Year 1, Day 65: Exodus 16

Take a Glance at John 6

As I began my study of Exodus 16, a commentary reminded me of something I would like to pass along to each of you.  If you want to do some extra work today, read this chapter in connection with John 6.  There will find the stories of the feeding of the 5,000 as well as Jesus’ conversation about being the Bread of Life.  Jesus references Exodus 16 heavily in action as well as word in that chapter of John.

The People Are In Good Form Today

Let’s talk about Exodus 16.  We begin with – yep, you guessed it – more grumbling.  Oh, those fun Hebrew people in the desert.  I say that knowing that I would be no better.  I might be able to convince myself that I could go more than 3 days without grumbling, but I’m not so sure. 

My wife has a friend serving in Afghanistan right now and he says that if nothing else the biggest change is that there is sand everywhere.  Everything gets sand in it – even things you swear that you have kept isolated from the sand.  So while I might point a finger at the Israelites for grumbling, I’m really not sure that I would honestly fare much better.  So take everything I am going to say with that confession today.

Manna

The Hebrew word “manna” literally means “What is it?” when translated.  Let’s get a little spiritual about a single word for a second.  First, this manna just appeared on the ground.  This manna was unlike anything they had ever seen.  This manna was incredible stuff in that it kept perfectly for a day but then magically rotted overnight! 

The Hebrew people had every right to ask what it was.  And we have every right to see their quandary and join with them in reflecting this question upon the God whom we serve.  Not only is the manna something that we are completely unfamiliar with, but so is the God who sends it!  Yes, we might be able to conceptualize God at least as well as the Hebrew people were to conceptualize manna as a “type of bread.”  But in the end, they were never able to really figure out completely what this manna actually was.

So it is also with God.  We might be able to get a handle on a few aspects of God, but we’ll never figure Him out, either.  Sometimes it is really best to sit back and just accept that we aren’t going to ever “get it all.”  That doesn’t mean we don’t try to get what we can so long as we realize that we won’t understand Him completely. 

I seem to remember an analogy comparing our being unable to comprehend the fullness of God to that of a flea being unable to comprehend the fullness of a dog.  The flea can understand the portions of the dog that it can detect, but not the whole dog.  In that respect I think it really is a good analogy.

For the record, if you are reading John 6 as an “extra read” today, take the above paragraph and apply it to Jesus’ words in John 6:32-58, especially John 6:32-40.  If Jesus is the true bread from heaven given to us by the Father, then part of the lesson is that we’ll never understand Him fully, either!  We’ll never understand Him fully, we’ll never understand His mission fully, and we’ll never understand His Spirit fully, either. 

Again, that doesn’t mean we don’t try to understand what we can.  But this God thing is a pretty tough subject to completely grasp.  I daresay that nobody born of two human parents has ever been able to get it fully!  So if you are one of those people who can say, “I just don’t get what God is doing sometimes,” then you are in good company!  There is nothing wrong with you if you get confused once and a while!

Let’s look at this manna, not just the word. 

• First, notice that the manna came from heaven.  It is undeniably a gift from God, like Jesus. 
• Second, notice that it came at night.  But when the people gathered it was light outside.   This is like Jesus coming when the world is in the darkness of sin but those who are in Jesus are brought into the light. 
• The manna came in the wilderness, like Jesus who was baptized in the wilderness and did a good bit of his preaching and teaching there. 
• It came to a people who grumbled and didn’t always appreciate what God gave them.  Again, like Jesus. 
• It came right to them and just like the exodus out of Egypt they did nothing to earn it.  Again, like Jesus.

I think it is really neat to see this whole chapter set up a long tradition of ritual teaching that in my mind points us right to the coming of Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah – our manna from heaven.

The Hebrew People’s Response to the Bread from Heaven

Let’s look at the Hebrew response. 

• First, notice that the Hebrew people were hungry.  What would have happened if God brought the manna while they had other sources of food?  At the very least, they wouldn’t have appreciated the gift and understood their need for it.  Again, like us being aware of our need for Jesus. 
• The manna fell on the ground, so the Hebrews had to kneel to gather it, like us responding to Jesus in a humble manner of repentance. 
• They were called to gather what they need, not what they could store up.  That’s like us having to come to Jesus every day and have our spirit restored and recharged daily. 
• The Hebrews had to gather it early in the morning, like us being told by Isaiah 55:6 to seek the Lord while He may be found.
• There were some people who felt inclined to do their own thing and not follow God’s direction.  That’s like us who feel compelled to do our own thing in sin rather than follow God.  Or it’s like us who feel compelled to do establish human traditions to follow rather than depending on the Word of God to enlighten our paths.

Just because I like to come clean about things like this, much of this post is not my own thought.  It is actually gleaned from a commentary writer that I love to read: Warren Wiersbe.  They are his thoughts put into my words.  I hope you appreciate them as much as I did!

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