16:1
They left Elim, the place of springs. We need to recognise that there are stopping off places that God gives us along the way, but they are only stopping off places, not permanent resting places. So they entered the wilderness of Sin. Of course, we could make all sorts of sermons about entering the wilderness of sin! However, linguistically they would not be justified! However, they now completely leave the land of Egypt.
16:2,3
“And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron”. I remember hearing sermons talking about “the children of Israel” as if they were a sweet little band. Israel was anything but, they were a band of dirty rotten sinners, and grumbled their way through the desert. While they were in Egypt they cried out because of the cruel oppression they were living under. However, now they were free of that oppression they quickly forget the suffering and begin to look back on those times with affection! This is a very human reaction. And Moses is accused of just bringing them out so that they could die in the wilderness. Our salvation involves being set free from oppression (slavery to sin), and then being led to the freedom of kingdom life. It is a journey, and sometimes a difficult journey.
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