Year 1, Week 9, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations
Year 1, Week 9, Day 5
I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Exodus 16.
Today’s reading notes the Israelites’ response to their lack of food, followed by the LORD’s plan to provide for them. In the previous day’s reading, the Israelites lacked water. Even though the Israelites had just witnessed the LORD’s destruction of Pharaoh and his army, they quickly grumbled about their lack of water: “And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” (Exodus 15:24). Now they lack food: “And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled…“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.” (Exodus 16:2-3). The perspective of the Israelites was greatly distorted: their years of slavery in Egypt now seem ideal.
What struck me in today’s reading was certainly the patience and faithful provision of the LORD, but even more than that, was the design behind the LORD’s provision. The LORD designed the lack of water and food as a mean to test the Israelites: “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.” (Exodus 16:4; see also Exodus 15:26, where the same was said concerning water). The LORD would be teaching the Israelites to trust Him: “He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:20).
Moses would latter look back on these early days of wandering in the wilderness and provide further insight as to the nature of the testing that He performed with the Israelites: “And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). The LORD had just powerfully rescued the Israelites from Egyptian captivity, but they still did not fully grasp the faithful nature of their God. But the LORD will raise them with the opportunity to see that the relationship that they have with Him is built upon faith. The LORD wants His people to trust Him—to count on what He promises and to obey what He commands. The LORD will provide with the intent that through His provision, Israel would know that He is God: “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.’” (Exodus 16:12). As Pharaoh learned that the LORD is God in judgment, Israel will be taught by provision.
Israel was not a quick learner; but the LORD was a patient teacher. Israel is the LORD’s firstborn son. He loves them dearly enough to provide and to discipline: “Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.” (Deuteronomy 8:5). The LORD will train His people to see that He is faithful. But Israel would come to learn this as they listen to what He says: “'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat…Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” (Exodus 16:16,19). They did not obey: “But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank.” (Exodus 16:20). In prospects of the Sabbath Law, which they would soon receive, on the sixth day, Israel was to gather enough for the sixth and seventh days. But some did not listen to that either: “On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.” (Exodus 20:27).
The LORD continued His provision and instruction the entire time that they wandered in the wilderness: “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.” (Exodus 16:35). Forty years of grumbling will prove that they never quite learned what it meant to trust the LORD as well. Their entire journey in the wilderness will consist of the Israelites questioning if God knew what He was doing. All the while, they never went without provision for the LORD sustained them all the way to the Promised Land.
After He fed the 5,000, Jesus announced: “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” (John 8:48-50). Ironically (and tragically), after Jesus further declared: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 8:54); even His disciples grumbled (John 8:61). And yet, the Lord sustained Peter to confess: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 8:68). Even today, the LORD sustains His people till they arrive home—even as we grumble along the way.
What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?
Pastor Joe