Slide 18 of 50
Notes:
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Why did God send them manna and quail in their wanderings? For preparation of this question, the teacher should read Exodus chapter 16. The Israelites grumbled that there was nothing to eat in the desert and God provided food for them. Manna was a sweet flaky material that appeared on the desert floor each morning except on the Sabbath. They could pick this up and eat it. On Friday they could pick up enough for two days, otherwise it would spoil. God also sent quail for them to eat. Quail was a small bird. A trivia note is that the word “manna” literally means “What is it?” because when they saw it they said “What is it?”
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Why do you think that God generally didn’t want them to gather manna for more than one day at a time? It is interesting that except for Friday, the Israelites only received enough food for a day. In the New Testament, the “Lord’s Prayer” says “Give us THIS DAY our daily bread.” In the sermon on the mount in Matthew 6:34 , Jesus said “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” What is the practical message from this? We learn that we should not worry too much about things. Again and again, God tells us to just take care of the day.
The map shows the location of the range of mountains known as the Sinia mountain range. Although we think that we know the general area, we don’t know the exact mountain that Moses went up on to receive the Ten Commandments.
The photo of part of the Sinai mountains shows us the ruggedness of the terrain of this mountain region. It is difficult to feel the scale of these mountains. In the photo, a road with people walking on it is shown. The road can be discerned but the people can barely be seen since they are so small compared to the mountain. The other item to note is how some of the mountains simply jut straight out of the ground in shear bluffs. This helps us understand the scripture on the following slide that tells people not to touch the foot of the mountain. In some of the areas, the mountains rise so vertically out of the ground that it is clear where the mountain begins and what not to touch. In many parts of the world, it is hard to say just where a mountain begins. Many of the mountains in the sinai region are easily discerned and such a commandment makes more sense here.
Exodus 19:12 “12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, `Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.” (NIV)
