July 2, 2009

Texts:
Exodus 15 and 16,
Psalm 15 and 16

This is Julie Anderson, Pastor Marci is away getting some much needed rest and relaxation or whatever it is that pastors do on vacation so you are stuck with me for a few days.

Ex 15: We are just coming off from the infamous parting of the Red Sea miracle and chapter 14 ends with "So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in Moses."
Chapter 15 they sing praises and retell the story through song which should be very familiar to all of us, church goers or not. After the group sing-a-long Miriam, who you'll recall is Moses and Aaron's sister and watched over the basket in the Nile, takes up a tambourine and leads the ladies in song. I don't know about you, but images of flower power and hemp clothing popped into my mind when I was reading.

No sooner does the dancing and singing end then we come to Marah, which means bitter, because the water was bitter. And so starts a long theme of the Israelites crying out that they were better off in Egypt than with God and Moses in this God forsaken land. God hears their cries (remember that phrase through the entire old testament) and Moses throws a piece of wood into the water and it is made fresh.

Ch16. Again the people cry because there is no food, and again God sends Manna from heaven and this they live on for FORTY years! The rest of the chapter is a back and forth between God and the Israelites.

Psalms 15&16 I loved reading these after the songs of the Israelites because there was such similarity. The Psalms are all about that mountain top high that the Israelites felt after coming a crossed on dry land. In Psalm 16: 11 "In your presence there is fullness of joy" Loved that!