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The Wilderness of Sin

After the ten plagues and the exodus from Egypt at the end of the 12th and 13th dynasties,
God led Moses and the Israelites to the Wilderness of Sin where He revealed to them His TRUE
Sabbath day. We read about this in Exodus, chapter 16 --

And they departed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to
the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sina; and ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY,
IN THE SECOND MONTH after their departure from the land of Egypt, all the congre-
gation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron. And the children of
Israel said to them, Would we had died smitten by the Lord in the land of Egypt, When
we sat by the flesh-pots, and ate bread to satiety! for ye have brought us out into this wil-
derness, to slay all this congregation with hunger. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I
will rain bread upon you out of heaven: and the people shall go forth, and they shall
gather their daily portion for the day, that I may try them whether they will walk in my
law or not (Septuagint version).

This passage highlights TWO main points, (1) the Israelites murmured against Moses and
Aaron on THE 15TH DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH after leaving Egypt and, (2) God was
planning to test the Israelites to see if they would WALK IN HIS LAW OR NOT. The intriguing
part of this whole passage is where Moses mentions THE EXACT DAY that the Israelites mur-
mured against him and Aaron in the wilderness. NOWHERE ELSE in the narrative of the Israel-
ites' journey from Egypt to the Promised Land is an exact date mentioned! This clearly indicates
that this date was VERY IMPORTANT TO GOD -- and that He wanted the Israelites to remember
it. Also, on this same date, He was going to teach the Israelites something very important; He was
going to test them and see if they would obey Him or not. What was this important lesson? Let's
continue on Exodus 16 --

"And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be
TWICE AS MUCH as they gather daily." Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children
of Israel, "At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of
Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your murmur-
ings against the Lord. But what are we, that you murmur against us?"....Now it came to
pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked
toward the wilderness, and behold, THE GLORY OF THE LORD APPEARED IN THE
CLOUD. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the murmurings of the chil-
dren of Israel. Speak to them, saying, 'At twilight [between the two evenings] you shall
eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am
the Lord your God.'" So it was that quail came up at evening and covered the camp...
(Verses 5-13).

This day -- the 15TH DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH -- was so important to God that
He appeared in the cloud before the Israelites, and then caused thousands (maybe millions) of
quail to be blown into the Israelites' camp "between the two evenings," i.e. the afternoon of the
15th. WHY was this day so important to God? Writes Herbert W. Armstrong --

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