Exodus 16-The Israelites Grumble About Food And The Lord Provides Manna, Meat And The Sabbath Rest
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday January 8, 2012
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus 16-Israelites Grumble About Food And The Lord Provides Manna, Meat And The Sabbath Rest
Lesson # 17
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 16:1.
In Exodus 16:1-9, we have the record of the Israelites complaining about a lack of food in the wilderness of Sin.
Exodus 16:1 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.’ ” (NASB95)
In this passage, we have the Israelites grumbling against Moses and Aaron with regards to food whereas in chapter 15, they grumbled against them with regards to water, which the Lord provided for them as we noted.
The grumbling of the Israelites is the result of unbelief, which is the result of not bringing to remembrance all that the Lord had done for them in delivering them from Egypt through the ten plagues and destroying an elite Egyptian military force at the Red Sea and then in providing water for them at Marah.
If they would have remembered what the Lord had done for them in the very recent past, they would not have thought of complaining.
This lack of faith resulted not only in their grumbling and complaining but also resulted in a failure to be aware the Lord was in fact present among them.
“The wilderness of Sin” was located in the southwestern part of the Sinai peninsula.
Exodus 16:1 tells the reader that exactly one month had passed since the Israelites left Egypt since we have seen that the Israelites left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month of the year and this verse records that they arrived in the wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month.
Exodus 16:2-3 shows that the entire congregation of Israel was involved in this complaining to Moses and Aaron about a lack of food.
This is the first of many times in which the Israelites will use the Egypt argument “if only we had died in Egypt.” (See Numbers 11:4, 18; 14:2; cf. 20:3; Joshua 7:7)
Notice that they complain that they wished that the Lord would have killed them, implying that they were better being killed by the one of the plagues the Lord struck Egypt with.
By complaining that the Lord was not taking care of them, they were attacking His character and integrity.
In Exodus 16:4-5, we have the Lord providing the Israelites with manna from heaven, which would not only provide food for them in the short term but also it would provide for their long-term need for food.
In Exodus 16:5, notice that on the sixth day of the week, the Israelites were instructed to gather twice as much manna as they would gather daily.
Therefore, God was testing their faith again since every Sabbath they would have to trust that when they woke up, there would be enough manna left to eat and that it would not spoil overnight as it would on the other days of the week.
In Exodus 16:6-7, Moses and Aaron tell the Israelites that in the morning they would see the glory of the Lord in that He would provide them this manna from heaven.
In other words, the glory of the Lord would be the miraculous provision of manna.
In Exodus 16:7-8, they instruct the Israelites that they were merely servants of the Lord and that their complaining was in fact directed against the Lord whom they represented before them.
In Exodus 16:9, Moses employs Aaron to communicate to the Israelites.
Moses tells them through Aaron that they were to “come near before the Lord, for He has heard your grumblings.”
This does not refer to the Lord’s ability to perceive what the Israelites were thinking and saying since He is omniscient and knew from eternity past before He created anything what they would think and say.
Rather, it denotes that the Lord was poised to act on their behalf in providing them manna from heaven for their provision of food and as we will see quail as well.
Exodus 16:10 It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ” 13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. 15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.’” (NASB95)
Verse 10 tells the reader that the Lord manifested Himself in the presence of the Israelites with a pillar of cloud.
Verse 12 amazingly records the Lord not rebuking the Israelites for their complaining but rather He assures them of His concern for them and that He will provide for them.
Exodus 16:13 says that the Lord provided quail and in verses 14, He provided manna.
The Lord provided the quail for only one evening whereas the manna would be provided for them for forty years.
After the Israelites had eaten the quail and had gone to sleep, the nightly desert dew condensed on the ground and remained until the next morning.
Numbers 11:9 teaches that the manna came down not only in the morning but during the night.
Therefore, the manna did not follow the dew but rather it was visible when the dew had lifted in the morning.
Verse 14 describes the manna as a thin, crisp substance which was thin like frost on the ground.
Verse 15 reveals that when the Israelites saw the manna, they had no idea what it was and Moses had to tell them that it was the Lord’s provision for their hunger.
Exodus 16:15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’ ” 17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. (NASB95)
The term “manna” is from the Israelites’ question “what is it?” which is translating the Hebrew expression mān hû(ʾ) (מָ֣ן ה֔וּא).
The Israelites were not to be gluttonous with regards to the manna since there was a prescribed amount each family could collect of it.
They could only gather an omer apiece according to the number of persons in each family.
The “omer” was equal to about two quarts, which would be just enough food for a person per day.
Verses 17 and 18 say that the Israelites carefully obeyed the command about not gathering too much manna but just enough so that they did not break any of the Lord’s commandments.
Exodus 16:19 Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. (NASB95)
These verses record that some of the Israelites did not conscientiously obey the Lord’s commandment with regards to the manna and tried keeping some of the uneaten manna until the next day and they discovered that the food was inedible.
The Lord prohibited the Israelites from keeping some of the uneaten manna overnight in order to teach them to trust in His daily provision.
Moses’ anger with them is a legitimate anger towards them and is righteous indignation and not sin because He is concerned about obedience to God who is holy and is God’s representative.
Exodus 16:21 They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt. 22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 then he said to them, “This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” 24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” (NASB95)
Verse 21 tells us that there was a fresh provision of manna every morning for the Israelites.
Interestingly, if you were lazy, you didn’t eat since you had to get up early each morning before the sun got hot and collect your daily provision of food.
Also, those who were greedy and selfish were not allowed to collect more than the prescribed amount.
Verse 22 echoes verse 5.
As we noted in verse 5, the Israelites could only collect the manna for six days but they were not to do so on the seventh day.
In verse 23, we see Moses explaining to them the purpose of not collecting the manna on the seventh day, namely the observance of a sabbath rest.
“Sabbath” is the noun šǎb∙bāṯ (שַׁבָּת), which means “rest period” referring to the seventh day of the week which is called “Saturday.”
Now, Exodus 20:8-11 makes clear that the observance of the Sabbath is connected to the fact that God Himself rested on the seventh day after six days of work (Genesis 2:2-3).
The Sabbath is thus an invitation to rejoice in God’s creation and to acknowledge that He is sovereign.
Deuteronomy 5:15 connects the Sabbath with Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.
Therefore, every Sabbath the Israelites were to bring into remembrance that the Lord delivered them from Egyptian bondage by means of His omnipotence.
Exodus 20:10, Deuteronomy 5:14-15 and Exodus 23:12 teach that the Sabbath was for the benefit of both man and animal in Israel.
Lastly, Exodus 31:13, 17, Ezekiel 20:12 and 20 teach that it was a sign of the covenant between the Lord and Israel, thus, those in Israel who failed to keep the Sabbath were put to death (Exodus 31:14; Numbers 15:32-36; Jeremiah 17:19-27).
In Exodus 16:24, the Israelites put aside the manna as Moses commanded them to do and it did not become inedible, which was a miracle.
In Exodus 16:25-26, Moses commands the Israelites to gather the manna for six days but on the seventh day do not do so for there would be none to collect.
Exodus 16:27 It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?” (NASB95)
Some of the Israelites did not obey and went out to gather the manna on the Sabbath in violation of the Lord’s command.
This was a lack of faith since if they trusted in the Lord that they would have enough to eat for the Sabbath they would not have gone out to gather some.
Verse 28 is a rebuke which says in a rhetorical manner that the Lord was expecting the Israelites to obey Him and would hold them accountable for disobedience.
Exodus 16:29 “See, the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. (NASB95)
Moses responds to those in Israel who disobeyed by emphasizing that the Lord had given them bread for two days on the sixth day, thus there was no need to gather manna on the seventh day.
He is in effect saying that I told you that there would be no manna on the sabbath and that the Lord would give you two days provision on the sixth day.
Notice that there is nothing in verses 29 and 30 which indicate that the Israelites were confined to their homes.
They were merely prohibited from gathering the manna on the Sabbath.
The Lord knew that the Israelites would have to go outside to milk their goats and cows and to feed their animals and to relieve themselves outside the camp.
Exodus 16:31 The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.) (NASB95)
In verse 31, we have a description of the manna.
It was white in color and was like wafers with honey.
Verses 32 and 33 say that the Lord commanded Israel to set aside an omerful of manna to memorialize the Lord’s provision for them in the wilderness throughout future generations.
It would be placed in the Ark of the Covenant according to verse 34.
Hebrews 9:4 teaches that the manna was stored in a golden jar and later placed in the Ark of the Covenant, which was constructed by Bezalel before the completion of the Tabernacle (Exodus 37:1-3).
This would serve as a perpetual reminder to Israel of the Lord’s faithfulness to her.
The fact that the manna in the jar would be preserved and would not deteriorate would be another miracle.
God would cause the manna in the jar to be preserved throughout future generations.
Exodus 16:35 tells the reader that the Lord provided the Israelites with manna for forty years until they entered the land of Canaan which He promised them.
They ate the manna until they came to the border of Canaan.