Manna From Heaven
Exodus 16
In Exodus 16, I began my teaching by reflecting on the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness. I find it fascinating how quickly they forgot God’s past provisions. God has been so faithful to them. Despite witnessing amazing deliverance and overwhelming miracles, they still longed for the predictability of Egypt, which was as harsh as it was. Isn’t the same thing often true for us today? There is an ongoing between the flesh and the spirit…. spiritual warfare. This struggle is a universal experience for believers. When we are faced with various temptations and cravings, we often long to cling to the familiar and can quickly forget the faithfulness of God. We regularly have selective memory, where we overlook the pain and suffering of our past and remember it better than it was.
We must trust that God is in control, even when the path ahead is unclear. Friends, God’s path is often unpredictable, but He is always faithful. What is displayed in Exodus 16 is no different. Despite the Israelites’ doubt and murmuring, God met them there and responded with grace. He provided for their daily need…. Quail and Manna! Rely on God for your daily needs, seeking His guidance and provision rather than relying on your own understanding. Instead of complaining, let’s cultivate a heart of gratitude for God’s continuous provision and care.
I see eight things about Manna that are so good to know:
- Manna was supernaturally given. Even as the Word of God is not from man but from God, it’s inspired by Him.
- Manna had to be eaten, not admired. They didn’t pick it up and look at it; they consumed it. God’s Word isn’t meant to be admired but to be devoured and consumed.
- Manna was gathered every day. What was taken today wasn’t for tomorrow, just as God’s Word needs to be taken in daily.
- Manna was taken in by hard work. Studying God’s Word and applying it to our lives requires work. It takes our effort and time.
- Manna was gathered in the morning. God’s word is great to take in before you begin your day. We are seeking first the kingdom!
- Manna was gathered by bending down. It wasn’t taken off trees, but by being on their knees. Humility is a great place for us.
- Manna confused the natural man. The mixed multitude didn’t understand it, just as the Word is only understood through the Spirit.
- Manna was despised by the mixed multitude. Some people come to church, own a Bible, and even sing along, but God’s Word means nothing to them.
Manna wasn’t just physical sustenance; it symbolized Jesus, the true bread from Heaven. It’s a powerful metaphor for our salvation. Just as God’s provision was daily and sufficient, Jesus’ sacrifice for us was complete. He is all we need!
This section of scripture once again demonstrates the importance of obedience. God commanded the Israelites to gather manna daily and rest on the Sabbath. When the Israelites disobeyed, the manna stank and was riddled with worms. The same is true for us. Disobedience brings a stench into our lives and ruins things. Equally important, we must rest. If we want to remain effective, we need a rest from the world and allow God to refresh us with His Word. Guard your time with the Lord and prioritize it in your life.
We need to learn to embrace the Gospel in our suffering. Our personal trials can deepen our faith and extend our reach, and we can begin to encourage others with the comfort we have received from the Lord. Whether it’s a health diagnosis or day-to-day struggles, these experiences make us empathetic and resilient. Hold fast to the power of the Gospel in your everyday life, encouraging others through our stories and God’s unending faithfulness.
As we navigate our own wilderness experiences, let us remember the lessons from Exodus 16. Trust in God’s faithfulness, embrace the unpredictability of faith and rely on Him for our daily needs. By doing so, we can grow in our relationship with God, deepen our faith, and become examples of His love and provision to those around us.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Amen. Open your Bibles with you at Exodus chapter 16. I’ve entitled our Bible study “Manna from Heaven.” It’s such a great chapter here in Exodus 16. And while you’re turning to Exodus 16, I’ll remind you of Galatians 5:17. Paul would write to the churches in the Galatian region, he would say, “for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things which you wish.” Has anybody lived that out today? Can I get an Amen? The flesh lusts against the Spirit; the Spirit against the flesh.
By now you know that there’s an ongoing battle in your life between the spirit side, God living in you, and your old nature. Or like one brother defined our flesh as your “old sinful habit patterns” – what comes naturally, unrestrained by the Spirit. There’s a battle going on. We call it spiritual warfare, and we use that phrase so often that we may neglect to even wake up thinking about putting on our spiritual armor, in Ephesians 6, there’s an intense fighting going on. And there in Galatians 5, the word lusts literally means “to turn upon,” or “to turn against.” Or, the lust, how we commonly think of lust, “to deeply desire.” And your flesh has deep desires that are contrary to the desires of God for your life. The chapter before us in here in chapter 16 of Exodus, we see this battle lived out in real time. The intense cravings, normal cravings, quite frankly, the cravings of hunger; after the children of Israel just had these cravings of thirst. And if left unrestrained, these internal cravings, even things that might even start good, will lead us away from God’s best in our lives.
They’re not only dealing with thirst in the wilderness, they’re also now dealing with hunger. And we left off in chapter 15 with victory over the waters of Mara. We learned, didn’t we, that the antidote, or the healing balm, for bitterness in your life is the cross. The forgiveness of sin – God’s work of forgiveness in us. Now forgiveness releases us, gets us through the waters of Mara, Into the palm deserts of Elim. The shade and the fresh wells, the soothing place of refreshment and rest, but it doesn’t last that long. Notice in verse one, Now, “they journeyed from Elim.” Can’t stay there forever – you got to go back into real life.
“And all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin,” now we say sin because it’s spelled that way, but it’s really seen, “which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel,” say it with me, murmured or, “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.’”
It doesn’t take long, does it? Victory! Victory! Defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat. Victory! Defeat, defeat, defeat. Don’t you remember the fresh water? Don’t you remember the palm trees? Don’t you remember the wells of fresh water? And, so quickly, hunger takes over. They’ve been moving together for about a month-and-a-half or so, and it’s significant. We read it in an air-conditioned room with Bibles on our laps. But this is a pretty significant movement away from all the trauma and the stress and the fear. And their thirst is real. Their hunger is real. These are not, like, idle things that perhaps we haven’t experienced in such a long time. This is real; the desert’s hot. If you ever go to Israel with us, and we head out in the time of the year where it’s super hot in the desert, I mean, you could tell the difference between the area of the Galilee and out in the wilderness – it’s super hot and you get really sweaty and you get hangry and it gets frustrating. Certainly, that’s where they are.
They come to this wilderness area that’s known as “thorns and clay,” if you look up the word. And it’s here in the place of thorns and clay that they again begin to complain. Now, as bad as it was, and it was very bad, in their life of slavery in Egypt, there were a few things that they could look forward to – one was predictability. They knew what their day would be like. They knew where their food was coming from. They knew where they would sleep or rest if they were able to do that. Their life was relatively predictable. As much as it wasn’t desirable, and it wasn’t what they desired, because they cried out to God for a deliverer. They certainly didn’t want that way. But their life of faith now – they’ve gone from a life of slavery to a life of faith. The life of faith, as you all know, is unpredictable. You don’t know what a day will bring. If you prefer to have a predictable life, and you like your schedule and your calendars and you like to plan ahead, then that’s a constant battle between your spirit and the flesh, where you are leaning on your schedule, leaning on your day, leaning on your plans, when the Lord is saying, “No, I want you to lean on Me. I want you to trust Me. I want you to seek Me first, and all these other things will be added onto you” (Matt 6:33).
The predictability of having food and fresh water was gone, as they didn’t know where they would be next. And as their food is running low and hunger was beginning to take over their body, their carnality, the humanity, their carnal nature begins to react and they complain. And in their carnality, and in their flesh, and in their hunger, and in their frustration – they forgot. They had a selective memory. And they forgot the pain, and the sorrow, and the hardship, and the emptiness, and the anguish, and the depression, and all the other reasons why they cried out to God in the first place. Friends, let me just remind you that in times of crisis and pressure, this is a familiar response, even in believers. When times get tough and times get hard and they’re unpredictable, it’s easy to forget the faithfulness of God in your own life. It’s actually quite predictable that you begin to forget God’s faithfulness in the past and His faithfulness in the present, which drowns out your belief and your faith in God’s faithfulness in the future. In times of crisis and pressure, we just don’t think spiritually. We begin to think practically.
For example, very simply, “I’m hungry, where will I get my next meal?” Rarely, and you have to look at it in your own life, I’m sure there’s one person in here that would disagree, but rarely when you’re hungry do you say, “Lord, would you just please lead me to where You want me to go eat today?” Instead you’re thinking, well, I had this yesterday, and I had this yesterday, and I brought something from it from home.” And you’re automatically thinking how you’re going to satisfy your flesh. It’s immediate. You’re already looking to, “Hey, I’m hungry – I know there’s provision; I’m not going to seek God on that provision because I already know I have it.” And if you don’t have it, or it’s a time of difficulty, then your flesh rises up. And there is that phrase today, as I used already, there is that phrase that’s used to describe the person that is hungry and angry at the same time: they say you’re “hangry.” The Bible says you’re “in the flesh.” It sounds a lot more attractive. Well, “You know, I’m just hangry.” No, you’re like a carnal, fleshly person right now. Calm down. Get back into the Spirit. Now that works really well when you use that, don’t you? It’s like, gets him right back in the Spirit right away. But it’s so often that we replace biblical words with more attractive words to describe exactly what’s happening. You’re getting hungry and it’s affecting you, and we’re suffering as a result.
There’s that hunger and then there’s that difficulty, like, you know, when we we’re under pressure, it’s easy for our flesh to rise up. And we complain, and we grumble, and we moan…the flesh starts to take over things. You know, that we start to take things into our own hands. To try to get out from under the pressure, get out from under the situation. Couples begin to fight. Singles begin to compromise. Kids begin to rebel. Christians begin to what we would call “flesh out,” instead of walking in the Spirit. And here in verse three, this is what’s happening with the nation, or at least a few with the nation. They’re hungry. They’re hungry, they lose it, and they begin to complain about it. They begin to complain about not being in Egypt anymore. Imagine that…they begin to complain about not being…and then accuse Moses in his obedience to God. Accuse Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to murder them. That’s what deliverance, their deliverance, has become. This is the same people that God’s already shown himself, faithful, same people, that the waters of Mara were dealt with, same people that God gave them Elim same people that are just a few days later, now they’re accusing the deliverance that they experienced.
They walked over on dry ground. They watched the Egyptians get buried in the waters. The waters came and drown in the waters. They’re the ones moving forward. And what has been, what is, the greatest spiritual event that’s used so many times in the scriptures to remind the children of Israel, and us, of God’s faithfulness? What have they reduced it to? An accusation against Moses that he brought them out to kill them in the wilderness. “It would have been better if we died.” Notice what he says, “if we would have died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt,” when we had all that food! The pots of meat, and we ate bread to the full, you’ve brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly. With hunger they begin to miss their slavery and their pots of meat, beginning to not like their lives. Why? Because they’re hungry. Hunger may not be the place where the flesh rises up in your life, but I assure you, there’s more than a few “flesh points,” in your life.
You know how they say you have pain points? Pressure points? You also have flesh points. And perhaps it’s not hunger. Maybe food’s not a big deal for you. But I promise you, there’s something that’s a big deal to you. There is something that is used that when things are discomforted, it changes you as you lose the battle of the flesh, lusting against the Spirit. Now, in this case, we have a little bit of insight in the book of Numbers of what’s happening behind the scenes. Would you turn over to Numbers chapter 11? Because it’s not merely the hunger among the children of Israel, notice, turn over just a few pages to the right in Numbers chapter 11. We gain insight of who’s instigating this, or at least partially, where it says in Numbers 11:4,
Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving, so that the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; and now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
What was the catalyst, or partial catalyst, of this besides hunger? It was this mixed multitude. Those that came out with them, like we would call them “hanger-ons,” you know, they were hanging on. And they weren’t real followers of God. They were Egyptians – mixed multitude. They wanted the blessings of God, but not the boundaries of God. They wanted to be around the people of God. What would we call them today? We probably would call them backsliders. If we were referring to them, we’d probably call them lukewarm Christians. We would probably call them fake Christians. Perhaps people that want the environment – they kind of want the morality, but they don’t want the commitment, or the sacrifice, or the obedience, or a whole host of other things in following God. You could say that they were a bunch of “spiritual freeloaders,” taking advantage of the faithfulness of others. But notice, in Numbers 11. they influence the children of Israel. Which is another warning for us today, when we’re battling in the flesh, and the warning is this: when we listen to ungodly counsel, it will lead us to an ungodly decision. You might want to jot that one down.
When you listen to ungodly counsel, it will lead us to an ungodly decision. Or the Bible would say, “don’t be deceived, evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Cor 15:33). Bad counsel, bad decisions. And one of the worst pieces of counsel that you will ever receive, or ever think, or ever build up in your mind is this: that your life apart from Christ in the world was better than your current difficulty today. When you’re facing whatever you’re facing, you know, “when I was in the world, I didn’t face these kind of things.” No, you faced worse kind of things, actually, because everything you faced was apart from God. On top of everything you faced in the world apart from God, you were also an enemy of God. And there’s nothing back there for us. I mean, really, was your life in the world really that good? Was your life in the world really without those problems?
I mean, in the world you were without God; you were apart from Him; you had no hope, no future; you were buried under the weight of your sins; your guilt plagued you; you couldn’t get a night’s sleep; you were frustrated; everybody around you was frustrated. Was it really that good? Some of you: in and out of jail. Some of you: couldn’t stay sober for a day. Some of you: couldn’t wait for your next fix. Was it really that good? Some of you: every relationship you had was broken; people were avoiding you. Was it really that good?
You see, like the children of Israel, we are in this process of change. We’re in this process of maturity. And one of the tools that God uses in our lives to grow us up is “testings,” like allowing a little hunger into our lives, or a taste of bitterness here and there. As we learned last time, every one of us has a Mara or two in our lives. Every one of us have been brought to a place where we thought it was one thing, but it’s another. And God with the children of Israel didn’t give them all their tests at one time. Isn’t that true for us? He doesn’t give us all our tests at one time. “Little by little,” He would tell the children, I’m going to drive the enemy out before you (Exodus 23:30, Deut 7:22). But little by little, you and I were not able to. We’re not able to handle it all at once. And this life of maturity is really the question when we think of tests and a little hunger, a little thirst, a little bill that needs to be paid. A situation with one of your kids, a significant health thing that doesn’t go, like…what do you what do you hear from Heaven except that God says, “Do you trust me?” And our answer is, “Yeah, but.” And then we fill in the blanks. And then, “do you trust me?” It says, “Yeah, but will you rely upon me?” “Yes, but….” And God is so gracious to us. He allows us to express ourselves and share all of our concerns. As a matter of fact, He tells us, “cast your cares upon the Lord because He cares for you.” And with each little victory, it may be imperceptible, but those around you can see. You may not be able to see it, but those around you can see. All these little imperceptible victories in your life have made you a stronger woman and a stronger man.
Some people look at your life, I know this is hard for some of you to believe, but some people look at your life and they see you as a hero of the faith. You’re a hero of the faith to them, that’s what your life demonstrates. And you’re, like, you go home and look in the mirror, “a hero in the faith?” Yeah. Because each time that question’s been asked of you, you say “Yes, but….” And you move forward. And every time that question has been asked, if you say “Yes, but…” and you move forward and all those little steps, they make progress. And here you are as it is this day, an example of God’s faithfulness. And to so many, you’re a hero of the faith. And you’re like, “No, nobody’s emailing me, calling me a hero of the faith, nobody’s calling me….” No. You know what they’re doing? They’re praying for you. They’re talking to God about you; appreciating you. You’re getting them through a day. You’re getting them through a moment. Right now there’s people thinking about this, listen, there’s people thinking about quitting and God is bringing you to mind – and they choose not to quit tonight because of the demonstration of your faith.
Now, right now, I know there’s a battle right now between the Spirit and the flesh. Because some of you, you have such a sensitive conscience, all you can think about is all your failures. And you’re just like, “No, no, you know…no I’m not as…no, don’t call me a hero…don’t let….” And you’re like, “no, no, don’t take it out of God’s hands; God is at work in your life.” And there are people thinking about going back to Egypt. And you’re the one in your life is the one that’s saying, “Nah, they didn’t go back to Egypt. I know their story. I’m not going back to Egypt. I’m going to keep going forward.”
Notice what God does, come back to Exodus 16, notice what God does with this. You got to love the grace of God here. Then the Lord said to Moses…wipe them out?
Look at his response to complaining and murmuring,
“Behold, I’ll rain bread from Heaven for you. And the people should go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them, whether they’ll walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” And then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your murmurings against the Lord.”
“But what we are that,” what?
But what are we that you murmur against us? Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your murmurings, which you make against him. And what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”
And what a sight the glory of the Lord must have been! In response to the complaints, God appears to them, and He provides for them. And notice, verse 11, you know, as you jump ahead, “and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.’” I have heard. In God’s answer to the complaints of the people, He met their needs. He gives them bread and gives them a test – a test of today. Just as I was speaking about maturity and growth, the tests come today. We’re not worried about the test tomorrow, or next week, or next year. The test comes today. And the test for them is that God will provide bread from Heaven, and they’re to get it daily, except on the sixth day, when then they were to get double so they could provide for the day of rest. There was going to be no savings account for them to rely upon. We think about living this way at the direction of God. Even just in food alone, “you will go and get your daily food and you won’t be able to store any in the freezer.” You can sell your freezer. And you can sell your refrigerator. And you can sell the other freezer in the garage. And you can get rid of your Costco memberships. And you just you’re going to get food…just…and you don’t even need to worry about choices. You get one choice. It’s going to be the best. It’s God’s choice. But no, you are…our whole way of life will be transformed. And then you can’t save any!
No savings account. What if it wasn’t food? What if it was money? Day by day. No savings. You go out and you get the money you need for today. That’s it. Just today. Yeah, “but you don’t understand, we got rent in 30 days.” No, you need to get today; just today. No savings. It’s so contrary to our way of life and how much God has blessed us. But here they are, they’re being tested in this unique way. And Moses just wants them to know that God’s going to take care of them, and he wants them to understand that their murmuring and complaining is not against him, but against God. And you think about all the things that we complain about, and all the things we’re upset about, and we’re upset about the will of God in our lives. And so Moses, he gives them that. God is not going to withhold anything. He’s just speaking the reality. It’s a test. It’s growth. It’s maturity. And so he says in verse nine,
Moses spoke to Aaron, say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, “Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your murmurings.” Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘at twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let everyone gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’” And the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack.
I love that. “Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. And Moses said, ‘Let no one leave any of it till morning.’” The glory of the Lord comes, even in the glory God says, “I’ve heard their complaints,” I’m sending help. And God comes through with this bread which we know is manna. Manna – the word means, “what is it?” That’s what they’re saying right here. We’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s nothing like we’re used to. And in their hunger, and in their need, and in their complaint, even God comes through and provides. He’s so faithful to us. Everyone gathered. If you needed a lot, you got a lot. If you need it a little, you got a little and everyone had what they needed. Notice now in verse 19, Moses gave the instruction, “don’t let anyone leave it till morning. Notwithstanding, they did not heed Moses, but some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was very angry with them.” Now look who’s in the flesh! And a careful study in the life of Moses as a leader will yield to you a revelation: that one of the problems that Moses dealt with his whole life was anger. It’s what gets him in trouble at the end of his life, getting angry at the people that God loves that he doesn’t enter into the Promised Land.
And we’ve stood there. We used to go on that side in Jordan, and we stood there on Mount Nebo, overlooking the Promised Land, in a similar place where Moses saw the Promised Land and never got to go in. Although God is gracious, he does end up going in – in the new covenant (Matt 17:13). And the Lord brings them in, so beautiful to have that personal gathering there with Jesus, because God is so gracious to us. It was a very simple instruction, wasn’t it, in verse 19, “don’t leave any till morning.” It’s just what you need today. That was the instruction. Very simple. Sometimes the simplest things are hardest to follow. They didn’t listen, so the worms came in; it stank. And this is what disobedience does. This is what we beg our kids to understand. This is what pastors around the country, around the world, beg their congregations to understand. This is in our own personal walks what we’re trying to understand and wanting to understand. Disobedience will bring corruption.
It will make everything…it will ruin everything. It will make you and your life stink. It will open up doors to evil and sin in the simplest of disobedience. The manna was a gift from God even in the midst of difficult response. It was to be gathered in the morning. It was to be consumed. And then God was to be looked to in the morning for His provision. It was designed to get their eyes back on him and off of their circumstances. And I want you to notice that manna, it was to be a personal experience. It was to be personal. They were to go gather it. Those that went out to gather, they would gather for their home, but they would gather unto the Lord. They’d bring it back into their home and they would declare, “Where did that come from? The Lord gave it to us. It’s God’s provision.” And you can anticipate the relational aspect of all the families talking about the faithfulness of God. And it’s too often that our sin and the difficulties and all our trials that gets so much attention in our homes and in our families when the Lord is training us to look for Him and His faithfulness.
Let me show you something in our final moments. We’ll see how far we can get. Go over to John 6. I want to show you a few things before we head out besides the rest of the chapter. But notice in John 6, this whole scene, a true story, is used by Jesus later on in his ministry. He refers to this and uses it as a spiritual analogy to Himself. Notice with me John 6:32, “Then Jesus said to them, ‘most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from Heaven.’” Which, we know that, what is the bread from Heaven? Manna. “’But my Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said, ‘I AM the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst.’”
Jesus prefigured by manna. Manna being, “nothing else can satisfy you.” Nothing, no one else can satisfy you. I mean, you can get just the right car, just the right model, just the right accessories. And then one scratch –and it’s over. You finally save up for whatever it is you’re saving up for – maybe the brand new phone. And, you know, they’ve got three more versions all ready to release; holding out on you. And you’re like, “Oh man!” And you’re trying to gain satisfaction. You work so hard, you work so hard, you work so hard, you finally get the position that you’ve always wanted, the salary. The salary…those of you over the years that have noticed your salary increasing and you say, “yes and amen,” but then you got to read all the fine print because when your salary increases, so do your taxes. And you’re like, what is this? I know you can work 30 years for a goal. And come to find out, it wasn’t what you wanted after all. It didn’t satisfy. The more you make, the more they take. The more you make, the more you want. Now, certainly it’s a blessing. And it’s a beautiful to have raises and to grow in that and everything, but, what? “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt 6:33). You won’t regret that; ever.
It wasn’t too long ago where I was closing out the probate for my parents, and I watched my parents live this way their whole life, and I never agreed with them, but they didn’t care. They were “week-to-week people,” not quite day-to-day, but they lived week-to-week. And I don’t know what age I was, I was older, probably in junior high or high school, by the time they got a bank account. They were cash, man. And I knew where they hid it, which got me into some trouble, but that’s how they lived. And so at the end of their life, they had just a little bit left over. And each one of them… especially my dad…I remember there was a dispute within the estate situation I had to take care of, it took me two years. It was really rough. And there was one part of it that I was just going to “fight for my parents,” man, because they worked so hard. And I was going to fight for this, and I felt like the Lord was reminding me of my dad. And my dad would say, if he was sitting there at that time, “OK, this is how I want you to settle this, son – just give it to them.” I could hear his voice and he would say, “because I signed…that’s the agreement I made. I signed that. Exactly what they’re asking for is exactly what I signed up for.”
And then, of course, I would argue with my dad, even though he wasn’t there, “But it’s not fair! It’s not fair! I’m going to prove a point!” But we ended up letting it go because my role in settling our estate was to honor my parents by honoring the Lord. And I know if my dad signed the paper, it was right there in front of me. And so I had the privilege, as hard as it was for me personally to carry out his wishes and just to move on. Listen, there’s nothing in this world that will satisfy you – only the bread that comes down from Heaven, the true bread of life. Even as believers, we can get right back on that treadmill in this world as believers, which leads to, like, a double frustration because we weren’t satisfied before, and now we’ve received the bread from Heaven but now we’re not following even the simplest of commands, “don’t leave any for tomorrow.” No, no, no, “we got to leave….”
Some, like some of you, are just like straight-up savers. You know who you are. You’re like, well, “just a little bit?” No. “I mean, just a little…?” No, because it’s going to stink up everything. It’s going to lead to more difficulty in your life. Just gather enough. Notice what he says here. Come back to the text in verse 21,
So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted. And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’” So they laid it up until morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.
Why? Because they were obedient! Disobedient – brought the worms and the stink; obedience – exactly where they belong. And, “then Moses said, ‘Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.’” Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather.”
Isn’t that the way it always is? And it came to pass some people did not obey. They’re going to…God is bringing tests in their life to bring maturity, and what do we do? We’re going to test God! And just see, ”just a little bit….” And it says they went out; “they found none.”
And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called its name Manna. It was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘fill an omer with it to be kept by your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.”
You know, basically, if you like to write in your Bibles next to these verses, you could just write, “Don’t forget the faithfulness of God.” And set things up to remind you of the faithfulness of God. Because you’re going to get hungry again, and you’re going to get thirsty again, and you’re going to have a provocation of your flesh again. You’re going to worry again; you’re going to fear again; you’re going to misinterpret something again. The flesh is always lusting against the Spirit, and these reminders help to bring the level down so that faith can be activated once again. That’s what my office is filled with. Every time I look up, there’s a little thing that reminds me. There’s so much – I have to keep recycling them. Little gifts that people give, or a little rock I brought back from Israel, or a little communion cup of a special time that the Lord has met me. They’re, like, these memories. They’re so needed because life takes over and difficulties take over, he says. Make sure you set this up. Don’t forget this. And you would imagine, well, but they’re getting it every morning. How would they forget it? Well, when you get something every day, and twice on the sixth day, you begin to take it for granted. And you don’t remember the faithfulness of God, you begin to expect it. You begin to be upset if you don’t get it. The flesh lusts against the Spirit.
If you want to study more on this, in Deuteronomy 8, we read more about this manna. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard of – angels’ food – or whatever it was. God created it with just the right ingredients to sustain the nation nutritionally, practically, and spiritually – everything that they needed. And we don’t have time to develop it here, because I have a couple points left still, but notice the Sabbath rest is in the heart of God. It began in the Garden of Eden in creation, but it’s pre-Law, the idea of rest and honoring the Lord; this rhythm of rest. You guys cannot continue to work seven days a week. And I’m speaking to you, church. I’m speaking to everyone listening on the radio. You cannot keep up the pace that you are right now, you are meant to rest. The word of the Lord is for you to? Rest! At the very minimum, a 6-to-1 ratio, but if you can take advantage of a 5-to-2 ratio, rest! If you can go to bed early? Rest! If you can turn the TV off? Rest! If you can put the phone down? Rest! Rest! Rest! Do you get it yet? Rest!
Rest by faith in the Lord. You can’t go seven days worrying about that. You’ve got to rest in the Lord. He is your rest. You can’t go seven days a week running on that kind of energy, freaking out in anxiety, you need to rest. Open up your Bible. Begin to read it. You’ll hear the voice of the Lord. You’ll begin to pray. And as you present yourself to the Lord, you’re going to see Him lead you and guide you by His Spirit. Like, for example, if you really were wrestling with something right now, your deep, deep anxiety, you begin to pray the Lord would lead you to think of someone else that deals with anxiety and then prompt you to reach out to them. So for a few moments of time, God says, “I don’t want you to worry about yours, I want you to reach out to this brother, or this sister. I want you to minister to them, because it’s in ministering to them, and in your faithfulness, that I’m going to relieve their anxiety. And look, for the last half hour, you haven’t said anything about yours. Because you’re encouraging someone in the faithfulness of God. And haven’t you found this to be true – when you’re encouraging someone in the faithfulness of God, guess who’s also being encouraged? You! And me. That’s such a beautiful gift from God.
God gives His perfect provision in manna, and it’s just like the Lord – just what we need when we need it. Just like the Word of God. Now, I know that some of you that are new to the Bible, the Bible doesn’t make much sense yet, and it’s hard to read in Genesis, then you get to Exodus, Leviticus, like, you’re just like, “Oh, forget about it.” And then you go over to the New Testament and you’re like, “I don’t know, Matthew’s kind of hard; and Mark; and I don’t know what they’re talking about?” And there’s so much difficulty in it. But listen, this is the perfect provision for every issue in your life – the Word of God. This is the perfect provision. And although it’s hard now, it won’t be hard forever. And while it’s challenging now, it won’t be challenging forever. But it will be very hard and challenging if this book isn’t something regularly digested – like manna.
Daily, fresh manna. Taking in daily, day after day, there is no “day of rest,” from the Word of God. That’s why it’s different from manna. You can take it in multiple times a day. It always comes to you fresh. The Lord has a fresh word. All you need to do is take it in, and take it in, and take it in. You don’t have to read it like a student! You don’t have to read it to understand every English word, every Hebrew word, every Greek word! Just take it in, take it in – and allow the manna of God to sustain you. If you’re taking notes, let me give you seven ways that manna can be compared to the Word of God. I thought this was great. I don’t know where I got it, I didn’t do it myself. I got it from someone. I love it!
#1 – Manna was supernaturally given, even as the Word of God is not from man but from God. It is God’s Word. It is alive and powerful!
#2 – Manna had to be eaten, not admired. I like that they didn’t pick it up and look at it and go, oh, look at my pretty manna here. Look at this is so great. No, they consumed it. They needed it. They wanted it. God’s word isn’t meant to be admired either, but to be devoured and consumed. Can I get an “amen” on that? Please take me up on it, church. The Lord will honor His word. It will not return to you void. But it’s not just to be admired. So you can have a nice, you know, fancy Bible that looks good on the shelf. Take it in. Take it in.
#3 – Manna was to be gathered every day. What was taken in today wasn’t for tomorrow. Even so, just as God’s Word needs to be taken in; it’s our daily source, our moment by moment source of wisdom.
#4 – Manna was to be taken in with hard work. It required effort to go out and gather the manna, and studying God’s Word and applying it to our lives requires work, and effort, and time.
#5 – Manna was gathered in the morning and I find it to be a great resource, God’s word, is great to take in before you start the day. It doesn’t have to be exclusive, but if we’re going to follow the pattern of manna, taking in the Word of God in the morning before you leave, before you head out. So valuable, so beautiful.
#6 – Manna was to be gathered by bending down. I thought that was great bending down. It wasn’t take,n “off the trees,” but by being, “on their knees,” it reminds us of how the Word of God is to be taken in with a humble heart, a heart of reception.
#7 – Manna confused the natural man. Manna confused. The mixed multitude didn’t understand it. Just as the Word of God is only understood through the Spirit.
And then finally,
#8 – Manna was despised by the mixed multitude. There are people who come to church. They own a Bible. They sing. But God’s Word means nothing to them. But remember what the psalmist said? Psalm 119, verse 50. He said, “This is my comfort in my affliction, for your Word has given me life. Your Word has comforted me.”
Let me give you another list, and then one final thing on spiritual warfare. Manna is a deeper picture and type of Jesus. I have four things for you to consider when it comes to manna and Jesus:
#1 – Just as manna descended from Heaven, so Jesus came down from Heaven to us, the Living Bread.
#2 – just as manna was physically nourishing to Israel, so Jesus spiritually nourishes us.
#3 – Just as manna cannot be hoarded, so Jesus ministers to us His Word daily, moment by moment as we come to Him.
#4 – just as manna filled their stomachs and gave them rest. So Jesus said, “Come to me, who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest…rest for your souls” (Matt 11:28-29). Manna was God’s gift.
I’ll give you another one – manna was God’s gift to the children of Israel in their rebellion. Even as Jesus is God’s gift to humanity in their rebellion against God. At the end, here they were to gather it, save it, declare it. They were to remember God’s faithfulness, even if briefly, they also had to remember their failure. See, we have the ratios all wrong. The Bible says, “there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ” (Romans 8:1). But it seems like so many today they spend 90% of their life in the realm of condemnation, and 10% in the realm of forgiveness. But it should be flipped around. 99% of our time should be focused on the faithfulness of God, the faithfulness of his forgiveness, even as his forgiveness does remind us of what we’ve been forgiven of…the focus should be Him and not ourselves. And we have to learn how to fight. It’s important, church, that you learn how to fight; not only the enemy of our souls from without, but also the enemy from within – the flesh.
In the battle there are victories; there’s defeats. God allows us to feel a certain amount of pain and a certain measure of difficulty, for sure. You will, and I will, never go, you know, go to the measure of pain that Jesus felt on our behalf, the suffering He had on the cross for us. God has limited what we will experience. We will not experience the fullness of what Jesus experienced for us. Therefore, we’re limited in the pain that we will experience because He knows you. Each one of you is different. You have your own cup of suffering that you will face. It’s been measured by the Lord and He wants you to feel enough pain, church, so that you’ll empathize with the pain that’s in this world, with the trauma that people have gone through. He wants you to identify with Jesus, who suffered, so that you might be able to identify with those who are suffering. And in your suffering your confidence is deepened. Your faith is deep in. Your roots go down deeper. We were talking not too long about the roots of bitterness, but you know your roots of faith go far deeper than that. And even the pain that you walk into the room with.
I received a text message today from a friend of mine. We’ve been praying about his cancer diagnosis because he’s a pastor friend of mine and brings a lot of encouragement into my life. But on one of the check-ins not too long ago, he let me know that they found a melanoma on his head. And he wears hats all the time, so they were very concerned that they would find it later, because they didn’t see it for so long. And today, the techs came in with the results, because he had surgery. They had to cut open the top of his head and then leave it exposed while they do the biopsies. And so he’s laying in bed, I mean, I didn’t even conceive of that yesterday, because I was checking in on him, and it didn’t hit me that he was answering me with a hole in his head.
I mean, I’ve always known he’s had a “hole in his head,” but now he has a literal hole in his head. And he was just texting me back, giving me the update, like, “Hey bro, I’m with you, man; I wish I was in the hospital with you; I just can’t be there right now.” And the test came back today positive and negative. He got some really, really good news about the cancer, and the type of cancer, and the treatment that’s going to come. But some difficult news that it spread; and they don’t know yet to what degree. And that’s life, isn’t it? It’s life. And so we stand with him. We pray with him. We pray for him. I hope to be with him in a couple of months, and I’ll be there myself on behalf of my family, on behalf of our church family who loves him very much.
This is life.
This is where the Gospel lives. This is the power of the Gospel. Even among us as believers, we need to be reminded of the faithfulness of God. Take that pot of manna out! Maybe that pot of manna for you is your salvation. I was talking to a mom – I think it was a mom – I can’t remember exactly. We’re talking about her backsliding – it was a mom. It was a backslidden kid. And after she was sharing all the things, just to be able to look her in an eye, and go, “I was your kid. Let me build faith for you, because I was your kid. Everything you described, I was worse, if you can imagine that. And what did God do? He reached someone that was unreachable.” Saul of Tarsus was that kid. Except he was religious on top of it.
Listen, church, the Gospel was meant to be lived out…it was meant to be…it was meant to have your roots go down deeper to another level you’ never gone before; to reach another group of people you would have never reached before; to take the Gospel into the unknown. I know we think of the mission field, and it is, believe me, we are 100% all on board for taking the Gospel where it hasn’t gone before. We want to go. We want to support ministries. Yes. But do you know there are many, many places, through your pain and suffering, you will take the Gospel where it hasn’t gone that way before? Because you haven’t been there before with the pain that you’re carrying, and the victories that you have, and the fears you deal with, and the manna that you take in. And remember, they were to get it for their house so they could take it for those in their house. And God is broadening your house by bringing people: a new person at work, or a new diagnosis, or a new difficulty, or a new hospital bed.
How can we not think of Marilyn when we think of this? Of all the years we walked with that sister. I mean, there are hundreds of people that have heard the Gospel because of Marilyn. You know that, right? I mean, she’s the real deal. And if you don’t know Marilyn, she sits right up here behind Bianca. As loud as loud can be – bbecause that’s how God made her – a beacon of light. Who now in her life has been diagnosed as cancer-free. Isn’t that great? The Lord is so good with her!
It’s all a part of God’s plan, church. Manna. Sufficient. All that we need. Jesus is the bread of life. You think manna is great? “I’d love to see manna. I’m going to wake up early and check the backyard tomorrow.” No, no, no. You got something better than manna. You have something better than a burning bush. You have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the new covenant of the blood of Jesus Christ that has forgiven you of all of your sins. He’s promised never to leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). What he’s begun in you, He is faithful to complete it (Phil 1:6). You can trust Him no matter what. Amen?
Lord, thank You for this little insight on manna. And I know that we could go in a lot of different directions, but we receive what You have for us tonight. And there is just that need of provision where story, after story, after story of real-life people struggling, and suffering, and battling, and fighting…there’s that sense, God, where You’ve been so faithful to us, but we still get in the flesh. We still freak out in fear. We still refuse to humble ourselves. And Lord, I just pray over our church a spirit of humility. Lord, that the situations in our life would not harden us and embitter us, but would break us and humble us. That we would follow, God, Your path to the cross, the place of sacrifice, the place of willing obedience to the point of death, Lord. And I pray for the pain that’s among us; the hurt, the fears, the anxiety, the torment. I think of one “someone,” right now, Lord, just tormented in their mind. It’s not a little battle. It’s an ongoing, constant, tormenting battle. Lord, I just pray deliverance over them, Lord, that they might walk by faith. That You would relieve the pressure. I pray for my brother, Sean, Lord, as he has the diagnosis. I know there’s such great encouragement, but I pray you would give them strength and they would fix his head, Lord, and bring the immunotherapies back, Lord, that he would just be cancer-free. I know not everyone wins their battle, Lord, like Lawrence, but all of us are going to meet our Maker. All the days are written for us have been written in a Book. Our days are numbered. And so, God, as you teach us, teach us to number our days, that we might live full lives. Fully faithful. Faithfully. That you might be our all in all, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.
KEYWORDS: Bible study, Exodus chapter 16, Pastor Ed Taylor, manna from heaven, spiritual lessons, Israelites, wilderness, hunger, God’s provision, faith, reliance on God, spiritual warfare, Galatians 5:17, struggles, complaints, forgetfulness, Egypt, mixed multitude, obedience, daily needs, God’s faithfulness, spiritual nourishment, Sabbath, bread of life, John chapter 6, Scripture, spiritual health, comfort, life, salvation, suffering, gospel, faithfulness, Holy Spirit, new covenant, deliverance, prayer, Calvary Church, Abounding Grace Media, spiritual growth, temptation, trust in God, biblical teachings, community support, encouragement, personal struggles, Christian faith, obedience to God, reliance on God’s word.
