Exodus 16:13b-36
“…and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was.” (Exodus 16:13b- 14a)
The manna was unlike anything they had seen, although resembling very small round seeds left behind when the dew evaporated. In modern English they’d have probably called it “what’s it?,” because they didn‘t know what it was.
“And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.” (Exodus 16:14b-18)
Manna could be used in any of the ways modern grains can be used. It could be boiled and eaten as a cereal like rice or corn, or it could be ground and made into pancakes or bread. Numbers 11:8 says, “And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it:...” Studies indicate that our diet should contain no more than thirty percent grain products, while the modern American diet usually consists of over sixty percent grain products. Modern grains have been genetically modified to increase production volume, resulting in a loss of nutrient value, increasing the need for other food sources. Deficiencies result in tooth decay, weak or malformed bones, lack of energy, susceptibility to disease, and reduced mental function. Manna provided all the necessary nutrients, eliminating these problems.
“And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.” (Exodus 16:19-21)
While the Manna was readily available to every person, it was up to each individual to collect it. God did not just make it appear in their cooking pots, but for those who made the effort, there was always enough. One couldn’t simply wait until he was hungry to get some, nor could he save up for the future. God was teaching Israel what Jesus commanded Christians in Matthew 6:25-34. Unfortunately, some didn’t listen.
“And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.” (Exodus 16:22-24)
In Exodus 16:7, God commanded, “And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” When the people collected more food on the sixth day and left it for morning, some of the leaders got upset and came to Moses about it. He had to remind them that it was what God had commanded.
“And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.” (Exodus 16:25-26)
Those who listened and obeyed would always have enough to meet the needs, even though there would be none given on the Sabbath.
“And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16:27-30)
Some of the people ignored God’s command, either not bothering to save any, or hoping to get extra. God rebuked them for doing so, saying they had refused to obey his instructions. The Sabbath was given to man, and God would provide for it. This is especially applicable to a couple of areas of Christian life.
The Sabbath was set aside to celebrate God’s finished creation. In the New Testament, Christians set aside the first day of the week to celebrate God’s finished salvation, as illustrated in I Corinthians 16:2, and the counsel at Jerusalem didn’t specify that keeping the Sabbath was necessary in Acts 15:28-29. However Hebrews 10:24-26 commands, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
It is clearly implied that we need to meet as Christians for the purpose of encouraging and being encouraged, in order to prevent being drawn away. A lot of Christians today choose to work Sunday in order to make extra money. They seldom gain very much for the effort. In exchange they cause their children to view serving God as having little value, and sacrifice their own spiritual development.
Many Christians ignore Paul’s instructions about giving in II Corinthians 8 and 9, and find themselves in the situation described in Haggai 1:6. “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” They’d be wise to heed Malachi 3:8-10. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
If we are willing to trust God and demonstrate that trust by obeying him, He will see that we have what is needed. Philippians 4:19 promises, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” David said, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread,” in Psalm 37:25. Churches and Christians who don’t have what they need or are begging are apparently not righteous, not obeying God, just as those Israelites who had no food on the Sabbath were not.
“And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” (Exodus 16:31)
Numbers 11:8 gives the additional description, “and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.” While it sounds like it would taste good, some people got tired of it and began to complain after a few months, but at first they were really glad to have it. God commanded that a pot of manna should be kept so that future generations could see how God had provided during the forty years in the wilderness. That potful never rotted or melted away.
"And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.” (Exodus 16:32-36)
“…and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was.” (Exodus 16:13b- 14a)
The manna was unlike anything they had seen, although resembling very small round seeds left behind when the dew evaporated. In modern English they’d have probably called it “what’s it?,” because they didn‘t know what it was.
“And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.” (Exodus 16:14b-18)
Manna could be used in any of the ways modern grains can be used. It could be boiled and eaten as a cereal like rice or corn, or it could be ground and made into pancakes or bread. Numbers 11:8 says, “And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it:...” Studies indicate that our diet should contain no more than thirty percent grain products, while the modern American diet usually consists of over sixty percent grain products. Modern grains have been genetically modified to increase production volume, resulting in a loss of nutrient value, increasing the need for other food sources. Deficiencies result in tooth decay, weak or malformed bones, lack of energy, susceptibility to disease, and reduced mental function. Manna provided all the necessary nutrients, eliminating these problems.
“And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.” (Exodus 16:19-21)
While the Manna was readily available to every person, it was up to each individual to collect it. God did not just make it appear in their cooking pots, but for those who made the effort, there was always enough. One couldn’t simply wait until he was hungry to get some, nor could he save up for the future. God was teaching Israel what Jesus commanded Christians in Matthew 6:25-34. Unfortunately, some didn’t listen.
“And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.” (Exodus 16:22-24)
In Exodus 16:7, God commanded, “And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” When the people collected more food on the sixth day and left it for morning, some of the leaders got upset and came to Moses about it. He had to remind them that it was what God had commanded.
“And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.” (Exodus 16:25-26)
Those who listened and obeyed would always have enough to meet the needs, even though there would be none given on the Sabbath.
“And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16:27-30)
Some of the people ignored God’s command, either not bothering to save any, or hoping to get extra. God rebuked them for doing so, saying they had refused to obey his instructions. The Sabbath was given to man, and God would provide for it. This is especially applicable to a couple of areas of Christian life.
The Sabbath was set aside to celebrate God’s finished creation. In the New Testament, Christians set aside the first day of the week to celebrate God’s finished salvation, as illustrated in I Corinthians 16:2, and the counsel at Jerusalem didn’t specify that keeping the Sabbath was necessary in Acts 15:28-29. However Hebrews 10:24-26 commands, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.”
It is clearly implied that we need to meet as Christians for the purpose of encouraging and being encouraged, in order to prevent being drawn away. A lot of Christians today choose to work Sunday in order to make extra money. They seldom gain very much for the effort. In exchange they cause their children to view serving God as having little value, and sacrifice their own spiritual development.
Many Christians ignore Paul’s instructions about giving in II Corinthians 8 and 9, and find themselves in the situation described in Haggai 1:6. “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” They’d be wise to heed Malachi 3:8-10. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
If we are willing to trust God and demonstrate that trust by obeying him, He will see that we have what is needed. Philippians 4:19 promises, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” David said, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread,” in Psalm 37:25. Churches and Christians who don’t have what they need or are begging are apparently not righteous, not obeying God, just as those Israelites who had no food on the Sabbath were not.
“And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” (Exodus 16:31)
Numbers 11:8 gives the additional description, “and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.” While it sounds like it would taste good, some people got tired of it and began to complain after a few months, but at first they were really glad to have it. God commanded that a pot of manna should be kept so that future generations could see how God had provided during the forty years in the wilderness. That potful never rotted or melted away.
"And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.” (Exodus 16:32-36)
When I was younger, I had a job where it was essential for me to have worked every other Sunday. It was part of the employment contract.
ReplyDeleteThere are Christians who have no choice over whether they can work on Sundays or were free to opt out.
That is one of the primary reasons for having an evening and a midweek service in our church. So many work different schedules that not everyone can come at one time. I am troubled about the number of churches that no longer see the need.
DeleteI always enjoyed the manna from heaven, and the ingratitude of the Jews. It serves to remind us that when God blesses us we always find something to bicker about. We forget what is not "wrong" in our lives, and likewise forget that we are called on to suffer like good soldiers in Christ Jesus; also that godly discipline trains us, if we allow it.
ReplyDeleteMY wife and I always shake our heads at the compaining Jews when we read the books of Moses, and then later catch ourselves complaining about something far too quickly. Funny how human nature works, isn't it?
That's what is so neat about the Bible. When we look closely, we realize we really aren't different after all, much as we'd like to think we are.
Delete