The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  15:24 complained against Moses. Israelite memory of victory displayed a remarkable brevity. The personalized declarations of their ode to the LORD sung 3 days earlier vanished into thin air. Their belief of Moses faded out of the picture (14:31). Their question about drinking water roughly brushed aside all recent affirmations of God’s being worthy of praise because He had done wonders and was clearly taking them to their land.

  15:25 waters were made sweet. Since there is no known tree which would naturally make unpalatable water drinkable, this must have been a miracle by which God demonstrated His willingness and ability to look after His people in a hostile environment. Marah is usually associated with modern day Ain Hawarah, where the waters still remain brackish and unpleasant. tested them. “To subject to difficulty in order to prove the quality of someone or something” is one way to explain the meaning of the Heb. word used. Later, at Rephidim (17:1–7), at Sinai (20:20), and at Taberah (Num. 11:1–3; 13:26–33), God did just that to Israel. This is something which no one can do to God Himself (Deut. 6:16)—He needs no testing in character or deed, but man certainly does need proving.

  15:26 the LORD who heals. Since this is what He is, Jehovah-Rapha, obedience to divine instruction and guidance will obviously bring healing, not the consequence of plagues like those visited upon Egypt. This promise is limited in context to Israel, most likely for the duration of the Exodus only.

  15:27 Elim. The next stopping place, most probably in modern day Wadi Garandel, had an abundant water supply—God would and did lead them aright!

  Exodus 16

  16:1 Wilderness of Sin. More details of the camp sites in the journey from Rameses to Succoth and beyond are found in Num. 33:5–11. That itinerary also lists the next stop as having been Dophkah (Num. 33:12). Identifying it with modern Debbet er Ramleh locates it in the SW of the Sinai peninsula on a direct line between Elim and Sinai. fifteenth day…second month. Thirty days after their departure from Rameses.

  16:2 the whole congregation…complained. What characterized them as a whole was this attitude of negativism. Faced with the scarcity of resources in the wilderness, they hankered after the abundant resources they had experienced in Egypt. The country which had enslaved them looked good in comparison to the wilderness. Again, their complaining so soon after benefiting from the miracles done by the LORD on their behalf points only to their short-term memory and self-centeredness.

  16:3 died by the hand of the LORD. Incredibly, Israel’s complaint still acknowledged the intervention of the LORD in their affairs. Sarcastically, they voiced a preference for dying in Egypt. The hand of the LORD which they had glorified in song (15:6) only a month beforehand, they now pretended would have been better used to kill them in Egypt.

  16:4 I will rain bread. God’s gracious answer to their complaining was to promise an abundance of the bread they missed. God’s directions on how to gather it would also test their obedience to Him (vv. 4, 5, 16, 26–28). See note on 16:31.

  16:5 The same principle on a larger scale would feed the nation during and after the sabbatical year (cf. Lev. 25:18–22).

  16:6 you shall know. Israel’s short-term memory loss would be short-lived because that very day of complaint would witness not only God’s provision for them but also would powerfully remind them of who had brought them out of Egypt, namely, the LORD their God (cf. vv. 11, 12).

  16:7 the glory of the LORD. In seeing the start of the provision of daily bread on the next day, Israel would also see the LORD’s glory, an appropriate term to use because what He did showed His presence with them. “Glory” typically refers to God’s manifested presence, which makes Him impressive and leads to worship. your complaints. Set in the context of instruction on how the LORD would act to provide for them, the 4-fold repetition of this phrase (vv. 6–9) served to highlight God’s gracious response in contrast to their ungracious grumbling against Him. For an effective poetic presentation of this contrast, refer to Ps. 78:17–25.

  16:13 quails. The psalmist removed all doubt about whether these birds of the partridge family were not real birds but something else, for he called them “feathered fowl” and in the preceding line of the parallelism referred to the coming of the quails as God having “rained meat” on them (Ps. 78:27). Upon return to their former habitat, these migratory birds would often fall to the ground, exhausted from prolonged flight. In ancient Egyptian paintings, people were shown catching quails by throwing nets over the brush where they were nesting.

  16:16, 32 Omer. Slightly more than two quarts.

  16:18 See 2 Cor. 8:15, where Paul applies this truth to Christian giving.

  16:22–30 The provision of manna on 6 days only but none on the seventh was a weekly lesson on the nature of the Sabbath as a different day. It taught the people to keep the Sabbath properly, and acted as a challenge to obey God’s commands.

  16:31 Manna. The arrival of the quails in much quantity (v. 13) was totally overshadowed by the arrival of manna the next morning. Despite the different descriptions given for its form and taste (vv. 14, 31), the name chosen for it derived from the question they asked. “Manna” was an older form of their question, “What is it?” The psalmist referred to manna as the “bread of heaven” and “angels’ food” which rained down after God had opened the windows of heaven (Ps. 78:23–25). Natural explanations for the manna, such as lichen growing on rocks or insect-excreted granules on tamarisk thickets, are totally inadequate to explain its presence in sufficient quantity on the ground under the dew every day except the Sabbath for the next 40 years (v. 35) to satisfy every family’s hunger. It was supernaturally produced and supernaturally sustained to last for the Sabbath!

  16:32–36 lay it up before the LORD. Provision was made for memorializing the giving of the manna. When the tabernacle was finally constructed, the pot of manna was placed inside the ark. Succeeding generations would be reminded, when they came for worship, of the faithfulness of the LORD in caring for His people (cf. Heb. 9:4).

  Exodus 17

  17:1 Rephidim. To be identified as modern day Wadi Refayid.

  17:2 the people contended. This time the people, reacting to Moses’ leading them to a waterless site, quarreled with him or laid a charge against him. So intense was their reaction that Moses thought he was about to be stoned (v. 4). Significantly, the nation had not come to Rephidim without divine guidance (v. 1), portrayed by the column of fire and cloud. The people, in the midst of their emotional response, simply could not see that right before their eyes was the evidence of God’s leading.

  17:4 Moses cried out to the LORD. The leader turned to God in prayer, whereas the people, instead of following his example, turned on their leader. Moses’ petition was not an isolated incident. His life was characterized by prayer (cf. 15:25; 32:30–32; Num. 11:2, 11; 12:13; 14:13, 19) and by turning to God for solutions to problems and crises.

  17:5, 6 Go on before…I will stand before. By these words in His instructions to Moses, the Lord reinforced both the position of Moses as leader and Himself as present to act. He answered the people’s charge against Moses and their underlying challenge of His presence (v. 7). In fact, He intervened miraculously!

  17:7 Massah and Meribah. Appropriate names, “Testing” and “Contending,” were assigned to this place; a disappointing culmination to all they had experienced of God’s miraculous care and guidance (cf. Ps. 95:7, 8; Heb. 3:7, 8).

  17:8 Amalek came and fought. The Amalekites took their name from Amalek, the grandson of Esau, and dwelt as a nomadic people in the Negev. Israel first encountered their military at Rephidim in the wilderness (Ex. 17:8–13; Deut. 25:17, 18). As a result, the Amalekites were doomed to annihilation by God (17:14; Num. 24:20; Deut. 25:19) but it would not be immediate (17:16). The Amalekites defeated disobedient Israel at Hormah (Num. 14:43–45). Saul failed to destroy them as God ordered (1 Sam. 15:2, 3, 9). David later fought and defeated the Amalekites (1 Sam. 30:1–20). In Hezekiah’s day, the Amalekite remnant in the land was finally destroyed by He
zekiah (ca. 716–687 B.C.). The final descendants of Agag (Esth. 3:1), the Amalekite king in Saul’s day, were destroyed in Persia at the time of Esther and Mordecai (ca. 473 B.C.; Esth. 2:5, 8–10).

  17:9–13 Through the circumstances they experienced, Israel had learned how God provided food and water. They had to learn through warfare that God would also bring about defeat of hostile neighbors.

  17:9 Joshua. The name of Moses’ aide-de-camp, or personal minister (24:13; 33:11; Josh. 1:1) appears here for the first time in Exodus. His assignment to muster a task force was part of his being groomed for military leadership in Israel. Actually, at this stage his name was still Hoshea, which later changed to Joshua at Kadesh just before the reconnaissance mission in Canaan (Num. 13:16). At this stage, Israel could not be described as a seasoned army and was not even militarily well prepared and trained. See Introduction to Joshua. the rod of God. The staff which Moses held up in his hands was no magic wand. Rather it had been previously used to initiate, via His chosen leader, the miracles which God did and about which He had informed Moses in advance. It became, therefore, the symbol of God’s personal and powerful involvement, with Moses’ outstretched arms perhaps signifying an appeal to God. The ebb and flow of battle in correlation with Moses’ uplifted or drooping arms imparted more than psychological encouragement as the soldiers looked up to their leader on the hilltop, and more than Moses’ interceding for them. It demonstrated and acknowledged their having to depend upon God for victory in battle and not upon their own strength and zeal. It also confirmed the position of Moses both in relation to God and the nation’s well-being and safety. They had angrily chided him for their problems, but God confirmed his appointment as leader.

  17:10 Hur. Caleb’s son and the grandfather of Bezalel, the artisan (cf. 31:2–11; 1 Chr. 2:19, 20).

  17:14 Write this for a memorial…and recount it. Moses would have learned writing and record-keeping in Pharaoh’s school of government. Official Hebrew records other than Scripture were also to be kept, and in this case especially for the purpose of remembering the victory in the very first battle in which they nationally engaged. God referred to “the book,” so Moses had evidently already begun it. This was not, then, the initial entry into what perhaps became known as “The Book of the Wars of Yahweh” (Num. 21:14). Writing it was essential, so the facts could be verified and needed not to depend upon human memory or solely oral tradition. blot out the remembrance. The sentence of national extinction which the Amalekites proclaimed for Israel (cf. Ps. 83:4–7) passed by divine decree upon the Amalekites. The sentence was partially realized in Saul’s and David’s day (cf. 1 Sam. 15:1–9 and 2 Sam. 1:1; 8:11, 12), after which it is scarcely mentioned again. However, due to Saul’s disobedience in sparing Agag, the Amalekite king and some of his people (1 Sam. 15:7–9), he lost his throne (v. 23). Samuel killed Agag (v. 33), but some Amalekites remained to return a few years later to raid Israel’s southern territory, even capturing David’s family (1 Sam. 30:1–5). David killed all but 400 (1 Sam. 30:16, 17) who escaped. It was a descendant of Agag, Haman, who tried to exterminate the Jews later in Esther’s day (cf. Esth. 3:1, 6).

  17:15 The-LORD-Is-My-Banner. By titling the altar with this designation for the LORD, Yahweh-Nissi, Moses declared the LORD Himself to be the Standard of His people.

  17:16 The LORD has sworn. The difficulty of the Heb. text permits an alternative translation: “a hand is upon/toward/against the throne/banner of Yahweh,” with the sense of supplication, or of taking an oath. Contextually, the significance is clear, whatever the translation adopted: The ongoing problem with Amalek was not merely one nation hostile toward another, it was a war between God and Amalek.

  Exodus 18

  18:1 Jethro…heard of all. The intelligence-gathering ability of ancient peoples should not be underestimated. Quickly and thoroughly the news of significant events in other lands passed from one place to another, very often via the merchant caravans which traversed the Fertile Crescent, or through ambassadors and other official contacts between nations. In Jethro’s case, whatever knowledge he had gleaned of Israel’s progress had been supplemented with information from Zipporah and her sons after Moses sent them ahead to her home (v. 2).

  18:7–12 Moses’ testimony elicited responses of praise and sacrifice from Jethro; evidence of his belief. Further, he understood fully the incomparability of Yahweh (v. 11). The priest of Midian (v. 1) was surely no worshiper of Midian’s gods! Since Midianites were generally regarded as idolaters (cf. Num. 25:17, 18; 31:2, 3, 16), Jethro must be viewed as remarkably different from his contemporaries; a difference highlighted by Aaron and the elders worshiping and fellowshiping together with him (v. 12).

  18:12 to God. Since the name Yahweh is always used in connection with sacrifices prescribed for Israel in the Pentateuch, the switch to Elohim must have some significance here, particularly after Jethro had himself used the name of Yahweh in his response to Moses. Despite the strong declaration of his faith and understanding, Jethro was a believing Gentile, therefore, a proselyte, and an alien. In this situation the LORD was relating to the Israelite and Gentile world simultaneously, thus the use of Elohim rather than Yahweh, the unique covenant name for Israel.

  18:13–27 Jethro’s practical wisdom was of immense benefit to Moses and Israel, and has been lauded as an example of delegation and management organization by efficiency experts for centuries—and still is. Woven into Jethro’s advice were statements about God and the virtues of godly men that cause one to respect this man as having his newfound faith well integrated into his thinking. Indeed, he fully recognized that Moses needed divine permission to enact his advice (v. 23). Moses apparently did not immediately implement Jethro’s solution, but waited until the law had been given (cf. Deut. 1:9–15).

  18:21 These same spiritual qualities were required of NT leaders (see Acts. 6:3; 1 Tim. 3:1–7; Titus 1:6–9).

  Exodus 19

  19:1—40:38 This section outlines Israel’s activities during their approximately 11 month stay at Sinai (cf. 19:1 with Num. 10:11).

  19:3–8 The Israelites discerned the familiar pattern, in shortened form, of a suzerainty (superior-subordinate relationship) treaty in God’s words: a preamble (v. 3), a historical prologue (v. 4), certain stipulations (v. 5a), and blessings (vv. 5b–6a). The acceptance in solemn assembly would normally be recorded in the final treaty document. Here it follows upon presentation of the treaty to them (vv. 7, 8). See note on 24:7.

  19:3 from the mountain. The sign which the LORD had given particularly to Moses when he was still in Midian (3:12), that God had indeed sent him, was now fulfilled; he was with the people before the mountain of God. house of Jacob…children of Israel. In employing this dual designation for the nation, the LORD reminded them of their humble beginnings as descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, who had been with them in Egypt, and of their status now as a nation (children = people).

  19:4 bore you on eagles’ wings. With a most appropriate metaphor, God described the Exodus and the journey to Sinai. Eagles were known to have carried their young out of the nests on their wings and taught them to fly, catching them when necessary on their outspread wings. Moses, in his final song, employed this metaphor of God’s care for Israel and especially noted that there was only one LORD who did this (Deut. 32:11–12).

  19:5, 6 Three titles for Israel, “a special treasure,” “a kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation,” were given by the LORD to the nation, contingent upon their being an obedient and covenant-keeping nation. These titles summarized the divine blessings which such a nation would experience: belonging especially to the LORD, representing Him in the earth and being set apart unto Him for His purposes. These expanded ethnically and morally what it meant to have brought them to Himself. “For all the earth is mine,” in the midst of the titles, laid stress upon the uniqueness and sovereignty of the LORD and had to be understood as dismissing all other claims by so-called other gods of the nations. It was more than the power o
f one god over another in Israel’s situation; it was the choice and power of the only LORD! See 1 Pet. 2:9, where Peter uses these terms in the sense of God’s spiritual kingdom of the redeemed.

  19:8 Then all the people answered together. Presented with the details of God’s bilateral, conditional covenant (note the “if you will obey…then you shall be” in v. 5), the people, briefed by their elders, responded with positive enthusiasm. The LORD’s response to them does not take it as a rash promise by the people (cf. Deut. 5:27–29).

  19:9 and believe you forever. The LORD designed the upcoming encounter with Him so as to forestall any later accusation that Moses had himself compiled the law and had not met with the Lord on the mountain. It would also lead to great deference being accorded Moses by the people.

  19:10 consecrate them. How serious this step was for the nation was emphasized for them by two days of special preparation. The inward preparation for meeting with God was mirrored in the outward actions of maintaining bodily cleanliness.

  19:12, 13 The proper approach to a holy God could not have been better stressed than by imposing a death penalty upon those who violated the arbitrary boundaries which God had set around the mountain. Even animals could not encroach upon this sacred area (cf. Heb. 12:20).

  19:15 do not come near your wives. This was so they would be ceremonially clean (see Lev. 15:16–18).

  19:16 thunderings and lightnings. The dramatic visual presentation of God’s presence on the mountain, accompanied by thick cloud and trumpet blast, more than impressed the onlookers with God’s majesty and power—they trembled, but so did Moses (Heb. 12:21). The unusual was happening, not the usual phenomena from volcanic activity, as some writers have proposed.