Lesson #8

On the Road to Mt. Sinai

(Exodus 15: 22 18: 27)
In Lesson #7 the Israelites left Egypt, avoiding the Via Maris, the
obvious escape route that parallels the Mediterranean Sea; instead,
they headed southeast toward the Red Sea, a rouse intended to draw
the Egyptians after them. And it worked.

Arriving near the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez, the Israelites
looked up and saw the Egyptians in hot pursuit. With their backs to
the sea and the Egyptians bearing down upon them, God sprang the
trap! Just as the last of the Israelites scrambled onto dry ground on
the shore of the Sinai Peninsula, the Red Seas towering walls of
water collapsed, drowning the entire Egyptian army.

As Pharaoh planned to drown all the infant Israelite boys in the Nile
River, lest they grow to become warriors and fight against him, so
God drowns in the depths of the Red Sea all the male Egyptian
warriors who fight against him.











It is one thing to escape from Egypt; it is quite another to survive
the aftermath. In Lesson #8 Moses and the Israelites confront the
stark reality of finding enough food and water in the wilderness to
survive. In Exodus 12: 37 we read that The Israelites set out from
Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, not
counting the children, and in the opening chapters of Numbers the
Israelites take a census by tribe, clan and family totaling 603,550
men, plus women and childrenroughly 2 million people. It is
impossible to support that many people in the Sinai wilderness.

Survival calls for a miracle, and God provides it: he makes bitter
water sweet, brings water from the rocks and provides daily manna
to eat, nurturing and sustaining his people through their wilderness
journey.
























No water
No food
No water again
Attacked by the Amalekites
Crushing workload












No water (15: 22-27)
No food
No water again
Attacked by the Amalekites
Crushing workload
Aaaaargh!












Land of Goshen
Rameses
Succoth
Marah
Elim
Mt. Sinai
Rephidim
Bitter Lakes
Via Maris
Grard Jollain. The Water of Marah (engraving) in La Saincte Bible . . . enrichie de
plusieurs belle figures, 1670.












Dr. Creasy teaching at the well at Marah, Egypt.












Photography by Ana Maria Vargas
Now that the water is sweet, every backbone takes on laughter . . .












Photography by Ana Maria Vargas
. . . and every tooth is exposed! (ANET, Hymn to the Nile, p. 372)












Photography by Ana Maria Vargas
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and
seventy palm trees . . . (Exodus 15: 27)












Photography by Ana Maria Vargas












Land of Goshen
Rameses
Succoth
Marah
Elim
Mt. Sinai
Bitter Lakes
Via Maris
Wilderness of Sin












No water
No food (16: 1-35)
No water again
Attacked by the Amalekites
Crushing workload
Ercole de Roberti. The Israelites Gathering Manna (originally a predella panel,
now transferred to canvas), c. 1490. The National Gallery, London.












The wilderness between Elim and Sinai, where God provided the manna.












Photography by Ana Maria Vargas












Bake it!
Fry it!
Grill it!
Poach it!
Steam it!
Fricassee it!

Ummm, ummm good, heavenly!

Only $29.95
Ercole de Roberti. The Institution of the Eucharist (This panel is paired with The
Israelites Gathering Manna, a predella panel, now transferred to canvas), c. 1490.
The National Gallery, London.
























No water
No food
No water again (17: 1-7)
Attacked by the Amalekites
Crushing workload
Bartolom Esteban Murillo. Moses Striking the Rock (oil on canvas), c. 1666.
Private collection, anonymous (sold at auction at Christies, London, August 2, 1968, Lot 36).
























Land of Goshen
Rameses
Succoth
Marah
Elim
Mt. Sinai
Rephidim
Bitter Lakes
Via Maris
Rephidim, where Moses struck the rock and water flowed forth.












Photography by Ana Maria Vargas












Photography by Ana Maria Vargas
Dr. Creasy and his
friend search for
water at Rephidim!












No water
No food
No water again
Attacked by the Amalekites
(17: 8-16)
Crushing workload
John Everett Millais. Victory, O Lord! (oil on canvas), 1871.
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester.
























No water
No food
No water again
Attacked by the Amalekites
Crushing workload

1. After traveling only three days in the wilderness the
Israelites confront the stark reality that they need water,
a lot of water. How does God respond to their need?
2. The Israelites also need food. God provides manna, but it
cannot be kept overnight, nor does it appear on the
Sabbath. Why does God do this?
3. What does the manna in Exodus foreshadow in the New
Testament?
4. What does manna taste like?
5. The Amalekites attack the Israelites in the wilderness,
and the Israelites defeat them. The Amalekites will be an
ongoing problem, however. Where do they resurface
later in Scripture?




Copyright 2014 by William C. Creasy
All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video,
photography, maps, timelines or other mediamay be
reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage or retrieval devices without permission in
writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.