HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 437
EXODUS 16
page 67
springs and seventy palm trees. They camped
there beside the water.
Manna and Quail from Heaven
Then the whole community of Israel set
out from Elim and journeyed into the
wilderness of Sin,* between Elim and Mount
Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day
of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt.* 2 There, too, the whole
community of Israel complained about Moses
and Aaron.
3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in
Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around
pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we
wanted. But now you have brought us into this
wilderness to starve us all to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m
going to rain down food from heaven for you.
Each day the people can go out and pick up as
much food as they need for that day. I will test
them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they will
gather food, and when they prepare it, there
will be twice as much as usual.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people
of Israel, “By evening you will realize it was
the Lord who brought you out of the land of
Egypt. 7 In the morning you will see the glory
of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us.
What have we done that you should complain
about us?” 8 Then Moses added, “The Lord will
give you meat to eat in the evening and bread
to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard
all your complaints against him. What have
we done? Yes, your complaints are against the
Lord, not against us.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Announce this
to the entire community of Israel: ‘Present yourselves before the Lord, for he has heard your
complaining.’” 10 And as Aaron spoke to the
whole community of Israel, they looked out toward the wilderness. There they could see the
awesome glory of the Lord in the cloud.
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have
heard the Israelites’ complaints. Now tell them,
‘In the evening you will have meat to eat, and
in the morning you will have all the bread you
want. Then you will know that I am the Lord
your God.’”
13 That evening vast numbers of quail flew in
and covered the camp. And the next morning
the area around the camp was wet with dew.
14 When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance
as fine as frost blanketed the ground. 15 The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What
16
16:1a The geographical name Sin is related to Sinai and
should not be confused with the English word sin. 16:1b The
Exodus had occurred on the fifteenth day of the first month
(see Num 33:3). 16:16 Hebrew 1 omer [2.2 liters]; also in
16:32, 33. 16:18 Hebrew measured it with an omer.
is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea
what it was.
And Moses told them, “It is the food the Lord
has given you to eat. 16 These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as
much as it needs. Pick up two quarts* for each
person in your tent.”
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told.
Some gathered a lot, some only a little. 18 But
when they measured it out,* everyone had just
enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a
little had enough. Each family had just what it
needed.
19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any
of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t
• Stress
E XODU S 16:1-3
The Israelites didn’t really want to be
back in Egypt—after all, they had been
slaves there. They just wanted life to
be a little easier. In the pressure of the
moment, they could not see the cause
of their stress (in this case, lack of trust
in God). Instead they longed for a quick
escape and complained to each other
about their problems.
When pressure comes your way,
resist the temptation to look for an easy
way out or to complain to those around
you. Instead, focus on God’s power
and wisdom to help you deal with the
situation at hand.
• Provision
E XODU S 16:4-30
God’s provision came to the people
with clear instructions for gathering and
distributing the miraculous manna. Each
family was to collect just enough for
their daily needs. When, out of greed or
concern for the future, they tried to hoard
it, the manna spoiled, and they went
hungry.
God has supplied the earth with lavish
and abundant resources for food. Yet
much of the world is starving. What
instructions has God given us that affect
our own needs and the needs of others?
Consider how you could help meet
another’s need by reexamining your use
of the resources God has placed at your
disposal.