Golden Text. — “Give us this day our daily bread.”— Matt. 6:11
“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day [the portion of a day in his day (margin)] —that I may trove them, whether they will walk in my law or no.”—Ex. 16:4 and 5. Read Exodus 16:1-15,
Reading on the Lesson. The Giving of Manna.
1. “And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin.” We turn back to the great redemption book of the Old Testament, and in God’s own picture book we see not only real happenings, but also the foreshadowing of many things (1 Cor. 10:11-13). The deliverance from death and from the bondage of Egypt in connection with the blood of the Passover lamb and the glorious power of the Lord’s right hand sets before us God’s great redemption provided for us by Christ, our Passover, while the succeeding events suggest the too common experience of the believer, in which there is apt to be more murmuring than rejoicing.
2, 3. “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.” At Marah it was because they did not like the water, and now it is because they cannot see what they are going to eat, failing to see that He who delivered them from Egypt and divided the sea for them would surely not fail to care for them in every way. But in them we see ourselves: for which of us can say that Rom. 8:32, delivers us from all murmuring?
4, 5. “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you.” So it is written in Ps. 78:24, 25, “And had rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven, Every one did eat the bread of the mighty” (margin). just think of it—food for millions day by day, right from heaven! He would teach them to look to Him alone and be content to live by the day.
6, 8. “Ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt. Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.” As to their murmurings it is written in Ps. 106:54, 24, 25, “They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. They believed not His word, but murmured in their tents and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.” They possibly did not think that in murmuring against Moses they were murmuring against God: but when Israel demanded a king in the days of Samuel, the Lord said unto Samuel, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:7).
9, 10. “Come near before the Lord, for He hath heard your murmurings.” Thus Moses commissioned Aaron to speak unto all the congregation, and as he spake to the people they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. Thus the Lord Himself appeared to them, assuring them that they were dealing with Him and not with Moses and Aaron.
11, 12. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying . . . At even, ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.” What great grace on His part towards these unbelieving, murmuring hosts They had complained that in Egypt they had flesh and bread to the full, so He will give them in the wilderness flesh and bread to the full (verse 3), Truly He is El-Shaddai, the mighty God who is all sufficient, and in Him dwelleth all fulness. His presence insures all sufficiency in all things (2 Cor. 9:8), and He would have us find in Him our all, and know that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (Jas. 1:17).
13, 15. “And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath gives you to eat.” So they had the flesh of quails in the evening and manna in the morning, all they could eat, not because they deserved it, but simply by the grace of God. The manna was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey (verse 31). They were to gather it every morning, every man according to his eating (verses 16, 18, 25), and so they gathered it, some more, some less.