Exodus 16

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

That wise counsel comes from American preacher and Episcopal bishop Phillips Brooks (1835–1893). When he spoke those words to his Boston congregation, perhaps he had the people of Israel in mind, for whenever the going got tough, the Israelites began grumbling and talking about returning to Egypt. It was one thing for the Jews to stand by the Red Sea and joyfully sing praises to the Lord, and quite something else to trust God in their daily wilderness walk. They were no different from God’s people today. Life is still a school, and the painful experiences of life teach us some of the most important lessons.

As we trace the activities of the Israelites, we learn some important truths to help us in our own walk of faith.

“Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle,” wrote saintly Andrew Bonar. It’s possible to win the battle and yet lose the victory, which is what the Jews did as they left the Red Sea and began to march toward Mount Sinai. They forgot that life is a pilgrimage during which we must learn new lessons and fight new battles. One great victory doesn’t settle everything; we need challenging new experiences that will help us mature and glorify God. Yes, life is a school, and the Lord knows just when to give us an examination.

“What shall we drink?” (15:22–27). Uppermost in the minds of the Israelites wasn’t how to please God but “What shall we eat?” and “What shall we drink?” According to Jesus, these questions reveal an anxious heart, not a trusting heart (Matt. 6:21, 25–33), and this can lead to all kinds of problems.

A single day in the wilderness without water would be tolerable, two days would be difficult, but three days would be impossible, especially for the children and animals. And then to be disappointed by finding bitter water would only make the situation worse. (The word “Marah” means “bitter” and is related to the word “myrrh.”) But God was testing His people, not because He didn’t know their hearts, but because they didn’t know their own hearts. People often say, “Well, I know my own heart,” but they forget that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).

The Lord tests us to encourage spiritual growth and bring out the best in us, but the devil tempts us to bring out the worst in us and to encourage spiritual immaturity. The attitude that we take toward our difficulties determines which direction life will go, for what life does to us depends on what life finds in us. If we trust God and obey His Word, we’ll pass the test and grow, but if in unbelief we complain and disobey the Lord, we’ll fail the test and remain immature (James 1:12–18; Heb. 12:1–11).

The people of Israel were experts when it came to murmuring and complaining (Ex. 16:1–12; Num. 14:2, 27–29; 16:41; 17:1–10; Deut. 1:27; Ps. 78:17ff.; 106:14). While God was testing them, they were tempting Him by their attitude and their words. To tempt God means to deliberately adopt a disobedient posture and dare Him to do anything about it. On more than one occasion in their wilderness wanderings, the Israelites invited the judgment of God by their obstinate attitude and their persistent grumbling. Our Heavenly Father is lon-suffering and gracious, but sometimes He has to “spank” His children to teach us how to behave.

Complaining doesn’t solve problems, and if we try to run away from a difficult situation (“Back to Egypt!”), we’ll meet the same problems in the new place and still have to solve them. Of course, the heart of every problem is the problem in the heart, and the hearts of many of the Jews were not right with God. They remembered the food they ate in Egypt but forgot the wonders God had performed (Ps. 106:7), and some of them had begun to worship the gods of Egypt that Jehovah had humiliated and judged (Josh. 24:14; Ezek. 20:6–9; 23:8). Imagine worshipping idols and then complaining to God about your problems!

Moses took the right approach, the way of faith: he cried out to the Lord and then followed God’s orders. God can solve our problems by changing things (like making the bitter waters sweet), by giving us something else (like the wells of water at Elim), or by giving us the grace we need to bear with our difficulties and not complain. The third approach is what produces lasting spiritual growth (2 Cor. 12:7–10).

To make “the tree” a picture of the cross of Christ is to go beyond what this passage teaches. Certainly God’s children find victory in their trials by identifying with Christ in His death (Rom. 6) and resurrection (Rom. 8), but that isn’t the lesson of this passage. The emphasis is on trusting God and obeying Him, knowing that the will of God will never lead us where the grace of God can’t keep us. When we experience trials, our complaining is evidence of unbelief, but our obedience is evidence of faith.

From this difficult experience, the Jews not only learned something about themselves and about life, but they also learned something about their God, that He is “Jehovah Ropha, the Lord who heals” (Ex. 15:26). God promised Israel abundant physical blessings if they would obey Him, but physical afflictions if they disobeyed (Deut. 7:12–15; 28). These promises were a part of the old covenant with Israel and aren’t repeated in the new covenant for believers today. If it is His will, God is certainly able to heal every disease except the last one, but our attitude must always be, “Not my will but Thy will be done.”

If life were nothing but tests, we would be discouraged. If life were all pleasure, we would never learn discipline and develop character. The Lord knows how to balance the experiences of life, for He brought His people to Elim where they found plenty of water and opportunity for rest. Let’s be grateful that the Lord gives us enough blessings to encourage us and enough burdens to humble us, and that He knows how much we can take.

“What shall we eat?” (16:1–3). The Wilderness of Sin lay on the eastern shore of the Red Sea and must not be confused with the Wilderness of Zin which lay south of Palestine and east of Edom (Num. 13:21; 33:11–12). The word “Sin” should not be interpreted in its English meaning, as though Israel were traveling through a “sinful” place. The word “Sin” is related to “Sinai” but the meaning is uncertain.

The whole congregation complained because they were hungry. They had been away from Egypt only a month and still remembered the “flesh pots” of Egypt and the food they had eaten “to the full.” But for some reason, they’d forgotten the bondage, the beatings, and the misery of their forced labor as slaves. They accused Moses and Aaron of deliberately leading them into the wilderness to kill them. They said they wished the Lord had killed them in Egypt when they were full rather than in the desert when they were empty! Little did these Israelites know that they would one day get their request, for the entire older generation would die in the wilderness and never get to the Promised Land.

God heard their murmurings and in His grace and mercy met their needs. He told them that in the evening, they would have flesh to eat (v. 8), and in the morning He would rain bread from heaven (v. 4). By giving them these special provisions, He was also testing them to see if they would believe and obey.

God’s promise (vv. 4–5, 8, 11–12). In our pilgrim journey through life, we live on promises and not explanations. When we hurt, it’s a normal response to ask “Why?” but that is the wrong approach to take. For one thing, when we ask God that question, we’re assuming a superior posture and giving the impression that we’re in charge and God is accountable to us. God is sovereign and doesn’t have to explain anything to us unless He wants to. Asking “Why?” also assumes that if God did explain His plans and purposes to us, we’d understand everything perfectly and feel better.

As you read the book of Job, you see Job frustrated with God and repeatedly saying, “I’d like to meet God and ask Him a few things!” But when God finally comes to Job, Job is so overwhelmed he doesn’t ask God a thing! (See Job 40:1–5.) Can we begin to understand the ways and plans of God when His ways are far above us and His wisdom unsearchable (Isa. 55:8–9; Rom. 11:33–36)? Explanations don’t heal broken hearts, but promises do, because promises depend on faith, and faith puts us in contact with the grace of God.

God’s glory (vv. 6–7, 9–10). The important thing was that Israel focus on the glory of God and not on their own appetites. If they walked by faith, they would glorify the Lord and bring honor to His name. It isn’t important that we’re comfortable in life, but it is important that God is glorified.

When circumstances are difficult, we’re prone to pray, “Lord, how can I get out of this?” when we ought to be praying, “Lord, what can I get out of this?” It isn’t important that we get our way, but it is important that God accomplishes His purposes and receives all the glory (Matt. 6:33). God permits trials so that He can build godly character into His children and make us more like Jesus. Godliness isn’t the automatic result of reading books and attending meetings; it also involves bearing burdens, fighting battles, and feeling pain.

God’s faithfulness (vv. 13–15). That evening, the quail flew over the camp of Israel and the people caught them, dressed them, and cooked them. They had asked for fresh meat, and God provided it. The Jews had seen wild fowl before, but what happened the next morning was altogether new, for the manna appeared on the dew on the ground. God prepared a table in the wilderness and shared “the bread of angels” with His people (Ps. 78:17–25).

The word “manna” comes from the question the Jews asked that first morning: “What is it?” (In Hebrew, man hu.) Manna was to be their food for the next forty years, until the new generation entered the Promised Land and the manna ceased (Ex. 16:35; Josh. 5:11–12). Each morning the Jews participated in a miracle as they emerged from their tents to find all the nourishment they needed waiting on the dew. The manna was small, like a seed, but it tasted sweet like honey (Ex. 16:31).

God’s Son (John 6:22–59). The day after He fed more than 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two small fish, Jesus preached a sermon about “the bread of life” to a crowd in the synagogue in Capernaum. They wanted Him to prove He was the Messiah by duplicating the miracle of the manna (vv. 30–31), but instead, He declared that He was “the true bread” that came down from heaven. The Old Testament manna was a type or picture of God’s Son who came to give Himself as the Bread of Life for hungry sinners.

The Jews in the synagogue were following Jesus mainly because He gave them food for the body, but what they needed even more was food for the soul (Isa. 55:2). Jesus is the Bread of Life, and the only way to be saved is to receive Him into our inner being just as the body receives food. God gave the manna only to Israel, but He sent Jesus for the whole world. The manna only sustained their physical life in the wilderness, but God’s Son gives eternal life to the whole world. Just as the Jews had to stoop and pick up the manna, and then eat it, so sinners must humble themselves and receive Jesus Christ within. The Jews ate the manna and eventually died, but whoever receives Jesus Christ will live forever.

There’s a second application to the miracle of the manna: each day, you and I must “feed on Jesus Christ” by reading the Word, meditating on it, and obeying what it says. The Jews in the synagogue thought that Jesus was speaking about literally eating His flesh and blood (John 6:52–56), something that was contrary to Jewish law. Jesus made it clear that He was speaking in spiritual language and referring to receiving His Word (vv. 61–63). However, Peter got the message (vv. 67–68), and so must we. God’s Word is the heavenly food that nourishes our spiritual life, and we must feed on it daily (Job 23:12; Jer. 15:16; Matt. 4:4; 1 Peter 2:2; Heb. 5:12–14).

Since God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33), whenever He starts something new, He always gives the instructions necessary to make the venture successful. If we obey His instructions, He will bless, but if we disobey, there will be disappointment and discipline. The principle is still, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40).

The gathering of the manna (vv. 18, 21). To begin with, the Jews were instructed to gather their manna daily, but only as much as each person in the family could eat (v. 16). An omer was a Hebrew dry measure equivalent to about two quarts. The manna was especially nutritious because eating it sustained an adult for a day’s march in the wilderness. It appears that the members of each family pooled their supply each day and never lacked for sufficient food. Since the Jews marched and camped by tribes (Num. 1—2), no doubt each clan and family pooled the manna they’d gathered and saw to it that everybody was adequately fed.

It was important that the Jews got up early to gather the manna, because the hot desert sun would melt it (Ex. 16:21). There was no place in the camp of Israel for the sluggard who stayed in bed while others gathered his food. There’s a lesson here for believers today: we must start the day with the Lord, gathering spiritual food from the Word, because if we wait too long to meet God, the day will become cluttered, we’ll get distracted, and we’ll suffer from spiritual malnutrition. The “early risers” of the Bible include Abraham (Gen. 19:27; 21:14; 22:3), Jacob (28:18), Moses (Ex. 8:20; 9:13; 24:4), Joshua (Josh. 3:1, 6), Samuel (1 Sam. 15:12), Job (Job 1:5), David (Ps. 57:8; 108:2), and our Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 1:35).

The keeping of the manna (vv. 19–21). Lazy Israelites might plan to save some manna so they could sleep in the next morning, but Moses warned them not to do so. Some of the Jews did it anyway, and their manna soured, smelled, bred maggots, and had to be thrown away. Not only were these people disobedient to God’s instructions, but they were living contrary to God’s own practice, for the Lord arranged for the sun to melt the manna that still lay on the ground. It doesn’t pay to rebel against what God says in His Word and the example He sets in His creation.

Again, there’s a personal warning here for God’s people today: We can’t hoard His Word and try to live on yesterday’s spiritual nourishment. It’s good to hear the Bible preached and taught on the Lord’s Day, but we need fresh manna each day if we want to be healthy Christians. There’s no substitute for a daily time alone with God, gathering fresh nourishment from His Word.

Manna for the Sabbath (vv. 22–31). In verse 23, the Sabbath is mentioned by name for the first time in Scripture. It’s called “the seventh day” in Genesis 2:1–3 and commemorated the Lord’s rest after six days of creation. It seems obvious that the Jews were taught to observe the Sabbath even before God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

While many sincere people call Sunday the Sabbath, this isn’t biblical, for the Sabbath is the seventh day and Sunday is the first day of the week. The Sabbath was a day given especially by the Lord to the Jewish people as a reminder of His covenant with them (Ex. 20:8–11; 31:12–17; Neh. 9:13–15). The word “sabbath” in Hebrew means “to cease working, to rest” and is related to the Hebrew word for “seven.”

So they didn’t have to work on the Sabbath, the Jews were supposed to prepare their meals in advance, and this included the gathering of the manna. They were permitted on the sixth day to gather twice as much manna, and whatever they saved up would not become rancid. Not only was the giving of the manna a miracle six days a week, but the preserving of the manna for the seventh day was an additional miracle. There are always some people who don’t really get the message. Some of the Jews went out on the Sabbath, looking for manna, and they found none. They didn’t obey Moses’ instructions! Remember, the gathering of the manna was a test from God to see if His people would obey the law He was about to give them (Ex. 16:4). If they wouldn’t obey a simple thing like gathering manna six days a week, how would they ever obey the statutes and laws that Moses would bring down from Mount Sinai! It was a privilege to eat “the bread of angels,” sent from heaven, and it was an insult to the Lord to disobey the instructions He had given.

The instructions in verses 33–34 anticipate the giving of the law (or “testimony”; 31:18; 32:15) and the making of the ark of testimony (25:16, 22; 26:33) and the construction of the tabernacle. The information in 16: was added years later to complete the account. At that time, Moses wouldn’t have known how many years Israel would march in the wilderness.

As we shall see later, the ark of the testimony was the throne of God in the camp. It stood in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, where the glory of God dwelt, and within the ark were the two tablets of the law, Aaron’s rod, and the golden jar of manna (Heb. 9:4). Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year, but the Jewish people knew what was in the ark and taught this truth to their children. Each of these items reminded the nation of an important truth: that He is King and Lawgiver; that He established the priesthood; and that He fed His people because He cared for them.

God gave the law to Israel because He loved His people. They needed a light to guide them, and God’s law is a lamp and a light, and obeying the law means life (Prov. 6:23). When the people disobeyed, they needed a priest to help them be forgiven and reconciled to God. They also needed to be reminded that it was God who provided food for them, and that they didn’t live by bread alone but by the Word of God (Deut. 8:1–3).

Most people are prone to forget the way God has dealt with them, and they have to learn again the lessons they’ve forgotten. Some keep a journal and review it regularly, while others keep a “spiritual diary” in the margins of their Bible, noting special verses and experiences related to them. A photograph that may mean little to us conveys treasures of spiritual truth to the owner who knows why the photo is on the shelf. However we do it, we need to “nail down” the important lessons of life and permit them to influence us to walk with God and obey Him.

When by faith we walk with the Lord, then life is a school, and the successful pilgrim/students pray with Moses: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Ps. 90:12).

Are you among them?