Long Story Short. Episode 4. Wanderers.

12th March

The people of Israel are out of Egypt. Generations of slavery and oppression are over. Here they are … but where will they go? Where will God – and Moses – take their story?

Food in the desert

Then they left Elim and journeyed into the Sin Desert, between Elim and Mount Sinai. They arrived there a month after leaving Egypt. There, the whole community of Israel spoke bitterly against Moses and Aaron.
“Oh, that we were back in Egypt,” they moaned. “It would have been better if the LORD had killed us there! At least there we had plenty to eat. But now you have brought us into this desert to starve us to death.”

And the LORD said to Moses, “I have heard the people’s complaints. Now tell them, `In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’ ”

That evening vast numbers of quail arrived and covered the camp. The next morning the desert all around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew disappeared later in the morning, thin flakes, white like frost, covered the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked.
And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you.”

In time, the food became known as manna. It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like honey cakes.
Exodus 16:1-3,11-15, 31

Water

At the LORD’s command, the people of Israel left the Sin Desert and moved from place to place. Eventually they came to Rephidim, but there was no water to be found there. So once more the people grumbled and complained to Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.
“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you arguing with me? And why are you testing the LORD?”
But tormented by thirst, they continued to complain, “Why did you ever take us out of Egypt? Why did you bring us here? We, our children, and our livestock will all die!”
Then Moses pleaded with the LORD, “What should I do with these people? They are about to stone me!”
The LORD said to Moses, “Take your shepherd’s staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile. Then call some of the leaders of Israel and walk on ahead of the people. I will meet you by the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come pouring out. Then the people will be able to drink.” Moses did just as he was told; and as the leaders looked on, water gushed out.
Exodus 17:1-6

Moses on the mountain

Two months after leaving Egypt, the people arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai.

Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The LORD called out to him from the mountain and said, “Give these instructions to the descendants of Jacob, the people of Israel: `You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I brought you to myself and carried you on eagle’s wings. Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ Give this message to the Israelites.”

Moses returned from the mountain and called together the leaders of the people and told them what the LORD had said. They all responded together, “We will certainly do everything the LORD asks of us.”
Exodus 19:3-8

Moses told the people to prepare themselves for a special occasion. In three days time, God would meet with them.

God has rescued the people of Israel in dramatic fashion – but not for nothing. They are rescued so that they might begin a new way of life, in relationship with God who loves them. Noah, Abraham, Moses – this is not the first time that God has made an offer of friendship to humankind. Nor will it be the last.

We are here, at the foot of the mountain, invited to meet with God.

God meets the people

Moses led the people out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. All Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the LORD had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook with a violent earthquake. As the horn blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply for all to hear.
Exodus 19:17-19

When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the horn, and when they saw the lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.
And they said to Moses, “You tell us what God says, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us. If he does, we will die!”
“Don’t be afraid,” Moses said, “for God has come in this way to show you his awesome power. From now on, let your fear of him keep you from sinning!”
As the people stood in the distance, Moses entered into the deep darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:18-21

When Moses returned, he carried Ten Commandments with him on tablets of stone. The ten commandments were the first instructions God gave to the nation of Israel. In the law that would follow, they were told they should judge wisely, treat foreigners well, and conduct business honestly, and many other things.

The law demonstrated a way of life that brought God into the heart of human society. It showed the standards that God required, and explained what needed to be done when those standards weren’t met. When the people failed to keep the instructions of the law, they were to make a sacrifice. Their sins were symbolically transferred to an animal, which the priests would then offer to God – a daily ritual for forgiveness.

The people accept the law

When Moses had announced to the people all the teachings and regulations the LORD had given him, they answered in unison, “We will do everything the LORD has told us to do.”

Then Moses carefully wrote down all the LORD’s instructions. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He also set up twelve pillars around the altar, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent some of the young men to sacrifice young bulls as burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. Moses took half the blood from these animals and drew it off into basins. The other half he splashed against the altar.

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They all responded again, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded. We will obey.”

Then Moses sprinkled the blood from the basins over the people and said, “This blood confirms the covenant the LORD has made with you in giving you these laws.”
Exodus 24: 3-8

After the people had agreed to the covenant, God called Moses up the mountain again. As the people waited in the foothills, God explained the law to Moses in more detail. Moses was gone for some time.

Disobedience

When Moses failed to come back down the mountain right away, the people went to Aaron. “Look,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. This man Moses, who brought us here from Egypt, has disappeared. We don’t know what has happened to him.”

So Aaron said, “Tell your wives and sons and daughters to take off their gold earrings, and then bring them to me.”
All the people obeyed Aaron and brought him their gold earrings. Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded and tooled it into the shape of a calf. The people exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”
When Aaron saw how excited the people were about it, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD!”
So the people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and indulged themselves in pagan revelry.
Then the LORD told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! The people you brought from Egypt have defiled themselves. They have already turned from the way I commanded them to live. They have made an idol shaped like a calf, and they have worshiped and sacrificed to it.” They are saying, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.’ ”
Exodus 32:1-8

God was angry at the people’s rebellion, and Moses appealed for mercy. God forgave them and offered them a second chance, and they repented and promised to keep the commandments. But this was not the last time they disobeyed God.

God makes his home with Israel

God told Moses: “I want the people of Israel to build me a sacred residence where I can live among them. You must make this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the plans I will show you.”
25:8-9

God gave Moses special instructions for a tent, The Tabernacle, and designated the tribe of Levi to be priests, and Aaron to be the High Priest. Only the High Priest was allowed into the centre of the Tabernacle, where the Ark of the Covenant (containing the law) was kept.

The Tabernacle was also where animals were sacrificed, according to God’s instructions. The people offered lambs and other animals to God to ask for God’s forgiveness for all the times they failed to keep the laws that were given to them.

So the people of Israel followed all of the LORD’s instructions to Moses. Moses inspected all their work and blessed them because it had been done as the LORD had commanded him.
Exodus 39:42-43

So the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the new year.
Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glorious presence of the LORD filled it. Moses was no longer able to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the Tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the LORD.

Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle and moved, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it. But if the cloud stayed, they would stay until it moved again. The cloud of the LORD rested on the Tabernacle during the day, and at night there was fire in the cloud so all the people of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys.
Exodus 40:17,34-38

The promised land

Many years passed before the people reached the land God had promised them. Again and again they rebelled against God’s commands, but God was merciful. After forty years in the desert, the people stood at the border to the promised land. Moses called the people together to speak to them:

“While we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God made a covenant with us. The LORD did not make this covenant long ago with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today. The LORD spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire on the mountain.
Deut 5:1-4

“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.
Deut 6:4-7

“The LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and takes no bribes. He gives justice to orphans and widows. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.

He is your God, the one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done mighty miracles that you yourselves have seen. When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!”
Deut 10:17-18,21-22

And so God kept the promise made to Abraham to make his descendants as numerous as the stars, and to give them a land of their own. Now here Israel stood, at the very edge of it, on the bank of the river Jordan.

Moses read the law, and explained the terms of the covenant to the people: if they loved God and kept God’s commandments, they would become a great nation. If they turned away, they would fail.

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Deut 30:16-20

We are here, wanderers, promised a future home.

We are here, on the edge of God’s kingdom, called in faith to advance into it, claim it, build it, to co-create the future with God.

We are here, invited to choose.