Exodus 16
The Provision of Manna
1 When they journeyed from Elim, the entire company of Israelites came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus from the land of Egypt.
The Jews were half way between the Elim oasis and Mount Sinai. They had left Egypt one month earlier.
2 The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the desert.
Instead of asking God for their needs, they complained to Moses and Aaron.
3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this desert to kill this whole assembly with hunger!”
The Jews had plenty of food. They had plundered the cattle, sheep, and goats from the Egyptians. They were greedy. They did not want to eat into their flock wealth.
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. Will they walk in my law or not?
God could have fed the Jews in many ways, but He decided to rain down bread from heaven. The purpose was to test Israel. Jehovah would give the Jews some minor laws at first to see if His chosen people would keep them. Jehovah already knew the answer. The test was for the angels, demons, and future human readers, so that they could learn about human character.
5 On the sixth day they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.”
A double ration would be provided on the sixth day.
6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt,
Jehovah was going to provide another miracle to the unbelievers and carnal believers of Israel.
7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, that you should murmur against us?”
The complaints were actually against God Himself.
8 Moses said, “You will know this when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”
Jehovah provided shelter and water. Now, He would provide food.
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community of the Israelites, ‘Come before the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings.’”
All of Israel was commanded to appear before Jehovah.
10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community of the Israelites and they looked toward the desert, there the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud,
The Shekinah Glory appeared,called Moses, liberated Israel, gave shelter to Israel, fought for Israel, and provided water for Israel. Now, the Shekinah Glory would feed Israel.
11 and the Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘During the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’”
Jehovah did not speak directly to the people. He used Moses as an intermediary.
13 In the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp.
Quails were provided for the night meal. In the morning, dew lay upon the desert ground.
14 When the layer of dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the desert was a thin flaky substance, thin like frost on the earth.
The dew on the ground changed to a flaky substance.
15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you for food.
Psalms 78:5 called it “the food of angels.”
16 “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Each person is to gather from it what he can eat, an omer per person according to the number of your people; each one will pick it up for whoever lives in his tent.’”
An omer is approximately two quarts.
17 The Israelites did so, and they gathered – some more, some less.
Many of the Israelites were out of the will of God.
18 When they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.
There was enough manna for everyone.
19 Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
God began the government of Israel with two easy laws. The first law was no leftovers. The Israelites would have to learn to trust God to deliver a fresh batch of manna each morning.
20 But they did not listen to Moses; some kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them.
Those who did not trust Jehovah hoarded the manna. The manna turned into disgusting worms.
21 So they gathered it each morning, each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt.
The sun melted the manna, like ice cream.
22 And on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers per person; and all the leaders of the community came and told Moses.
This was the second beginning law of God. The Israelites gathered double manna on the sixth day.
23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Whatever you want to bake, bake today; whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”
The Sabbath was made for man. Worshipping God is rest and relaxation for man. Man needs worship, even though he will not admit it. During the New Testament, the Sabbath was turned to Sunday. If a modern carnal believer refuses to worship God on Sunday, then he will not gain spiritual rest. This lack of spiritual rest can lead to spiritual hardness or physical death.
24 So they put it aside until the morning, just as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.
This deliverance and storage of manna was a supernatural miracle which could only come from God. The worms appeared on leftovers every day, except for the Sabbath. God the Father was training His children to trust Him in providing their needs.
25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the area.
There will be no manna on the ground on the Sabbath.
26 Six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
God repeated the command so that His children could learn by repetition.
27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing.
Some of the people did not listen or did not believe God.
28 So the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to obey my commandments and my instructions?
God the Father corrected His children.
29 See, because the Lord has given you the Sabbath, that is why he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. Each of you stay where you are; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”
God the Father retrained His children.
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
The children finally obeyed God. They enjoyed the Sabbath with God the Father.
31 The house of Israel called its name “manna.” It was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted like wafers with honey.
The manna was round, like a white pea. It tasted like wafers mixed with honey.
32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept for generations to come, so that they may see the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”
According to Hebrews 9:4, the manna was placed in the Ark of the Covenant.
33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Lord to be kept for generations to come.”
God the Father was interested in teaching children who were not yet born.
34Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony for safekeeping.
The Ark of the Covenant had not yet been built.
35Now the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
God provided manna for forty years. This gave the Israel flocks forty years to multiply. Israel would be a very wealthy start-up nation.
36 (Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.)
The omer was about two quarts.