In today’s reading, the children of Israel continue their journey through the wilderness of Sin  toward the promised land, and begin to demonstrate a propensity for complaints, accusations, and stubbornness. The LORD, patient with the newly liberated Hebrews, miraculously provides food and water to sustain their enormous numbers and livestock, and grants them victory in battle against Amalek. Jethro comes with Moses’s wife and sons, and counsels Moses to establish a hierarchy of judges to ease the burden of leadership on himself. After passing into the wilderness of Sinai, the Hebrews come to the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses communes with God and receives the Ten Commandments, a concise introduction to the more than 600 commandments that would comprise the whole Law. 

Into/Outro music: "Unexpectedly" (c) 1995 Alex Grant Used by permission