Category: Morning Musings

Morning Musing: Exodus 16:24-30

Leave a comment

“So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn’t stink or have maggots in it. ‘Eat it today,’ Moses said, ‘because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field. For six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.’ Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long will you refuse to keep my commands and instructions? Understand that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he will give you two days’ worth of bread. Each of you stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.’ So the people rested on the seventh day.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the most natural things in the world is for children to trust their parents. At some point they become more skeptical or even outright untrusting, but while this may be because their parents earned such suspicion (don’t ever lie to your kids, even in jest; that does far more damage to them than you could imagine), more often it is because sin has crept further into their hearts, leading them to a greater mistrust of everything. That’s one of the things sin does: it cultivates mistrust and doubt in our hearts. Because of this, trusting in God is not natural for us. As a result, God gives us things to help us learn to trust. Let’s talk about one of the most important ones He gave to Israel.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 16:13-16

Leave a comment

So at evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, ‘What is it?’ because they didn’t know what it was. Moses told them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: “Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.”‘” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever seen or experienced something that went beyond your ability to describe it? We did a fire in our fire pit the other night. Over the last several months we had collected a ton of sticks and small limbs from around our yard and burned all of them. It didn’t take long because they were so dry. By the time we were finished, there was an incredible base of glowing embers in the bottom of the pit. At one point, I spread it all out, and the entire bottom of our fire pit was covered by them. They were all glowing with different shades of orange and red that were constantly swirling and changing. It was amazing to look at. I don’t have words to fully describe what it looked like. The first morning after God announced the provision of manna for Israel, the people walked out and found it there. What we have here is their attempt to describe it. Let’s talk about what we see.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 15:22-24

Leave a comment

“Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter – that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, ‘What are we going to drink?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some stories that just stick with you. One my dad told a lot when I was growing up, and which I have now told my own boys often enough that when I start it they say, ‘We know. You and Grandpa have both told us before,’ is about one of his teachers in school. Every day the teacher would flip a coin. If it was heads, they had a pop quiz. If it was tails, they didn’t. Sometimes life throws tests our way that we don’t want or expect. How we handle those, though, matters a lot. They both test and reveal our character. Israel didn’t get very far into their journey before they experienced one of these tests. It became a story that would eventually be told a lot. Let’s talk about it.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 15:14-16

Leave a comment

“When the peoples hear, they will shudder; anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan will panic; terror and dread will fall on them. They will be as still as a stone because of your powerful arm until your people pass by; Lord, until the people whom you purchased pass by.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I used to love watching chef Alton Brown’s Food Network series, Good Eats. He made really good-looking food, of course, but his big thing was exploring the science behind it. And the series was really creative in doing that. It was quirky, fun, educational, and highly entertaining. There really has not ever been another cooking show like it. One of Brown’s big things throughout the series was that he hated single-function kitchen tools. Everything needed to be able to serve more than one purpose. Although Brown publicly walked away from at least his Baptist faith a few years ago, I like to think that he would have appreciated the fact that God rarely does anything for a single purpose. This next stanza in Israel’s song of praise celebrates this. Let’s talk about what’s going on here.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 15:11-13

Leave a comment

“Lord, who is like you among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed them. With your faithful love, you will lead the people you have redeemed; you will guide them to your holy dwelling with your strength.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I once had to do a report on Thomas Edison. I read several books (this was pre-internet and in grade school, so reading some books in the library was about all I could do) and wrote a nice little biography to go along with it. I did really well on the project. But I didn’t really know Thomas Edison at all. I just knew about him. It’s one thing to read about someone. It’s another thing to have a personal experience with them. In crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, Israel had a personal experience with God. The next stanza of their song of praise reflects some on what they learned from it. Let’s take a look at this and see what we can learn with them.

Read the rest…