Tuesday – Exodus 16 – Manna

The people had been traveling for close to one month (Exodus 12:18 & 16:1). Surely by this time they were running low on food supplies and were getting rather hungry (Exodus 12:39).  And, just as they had grumbled when they were thirsty, they began to grumble because they were hungry.  But, despite their yearning for the past, their rose-tinted memories (Ecclesiastes 7:10) and their bellyaching... God promised them bread from heaven in the morning (Exodus 16:4) and winged game that night (Exodus 16:13).  Now, particularly, the heavenly bread was a blessing which the adult Hebrews would enjoy for the rest of their lives. For the next 40 years God sustained them with this free supply of "manna" every Sunday through Friday, without interruption until the next generation crossed the Jordan River into Canaan. Even in the times of their deepest rebellions and most depraved jaunts and trysts... God kept feeding them with that "what is it" bread.

Now the gathering of that manna had some interesting peculiarities to it. In fact, the manna itself had some inexplicable traits. It melted when the sun got hot (Exodus 16:21). Its quantity seemed to adjust automatically to the needs and demands of the household in which it was kept (Exodus 16:17-18). It would rot overnight... except on Friday nights (Exodus 16:20 & 24). It evidently remained perpetually fresh in a "holy pot" in "the holy place" (Exodus 16:34). It could be cooked in various ways or eaten raw... and it had distinctly different flavors in either case (Exodus 16:31 & Numbers 11:8). Though it arrived faithfully with the dew every other day of the week, it was always mysteriously absent on Saturday mornings (Exodus 16:26). And, most importantly it was a life giving gift from the Father that foreshadowed THE Life giving Gift which was yet to come from heaven; the very Son of God (John 6:31-35 & 48-51).