GATHER MANNA EVERY MORNING FOR YOUR FAMILY:  EXODUS 16

After the marvellous works God did in the land of Egypt, the whole congregation grumbled at HIM after several weeks. (v2)  They grieved that they had not died by the Lord’s hand (His is a delivering one) in Egypt when they had pots of meat and bread to the full.  They accused the Lord of bringing them into the wilderness to starve them to death.  Ingratitude, insult.  Only a merciful God could endure this tirade and provide meticulously as their lovingly-kind Lord.

The Lord spoke directly to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you,  and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in MY law or not.’  You, like Moses, are honoured of the Lord, for the Lord speaks to every child who daily opens the precious Bible.
I watched recently as rain broke the drought in our land, unable to describe the sheer magnificence of our Lord. Here the Lord will rain daily bread from heaven.  

The daily manna was on a quota system, perfectly adequate for 2 ½ million pilgrims.
‘On the sixth day, it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. (v5) God precisely satisfied their desire every week with this controlled increase.  He is Commander-in-chief. ‘At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your murmurings against the Lord.’ They will see the Shekinah glory in the morning.  The manna spoke of our Lord Jesus Christ, for ‘We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’.

God’s grace was unrestricted, despite their grumbling, ‘The Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full.’ Protein at night and morning carbohydrate makes a well-ordered diet, so that their feet did not swell during the 40 years in the wilderness. No cardiac, kidney or beriberi disease. ‘Your murmurings are not against us, Moses and Aaron, but against the Lord.’ ‘As they looked towards the wilderness, behold the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.’
Our daily walk with our Lord requires a perfectly-balanced diet of eternal truth.     

This extraordinary provision helped the children of Israel to recognize the Lord as their God.  The Lord said, ‘I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.’
(God knows when we grumble at Him.) Speak to them, ‘At twilight you shall have meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. You shall know that I Am, the Lord your God. (v12)  The “I AM ‘shows that the Lord Jehovah is with us.’  The New Testament equivalent of I Am is Christ, Who described Himself as living bread, Light of the world, water of life, and  Resurrection and the Life. And the Way, Truth and Life.  Open the Word of God each morning and enjoy the manna of His eternal Presence.  Don’t starve yourself spiritually. Avoid anorexia!

The quails migrated in flight with timing imprinted on their DNA.  By heavenly intelligent design and amazingly, the migration pattern adjusted nightly, satisfying the children of Israel, also migrating from Egypt to the promised Land. Each night their position varied, but God kept His promises.  So, the children of Israel were preserved. ‘Each morning the dew lay round about the camp.  And when the layer of dew lifted, there was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.  The fine droplets of dew indicate the work of the Holy Spirit, as basis for life-giving manna.  They called it ‘manna’, meaning ‘What is it’, a term still used in Bahasa Indonesia. Each morning the same Holy Spirit guides us in digesting some of the precious bible, breaking it to us as bread from heaven, sustaining our spiritual life.  No digestive problems arose with God’s daily diet- ideal for home, school or office. 

‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those in his tent.’ (v16)  Each father is not only the head of his wife but also the family leader, hence the obvious role of father in gathering the manna. Imagine his joy in gathering life-giving manna for his entire family. Infinitely more important, the father daily gathers the word of God to share with each of his family, adapted by his wife, to the age and grasp of each child. 
    The Lord privileged me to gather Bible manna for our six beloved children. 

Yesterday’s manna would not survive a second day. ‘Let no one leave any of it until the morning.’ Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. Some of them left part of it until morning, and it had bread worms (God had removed His protection) and it stank, obnoxious even to man.  Moses was angry with them. When the sun became hot, it melted. Old truth or last week’s bible study will not satisfy God, for the manna perishes if not gathered at His direction.  Bible truth cannot be deep-frozen.
It should be memorized, and stored in the frontal cortex.

God ruled for His special day. ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will, boil what you will; and lay up all that remains to be kept until morning.  So they laid it up till the morning, and it did not stink (kept by the power of God).  Moses cleared the air, ‘Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.’ Some were rebellious, ‘going out on the seventh (Sabbath) day to gather, they found none.’ The law of the Lord is perfect.

‘The house of Israel called it ‘manna.’ It was white like coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.’  (v31)  To preserve the memory of this manna, the Lord commanded, ‘Keep it for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ He commanded, ‘Lay up the manna before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.’ Then He commented, ‘The children of Israel ate manna forty years until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.’ Joshua told how the manna ceased when the children of Israel entered the land flowing with milk and honey.

Manna and quails were types of the Lord Jesus, supplying, energizing, sustaining our daily life. ‘He that has the Son has life.’ The manna was appropriated daily, so supporting each pilgrim.  Gather your manna while the dew is still on the roses.