Week 6, Day 1 in the LEB

Feb 5, 2024

Podcast: Play in new window (Duration: 16:04 — 9.20MB)
The reading for today is Exodus 16-18; Ephesians 4.

Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.

Exodus 16

And they set out from Elim, and all the community of the Israelites came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, in the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt. And all the community of the Israelites grumbled against Moses and against Aaron in the desert. And the Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full, because you have brought us out to this desert to kill all of this assembly with hunger." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, I am going to rain down for you bread from the heavens, and the people will go out and gather enough for the day on its day; in that way I will test them: Will they go according to my law or not? And then on the sixth day, they will prepare what they bring, and it will be twice over what they will gather every other day."

And Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening, you will know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt, and in the morning, you will see the glory of Yahweh, for he hears your grumblings against Yahweh, and what are we that you grumble against us?" And Moses said, "When in the evening Yahweh gives you meat to eat and bread in the morning to fill up on, for he hears your grumblings that you grumble against him—and what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against Yahweh." And Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the community of the Israelites, ‘Come near before Yahweh because he has heard your grumblings.’"

And at the moment of Aaron’s speaking to all the community of the Israelites, they turned to the desert, and just then the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the grumblings of the Israelites. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be full with bread, and you will know that I am Yahweh your God.’"

And so it was, in the evening, the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning, a layer of dew was all around the camp. And the layer of dew came up, and there on the face of the desert was a fine granular substance, fine like frost on the ground. And the Israelites saw, and they said to each other, "What is this?" because they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "That is the bread that Yahweh has given to you as food. This is the word that Yahweh commanded, ‘Gather from it, each according to what he can eat, an omer per person according to the number of you. You each shall take enough for whoever is in his tent.’"

And the Israelites did so, and they gathered, some more and some less. And when they measured with the omer, the one gathering more had no surplus, and the one gathering less had no lack; they gathered each according to what he could eat. And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it until morning." But they did not listen to Moses. Some people left some of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. And they gathered it morning by morning, each according to what he could eat, and it melted when the sun was hot.

And when it was the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one person, and all the leaders of the community came and told Moses. And he said to them, "This is what Yahweh has said. Tomorrow is a rest period, a holy Sabbath for Yahweh. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Put aside all the surplus for yourselves for safekeeping until the morning." And they put it aside until the morning, as Moses had commanded, and it did not make a stench, and not a maggot was in it. And Moses said, "Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath for Yahweh. Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be present on it."

And on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they did not find any. And Yahweh said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep my commands and my laws? See, because Yahweh has given to you the Sabbath, therefore he is giving to you on the sixth day bread for two days. Stay, each in his location; let no one go from his place on the seventh day." And the people rested on the seventh day.

And the house of Israel called its name "manna." And it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like a wafer with honey. And Moses said, "This is the word that Yahweh has commanded. ‘A full omer of it is for safekeeping for your generations so that they will see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I brought you from the land of Egypt.’" And Moses said to Aaron, "Take one jar and put there a full omer of manna. Leave it before Yahweh for safekeeping for your generations." As Yahweh had commanded Moses, so Aaron left it before the testimony for safekeeping. And the Israelites ate the manna forty years, until their coming to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until their coming to the border of the land of Canaan. (And an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

Exodus 17

And all the community of the Israelites set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, "Give us water so that we can drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?" And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why ever did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me and my sons and my cattle with thirst?"

And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "What will I do with this people? A little longer and they will stone me." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go on before the people and take with you some from the elders of Israel, and the staff with which you struck the Nile take in your hand, and go. Look, I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out from it, and the people will drink."

And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the Israelites and because of their testing Yahweh by saying, "Is Yahweh in our midst or not?"

And Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek tomorrow. I will be standing on the top of the hill, and the staff of God will be in my hand."

And Joshua did as Moses had said to him to fight with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And when Moses raised his hand, Israel would prevail, but when he rested his hand, Amalek would prevail. But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it; Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on each side, and his hands were steady until sundown. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Write this as a memorial in the scroll and recite it in the hearing of Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens."

And Moses built an altar, and he called its name Yahweh Is My Banner. And he said, "Because a hand was against the throne of Yah, a war will be for Yahweh with Amalek from generation to generation."

Exodus 18

And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people, that Yahweh had brought Israel out from Egypt. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah the wife of Moses after her sending away, and her two sons—the one whose name was Gershom, for he had said, "I have been an alien in a foreign land," and the one whose name was Eliezer, for "the God of my father was my help, and he delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh." And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came and his sons and his wife to Moses, to the desert where he was camping there at the mountain of God. And he said to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you and your wife and her two sons with her." And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed, and he kissed him, and they each asked about the other’s welfare, and they came into the tent.

And Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt on account of Israel, all the hardship that had found them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Yahweh had done for Israel when he delivered them from the hand of Egypt. And Jethro said, "Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh—who has delivered the people from under the hand of Egypt. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, even in the matter where they the Egyptians dealt arrogantly against the Israelites." And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

And the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning until the evening. And the father-in-law of Moses saw all that he was doing for the people, and he said, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting alone and all the people are standing by you from morning until evening?" And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to seek God. When they have an issue, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make known God’s rule and his instructions."

And the father-in-law of Moses said to him, "The thing that you are doing is not good. Surely you will wear out, both you and this people who are with you, because the thing is too difficult for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now listen to my voice; I will advise you, and may God be with you. You be for the people before God, and you bring the issues to God. And you warn them of the rules and the instructions, and you make known to them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do. And you will select from all the people men of ability, fearers of God, trustworthy men, haters of dishonest gain, and you will appoint such men over them as commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, and commanders of tens. And let them judge the people all the time, and every major issue they will bring to you, and every minor issue they will judge themselves. And so lighten it for yourself, and they will bear it with you. If you will do this thing and God will command you, then you will be able to endure, and also each of the people will go to his home in peace."

And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and he did all that he had said. And Moses chose men of ability from all Israel, and he appointed them as heads over the people, as commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, and commanders of tens. And they judged the people all the time; the difficult issues they would bring to Moses, and every minor issue they would judge themselves. And Moses let his father-in-law go, and he went to his land.

Ephesians 4

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to live in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; one body and one Spirit (just as also you were called with one hope of your calling), one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

Now to each one of us was given this grace, according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,

"Ascending on high he led captivity captive;
he gave gifts to men."

Now "he ascended," what is it, except that he also descended to the lower regions of the earth? The one who descended himself is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order that he might fill all things.

And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working by measure of each single part, the growth of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.

This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles walk: in the futility of their mind, being darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart, who, becoming callous, gave themselves over to licentiousness, for the pursuit of all uncleanness in greediness.

But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard about him, and you were taught by him (just as truth is in Jesus), that you take off, according to your former way of life, the old man, who is being destroyed according to deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man (in accordance with God), who is created in righteousness and holiness from the truth.

Therefore, putting aside the lie, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, nor give place to the devil. The one who steals must steal no longer, but instead must labor, working with his own hands what is good, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need. No rotten word must proceed from your mouth, but only something good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to those who hear, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech, must be removed from you, together with all wickedness. Become kind toward one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in Christ has forgiven you.