I'm currently in a study of the "Chronological Bible" and we have a WhatsApp group to communicate our questions, etc. One question that no one seems to know, however, is about the period in which the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. The Lord gave pretty specific instructions about sacrifices, building the ark of the covenant, the priesthood, etc. But if they were in "wilderness", where did they get the materials to build with? And why was manna necessary when they're killing their livestock for food? It seems that "wilderness" might have a different meaning than the one I'm familiar with. . . but I'm hoping a bible scholar can shed some light on the day-to-day life of these "wanderers". Thanks.
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Bible Study Question about the Exodus
- Thread starter JaneH
- Start date
A wilderness could be anything from barren desert to lush forest. It's just an uninhabited area. It can even be found within a city limit. Can you share the references to your question, "And why was manna necessary when they're killing their livestock for food?" I don't recall reading that part in the text and now am curious where it is.
Thanks for the response. I suppose I just assumed that area of the world was mostly barren desert-like geography. This was over 100,000 people on the move, generally, so they didn't have time to grow crops presumably, although Leviticus 2:1-16 talks about a grain offering so?????
As for the manna question, which part do you mean? In Exodus, God provided manna each day for the Israelites to sustain them (Exodus 16: 1-36). They then baked that into bread to eat. But then when Moses got the commandments and all the other rules, there was mention of sacrificing the firstborn and the priests would be allowed to eat it. (Exodus 34: 1-35 and Leviticus 3: 1-17, among others).
I've often wondered if that area was as barren as it is today and I'm inclined to think that it wasn't. I don't recall where but I thought there was some mention of areas of trees being stripped from the land at times. We own horses (four of them) and I can assure you that it would not be possible to carry enough hay to sustain them for a few days much less 40 years in a barren desert. I put up about 20-24 1,000 pound round bales plus about 300 small squares each year. These four animals consume all of the round bales and about half of the small squares each year. That's a little over 3 tons of hay per year per animal. They don't call them hay burners for nothing.
Were others, besides the priests, allowed to eat of the sacrifices?
Were others, besides the priests, allowed to eat of the sacrifices?
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The Bible isn't specific about whether the others could eat the sacrifices or even whether people could slaughter their own animals for food, which is surprising considering how specific it is about building the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the priests robes, and exactly which animals were to be sacrificed and how is was to be done!
I'm in a study with about 40 others (all from my church) right now, working our way through the Chronological Bible (NIV) and we meet every other week to discuss questions, share information we've found, etc. We also keep in touch using What'sApp. It's absolutely amazing when we get together and have the same questions, but some of us have really done our homework and researched, so it's a real learning experience. I highly recommend it! (Even if some questions are never answered....but they're not the important ones anyway!)
ezra
Member
for some reason i always felt they had the material with them possibly brought from Egypt ..that is just me i am going try figure this out my self got my curiosity up
ezra
Member
exodus 25
'Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass;
4 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair;
5 and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia-wood;
once again imo they had the material with them Egypt was very prosperous . i put out a feeler in another forum ..i always assumed the wilderness was the dessert . i could be wrong on that also
'Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass;
4 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair;
5 and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia-wood;
once again imo they had the material with them Egypt was very prosperous . i put out a feeler in another forum ..i always assumed the wilderness was the dessert . i could be wrong on that also
Chopper
Member
There was very little "building" going on during the wilderness wandering to the promised land. Once Israel crossed the Jordan, this is when they were instructed to complete what you have mentioned.
A study of the Torah (first 5 books) reveals a steady progression of what God (Elohim) wanted Israel to accomplish.
ezra
Member
very well possible they got the materiel on the other side..
Jim Parker
Member
Exo 25:10 And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.
A cubit is about 18 inches so the Ark of the Covenant was a box about 45" long by 27" wide by 27" high. That's not very big so it wouldn't have required much wood.
The tabernacle was covered with skins and the hardware was made of bronze, silver, and gold which they had received from the Egyptians. There was also extensive use of linen.
They were killing some livestock for sacrifice but they needed to keep enough stock to rebuild their herds and flocks when they got to the promised land. So the mana replaced bread made from wheat which was the staple of civilization. (No wheat; no civilization)
That's not a complete answer but it's all I've got at the moment.
iakov the fool
Razeontherock
Member
The significance of the worship in the Tabernacle in the wilderness is that every detail speaks of Christ; specific aspects of His character, His role in our lives now, and our relationship to Him. That is what matters most, although many aspects of the Exodus story have practical application to our lives as Christians. I applaud your study of it!
I don't have an answer for the concern about how they kept any livestock alive, what else they normally ate besides manna, or other aspects of daily life not spelled out in Scripture. I'm curious if anyone posits an answer, but I'm also inherently skeptical on the matter.
I think we can tell that the provisions of the law to sustain their relationship with God via animal sacrifice was limited, and it yielded food for more than just the Levites.
Razeontherock
Member
Exo 25:10 And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.
A cubit is about 18 inches so the Ark of the Covenant was a box about 45" long by 27" wide by 27" high. That's not very big so it wouldn't have required much wood.
The tabernacle was covered with skins and the hardware was made of bronze, silver, and gold which they had received from the Egyptians. There was also extensive use of linen.
They were killing some livestock for sacrifice but they needed to keep enough stock to rebuild their herds and flocks when they got to the promised land. So the mana replaced bread made from wheat which was the staple of civilization. (No wheat; no civilization)
That's not a complete answer but it's all I've got at the moment.
iakov the fool
Yup, this is what I see in Scripture. That, and Israel plundered the Egyptians on their way out, which largely provided for the Tabernacle.
Edward
2024 Supporter
I'm not so sure about "looted" and "plundered". Exodus 12:36 says "The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth." There must have been a lot of gold, fine cloth, livestock, and more. Remember this was a traveling group of 600,000 men, PLUS women and children. A group that size moving through the wilderness (whatever the form of wilderness) must have been a spectacle!!! It also must have had quite an impact environmentally as well. One of my commentaries says there were some other people living in the area at the time, too. Some of them actually joined the Israelites.
Must admit I've always avoided reading much of the Old Testament, except perhaps the Psalms, but this study is really fascinating, especially with the extra reading I'm doing in "Introducing the Old Testament" (by John Drane), the Bible Dictionary, and "Who's Who in the Bible" -- plus looking up a lot of online information. I'm so glad I started with this study group as I'm learning so much. And thanks to everyone for the responses on this forum, too.
Must admit I've always avoided reading much of the Old Testament, except perhaps the Psalms, but this study is really fascinating, especially with the extra reading I'm doing in "Introducing the Old Testament" (by John Drane), the Bible Dictionary, and "Who's Who in the Bible" -- plus looking up a lot of online information. I'm so glad I started with this study group as I'm learning so much. And thanks to everyone for the responses on this forum, too.
Edward
2024 Supporter
...that's code talk for they looted the place, lol
You ever look at that desert on a map? It's like, small and really close to Israel. ..that they wandered 38 or 40 years out there...is incredible.
ezra
Member
i love the old testament Ezekiel makes me cross eyed lol genealogy loses me
Yes, it does seem incredible but sometimes they stayed put for as long as a year, sometimes less, plus there were so many of them that the mass of people probably didn't move very quickly. I've lived in southern Lebanon and if the land there was anything like that, it was very rocky and hilly so getting carts, wagons, livestock, etc. to move very quickly would be impossible. Just getting that tabernacle packed up would take a couple of days!