Ex. 16: What is It?

In chapter 16, we are a mere 45 days out from having escaped the Egyptians. Apparently the cuisine in the desert was not as delectable as what was served to them between whippings in Egypt. So the Israelites again grumbled to Moses. Once again, the melodrama, "If only we had died in Egypt! At least there we sat around pots of meat and ate all we wanted, but now here we are in the desert starving to death." Talk about a lack of perspective. No foresight. No expectations of God to deliver.

This makes me wonder...maybe freedom is a desert at times. Maybe in freedom, there is wandering. Do we expect too much from our freedom from whatever it was that had us in bondage? Do we miss our bondage because we perceive that life was better then?

The LORD pulls Moses aside and tells him that He is going to rain bread down from heaven. It came with instructions...

1. They are only allowed to gather enough for that day. Every day.

2. On the sixth day, they are to prepare what they bring, and should gather enough for two days, as the seventh day will be one of what's called "sabbath" rest.

Moses goes and tells the Israelites that they can expect this miracle from God, so they will know again that He is the LORD, and they He is the one who brought them out of Egypt. Also, he adds that they shouldn't grumble against him and Aaron. Moses and Aaron don't have the power to induce anything grumble-worthy. But the Israelites saw that Moses was being used by God.

Anyway, that evening, quail came and covered the camp. So...there was lots of quail. The next morning the dew was replaced by thin wafers like frost on the ground. The Israelites emerged from the tent, and marveled at the sight.
"What is it?" They asked one another. That's how it got the name...Manna. It was white and tasted like wafers made with honey.

"What it is," Moses said, "is the bread the LORD has given you to eat." And Moses disseminated the command God had given to him earlier.

Some of them were like, whatever, I'm not listening, and gathered too much. By morning it was all maggoty and rotten. There was just enough time in the morning for the Israelites to gather however much they needed before the sun melted it away. So this bread was just enough for everyone. It wasn't possible to have too much. Everyone had what they needed.

God commands a day of rest beginning in Exodus 16:23. The Israelites were commanded to do all of their work on the sixth day, so that they could rest on the seventh. Like creation. This time around, the gathered extra did not get all maggoty and rotten.

When people went out on the seventh day anyway, there was nothing to be gathered. There was no benefit to working when God commanded rest.

Moses and Aaron take an omer of manna, and preserved it in a jar before the LORD, so that future generations would be able to see the bread God provided for them in the wilderness. For forty years, this manna sustained the people of Israel until they reached the border of Canaan.