Bible Study - The Journey of the Israelites to the Land of Promise - Continues - Exodus 27 - April 19, 2026

 

Bible Study – The Journey of the Israelites to the Land of Promise - Continues – Exodus 27 – April 19, 2026

In last week’s study, after a teaching moment of turning bitter water into drinkable water for the Israelites, GOD led the Israelites to an oasis to be refreshed and reflect, as we read in Exodus 15:27:

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water.

In the Bible, 12 symbolizes God’s covenant people, order, and authority, while 70 represents completion, divine order, and significant spiritual milestones.

GOD still provides times to pause and rest as we journey through life.

There are times when rest comes, we keep wondering what next?

Where to next, as the Israelites continue their journey to the Land of Promise. THE LORD Provides physically and Spiritually as they journey and as we journey -------

Let’s read Exodus: 16:1-36:

Manna and Quail Provided

16 The entire Israelite community departed from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt. ² The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!”

Woe is me!!! Life often brings us “If only.” When life hands us lemons, it is time for lemonade.

GOD provided water in the desert and now their provisions had been consumed. The Million Israelites were hungry in the desert. GOD had provided drinkable water and now they needed food.

GOD knows our needs and HE was revealing HIMSELF to the Israelites.

GOD does not disappoint. Challenges in life’s journey gives opportunity for GOD to reveal HIS care to us. Are those times tough? YES!!! But they are teachable moments along life’s journey, and it builds our relationship with GOD through faith in JESUS. Life is NOT easy but GOD journeys with us, either to get our attention and/or build the right relationship with HIM through faith in JESUS.

We have the advantage of looking back over the annals of time to glean from GOD’S Word and HIS care for HIS Chosen, which includes all Spirit Born Christians. All Spirit Born believers are on a journey to the eternal promised land, HEAVEN. Their citizenship in heaven is established the instant any person places his/her faith in JESUS as written in:

Philippians 3:20

Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

GOD established the rules or commandments for the Israelites to follow to satisfy their physical needs to sustain their lives and reveal HIS physical care for them. Physical care leads to Spiritual care and revelation.

The Law was a place holder until the law was fulfilled by JESUS. The passion of JESUS fulfilled The Law and established GRACE!!!

I love GRACE. Thank YOU, JESUS.

When a person places his or her faith in JESUS, that person is born again Spiritually. THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE DIVINE SPERM, unites with the human spirit, as the Spiritual egg, which needs to be fertilized Spiritually. Spiritual conception takes place quicker than the twinkle of the eye when any person asks JESUS to forgive him or her for all of his/her sins and ask JESUS to come into his/her heart, JESUS does. That person quicker than the twinkle of the eye is Spirit Born or a born-again Christian --- never to be unborn.

Once GOD’S Son or Daughter, always GOD’S Son or Daughter.

The Born again person’s citizenship is as recorded in Philippians 3:20:

Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Either, we who have been “Born Again” will go immediately to Heaven when we die or those Spirit Born Christians who are alive when JESUS returns to earth, will be taken to Heaven.

Back to GOD revealing HIMSELF to the Israelites and building the right relationship with them. As we read the revelation of GOD and HIS care to the nation of Israel, it is a foreshadow of GOD’S eternal care of all who place their faith in JESUS.

1.    JESUS said in John 14:2

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

2.    John 14:3

If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.

As the Israelites were journeying to the Land of Promise, it is a foreshadow of “Spirit Born” believers traveling to Heaven. Heaven is the final eternal home of all who place their faith in JESUS, WHO has prepared an eternal place for all who place their faith in HIM.

In the meantime, back upon earth, the Israelites continue their journey, both physical and Spiritual, to the physical Land of Promise ---

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”^[a]

The Israelites grumbled again. THE LORD GOD told Moses that HE was going to rain bread from heaven. Why? There would be no mistake with the Israelites knowing that their daily bread came from THE ONE TRUE GOD, YHWH, WHO was leading them to the Land of Promise.

GOD gave specific instructions regarding the harvest of the “Bread from Heaven.” Is this a foreshadow of the coming of JESUS? I think so.

We read in Matthew 6: ¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

It is vital that as Spirit-born Christians that we do not neglect our daily walk with our LORD JESUS. Just as most of us eat food on a daily basis, we also need Spiritual Food on a daily basis. We need water more frequently than food, thus for Spirit born Christians, THE HOLY SPIRIT is as written in John 7:38:

The one who believes in me (JESUS), as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”

Why do we need “streams of living water?”

Isaiah 44:3

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

A foreshadow of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the fulfillment of the Passion of JESUS, which rendered the human body of all who place their faith in JESUS and recorded in 1 Corinthians 6:19

Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Since the passion of JESUS, those seeking to be in right relationship with GOD, there is a permanent, eternal shift from worshipping in the physical temple to the personal, eternal temple where the Holy Spirit resides, the Spirit Born person’s core of belief, where truth resides.

Our journey with the Israelites continues ----------

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning, you will see the Lord’s glory because he has heard your complaints about him. For who are we that you complain about us?”

In essence, do not confuse us for GOD. We are only GOD’S emissaries.

Often, we get caught up with a fellow Christian as having a “Hot Line” to Heaven. We must keep in mind that we are all sinners saved by the Grace of GOD, through faith in JESUS. YES, we should reach out to fellow Spirit-born Christians to pray, stand, walk, with us as we journey through life and encounter various issues.

Issues equal Spiritual growth opportunities. They are often “No fun” but rewarding once on the other side. Building faith and trust in GOD, through faith in JESUS, is a journey.

Back to the journey of the Israelites --------

⁸ Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and all the bread you want in the morning, for he has heard the complaints that you are raising against him. Who are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your complaints.’” ¹⁰ As Aaron was speaking to the entire Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there in a cloud the Lord’s glory appeared.

¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”

¹³ So at evening quail came and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp. ¹⁴ When the layer of dew evaporated, there were fine flakes on the desert surface, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts^[b] per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’”

¹⁷ So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. ¹⁸ When they measured it by quarts,^[c] the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “No one is to let any of it remain until morning.” ²⁰ But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Therefore, Moses was angry with them.

Most of us never change, always testing GOD and HIS WORD. GOD puts up with us because HE made us.

²¹ They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. ²² On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts^[d] apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. ²³ He told them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.’”

The Sabbath was to be a day of rest and worship THE ONE TRUE GOD OF THE ISRAELITES.

²⁴ So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn’t stink or have maggots in it. ²⁵ “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field. ²⁶ For six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

THE LORD was teaching the Israelites obedience to HIS WORD. The same is true today – Trust and Obey – Internalize and trust what is revealed to us as we study, apply and grow in our relationship with GOD through faith in JESUS.

²⁷ Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any. ²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you^[e] refuse to keep my commands and instructions? ²⁹ 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.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day.

The same is true today – WE TEST THE LORD, WHO IN TURN SHOWS US THAT HE SAYS WHAT HE MEANS AND MEANS WHAT HE SAYS.

³¹ The house of Israel named the substance manna.^[f] It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Two quarts^[g] of it are to be preserved throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

³³ Moses told Aaron, “Take a container and put two quarts^[h] of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be preserved throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the testimony to be preserved.

³⁵ The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ (They used a measure called an Omer, which held two quarts.^[I^])

Forty years in Biblical context was considered a generation.

WOW!!! GOD was teaching the nation of Israel then and, in turn, the world today of HIS love and care for those who love GOD and place their faith in JESUS.

GOD continues to provide for HIS Children today. Have you ever been led to take a meal to a friend, neighbor, acquaintance or loved one? I know there was a time in our married life that things were tough and I grumbled. THE LORD was quick to bring to my mind those who had provided food to us, just to be good neighbors or friends.

What does JESUS tell us in Matthew 10:42:

And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he (or she) is a disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

Blessings!!!