Exodus 16:1-18 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Exodus 16:1-18. Let’s go!
Exodus 16:1-3 (NIV)
1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt.
2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
On verses 1-3: When we’re having a tough time with life today, sometimes we can be tempted to idealize and even worship the past. Have you ever done that before? It’s when we speak in exaggerated terms about the past versus the present: “Before life was so happy and perfect; now everything sucks. Things were so good back then. Today things are so bad.” That’s what the Israelites were doing: in their hunger, they grumbled against their leaders Moses and Aaron. The Israelites idealized their lives in Egypt when they apparently “sat around pots of meat and ate all the food they wanted” (v3). Of course, in their worship of the past, they conveniently left out the fact that when they were slaves in Egypt they were crying for deliverance. They also seemed to ignore the fact that whenever you start a new season, there will be new things to learn, new skills to develop, and new systems to create and get used to. To expect that life would be perfect as soon as they stepped out of Egypt would be unrealistic.
What can we learn from this? Don’t live in the past. Realize that with every new season there are new opportunities to pursue, new lessons to learn, new systems to build and new blessings to appreciate. Especially in new seasons, give yourself and others time to adjust.
Exodus 16:4-5 (NIV)
4 Then the LORD said to 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.
5 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.”
On verses 4-5: Does God tempt people? No (see James 1:13). But God does test people. What’s the difference? To tempt means to entice someone to do wrong with the hope that they will do that wrong thing. To test means to put that person in a pressure situation to see what they are able to do. Here God was going to test the Israelites by providing bread from heaven and telling them only to gather as much as they needed for that day. I find it interesting that God mentions testing in connection with Him providing food, not withholding food, from the Israelites. It goes to show that the provision of a good thing can be as much a test from God as the lack of a good thing.
Exodus 16:6-8 (NIV)
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt,
7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”
8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.”
On verses 6-8: To grumble means to complain about a problem in a prideful, impatient and self-centered way. Whenever the Israelites encountered a difficulty, their first instinct was to grumble against their leaders, Moses and Aaron. Here Moses tells the Israelites that when they grumble against Moses and Aaron, really they are grumbling against the LORD. When we grumble against our God-given leaders, what we’re really doing is grumbling against the LORD who placed those leaders in our lives.
So does that mean we should never bring up problems with our God-given leaders? No. The key is to do it in a wise and mature way. Ask yourself: is this problem really worth bringing up? Do you have all your facts straight or are you jumping to conclusions? Are you simply complaining or are you suggesting a practical solution that considers not just your own preferences but also the feelings and situations of others, including your leaders’? Is the way in which you are communicating about the problem kind and respectful? The way we deal with the problems that we see around us is a revealing measure of our maturity in Christ.
Exodus 16:9-12 (NIV)
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'”
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.
11 The LORD said to Moses,
12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'”
On verses 9-12: Perhaps you wonder, “Why is it that God seems to provide for the Israelites only after they grumble and complain? Isn’t this showing that grumbling actually works?” Was grumbling the only way for God to give the Israelites food? Certainly not. When you keep in mind that God loves the Israelites and is committed to providing for their needs, I believe it was only a matter of time before God, in His love, would provide food for the Israelites. What was in question was not God’s heart for the Israelites, but the Israelites’ heart toward the God who had saved them time and time again. Would they come before God humbly and make their request for food in a respectful, humble way? Or would they take the entitled, self-centered approach and grumble against God and their leaders? In this way I believe the time when the Israelites were hungry for food was probably a test from God to see how the Israelites would respond.
What can we learn from this? Difficult times when things don’t happen when or how we want are a test of our heart toward God and how we really regard Him.
Also, when you’re tempted to grumble and complain, ask yourself: is there a better, more God-glorifying way to approach this problem? It is more effective to do it the God-glorifying way than the self-centered way.
Exodus 16:13-15 (NIV)
13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.
15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.
On verses 13-15: In response to the Israelites’ hunger, God provides the Israelites with quail for dinner and frosted flakes for breakfast (“thin flakes like frost” – v14). Not knowing what these frosted flakes were, the Israelites gave the frosted flakes the funny name “Manna”, which means “What is it?”
Exodus 16:16 (NIV)
16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'”
On verse 16: An omer is about two quarts, some scholars say. The Israelites are commanded to collect an omer of manna for each person in their tent.
Exodus 16:17-18 (NIV)
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little.
18 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.
On verses 17-18: Instead of hoarding whatever they could get, the Israelites gathered only as much as they needed, based on God’s command that they should take an omer of manna for each person in their tent (an omer being about two quarts, some scholars say). On one hand, by not hoarding, this shows that the Israelites passed this particular test of not gathering too much. On the other hand, the fact that God would command the Israelites to gather an omer of manna per person and that no one had too much or too little shows that God’s planning is always perfect. God knows just how much we need and is committed to giving us what we need.
Heavenly Father, thank You for all the lessons we can learn from Your Word today. I pray that we would not be people who selfishly and impatiently grumble against You or against our God-given leaders, but that we would be wise, humble, sensitive and proactive in the way we deal with problems around us. Thank You that You know just what we need and are committed to meeting our needs. I pray that we would all pass the tests that You set before us. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
