Ex. 15:22-27; 16
Full Lesson HERE
INTRODUCTION. After the Israelites miraculously crossed the Red Sea, they entered the
Sinai Peninsula, a land bridge between Egypt and Canaan. This peninsula is shaped like a triangle, appearing to hang from the southeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea. On the west side of the peninsula is the Gulf of Suez and on the east side the Gulf of Aqaba-both gulfs are arms of the Red Sea. The land is a plateau about 2500 feet high and mostly desert, with the north end sloping to the Mediterranean Sea, and the south end rising into mountains 4000 to 9000 feet high.
The Israelites first entered the wilderness of Shur, the northwest portion of the Sinai
Peninsula, and after three days found water so bitter they could not drink it. The name of this place, Marah, means bitter. The people complained and murmured against Moses, but the Lord showed Moses a tree which he cast into the water, causing the water to become sweet. The Lord then made a covenant with the people that if they obeyed him, He would protect them from the diseases He had brought upon the Egyptians.
Next the Israelites camped at Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. Leaving Elim they came to the wilderness of Sin, the area in the southwest part of the Sinai Peninsula, where they hungered. Again the people complained to Moses and Aaron, saying they should have stayed in Egypt where they had plenty of food.
The Lord told Moses He would send quails in the evening and rain bread from heaven in
the mornings for the Israelites to eat. Each morning the people were to gather a daily
portion of the bread for each person in their household. They were to gather only enough for one day; none of the bread was to remain until the next day for it would spoil. However on the sixth day, they were to gather twice as much enough for two days, for the seventh day they were to rest. The extra portion gathered for the seventh day would not spoil overnight.
This bread was called manna meaning, What? or What is it?, the question the Israelites
asked when they first saw the small, round substance, appearing as frost. The manna was white, like a coriander seed, tasted like wafers made with honey, and melted when the sun became hot. The Lord instructed Moses and Aaron to put a measure of the manna in a pot to keep as a memorial for future generations.
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