August 10, 2003 Exodus 16
How many of you have ever eaten soap? I would assume that you didn’t just one day decide to take a bar of soap and eat it - unless you were mentally impaired in some way. More than likely, you did it because your parents made you do it. It wasn’t because they hated you, but because they wanted to teach you a lesson about using filthy language.
Instead of eating soap, God once made John eat a scroll, to teach him a different lesson. John said, I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” . . . Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” Whereas at first it tasted sweet to hear God’s Word - when He realized what God’s Word would do - and the response he would get from it - it turned sour in his stomach.
This wasn’t the first time that God used eating to teach a lesson. Way back with Adam and Eve, He used the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge to teach Adam and Eve obedience and honor. So when we come across the story of the manna and quail in Exodus, we should be aware that there is more to this story than meets the eye. When the Israelites ask, “what is it”, there’s a lesson behind it. God answers that question with an answer that will hopefully give us a different view of the stuff of life.
Manna - What Is It?
I. It is nourishment
We continue our story about two and ½ months after the wonderful deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptian army. Now, they may have thought after this wonderful delivery, that everything was going to be handed to them on a golden platter. But they were soon to discover that such was not the case. After being delivered some water at Marah and getting to live at an oasis, they soon found themselves hurting for food. So they grumbled to Moses again. Moses prayed to the LORD, and the Lord delivered with a new food that had never been seen before. 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. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. (Ex 16:13-15) It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. (Exodus 16:31) Whereas the Israelites didn’t know exactly what it was, they did know what this manna (what is it?) tasted like. Ultimately, it didn’t matter what it was, as long as it did the job. And it did that.
God told the Israelites - ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. (Ex 16:16-18) So for 40 years, day by day, God provided the Israelites with a morning meal that lasted every day. The Israelites were able to cook this food, boil it, grind it, much like we are able to do a variety of things with potatoes. They could have cream of manna, boiled manna, manna a la carte, fried manna, you name it, they had it. There wasn’t a great variety, and it didn’t even really have a name, but that didn’t matter. It was enough to sustain two million people for 40 years - and that’s what it was for.
When Jesus taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, He didn’t have us ask for a year’s supply of meat and potatoes, a lifetime supply of fish, or even a winter’s worth of wheat. All he said we should pray is, “give us this day our daily bread.” There’s nothing fancy about bread. Like manna, it’s white and kind of tasteless, but it is very versatile, and most importantly, it get’s the job done. It feeds us. That’s the main point Jesus was getting at. By telling us to pray for daily bread, He was saying to us, “just pray for enough to get by.”
Yet as humans we have a hard time doing this. We say, “give us this day our daily bread,” but in reality we live the prayer, “Lord, please give me a weekly Frosty, angus burger, and deep fried onions. On Sundays, I would like a smorgasbord of meat and salads. At lunch time, I have to eat something hot - cold cuts just won’t do. And I would also like to have Italian and Mexican at least once every other week.” We love to talk about our favorite foods and places to eat and plan our schedules around where we can feed our faces. We need to beware of manna and remember what it is - a nameless food. Remember what it’s for - daily nourishment. That’s it.
II. It is a test
After the Israelites complained, God gave them their daily bread. But He didn’t just give it to them to feed them. God told 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. God provided this food as a TEST - to see how they would react. You see, God doesn’t only test us in seeing how we handle hardship, but He also tests us in seeing how we handle BLESSINGS and success.
With this food, God didn’t just tell them to eat it when and where they wanted. He gave special instructions. Here’s what they were - ‘Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ No one is to keep any of it until morning.” 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.”
There were basically two tests involved in these instructions. The first test from God was to only gather enough only for one day. Every day, when the Israelite went to bed, he would have nothing in his tent to eat. What was worse was that he was living in the middle of a desert region. Imagine if you went home from church today, and you had absolutely no food in your cupboards or your refrigerator. You’d say, “what in the world are we going to eat?” So you went out to Wal-Mart to buy some groceries, only to find that every shelf was empty. “Whoa!,” you’d say, “now what are we going to do?” So you go out to your garden, only to find that the fruits and vegetables you had planted had all dried up under the hot summer sun. But then you remembered that God said some food would fall from the sky this afternoon. The test comes in how you respond to this forced lifestyle. Would you complain under such circumstances? Would you worry? Would you constantly wish that you lived back in Egypt, with plenty of food to eat? Would you only gather an omer - two quarts worth - or would you try to stockpile it? That’s where the test came.
The second test came at the end of every week. On Friday, the Israelites had to work twice as hard to collect two days worth of manna. Then, on the Sabbath God told the Israelites that they were to collect nothing. That way they could just relax and worship their Lord on Saturday. The test for the Israelites was on whether they would take time out from their collecting and just enjoy a day off to worship the Lord.
Unfortunately, the Israelites failed miserably in both tests. In regards to the “one day’s worth” rule, instead of honoring the Word of the LORD, they tested it. In greed and a lack of trust and maybe just laziness - they tried to keep a part of it until morning. Exodus 16 says, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning. (vs. 20)
One temptation of life is - like the Israelites - it to try and preserve our manna - when God tells us to just use it today. I think for instance of people who are hyper-paranoid about their possessions. If their car gets the tiniest mark on it, they carry on like it was the end of the world. Or those who spend countless hours waxing their cars or manicuring their lawns. When women spend hours and hours trying to make sure that every hair is just in place - afraid that any wrinkle is coming through. We can try to protect our manna from the decay of this world, but sooner or later, the maggots and stench come. Psalm 103 says in vs. 15-16, As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. The test then also comes in how you respond. Do you cry about the decayed manna? Do you get depressed over the grey hairs you’re finding? Do you get angry over the fact that your brand new carpet has been ruined? Or do you accept the fact that what you have today is bound to decay? It is a delusion to think you will stay forever young. Yet we fail this test every time we cry about something that’s continually decaying.
In regards to the Sabbath, even when God gave them a day off, it says Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. (Ex 16:27) You would think that after God had their manna keep an extra day, they would then relax like they were told to do. But when God told them to relax, they refused. Instead, they looked at this Sabbath time as an opportunity to stockpile more manna for the rest of the week. After all the LORD had done for them, they failed the test.
The sad thing about us, is that we have plenty of stocked up already. We don’t have empty freezers like the Israelites do. We have no reason to go looking for manna on the Sabbath. Even still with all of our blessings, we can’t help but think to ourselves on Sunday morning, “I could be getting a lot done today. I could make double time at work. I could be painting the bathroom.” When the service lasts a little long, we start getting edgy and anxious to get back to our lives. The test of the Lord says, “take some time off and listen to my word. Relax for once and just enjoy my word.” Yet we act as if God is infringing on our time by asking for a Sunday - as if it’s our time to do what we want with. We act as if having one five minute devotion per day is just impossible to schedule because we’re just too busy. God gives us freedom to plan as a test. When we choose other activities and TV ahead of him, we fail. We fail miserably.
III. It is a testimony
The interesting thing to me is in seeing how the Teacher responds. One of the most frustrating things for a teacher is when a student doesn’t get it. It is especially frustrating when you provide a great lesson, but the student just doesn’t pay attention or apply what he KNOWS. It wasn’t that the Israelites didn’t have the blessings - God had given them plenty - they KNEW better. But they just didn’t listen to God when it came to using them. So how would God respond?
First of all, God didn’t want to be ignored - He wouldn’t allow that. When they kept part of the manna until morning, it was full of maggots and began to smell. (Ex 16:20) And when some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather manna, they found none. (Ex 16:27-28) Moses was angry with the people, and God didn’t bless their greed. But secondly, look at His seemingly calm response. He simply said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” Instead of getting irate, God simply re-instructed them. Finally then the people rested on the seventh day. (Ex 16:28-30)
Even though the Israelites kept on abusing God’s gifts and trying to do things that weren’t permitted, God taught them a lesson, but kept feeding them anyway. Why? God told Moses, ‘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 desert when I brought you out of Egypt.’ (Ex 16:32) He kept on giving them manna - as a testimony to who He was and is. He is the LORD - the compassionate and gracious God - slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. He is the LORD who faithfully provides for His people, even when they don’t deserve it.
It was this same LORD who faithfully provided the manna to the Israelites, who faithfully provided us with a much greater Manna 1,491 years later - in the person of Jesus Christ. Even though the Israelites continually rejected the LORD to worship other gods, He stuck to His promise. Even though He knew the world would put His Son to death, He sent Him anyway. Why? Because God said that Jesus would be he pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. God knew that by his wounds we would be healed. (Is 53:5-6) In the midst of Jesus’ enemies, God was preparing a wonderful table of forgiveness for us. So Jesus declared in John 6, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (Jn 6:35-36) This is not an unknown bread that nourishes us. It is revealed as Jesus Christ in the flesh - come to live and die for us - that is what we eat and live on eternally. It nourishes our souls.
In 2 Timothy 2 Paul reminded Timothy and us about the LORD when he said, if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. (2 Ti 2:13) This is the most impressive thing to me about this story of the manna and quail. It’s not the mere feeding of the two million Israelites for 40 years in a desert - but it’s the faithfulness of the LORD. History proves to us that God can’t disown Himself. He’s a patient, loving, and forgiving God. He can’t help it - that’s what He is. What does that mean to us? Even when you complain, He still feeds you. Even when you misuse His gifts, He still gives them. Even when you earn hell with your attitude, God still wants to give you heaven. Why? Not because you deserve it! But because our God is a GRACIOUS God. He likes GIVING people not just physical things - but more importantly forgiveness, holiness, and eternal salvation. That was the ultimate purpose behind the manna - to testify to the faithfulness of the LORD. That’s what impresses me so much about the manna. It makes me thankful for having such a forgiving and faithful LORD.
If I were to say the name, “Miss Sullivan”, how many of you know who that is? But if I were to say the name, “Helen Keller,” how many of you would know who that is? “Of course,” you will say, “Helen Keller was the deaf and blind girl who learned how to communicate!” We marvel over what Helen Keller could do. But do you know who her teacher was? Miss Sullivan. If anyone deserves the credit for what Helen Keller did - it was her. Helen was absolutely rude and incorrigible. But using all sorts of objects, with infinite pains, she taught the little girl the sign language by touch. Then, once communication with the outside world was thus established, education proceeded.
Think about how much more difficult it would have been for God, then, to deal with dead and ignorant sinners like the Israelites and us. In spite of our handicaps, he brings us to life and gives us the ability to believe. Yet even as living Christians, we are forever complaining, forever demanding more, and forever misusing the gifts that God gives us. But God, in His mercy, forever forgives, forever gives, and forever keeps faithful to His promise to save sinners. The story of the manna proves this truth. It gives us comfort in knowing what it is all about. Manna isn’t just about nourishment. It isn’t just about how two million people were kept fed for 40 years - amazing as that may be. It’s about how faithful our LORD is - how He constantly gives us the bread of Life - in spite of how many times we fail the tests. That’s where the true miracle of the manna is - and that’s where the lesson is found. Amen.
