God gave them the bread from heaven (Exo 15-16)

God gave them bread from heaven

Exodus 15:22-16:36*

Key Verse 16:15b “Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.””

Today’s passage is about Israel’s grumbling against God and His answers to their grumbling.

Through the Exodus, God made it clear to them that Israel was God’s firstborn son and  would receive all the privileges of His blessing. Also Israel saw how God protected them from the hands of the Egyptian army. They were jubilant in their victory over the mighty Egyptians. So they all sang a song of praise to the Lord, and exalted Him high above all gods. This was genuinely from their hearts and they deeply felt that this God was almighty.  In this way, a solid bond of trust was formed between God and  Israel.   What does this confession or allegiance to the Lord mean for the future of their relationship? Was it something of the quality that God wanted for them?

In today’s passage, that bond of trust was tested. The tests came to the Israelites through lack of water and  food. In both of these circumstances, they grumbled against God. It was a sign of ‘their unhappiness’ or ‘the weakness of that bond.’ It was God-initiated. We raise questions, like why were such tests needed or what did God want to accomplish through such tests? I pray that God may bless us with the knowledge of His will in these tests.

1.      No water for more than three days  (Exodus 15:22-27)

Soon after they were free from the pursuit of the Egyptian  army, they journeyed toward  Mountain Sinai. The entire region was desert; there were only a few oases where they could find water. As verse 1 says, they traveled for three days without water.

The Sinai Peninsula is located near to the equator and is very hot and dry.  Most likely, they ran out of water after travelling for more than two days. It was unbearable for anyone traveling in such a desert to be without water for more than two days. Actually for children, it would be more dangerous. They all endured as much  as they possibly could. Seeing no oasis  in sight, the Israelites grew more and more impatient and fearful that many would die or collapse along the road.

By the end of the third day, they saw what looked like an oasis; they saw faraway shrubs and trees. They were excited by the hope that they could finally quench their thirst with fresh water. As they expected, there was water! But that water was so bitter, they were unable to drink it. It is likely that the water was poisonous and, if they drank it, they would get sick and die. Their hopes were dashed, and they were very disappointed. As they felt their lives  being pushed to the limit, their patience and endurance ran out, and they began to grumble against Moses.  “How would God Almighty not meet the most basic needs of the lives of His firstborn son?” Have you ever raised such a question to God before?  Hearing this, Moses cried out to the Lord, and  the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. The Israelites  drank the water and were refreshed.

What was the meaning of this event? They did not know. But God said this:

Exodus 16:26 -   “He said, "If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."”

Since they had been without water for three days, the only thing that their minds, as well as their body, desperately needed  was fresh water to drink. If there was no water, they would get sick and might even die.  So in their minds, the issue of having water or not became a matter of life and death, or at least a matter of getting sick or living healthy. So water was essential  to sustaining their lives and  health.   In such a situation, God tested such an understanding by leading them to water that was so bitter and undrinkable, that could even pose a threat to their lives.  Here God proposed a condition: listen carefully to the Lord your God, and pay careful attention to His commands  and keep all the decrees, then “He will not bring on them any of the diseases God brought on the Egyptians” (Exodus 16:26a).

They thought that their lives were on the brink of sickness and even death, after going  without water for three days. In all human experience, that was true; they would be sick either way, whether or not they drank the bitter water. But their state of health or sickness did not depend on whether or not they drank the water; it depended on whether or not they were willing to listen to God’s word and keep all His decrees. If they did so, then, no matter how hard the situation or threat they  faced, God would either not let them get sick or provide a cure for their illness. It was a strong assertion from God that, in His love and protection, He would not let them get sick and die.

In this way, God was clearly telling them  that their lives were not sustained by water alone, but by Him.  The reason? “for I am the LORD, who heals you" (Exodus 16:26b). Here God said that he is the Lord, YHWH, the One “I am who I am” who is eternal,  almighty, and the Creator and Lord of all creation.  Also, he introduced himself as the the Lord, the One who heals them. What does this mean?

God brought punishment on Adam in Genesis 3:17-18 because of his sin in rebelling against the Lord, who subjected all human beings under this injunction, the law of life on the earth, after the fall of men. The body we have now is under that law. According to that law of God that governs the entire earth, we need water in order to live, and if we do not have water for more than three days,  we will get sick and possibly die.  Life’s end is when we return to the ground. The Israelites were living under that predicament.

But the same God is now, particularly to Israel, the God of healing. For them, He would cure all the sicknesses that came upon men! They saw how God brought sickness and death upon the Egyptians, but to Israel, God was the God of healing! He would not let his firstborn son suffer any sicknesses, no matter how bad of a situation they might face. In this way, God spoke to them in power that it was not the presence or absence of water that kept them alive, but rather  God Himself who heals them and sustains their lives.

Have you grumbled?  To whom? Why? Grumbling is an expression of ‘distrust’ in authoritative figures. But through this incident, God  demanded their faith, even to the point of such a life-threatening situation as this. Genuine trust is the kind of trust displayed, even when one’s life is in danger.  That kind of trust must be expressed through listening carefully to what the Lord commands and by obeying Him. If Israel did so, then there would be nothing in the world that could make them sick or die. This was the test and this was the message. God declared that He was the God of healing, and that healing was of  foremost importance to Him as He cared for His people. It was His will to undo the consequences of sin that had come upon men because of the fall. Jesus did the same thing during the beginning of his ministry, by healing and driving out demons. By performing these acts, Jesus freed His people from all the ill-effects of their sins. He did this for all who came to him at this stage.  God is now the God of healing. We have to think about what this means for us.

God bring down manna from heaven

A month after they left Egypt and almost a month after the incident at Marah, on the fifteenth day of the second month,  they had been living off of the food they had taken when they left Egypt. Since their departure, it is pretty accurate to say that they did not get any food along the road, because the  route was a desert area, though they may have possibly been able to catch wild animals once in a while. But as the days and weeks passed, the Israelites, over two million people,  literally ran out of food. They might have killed their animals for food, but it was only a matter of time before they  ran out of food completely. Where were they supposed to find food in the desert? The situation was getting serious and there was no solution in sight. So Israel grumbled. 

Exodus 16:22 “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.”

It was possible that the adults would skip breakfast and lunch, having one small meal in the evening, in order to save food for the young ones. While experiencing such intense hunger, they remembered eating delicious foods such as  vegetables and meats, while they were living in Egypt.

Numbers 11:5 ““We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.””

But here in the desert, they were starving and there was no possibility of getting any food. The outlook was grim, as once again, their lives were in danger.

Exodus 16:33 “The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."”

They acknowledged that God was their Lord, but they were unhappy with Him. Food was necessary for them to survive, so God seemed unfair for  not meeting their needs and expectations. If He had the power to do anything, then, when faced with this situation, God did not do enough for them; this was the reason for their grumbling.

When God heard their grumbling, He planned to offer them food. This plan and its execution is described in Exodus 16:4-14. In order to understand this passage better, I will be dividing it into three parts: Exodus 16:4-5 is God’s plan, Exodus 16:6-8 is Moses’ explanation of what would happen and why, and Exodus 16:9-14 is what actually happened.

Exodus 16:4-5 “Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."”

Grumbling was a sign of their disbelief and a sign of the weakened bond of their trust in God.  He was not happy to witness such a ‘fragile’ trust or bond as the Father of Israel, His firstborn son. In order to reestablish that trust, God planned to rain down bread from heaven every day for six days, and  would give them instructions on how to collect it. At the same time, since He would provide them with food, by which He would also support their lives, God would test if they would trust and obey Him, and whether or not they would follow exactly what He told them to do. His efforts were more precisely expressed in Moses’ words to Israel.

Exodus 16:6-8  “So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?"  Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD."”

Here Moses and Aaron addressed two events: one in the evening and one in the morning. On that evening, the Israelites would come to know that it was the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt. The same Lord who had accomplished many miracles against the Egyptians and had also brought Israel up out of  Egypt, appeared to them. What happened  that evening is recorded in Exodus 16:8 and 13. God sent  quails as their meat; this was His answer to their grumbling. The next morning, they would see His glory.

Why did God take such elaborate steps? Why did He show two different aspect of Himself to Israel? The answer becomes clear as we examine the actual event:

Exodus 16:9 “Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.””

Aaron told the entire Israelite community to come before the Lord; it was so that God could personally  confront them and give them an answer regarding their complaints. So they all came before the Lord; then strange things happened:

Exodus 16:10 “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.”

They saw the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. At the same time, God spoke to Moses:

Exodus 16:12  “"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.””

Even though He talked to Moses, God most likely  wanted the entire Israelite community to hear what He said. It was His message to the Israelites directly. The message was this: ““At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God”” (Exodus 16:12b).

God wanted them to know that He was God, YHWH, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord eternal Almighty. This was the first time  that the Israelites  faced God in such a close setting. God wanted to be honored and respected as the one Almighty, and He did not want anyone to make a false assumption or get the wrong idea about this; God is the Lord! He is the Lord and they were to remember and honor Him, no matter how difficult a situation they might face.  Through this conversation, God impressed upon them who He was.

They were about to starve to death, but God was providing them with food in His mighty power to sustain their lives. God has that power because He is the Lord, and He wanted to be respected and honored as the Lord, even in such a situation as this. They must not fear, but trust God as the Lord. God demanded that they  entrust their whole lives to His hand! This is the fullest extent of respect and honor we can give to the Lord God. 

Who showed such faith? Jesus, on the cross, as he was breathing his last breath,  cried out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” Even to the point of his own death, he trusted God His Father; so God raised him up on the third day. God did this, not because Jesus was ontologically His own Son. No! God did this because Jesus honored God as His Father even with his own life! This is the faith that God was looking for from his children in Israel. 

Who is the Lord? He is the God who provided food for the Israelites. How many? For 2 million people!  For how long? More than 40 years! Has any god of the world  done such thing? In this way, God demonstrated His will and  power to sustain the lives of His chosen people throughout history. What God did remains  anchored in the history of  a nation of two million people, for forty years.

This event is so important for them, as well for us, to show that God is the God of life, for He wants to be honored by His children. They had to know that it was His will and  desire to give and sustain life. If God was their father just for a while, and then they died away, why would the eternal God do such a useless thing? How much did 40 years mean to  to the God of eternity? Forty years is just a nick of time for Him. Did God want to be their Lord for just forty years? No! But He did this because He was looking ahead for the perfect time to be with them eternally; this is why  He poured out such care and effort to show Himself to them.

Exodus 16:13-14 “That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.”

As God said, that evening quail came and, in the morning, there came thin flakes on the ground; literally, food came down from heaven. When the Israelites saw this, they did not know what it was; they had never seen such thing before. So they asked ‘what is it?’, which translates as manna. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat” (Exodus 16:15b).

Exodus 16:16-19 “This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’…Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."”

Everyone was supposed to gather only as much as they needed. It is interesting that no matter how much each gathered, the amount was right for each person. Everyone ate to his or her satisfaction. There was no hunger! It seemed as if the amount was measured by God for each person, but no one should keep any portions of it until the next day.  What they gathered  each morning must be consumed on that day. So it was daily bread; God told them not to cumulate or store any away for the next day!

But some of them kept part of it until morning. Why did they do that? I remember a story about an adopted boy. Several days after his arrival at a new adopted home, his new mother checked his room. She was surprised to find that many cookies, sandwiches, and candies were hidden inside of his closet. He might have thought something like this: “in order to survive, I need food. So I must store away as much as possible; others may not make it, but I will survive!” 

Our lives are utterly dependent on food; this fact is ingrained in our mind from childhood, and is deeply rooted in the depths of our being!  Even after God’s warning, some could not hide such a habit, and they could not shake off such deep-seated convictions. So they stored some away; however, when they did so, the manna was spoiled and they could not eat it.

So this made it clear that God was willing to give the Israelites bread only for one day at a time. God would not let them fix their hearts on  stored food for their survival; instead they had to depend on Him to  send manna  each day.

Every morning, they had to go out and gather manna for the day; whenever they did this, they were to remember the  day when God in His glory first promised to give them the manna. This went on every day for many years;  this caused Israel to live a God-dependent life. Literally, if God did not rain down manna, that day they would starve.

Why didn’t God  allow them to store away manna? If manna could have been kept for days,  they would try to gather too much for themselves. Some may have gone out earlier than others in order to get more, or some would have tried to gather more than others by moving quickly. But after all, it was not dependent on men’s efforts. What I mean is that however much they gathered was not dependent on one’s ability, and no matter how much each gathered they were all satisfied.  No one could store away any extra! There was no need to be greedy or get ahead of others; there was no chance to get greedy.

Deuteronomy 8:3 “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.”

What is the deep-seated conviction in your heart about food? I want you to explore the depth of your heart, regarding food. We can choose to be like this boy, or choose to hold on to God’s word of promise for manna every day.

Manna is a new food from God; it is different from the food that we get from working the ground. The food that we eat daily does not do anything but lead us to death (Genesis 3:17-19). But manna, the food from heaven, had power to sustain lives in desert.

Sabbath day

In this way,  they gathered manna for five days; however, on the sixth day, something unusual happened.

Exodus 16:22 “On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much--two omers for each person--and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses.”

They were able to gather twice as much, two omers for each person. We do not know exactly what an omer is; in my conjecture, it is a measure of something related to the size of a person, though it was later used as an exact measure. So a big person’s  omer is big and a small person’s  omer is small. However, one thing is clear: on every sixth day, each of them could gather twice  the usual amount. They were so happy and reported this to Moses. Moses explained:

Exodus 16:23-24 “He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.”

Isn’t it amazing that the same kind of manna that became spoiled if kept until the next day, did not become spoiled on the seventh day? The reason? The seventh day was to be a day of Sabbath rest, a holy day to the Lord. Also, if any Israelite went out to find manna on this day, they would not find any (v25).

Exodus 16:25 "“Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today.””

The reason was that it was a Sabbath to the Lord.  Here “Sabbath” means ‘rest; not doing any work.’ So a ‘Sabbath to the Lord’ means a rest to the Lord. What does  “a rest to the Lord” mean?

a. In Egypt, the Israelites worked hard,  seven days a week. There was no physical or spiritual day. But when God gave them manna, on the sixth day, He gave them two days’ worth of food, so that they would not have to work. On this day, the seventh day, they did not do any work, so it was a day of rest. This was not a day to go out and get manna; this was the day set apart solely to eat what God had already provided.

Here is a deep sense of rest. This is the kind of rest that stems from  satisfaction and comfort in what God has provided, i.e. rest with peace. That rest and  peace are rooted in the confidence that God would provide food for them. Think about this day of rest that God provided for them! It is God’s will and desire for them to have rest and peace in and with Him! It is free from God and no work was needed to receive it!

b. This was the first time since the Fall of mankind that God instituted a day of rest. It was  the restoration of the rest that God had provided at the beginning of creation.

c. By newly instituting the Sabbath day of rest, God implicitly expressed His vision  to provide ‘everlasting rest’ for His chosen people. Again, the rest of His people were born out of this intimate relationship of trust,  the essence of this father-son relationship. This relationship was not temporal, ; God was looking to establish  an everlasting relationship with Israel.

            d. So it is the day to celebrate their satisfaction in God’s provision. Additionally, it is the day that they recognized God’s provision of manna during the whole week. First day, second day, on through to the sixth day,  God provided them all with manna from heaven. This was the day when they were to show their trust in the Lord and honor Him.

e. This is the rest, the true rest, which comes from the Lord in a holy day to the Lord. They were to partake in God’s holiness. Holiness is only ascribed to God’s character. In order to uphold the God of holiness, the Israelites were to take part in His holiness on this particular day; in this way, they would become His worthy children.

What is the significance of this manna for us today?

Exodus 16:32-34 “Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.'  So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to be kept for the generations to come.’ As the LORD commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved.”

God told Moses to keep an omer of manna for the generation to come. He wanted to apply the same truth behind  the provision of manna to Israel’s descendants as well. So they kept it in the Lord’s ark with two other things - Moses’ staff and the tablets containing the Ten Commandments; it served as a witness to them of the covenant of the Law.  This manna also served as a testimony between God and His chosen people, Israel,  of how God sustained their lives. Manna was  proof of who God is - the Lord, YHWH.

After all, what did it mean to them? Because of the manna, they did not die in the barren desert, where there was no food at all; God did this in order for them to survive and  enter into His kingdom. It resulted in His most prominent work for Israel, so that they may know that God is the Lord, the life-giver and sustainer, and that He wanted to impart eternal life. So, the manna  was a constant reminder and test for their faith since they were dependent on it (Deuteronomy 8:16). He also humbles us and causes us to hunger before feeding us manna;  “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”(Deuteronomy 8:3).

The ultimate meaning of manna is found in Jesus’ words:

John 6:32-35 “Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "always give us this bread." Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.””

Our lives are being tested constantly by the necessities of life, including the need for water and food. As much as they are must-haves for us, and as much our mind and energy are poured into ensuring that they are readily available in order to make our living, God speaks loudly through His provision of manna through Jesus, that though we might be thrown into the same situation like Israel, it is not food,  water, or  anything else in the world, but the manna from heaven that is the real food that sustains our lives.

In the same will, God sent his Son, Jesus.  Like the manna, Jesus is the bread from heaven.   So in this respect, the manna is symbolic of the coming Messiah that gives life to men;  Jesus is that manna for us. In him, we see hope for the kingdom of God. He is the source of all rest, peace, and hope for the kingdom of God. As they ate the manna for forty years, so we are to eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood so that God’s power may reside in our being and just like eating that manna, God sustains our life until we enter His kingdom. May God bless you richly through heavenly manna provided in Jesus, the sustainer of our daily living and the provider of eternal peace!