“Then 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 [the portion of a day in his day (margin)] —that I may trove them, whether they will walk in my law or no.”—Ex. 16:44Then 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. (Exodus 16:4) and 5. Read Exodus 16:1-151And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 4Then 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. 13And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14And 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. 15And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. (Exodus 16:1‑15),
Reading on the Lesson. The Giving of Manna.
1. “And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin.” We turn back to the great redemption book of the Old Testament, and in God’s own picture book we see not only real happenings, but also the foreshadowing of many things (1 Cor. 10:11-1311Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:11‑13)). The deliverance from death and from the bondage of Egypt in connection with the blood of the Passover lamb and the glorious power of the Lord’s right hand sets before us God’s great redemption provided for us by Christ, our Passover, while the succeeding events suggest the too common experience of the believer, in which there is apt to be more murmuring than rejoicing.
2, 3. “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.” At Marah it was because they did not like the water, and now it is because they cannot see what they are going to eat, failing to see that He who delivered them from Egypt and divided the sea for them would surely not fail to care for them in every way. But in them we see ourselves: for which of us can say that Rom. 8:3232He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32), delivers us from all murmuring?
4, 5. “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you.” So it is written in Ps. 78:24, 25, “And had rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven, Every one did eat the bread of the mighty” (margin). just think of it—food for millions day by day, right from heaven! He would teach them to look to Him alone and be content to live by the day.
6, 8. “Ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt. Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.” As to their murmurings it is written in Ps. 106:54, 24, 25, “They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. They believed not His word, but murmured in their tents and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.” They possibly did not think that in murmuring against Moses they were murmuring against God: but when Israel demanded a king in the days of Samuel, the Lord said unto Samuel, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:77And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:7)).
9, 10. “Come near before the Lord, for He hath heard your murmurings.” Thus Moses commissioned Aaron to speak unto all the congregation, and as he spake to the people they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. Thus the Lord Himself appeared to them, assuring them that they were dealing with Him and not with Moses and Aaron.
11, 12. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, 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.” What great grace on His part towards these unbelieving, murmuring hosts They had complained that in Egypt they had flesh and bread to the full, so He will give them in the wilderness flesh and bread to the full (verse 3), Truly He is El-Shaddai, the mighty God who is all sufficient, and in Him dwelleth all fulness. His presence insures all sufficiency in all things (2 Cor. 9:88And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (2 Corinthians 9:8)), and He would have us find in Him our all, and know that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (Jas. 1:1717Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)).
13, 15. “And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath gives you to eat.” So they had the flesh of quails in the evening and manna in the morning, all they could eat, not because they deserved it, but simply by the grace of God. The manna was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey (verse 31). They were to gather it every morning, every man according to his eating (verses 16, 18, 25), and so they gathered it, some more, some less.