Read Exodus 16 here or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
15:27-16:3 {s} Israel complained of no bread
16:4-10 {p} YHVH answered that He will provide bread from heaven
16:11-27 {s} YHVH provides manna / Sabbath rest commandment
16:28-36 {p} The Sabbath rest is YHVH’s commandment / memorial of manna
The recent Strong Themes.
15:1-19 {sx18+p} Strong Theme: Song of Moses
Next:
15:20-21 {s} Dance of Miriam: Sing to YHVH, for He has triumphed gloriously!
15:22-26 {s} Israel complained of no water / waters of Marah (bitterness) made sweet
15:27-16:3 {s} Israel complained of no bread
16:4-10 {p} YHVH answered that He will provide bread from heaven
It is obvious that the dance of Miriam is a matching pair with the Song of Moses from Exo 15:1-19, the last strong theme. Miriam even repeats Moses’ praise word for word! But then to put Miriam’s dance in with events which seem to have nothing to do with it as in this collection of paragraphs? I had said that this is probably the reason the English translators discarded the Hebrew paragraph divisions in the first place – they do not line up with human logic.
So my question to the Father is, when puzzles like this appear in Scripture, WHY? I know You have a reason, Father, for dividing this section up the way you have, and separating Miriam’s dance from the Song of Moses, and putting it here, but what is the reason? Because it is beyond human understanding to know it. And this was His answer:
15:1-19 {sx18+p} Strong theme: Song of Moses / Praise for what YHVH has done
15:20-16:10 {sx3+p} Strong theme: Dance of Miriam / Complaints for what YHVH has not done
There are several signs of Messiah in the Exo 15:20-16:10 Strong Theme:
1) Three days to a place of no water, meaning certain death, but then YHVH gives water and brings resurrection life from death;
2) The tree – which in Hebrew, is also the same word for gallows, which in the Greek Testament is equated with the cross, and is the agent used to accomplish life from death;
3) Bread from heaven (Joh 6:22-40);
4) And Sabbath rest, the first picture of the gospel of grace in Torah.
If there are questions, these are good resources:
The Tree of Life – Christine Miller
Sabbath, The First Teacher of the Gospel – Christine Miller
Exo 16:11-36, and the seal of the Spirit on the Sabbath – Christine Miller
Sabbath Index of Studies – Christine Miller
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