Exodus 16 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Exodus 16

Bread from Heaven

16:1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 And the LORD said to Moses, 12 “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 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 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. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”¹ For they did not know what it was. 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,² according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 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 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 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. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. 35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)³

Footnotes

[1] 16:15 Or “It is manna”; Hebrew man hu
[2] 16:16 An omer was about 2 quarts or 2 liters
[3] 16:36 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters

Commentary

v1-3: The journey continued into the Desert of Sin. They are now 45 days into their journey. In the desert the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The problem was that there was no food in the desert. They now remembered Egypt as a place of plenty, forgetting the suffering that they had endured. In seems unlikely that, as slaves, they had enjoyed "all the food we wanted."

v4: The Lord's provision again came with a command as a test of their trust and obedience. Again, this is a sign of His love for His own. They had to trust Him through temporary hardship, looking forward to the abundant provision of the land flowing with milk and honey. Compare 2 Cor 4.16-18.

v5: The double provision on the sixth day. They were to prepare food for the seventh day, when none would be provided. The principle of the seventh day of rest, which had been established at Creation, would be a feature of the life of the Israelites. See 31.12.

v7-8: Their grumblings were against the Lord. We should not grumble against what He has given us. The glory of God would be seen in the provision of meat and bread. The amounts to be provided are staggering, given that 600,000 men, plus women and children had to be fed. Notice, too, Moses' humility, "Who are we?"

v9: Would the people be willing to grumble directly to the Lord?

v10: The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. But even this did not stop their murmurings.

v11-12: The answer for Moses to give to the people, "I have heard", for nothing is secret from Him. The promise was that the people would be filled with food from God.

v13-15: The provision of quail and manna, Ps 105.40. Here was bread from the Lord, see John 6.35, a foretaste of the true bread of Christ. This food was remarkable, meeting all their physical needs, thus picturing Christ.

The questions of man reflect amazement at the glory of God; "What is it?"; "What is this?" (Mark 1.27), "Who can this be?" (Mark 4.41).

v16-18: Each one had to gather bread for himself, teaching personal responsibility (John 6.53,54,66); we must feed individually on Christ, not depending on His provision for another. And all the people had sufficient.

v19-20: The clear command not to keep any overnight. Even this was disobeyed, and the food went rotten.

Moses was angry with the people; even though they had only left Egypt a few weeks before, his patience is already being stretched.

v21: The people were not to leave it too late, but to gather the bread early, for the needs of each day. We are to walk with Christ each day, and to feed on Him each day.

v22-23: The seventh day, the Sabbath. Each one had to gather twice as much as usual on the sixth day, and it would not go rotten; contrast v19-20.

v24-26: The Lord honoured His word. This was another miracle, occurring weekly for 40 years. In this provision, there is a clear command not to gather manna on the Sabbath.

v27-28: In spite of the Lord's clear command, some people went out on the Sabbath day to find manna. They found none.

v29-30: The explanation, from the Lord, that two days' food was provided on the previous day, so that no-one need go out on that day.

It seems the people even stretched the Lord God's patience, if that is possible, "how long will you refuse to keep my commands?"

v31: The bread was called "manna", meaning "what is it?"

v32-34: A portion of manna was to be kept as a reminder of God's provision for the people. It would also remind generations to come of the grumbling of the people. Aaron kept this in a jar before the Lord. When the tabernacle was constructed, this was put in the Holy of Holies, and later kept in the temple (Heb 9.2).

v35: The Israelites ate manna for 40 years, until they entered Canaan, John 5.12. This demonstrated God's faithfulness, whatever the attitude of the people.