Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Yesterday we heard about the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and how God allowed the Israelites
to escape through the Red Sea by opening up the waters so that they walk on dry ground
in the midst of the sea.
And once they crossed, they beheld and saw how God closed the water back in on Pharaoh's
armies and all of them drowned, all the armies, the chariots, all the soldiers, they drowned.
And the Israelites saw this and they beheld the power of God.
And every time we are praising the midnight praises in the first canticle, we are commemorating
this miraculous event.
In the first canticle is the retelling of Exodus 15.
And today we're going to hear about what happens on the other side of the Red Sea, about how
God leads the people through the wilderness and how He feeds them and how He gives them
water and how He leads them towards His holy mountain.
Alright, let's begin.
Today's reading is from Exodus 16, 17 and 18.
Chapter 16.
And they journeyed from Elim and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness
of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after
they departed from the land of Egypt.
Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron
in the wilderness.
And the children of Israel said to them, O 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 the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people
shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them, whether they will
walk in my law or not.
And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall
be twice as much as they gather daily.
Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, At evening you shall know that
the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the
glory of the Lord, for He hears your complaints against the Lord.
But what are we that you complain against us?
Also Moses said, This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening,
and in the morning bread to the full, for the Lord hears your complaints which you make
against Him.
And what are we?
Your complaints are not against us, but against the Lord.
Then Moses spoke to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come
near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.
Now it came to pass as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel,
that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in
the cloud.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel,
speak to them, saying, At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be
filled with bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.
So it was that quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew
lay all around the camp, and when the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the
wilderness was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it?
For they did not know what it was.
And Moses said to them, This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.
This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.
Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person.
According to the number of persons, let every man take for those who are in his tent.
Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.
So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he
who gathered little had no lack.
Every man had gathered according to each one's need.
And Moses said, Let no one leave any of it till morning.
Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses.
But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank.
And Moses was angry with them.
So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need, and when the sun became
hot it melted.
And so it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much, two omers for each one.
And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
Then he said to them, This is what the Lord has said.
Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.
Take what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil, and lay up for yourselves all
that remains to be kept until morning.
So they laid it up till morning as Moses commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms
in it.
Then Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.
Today you will not find it in the field.
Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day the Sabbath there will be none.
Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they
found none.
Then the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
See for the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread
for two days.
Let every man remain in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
So the people rested on the seventh day.
And the house of Israel called its name manna, and it was like white coriander seed, and
the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Then Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded.
Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, 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 pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before
the Lord, to be kept for your generations.
As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony, to be kept.
And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land.
They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
Now an omer is one tenth of an effa.
Chapter 17
Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the
wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim.
But there was no water for the people to drink.
Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink.
So Moses said to them, Why do you contend with me?
Why do you tempt the Lord?
And the people thirsted there for water.
And the people complained against Moses, and said, Why is it you have brought us up out
of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?
So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, What shall I do with these people?
They are almost ready to stone me.
And the Lord said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you some of the
elders of Israel.
Also take in your hand your rod, with which you struck the river, and go.
Behold I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb.
And you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
So he called the name of the place Massa and Mariba, because of the contention of the children
of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?
Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rafidim.
And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us some men, and go out, fight with Amalek.
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, with the rod of God in my hand.
So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek.
And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
And so it was when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed, and when he let down
his hand Amalek prevailed.
So Moses' hands became heavy, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on
it.
And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side.
And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book, and recount it in
the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under
heaven.
Then Moses built an altar and called its name, The Lord is my banner.
For he said, Because the Lord has sworn, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation
to generation.
Chapter 18 And Jethro the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law,
heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel and his people, that the Lord has
brought Israel out of Egypt.
Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back with
her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom, for he said, I have been a stranger
in a foreign land, and the name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, The God of my father
was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.
And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness,
where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
Now he had said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and
her two sons with her.
So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down and kissed him.
And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent.
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.
Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom he had
delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians
and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of
the Egyptians.
Now, I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the very thing in which
they behaved proudly, he was above them.
Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer
to God.
And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses, father-in-law, before
God.
And so it was on the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood
before Moses from morning until evening.
So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, What is this
thing that you are doing for the people?
Why do you alone sit and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?
And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and
I make known the statutes of God and His laws.
So Moses' father-in-law said to him, The thing that you do is not good.
Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out, for this
thing is too much for you.
You are not able to perform it by yourself.
Listen now to my voice.
I will give you counsel, and God will be with you.
Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.
And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they
must walk and the work they must do.
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, and let them judge the people at all times.
Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter
they themselves shall judge.
So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.
If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and
all these people will also go to their place in peace.
So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers
of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
So they judged the people at all times.
The hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.