Review of Exodus 16

— by Victor Fawole

I welcome everyone to Exodus chapter 16 – a chapter that reveals the character of God as a Provider. I find it amusing that Pharaoh’s rebellion was met with God’s judgement, while each time the Israelites rebelled against Moses (and God), they enjoyed God’s deliverance and provision. Hmmmn… There’s a difference between how God deals with people in the “Chosen Chain” and people in the “Condemned Chain”. In fact, the children of Israel rebelled seven times before they put themselves under the law, yet God never chastised them. Instead, He responded with love and mercy. This chapter is a record of such.

Let’s review together:

1. ISRAEL’S GRIEVANCE

Exo. 16:2-3 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

The same people who complained about water in yesterday’s chapter are the ones complaining about food here. He that destroyed Pharaoh and his army for Israel’s deliverance, how shall He not FREELY give Israel food to eat? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also FREELY give us all things?

These guys complain at anything possible. When the food supplies they carried with them from Egypt finished, they responded with bitterness. A hungry man, they say, is an angry man. Their bitterness blinded their sight from seeing God’s bright future for them, and also clogged their memories from remembering God’s provision and protection in the past. At the root of their murmuring was a distrust towards God’s goodness. Like we see here, murmuring leads to false accusations.

Oh what damage bitterness does to the soul of a man! It is one of the ways believers invite Satan into their space. To learn more, listen to Pastor Dammy’s sermon titled: Not Ignorant Of The Devil’s Devices — Part 3

Notice their:

• Collective Cry:
  the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained

I can imagine that the grumbling began with a few people, and like every sin, it spread to the whole congregation. Grumbling is a communicable disease. And when we complain, our outward circumstances reveal the inward condition of our hearts. Any time there’s a collective cry, we have to discern whether it’s groaning or grumbling. Groaning is different from grumbling. Groaning gets the attention of God for preservation while grumbling gets the attention of Satan for partnership. Those who groan are focused on God for help, while those who grumble accuse God for their circumstances. Believers who complain all the time are just like the children of Israel. They have forgotten the great things God has done for them in salvation.

• Caustic Comments:
  Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt

The hand of God had destroyed the Egyptians. The hand of God had delivered Israel. And now, the hand of God is being blamed because it did not destroy Israel. What an irony! To even think that in yesterday’s chapter, these guys had just sung a classic hymn about God’s powerful hand, and now want to die by it… Those who grumble will easily crumble. And like Pastor Dammy loves to say, things don’t get plain for people who complain.

• Careless Comparison:
  when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full

Grumblers exaggerate how good life was when they were enslaved to sin. They don’t see the eternal benefits of trusting in God. These guys compared their present condition with the pots of meat and bread that they enjoyed in Egypt. Their memory of the past was about food. Oh, how carnal!

• Childish Craving:
  For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger

These guys literally said that they wished God had killed them in Egypt when they were FULL rather than in the wilderness when they were HUNGRY. Remember in Exo. 14:12, they preferred to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. And now they craved the food in Egypt. This sounds like they were addicted to Egypt. This is common with people who were addicted to a vice (especially sexual / substance abuse) before salvation. Some of them get instantaneous deleting of craving at salvation, while most of them go through a gradual process of editing of craving in sanctification. Although the Israelites crossed the Red Sea for real (legal, political, and spiritual freedom), they had not crossed mentally. You can get a man out of slavery, but you can’t get slavery out of the man quickly.

• Crushing Confusion:
  How often do we confuse what we want with what we need! This is often the source of our discontentment. We think that our greed is really our need. We exaggerate our past pleasures over our present pressures. We remember the “good old days” in sinful pleasures, when in reality, they were terrible days. For crying out loud, what was good about the days under Pharaoh?

2. GOD’S GENEROSITY

Exo. 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

This is God’s grace to the grumblers. He met their annoying grumbling with His amazing grace.

• The Source:
  the Lord gives you meat to eat…

God gave His people bread to show that He was their God. He had already proven to His enemies, drowning them and their chariots in the Red Sea. Now He is revealing His character as the Provider. He gave them meat (quail) as dinner and bread (manna) as breakfast. We must never lose sight of the truth that God is the One who provides for our needs.

• The Shining:
  they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

God responded to their grumbling by revealing His glory. Oh, how God loved the children of Israel! He revealed His glory in physical/material matters. When Jesus met a man who was born blind in John 9, He connected the man’s physical healing to the glory of God. Not just that, He used the healing to reveal His attribute as the Light of the world.

• The Sufficiency:
  Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

We see the sufficiency from God displayed here. It was a miracle of “no want, no waste”. God prospered and nourished them as much as they needed. Remember that God said that manna would serve as a test for the Israelites (Exo. 16:4). So, when Moses gave them the instruction from God not to hoard the bread, some of them disobeyed. They worried about the future. The future that was neither here nor theirs. The repeated emphasis on their satisfaction shows that God is not stingy with His resources. He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20). He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). And His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness (2Pet. 1:3).

• The Storing:
  ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness

This was a reminder to Israel and their future generations that God is the Provider that can be trusted. All through the 40 years they spent in the wilderness, they never slept hungry. They never had to worry about feeding the next day! This miracle must be memorialised. They were to fill an omer with manna for memorial (CEV says 2 litres, NIRV says 3 pounds). The memorial manna never became rotten nor grew foul. God ordained it to serve a holy purpose.

We should have a culture of journaling God’s great mercies, or else, we will forget His goodness. We have the tendency to forget His benefits (Psa. 103:2). If God could provide for 2 million people for 40 years, how much more can He take care of us today and meet our needs?

• The Symbol:
  “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” (John 6:41)

The manna points to Jesus Christ – the true Bread of Life. The manna that fell in the wilderness can be compared to Christ in some specific ways:

• Both manna and Christ have a heavenly origin. Manna fell from heaven (Exo. 16:4); Jesus came down from heaven.
• Both manna and Christ provide sustenance and nourishment. Manna sustained their physical life; Jesus provides eternal life through faith in Him.
• Both manna and Christ are needed everyday. Manna was collected daily, except on the Sabbath. This points to our daily dependence on Christ. We need to seek Him daily for spiritual sustenance, guidance, and strength.
• Both manna and Christ were mysterious to the Jews. The Jews asked “What is it?”, the same way they expressed the mystery of Christ’s divinity and His role as the Messiah.
• Both manna and Christ were sufficient provisions. There was enough manna for every person, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ is infinitely sufficient for all who believe. It was not a limited atonement! No one ever came hungry to Him — and found no bread. Amen.
• Both manna and Christ have to be received in humility. Each Jew was to bend down to gather the manna. Anyone who didn’t trust the provision did not get the satisfaction. Also, whoever would get life from Jesus must come down from their high horse of self-righteousness. Jesus satisfies the spiritual hunger of those who receive Him (John 6:35).
• Both manna and Christ were undeserved provisions. The Jews were undeserving grumblers. Likewise, Jesus died for undeserving sinners (Rom. 5:6-8).
• Both manna and Christ are indispensable. Without manna, the people would have perished. Anyone without Christ will perish (John 3:18).
• Both manna and Christ were free gifts from God. The Jews paid nothing for manna. Christ is God’s gift, coming to us without money and without a cost.

Dear Gogolights, let us rejoice in the provision of the Bread of Life that we have received in Christ. As He has said, we will never hunger and never thirst. And I pray for everyone, the Lord will satisfy the deepest needs and longings of our soul and body. We shall never be stranded in life in Jesus’ name. The Lord will indeed be your sufficiency. Amen.

Tag five people and tell them: I enjoy continuous satisfaction in Christ!

God bless you for reading. We will continue tomorrow.

Grace to you, Church!