God Provides in the Wilderness

Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” He cried out to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he put them to the test. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.” Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water. (Exodus 15:22-27, NRSV)

So after they crossed the water they wandered for 3 days without food or water. And then when they found water it was bitter so they couldn’t drink it. Have you ever drank something that was bitter? And you just couldn’t do it. Even given the fact that they have walked for 3 days without water, they still could not drink it. So they complained. And Moses called out to God and God said, “put this piece of wood in the water.” And the water became sweet.

So they drank and got their fill. So Moses told the people if they listen to God and heed his commandments and keep all of his statutes God will heal them.

Ok, so which commandments and statutes had God given at this point? They had not yet made it to Sinai. So the commandments hadn’t been given yet…

What commandments and statutes are we supposed to keep?

Is it really about the 10 commandments?