Exodus 16:4-124Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5And 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. 6And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: 7And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? 8And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord. 9And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord: for he hath heard your murmurings. 10And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto 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. 11And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. (Exodus 16:4‑12).
GOD did not give up His people because they murmured. No, He loved them in spite of all their sinfulness, and even after forty years of wilderness life, during which it all came out, He still would not allow Balaam to curse them. Balaam had to say, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel." Numbers 23:2121He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. (Numbers 23:21). What a gracious God is ours! How He loves His people! Nor does God love us because of anything in ourselves, but because of the goodness that is in His own heart. He knew all about us before He picked us up in grace, and will never be disappointed in one of His children — though He may be grieved at our naughty ways. May we be more careful not to grieve His loving heart, but let us never doubt His love. (John 13: 1; Rom. 8: 38, 39.)
God said that He would send them quails in the evening and manna in the morning. He knew a11 about their need and He was able to supply it too. The quails were birds, something like partridges, but they were only sent on two occasions, whereas the manna was to be their daily food. God sent it down for them each morning of their wilderness journey. It tasted like wafers made with honey, and there was plenty for everyone.
The manna speaks to us of Christ as the Bread of God who came down from heaven (John 6:3333For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:33)). Only the children of Israel, who were a redeemed people, could eat of the manna. So now only the true children of God can "feed" upon Christ in His life down here. That is why the Lord Jesus said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." John 6:5353Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53). There can be no association with Christ except through His death.
We hear a great deal today about the life and teachings of Christ from unsaved men. The first thing a sinner needs is to learn that he is lost in his sins, and that the Lord Jesus had to die to save him. This is what it means by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. It is the death of Christ appropriated to one's own personal need, Then, after we have learned that the work of Christ has met all God's holy claims against sin, and we see that we are in a new standing, "in Christ" before God, then we can enjoy thinking of the life of Christ as Man. We rejoice. to think of His perfect obedience to God His Father in every step of His pathway, and in this way we "feed" upon Him as the Manna. We have the new life from God too—the very of Christ — which delights in obedience to God, who is now our Father, and Christ becomes our perfect Example.
How foolish it is for a sinner who is "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph, 2: 1) to try to make Christ his Example! He is still at enmity with God until he has been reconciled to God by the death of God's Son (Rom. 5: 10). Nicodemus would have accepted Christ as a great teacher, but the Lord' message to him was, "Ye must be born again." John 3: 7, The children of Israel had first to feed upon the passover lamb, which typified Christ in death. before they could cross the Red Sens and eat of the manna, which typified Christ as the Bread of God come down from heaven.
Messages of God’s Love 6/26/1949