Give Us This Day

Give Us This Day Exodus 16 Introduction • Second of 5 impossible circumstances: Bitter Water, No Food, No Water, Military Crisis, and Civil Chaos.. • Israel has been out of Egypt now 45 days. • Massive Dietary Needs for 2 million people: • 4500 cows or 90,000 sheep every day. • 850,000 sacks of flour • 4,500 pickup trucks filled with fruits/vegetables A Grumbling People (16:1-3) • Unanimous – “the whole congregation” • Targeted – “against Moses and against Aaron;” Moses specifies that it’s against God (see v. 8) • Wistful – we had it better in Egypt with full meat pots • Accusatory – “to murder this whole assembly with famine.” A Gracious God (16:4-18) • “I am about to Rain” 1. Genesis 7 – rain unto a judgmental of flood 2. Genesis 19 – raining burning sulfur on Sodom 3. Exodus 9 – raining hailstones of fury on Egypt • Bread From Heaven 1. Manna – What? (granular, white, sweet, could be prepared a variety of ways) 2. Daily Miracles – it appeared; it satisfied; it wouldn’t keep overnight; it would keep on Friday night; it would not appear on Saturday; it went wherever Israel went and nowhere else • Quail in the Evening – one-time blessing to stave off hunger until the first morning of manna A Simple Test (16:19-30) • God designed the “test” to reveal what was in Israel’s hearts. • The provision of manna did several things simultaneously: 1. Daily dependence (no long-term preservation; you couldn’t get ahead with overstock, stealing, or black-market deals) 2. Positive work ethic (had to harvest before the sun was high; God didn’t bring it to the door; the amount needed was deliberate – 2 quarts per person per day) 3. Reinforced Sabbath rest (no Saturday gathering) An Ongoing Testimony (16:31-36) • A container gathered and miraculously preserved for the foreseeable future. • The vessel was placed alongside the stone tablets of the 10 commandments and the budding rod of Aaron (later). Lessons 1. Exodus 16 reinforces humanity’s ultimate need for the internal miracle of regeneration. 2. Exodus 16 boldly displays God’s loving intention for His people – see Psalm 138:8 3. Exodus 16 puts the need for things into perspective – daily reliance fosters faith, humility, and generosity.