FROM THE RED SEA TO MT SINAI The The complaining and grumbling of Israel began at Marah (Exodus 15:22-25). Several more things happened between the Red Sea and Mt Sinai in Exodus 16-20. Here is a summary:

1. Marah: This is where the travelers encountered bitter, undrinkable water. Moses miraculously sweetened the water by casting a piece of wood into it.

2. Elim: They camped beside 12 springs of water and 70 date palms.

3.. Wilderness of Sin: Here, the community grumbled about food shortages. In response, God introduced the weekly Sabbath and began providing daily manna and evening quail.

4. Rephidim (Massah and Meribah): Rephidim encompasses multiple events:

• Massah & Meribah: These titles mean “testing” and “quarrelling”. They describe the exact spot within Rephidim where the people complained about water, prompting Moses to strike the rock at Horeb to supply them.
• The Battle of Rephidim: The location where Joshua led the defense against the attacking Amalekites while Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms. Much later God would tell Saul to completely wipe out the Amalekites b/c of this attack. Yahweh-Nissi (The Lord is my Banner).

4. Mount Sinai (Mount Horeb): The sacred mountain where Israel camped, received the Ten Commandments, and constructed the Tabernacle

MANNA AND WATER FROM THE ROCK God gave them manna every day for the 40 years in the wilderness (except on the Sabbath: they would gather twice as much on Friday although some tried to gather on the Sabbath and found none( ) and water fron the rock. They could only gather what they could eat in a day: anything extra would rot at sunset. 1 Corinthians 10:1  For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³ and all ate the same spiritual food; ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.” As they crossed the Red Sea, the sea was on both sides of them and the cloud that followed them was above them: thus they were “immersed” (baptized) in the cloud and sea. The rock was Christ: water from the rock is a type of Jesus giving the water of eternal life to believers.

JETHRO COMES TO MOSES Exodus 18: Apparently Moses’ wife and two sons had started his journey back to Egypt but returned to Midian b/c Jethro (Ruel) brought them to meet Moses at Mt Sinai. Jethro saw that Moses was wearing himself out trying to judge every single dispute among the people and advised him to delegate the minor issues to various capable men.

ARRIVAL AT MT SINAI. Exodus 19: The Israelites arrived at Mt Sinai in the 3rd month after they left Egypt. They had traveled about 350 miles. They camped at the foot of Mt Sinai. The terrifying scene at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 features a violent display of divine presence with heavy thunder, flashes of lightning, a thick dark cloud, and a blaring trumpet that caused the entire Israelite camp to shake with fear. This display of God’s power was designed to strike fear in the people such that they would be afraid to not obey God. Hebrews 12 describes this same scene: 12:¹⁸ For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, ¹⁹ and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” ²¹ And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.” The Hebrew writer would then go on to say that the Hebrew Christians had not come to Mt Sinai but had come to a spiritual Mt Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem, the church and warned them not to leave their faith in Jesus to return to Judaism. I can’t imagine what it was like being at the fout of Mt Sinai seeing and hearing all this. It had to be terrifying.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS Moses want up on Mt Sinai and God gave him the 10 commandments. Here is a great slide:

ARE THE 10 COMMANDMENTS BINDING ON GENTILE CHRISTIANS UNDER THE NEW COVENANT? 9 of the 10 commandments would apply to Christians under the new covenant also, but “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” was a special command given to Israel and not to Gentile Christians under the new covenant. Eodus 31:¹² The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹³ “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” Nehemiah 9:13 says that God made known the Sabbath at Mt Sinai. They did not have a command to rest on the Sabbath before Mt Sinai The 7th Day Adventists claim that people were commanded to keep the Sabbath from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden but that is not true. Genesis 2 says that God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath day but it doesn’t say that He commanded Adam and Eve to start resting on the Sabbath. Nowhere in the new covenant are Gentile Christians commanded to keep the Sabbath. Jesus kept the Sabbath but this is b/c he was a Jews still living under the old covenant. Paul and Jewish Christians continued to keep the Sabbath until 70 AD when the old covenant “disappeared” (Hebrews 8:13). Of course, any Christian is free to observe a day or rest on Saturday, but he/she should not bind that on others.