Day Sixteen - 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge - Exodus 13 - 16 - The Great Adventure A Journey Through the Bible

Day Sixteen 

90 Day Bible Reading Challenge 

Exodus 13 - 16  

Bible Time Period:  Egypt and Exodus 
You freed your people from slavery in Egypt so they could worship you. Free me from sin so I can serve and worship.  

Reflection
The firstborn of God’s people are consecrated and the Lord leads them out of slavery and through the Red Sea, narrowly escaping the wrath of the Egyptians who are themselves destroyed.  For our (Christian) vantage point, this deliverance is seen as a picture of our baptism.  We are led out of slavery to sin and through the waters of baptism to a new life on the other side.  Think of this as you read the triumphant song of praise in chapter 15.  

Prayer
Lord of our every need:  How gently You escorted Israel on her courtship journey through the desert wilderness, feeding her manna from heaven and quenching her thirst with water from the rock. You provided for the Israelites’ every need, all the while teaching them to trust You, to rely upon You, and to be obedient to Your commands.  With the same covenant faithfulness You continue to guide the New Israel, the virgin Bride of Your Son, Jesus Christ, feeding your New Covenant people the spiritual food of Your Son’s Body and Blood, the necessary nourishment for the journey to salvation.  We thank You and praise You, Lord, for your faithfulness and we submit ourselves to Your commands as we obediently and thankfully receive the spiritual and eternal blessings that the first generation of the Old Covenant Church only hoped to receive.  Guide us now, Lord, as we study Israel’s journey to holy nationhood.  We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  (Agape Catholic Bible Study, Lesson 9) 

Today’s Reading
Exodus 13 – 16 

Today’s Question
Freedom from Egypt doesn’t free the people from their old habits.  When you read about the ways they are tested and the ways God provided for them, how does their experience speak to you?

The New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New

In the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus compares Himself to the manna in the wilderness (Gen 16:15).  “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”  (John 6:32-35)

Just as the children of Israel’s hunger drove them to ask for food, so should our hunger for the Lord Jesus drive us to seek Him in the Eucharistic bread of life.  Encouraging the faithful to seek Christ in the Eucharist, Saint Peter Chrysologus wrote:  "The Father in heaven urges us, as children of heaven, to ask for the bread of heaven.  [Christ] himself is the bread who, sown in the Virgin, raised up in the flesh, kneaded in the Passion, baked in the oven of the tomb, reserved in churches, brought to altars, furnishes the faithful each day with food from heaven." (#2837 Catechism of the Catholic Church)   

Commentary 
Discussion Boards for Day Sixteen 
Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology - Images of a New Exodus 
Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology - Testing in the Wilderness
Agape Catholic Bible Study Commentary Exodus 12:21 - 13:22
Agape Catholic Bible Study Commentary Exodus 14:11 - 15:27

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The above 10-minute study was taken from the Great Adventure Bible Study for Catholics. 

For items devotional items related to the Catholic Church 

please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures  

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Art
Crossing the Red Sea - Cosimo Rosselli
Manna from Heaven - Fabrizio Boschi