This is not just one battle, but a war for national existence. With the help of Aaron and Hur, Moses is able to keep his arms up and the Israelites have victory. That day, Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-Nissi or The Lord Is My Banner. God also promises to blot out the Amalekites from the earth for their despicable attack.

The final story before reaching Mt. Sinai is Moses reuniting with his father in law, Jethro. He sends Moses a letter that he is coming with Moses’ wife and sons who have probably been with him since before the Exodus. Moses probably got them out of the way while he was dealing with Pharaoh. Now they are to be reunited. Moses tells Jethro all the stories and he praises God for their deliverance. And while that is a good story, it is not the end. The next day, Moses sits in judgment and all day people bring cases to him to decide. Jethro sees this and asks him why he’s doing this. Moses says that he needs to be a judge and teach the people God’s laws and decrees. Jethro immediately sees the problem...it’s way more than Moses can handle. So he suggests a tiered approach to the judgment process, similar to our court system today. Moses would be the representative of the people before God and he would teach them His laws and decrees. To help him with the burden of judgment, he would establish leaders over 1000, 100, and 10. Only the most difficult cases would come to Moses but the people would get justice much quicker in this method. Moses agrees and establishes the judging system. Then Jethro leaves, never to be heard from again.

So why are these stories here? We must remember that God is not just rescuing His people from slavery, but He is building a nation. At Marah, he is working to purge the last of Egypt, physically and spiritually, from the Israelites. With the manna and quail and again with the water, God is putting them through difficulties in the hope that they will cry out to Him. In this case, they utterly fail as they complain to Moses instead. In the battle with Amalek, they are learning the military arts; in the meeting with Jethro, they are establishing a form of civil government. Since, at this time, they have no earthly king, they will need to understand how to administer justice on a daily basis. These are hard lessons for the nation to learn as they go to Mt. Sinai to receive the law from God.

On that note, we’ll wrap up this episode here. If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop, please subscribe and leave a 5 star rating and review. If you want to get in touch with the show, you can e-mail me at BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. Word of mouth is still the best way for this show to get around, so tell a friend and have them subscribe. You can find Bible Backdrop on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere podcasts are found. Thank you again for listening and have a great week!