Day 1119: Bread of heaven - Exodus 16 vs 11 - 20

11-12 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” 13-14 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. 15 And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

16 “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17-18 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

19-20 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Exodus 16:11-20 English Standard Version

Much of the meaning of the Old Testament can be found in the New. Apart from the prophecies which Christ fulfilled, there are words that were spoken which still apply to those living today. For example, Paul says that “it was written in the Law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.' Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the ploughman should plough in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.” (1 Corinthians 9:9-10)

The same is true of this incident where God provided bread for the people to eat. (vs 15) The quail were likely migratory birds which, after being weary from their flight, rested for the night. But the flake-like thing was something the Israelites had never seen before. The word 'Manna' is derived from the words for the Hebrew question “what is it?”

In the New Testament, some argued with Jesus, and said: “What sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus replied: “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” And He applied this by saying: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:31-36) Have we received this bread that God sent?

Paul also saw how words from the Old Testament could apply to his day when he was encouraging the Christians at Corinth to be willing to share with Christians at Jerusalem who were going through difficult times. He said: “If the readiness (to share) is there, it's acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I don't mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, 'Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.'” (2 Corinthians 8:12-15)

This can be true of Christ as well. Some Christians have a fuller understanding of His grace and goodness towards them. Other believers may not see this as clearly. Some are ready for solid food, others are still at the milk stage. But wherever we are, we will find that Christ is more than sufficient for us, and fills our deepest need. As an old hymn says: 'Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more'.

God willing, we will look at vs 19-20 in our next study from Exodus.