In Chapter 9 & 10, He was still dealing with Pharaoh and here is some of the dialog:
9:16 But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.
20 Some of Pharaoh’s officials were afraid because of what the Lord had said. They quickly brought their servants and livestock in from the fields. 21 But those who paid no attention to the word of the Lord left theirs out in the open.
29 “All right,” Moses replied. “As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands and pray to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail will stop, and you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord. 30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.”
10:3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so they can worship me. 4 If you refuse, watch out!
The next thing that stuck out to me was the supernatural power of God and His ability to do anything. He created a cloud between the Israelites and the Egyptians as the Egyptians were chasing them. That cloud created light on the side of the Israelites and darkness on the side of the Egyptians. Then, when the Egyptian chariots were chasing them through the dry Red Sea bed, all of a sudden all the chariot wheels fell off, making them impossible to drive. Not to mention the manna that fell from heaven, and His ability to make that picked up on Saturday to last two days, when any other time they would try to keep it two days it would be filled with maggots and stink.
So after God delivers them through the Red Sea and kills ALL who were following them, the people had a wonderful celebration where they praised God and recounted His deliverance. But after the Red Sea encounter, they started walking through the desert to the Promised Land - (humm, is that what we are doing now? Walking through the 'desert of this life' to our 'promised land'?) they soon forgot all about God's provision and started grumbling and complaining about their 'lot in life' - no fresh water. So Moses took a branch that God showed him, threw it into the water and made it good to drink. Right after that we read:
15:25 It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”
And not long after that He says:16:4 ..... I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “By evening you will realize it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done that you should complain about us?”
19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.
17:1 At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.
“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. 6 I will meet you by the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses did just as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.
7 Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”
I think this section has a lot of truth that we need to take to heart as we walk through the 'desert of this life'.
When they were at the bitter spring the Bible says that God showed Moses a branch that would purify the water. This is a clear evidence that God goes ahead and places help in our lives, but he just needs to show them to us. The branch had been there before the Israelites probably even left Egypt. God goes ahead of you.
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