2019-4-4

Exodus 16:1-35

Manna and Quail

The Israelites had been rescued by God from bondage in Egypt and were now on the journey of freedom to Canaan (The Promised Land). Trials were a part of this journey and an opportunity to trust God to provide.   We experience the same when we choose to follow Jesus Christ.  There will be and are many trials and opportunities to trust our Lord.  As Pastor said yesterday, it is part of the sanctification process.

Yesterday we read about the first trial –  thirst and the bitter water at the spring.  God cleansed the water and promised the Israelites His care and protection if they would listen to and obey Him.  In chapter 16, we see the second trial – hunger and the lack of food.  Instead of asking God for provision and trusting Him to provide as he had done in the past, the Israelites again grumbled against God, Moses and Aaron.  Complaining displays a lack of trust in God and how He has ordered our lives.  The complaints of the people revealed short memories and weak faith.  Our grumbling does the same.

God provided the quail in the evenings and the Manna every morning except the Sabbath, when He provided a double portion the day before.  Manna ‘was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey’.  People had never seen such bread and ‘Manna’ in Hebrew means “What is it?’.  Manna continued to be provided by God for the people 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year for 40 years.  Forty years later, on the 15th day of the first month, the people ate food grown in the land of Canaan and, on the following day, the manna stopped.

Manna is a reminder of God’s faithfulness and the Israelites were to place a jar of manna before the Lord in front of the Ark of the Covenant.  Neither the Tabernacle nor the Ark of the Covenant had been built at this point, but God provided direction for their future.  In Matthew 4:4, when Jesus responded to Satan’s temptation, He quotes partly from Deuteronomy 8:2-3: ‘² Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.’ (Jesus quoted the bold, italicized words.)

Manna is a symbol of God’s Word.  It was to teach the people to live by the Word of God and not by bread alone as we see in Dueteromony 8, Matthew 4 and Luke 4.

Manna was God’s supernatural gift.  It was not natural or man-made. It was a supernatural gift of God, just as the scriptures are.  The Bible is God’s book, not a human production.  It always points to Jesus and the attributes of God.

Manna was not something earned by humans – God freely gave it.  But the people did have to gather it.  As with God’s Word – to benefit from the Bible, we must study it diligently for ourselves.

Manna was gathered daily each morning.  We need to study the Word daily as well.  And, as the Israelites had to daily EAT the gathered manna to benefit from God’s provision, we too must apply the Word of God daily.  We take what we have learned from our study and apply it to living.

Manna never failed the people and the Word of God will never fail us.  “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Jesus promises us in Matthew 24:35.

Manna points us to the Lord Jesus Christ.  In John 6:32-35, Jesus tells us that the true bread of heaven gives life to the world and Jesus declares ‘I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’

Praise God for His Son Jesus, who sustains our life.  If you have not asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life and your Savior from sin, please invite Him into your life today.            —- Mary Mauderer