I have always seen this chapter as being very relevant to how to practically live the Christian life. At this point in the journey of the nation of Israel in Exodus 16, the entire population was completely dependent upon God for their subsistence since they were in the middle of the wilderness. We see that for their entire time in the wilderness, they were constantly provided for in a most remarkable way.
First of all, notice that although they were provided for in a supernatural way, they still had to work for their sustenance. EVERY MORNING they had to go out and harvest the manna. Not only did they have to harvest it every morning, but they had to do it early in the morning, since “when the sun grew hot, it melted” (Ex. 16:21). Everyone gathered about 2 quarts (an omer) every day, the amount necessary to feed one person. They could not store up manna; they were explicitly commanded to not to keep it until the next day (v19) as it would become putrid overnight.
These principles have profound implications on our personal walk with the Lord. After all, Jesus did say that although Moses gave the Jews bread (manna) from heaven, the Father gives us the true bread - the true manna - from heaven, Jesus Christ (John 6:32). It is imperative that we make the effort to seek Him EVERY day. I do realize that there are those who do quiet time at night, but it is noteworthy that time with the Lord is best before the day gets busy and our ‘manna melts.’ The other truth is that the Lord gives us just what we need when we need it. We leak and we can’t put away God’s blessings in a spiritual freezer, therefore we need fresh blessings, fresh encounters with the Lord every day.
But the manna principle goes deeper. The one exception on storing and collecting manna was on Friday and Saturday. Friday was exceptional, first of all, because they had twice the amount of manna available to harvest that morning. Secondly, the manna did not go bad on Friday night – Friday’s manna was still good on Saturday morning. Thirdly, there was no manna available to harvest on Saturday morning. All of this was to show the peculiar importance of the day of solemn rest, the holy Sabbath to the Lord (Ex. 16:23). God explicitly stated that these laws were to test his people to see whether they would walk in his law or not (v4).
When we look at the big picture of the law, we see that the Sabbath principle permeates so many aspects of daily Jewish life, some with major faith challenges. There was the sabbatical year where fields were to remain fallow every seventh year. Then we have the Jubilee where there were to be two consecutive fallow years as well as a reverting of the entire property system to the original tribal allocations as well as the freeing of all Jewish slaves. To be able to have the faith to obey these laws, people would have to be very sure of the reality of God’s blessings. Unfortunately, this appeared not be the case most of the time in the course of Israel’s history (for example, see 2 Chron 36:21). It seems like the purpose of having the nation of Israel walk in the manna principle was to teach them more than just keeping the Sabbath day, but it was to learning about walking in faith, walking in obedience and trusting in God’s blessings.
Again all this has implications on our lives today. First of all, we cannot put God in a box, assuming that He will always work with us in the same way as He did for us in the past. It is much more important that we walk in daily obedience rather that resting on past “successes.” We see that same principle at work in how David fought the battles with the Philistines, walking in careful consultation and obedience to the Lord with each battle (see 2 Sam. 5:17-25). The overriding principle is that in all that we do is to seek to glorify God, to be obedient not matter what the cost
I also believe that the principle of the Christian Sabbath comes to bear here. I know that this principle has virtually been ignored by so much of Christianity today, but I believe that setting aside a day to be Holy to the Lord is valid for Christians today. Again, the Christian Sabbath is part of our faith walk, with our believing that it is way to honor God and to trust in His blessings. Maybe I can further elaborate on another occasion.
Lastly, we need to see ourselves like the Israelites, as being completely dependent on the Lord for our sustenance. What an adventure for the Israelites to be totally dependent on the Lord day after day, year after year, for over forty years. What a remarkable testimony for the Lord’s faithfulness. I suggest that we should see the request in the Lord’s Prayer, “give us this day our daily bread” in light of this chapter. It is spiritually true, it is financially true. As we all walk through these challenging times we are becoming increasingly aware how dependant we are on God’s daily provision in all these areas.
Lee and I have been on a faith journey where we have experienced God’s financial manna sustaining us in a most remarkable way over the last 18 months. I can’t even explain how we have been sustained. All we know is that God’s manna has been out there every morning. His faithfulness - in His way, for His glory.
The manna principle is true for all of us, whether times are good or hard. We are dependent on receiving our Manna from Heaven, Jesus Christ. May we be faithful in collecting our daily manna, in living by faith, and in experiencing God’s blessings.
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