Exodus 16:28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
As we have noted before, the LORD is long-suffering. We also learn that God gives man all the information necessary to choose wisely. He demonstrates the importance of listening to Him. He expects man to listen and obey Him.
In our text, the LORD pointed out that the problem was not a lack of knowledge. It was also not a lack of ability to obey. It was an unwillingness to obey. The children of Israel were refusing to keep His commandments and His laws. Lawlessness is not a good thing.
Everybody lives by some laws. Most people develop their laws apart from the will of God. That is what the problem is with Canada. We think we are so wise we do not need God. We have leaders who are, like Jesus said of the Pharisees, the blind leading the blind. The majority of Canadians are blind and they are willingly following blind leaders. We just witnessed this in the by-election in Alberta. The temperature must have risen quite a lot in that region over the past couple of months. There was much hot air spewing from the mouths of vain men and women. The result of that is ending up in the ditch.
In verse 29 the LORD stated that He had “given” the children of Israel the sabbath. The sabbath was not a hardship. It was an opportunity for the people to rest and be reminded of the greatness of the LORD. God was quite capable of giving the people two days worth of bread without it spoiling, in order to bless them with a day of rest. Man needs to learn to stop the busyness and trust in the LORD. The sabbath is not for the Gentile world. The Bible does teach that it is important for mankind to have a day of rest. However, the sabbath was given to the Jews. For us today, the Lord’s Day which is the first day of the week, is the day we should set aside to worship the Lord and to fellowship with fellow saints. Man can acquire much wealth and many possessions. In the end, he leaves that all behind. Only that which is done for the Lord is of any permanent value.
In verse 30 we read that the people rested on the seventh day. In verse 31 we are again reminded that the people called this bread Manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste was that of wafers made with honey. It would have been sweet to the taste. God knows what we like and He provides food that is satisfying to the taste as well as satisfying to the health.
Moses continued to instruct the people regarding the command of the LORD. This was not a suggestion to consider. This was a command to follow. Moses also stated that they needed to gather an omer of this manna and keep it for generations to come. We see as well that that particular omer of manna did not become infested with worms, and it did not stink.
The nation of Israel needed this reminder before them. We see this commandment, to keep an omer of this manna, came from the LORD. The people would not see this memorial. It would be in the holiest place where only the high priest would see it. He needed to be reminded of the LORD’s provisions for the nation.
We see as well that the children of Israel ate this manna for forty years. Their diet was very simple. The manna was there for them until they entered the promised land. When they were settled down, they could grow crops and they did not need the manna any longer. God had other things He would use to remind the nation of the “Bread of Life”.
We are given further information regarding the omer. The omer was the tenth part of an ephah. We have already noted that an omer was equal to two litres or half a gallon. It was what was needed to sustain a healthy life.
The manna was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is all we need to live. When we have spiritual life, we can see what is needed for physical life as well. When we do not know the Lord, many wrong choices are made in regard to physical health. Our world is caught up in profit margins. Those who are saved need to be reminded of the importance of serving the Lord. He provides great blessings for those who will know Him and follow Him.
Pastor Bartel
