What I Didn't Learn In Sunday School

Isn't it fun to always be learning?  When I was first married I wondered what on earth I was going to do with myself when I was an old woman, because I would for sure have everything figured out by then.  I mean, what more of the Bible would I need to learn when I was 84?  I would have that thing down pat! 

You can laugh at my arrogance and ignorance!  I sure do!  Now, I find myself on the opposite side realizing that I will never have everything figured out.  The Word will always have something to teach me and show me.  And I wouldn't have it any other way!  It keeps it alive, so to speak.

Enter Exodus.  One of those books that you think you have at least the basics down, and then you have your eyes opened to the fact that you might be at the preschool level instead of the 3rd grade level.

So, here is what I didn't learn in Sunday school regarding Exodus.  ( And if I did learn it, then I am going to blame it on the loss of brain cells due to um, age.  And kids.  And grief.  And, well, you get the picture.)

1.  The Ten Plagues.  God is showing up, telling Pharaoh 'Who's Who' and allows the Israelites to be affected by the first three plagues.  There is nothing that I can find that says they were 'set apart' until the fourth plague which says "But on that day, I will set apart the land of Goshen where my people dwell."  He makes a division starting with the 4th plague. 

That means the Israelites endured their water being turned to blood, frogs being in their beds, mixing bowls, and ovens, and gnats consuming every ounce of air.

At first I was a little troubled why God would allow his children to be a part of this.  I mean, He had come to rescue them, not curse them, right?  And then, I remembered that He had been pretty silent for about 400 years and perhaps giving His people a holy dose of fear wouldn't be such a bad thing...in fact, it might even help them down the road with that thing called obedience.

2.  Which came first?  The manna or the quail?  (Which came first, the chicken or the egg? hee)
I have it in my head a certain way, so when I read Exodus 16:12-13, I was a little dumbstruck.  "I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel.  Say to them, 'At twilight, you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.  Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.  In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning, dew lay around the camp."

Am I the only one shocked here?  I always thought they got manna, then grumbled, and later got quail.  So I researched a little and found Numbers 11:31-34 which is the passage I think of when I think of quail.  Guess what?  They got quail that first time in Exodus, then not again for awhile, which caused their grumbling.  My commentary says that "quail (small partridges) migrate north across the Sinai Peninsula in the spring and return in the fall, so although the Israelites had eaten some in the previous year, these were not a regular dish.) 

3.  Who did God speak the 10 commandments to?  I always thought it was Moses.  Just Moses.  Wrong.  It was pretty much everyone...all the Israelites.  Moses has them consecrate themselves and brings them to meet God at the base of the mountain.  God was giving some smoke/fire/trumpet/thunder/lightning and it freaked every one out pretty good...but He voiced His holy requirements in a way that all could hear.  Were the people grateful that the One True God, the one who had rescued them was speaking directly to them?  Not so much.  They told Moses, "YOU speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."  (Along with experiencing some of the plagues, I think God wanted to instill some holy fear into these people lest they start to run off to idols and such.)  which didn't take long...ha.

Well, that is enough to blow apart my brain for today.  I'll wrap this thing up later!