providential care

Safe in the Hands of God

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1 And the Lord said to Job:

2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
    He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

4 “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
    I lay my hand on my mouth.
5 I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
    twice, but I will proceed no further.”

6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

7 “Dress for action like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.
8 Will you even put me in the wrong?
    Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
9 Have you an arm like God,
    and can you thunder with a voice like his?

10 “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
    clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
    and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
    and tread down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them all in the dust together;
    bind their faces in the world below.
14 Then will I also acknowledge to you
    that your own right hand can save you.

15 “Behold, Behemoth,
    which I made as I made you;
    he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
    and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
    the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
    his limbs like bars of iron.

19 “He is the first of the works of God;
    let him who made him bring near his sword!
20 For the mountains yield food for him
    where all the wild beasts play.
21 Under the lotus plants he lies,
    in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22 For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
    the willows of the brook surround him.
23 Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
    he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24 Can one take him by his eyes,
    or pierce his nose with a snare?” – Job 40:1-24 ESV

God takes a brief pause in His rhetorical interrogation to give Job a chance to respond. God demands that this “contender” or “complainer” explain himself. Since Job seems to enjoy arguing with God and questioning His ways, then he must have a lot to say. This is the moment for which Job has been waiting. He has an audience with the Almighty and  the opportunity to defend himself but Job finds himself at a loss for words. Suddenly, when faced with the overwhelming sense of God’s presence and power, Job is speechless.

“I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers?
    I will cover my mouth with my hand.
I have said too much already.
    I have nothing more to say.” – Job 40:4-5 NLT

Wiser words have never been spoken. Job didn’t say much and yet, he spoke volumes. He acknowledges his own ignorance and inadequacy when standing before the God of the universe. He recognizes that he has spoken too freely and flippantly. In his pain and despair, Job allowed himself to vent his frustration to God but in doing so, he had spoken out of turn and failed to show God the reverence and honor He deserved.

But while Job’s reticence to speak was a wise decision, it did not defuse God’s anger or absolve Job from a further tongue-lashing. In fact, God informs Job that silence is not an option. The one who was so quick to criticize the ways of God must answer the questions of God.

“Brace yourself like a man,
    because I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.” – Job 40:7 NLT

God seems to be accusing Job of doing the same thing his friends had done to him. In his effort to defend his innocence, Job had overextended his understanding of what his suffering was all about. He was convinced that it wasn’t the result of some sin he had committed, so that led him to make false assumptions about the justice of God. He questioned God’s goodness and righteousness. Job’s perception was limited and his understanding was incomplete. He was unaware of all that was going on behind the scenes so that left him with no other option than to base his conclusions on circumstantial evidence, just as his friends had done.

In his zeal to defend himself and prove his own innocence, Job had falsely accused God. He was so determined to prove himself right that he was willing to accuse God of doing wrong, and God was not happy.

“Will you discredit my justice
    and condemn me just to prove you are right?” – Job 40:8 NLT

This led God to sarcastically suggest that Job reveal his own glory. After all, if he was righteous and morally blameless, then he must be nothing less than a god.

“All right, put on your glory and splendor,
    your honor and majesty.
Give vent to your anger.
    Let it overflow against the proud.
Humiliate the proud with a glance;
    walk on the wicked where they stand.
Bury them in the dust.
    Imprison them in the world of the dead.
Then even I would praise you,
    for your own strength would save you.” – Job 40:10-14 NLT

God demands that Job display his glory and power by pouring out his judgment on the wicked and prideful. He challenges Job to demonstrate his wisdom and righteousness by judging justly and rightly. In a sense, God is demanding that Job prove that he knows what is best and can effectively determine the fate of all those who live on this planet.

But Job is not a god; he is just a man, and that seems to be God’s main point. In all of God’s verbal reprimands of Job, He never specifies a single sin that Job has committed. God never questions Job’s assertion of innocence. The Lord’s primary complaint with Job is his suggestion that God was somehow unfair or unjust. Job didn’t like the state of affairs surrounding his life and he had demanded that God explain Himself. Job knew that God was sovereign over all things so God was somehow responsible for his losses. And since Job had done nothing wrong, God must be the one who was at fault. Job never said those words directly but he inferred them, and God found them offensive and worthy of a stern response.

At the heart of Job’s complaint was his suggestion that God was somehow failing to do His job properly. Job had certain expectations of God that he felt had not been met. In his estimation, the most recent history of his life was out of step with his understanding of God’s character. So, God must course correct and fix the problem. But God found Job’s assertion that He was somehow in the wrong or guilty of mismanagement offensive. There was no basis for that conclusion. That’s why God launched into yet another illustration from nature that proved His impeccable credentials as the overseer of all creation.

God draws Job’s attention to the “Behemoth,” a creature of almost mythical proportions that is the byproduct of God’s imagination and creative power.

“Take a look at Behemoth,
    which I made, just as I made you.
    It eats grass like an ox.
See its powerful loins
    and the muscles of its belly.
Its tail is as strong as a cedar.
    The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together.
Its bones are tubes of bronze.
    Its limbs are bars of iron.” – Job 40:15-18 NLT

We have no idea what animal God is talking about. Some believe this to be a reference to a mythical creature that never existed, but God seems to contradict that conclusion when He states, “It is a prime example of God’s handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it” (Job 40:19 NLT). No, this is no make-believe creature formulated in the minds of men; it is an actual flesh-and-blood animal that God brought to life and over which He holds complete control. This beast was so large that it had no equal and faced no threat from predators. Its only adversary was God Himself.

God asserts that “No one can catch it off guard or put a ring in its nose and lead it away” (Job 40:24 NLT). The point? This animal was completely cared for by God. It owed its existence and ongoing sustenance to God. Only God could protect it or threaten it. Its life was in the hands of the Almighty and so was Job’s. No one could harm Job unless God allowed it. No one could threaten his life without God’s permission. Which brings us back to the opening chapters of this book.

They describe an interaction between God and Satan, man’s primary and powerful adversary. In response to God’s declaration of Job’s righteousness, Satan replied:

“Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” – Job 1:9-11 NLT

Satan admits that God cared for and protected Job but he argues that Job would respond differently to God if that protection was removed. God had a different opinion of Job and provided Satan with limited access to test his theory.

“All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” – Job 1:12 NLT

God gave Satan permission but he didn’t give him carte blanch. Satan was not free to do whatever he wanted to do. His actions were limited. God was still in control.

When Satan’s plan failed and Job refused to curse God, he came up with a second challenge. He asked God for permission to attack Job’s physical well-being. He believed that was the source of Job’s faithfulness and so he sought to take away Job’s health and cause him to curse God. And, once again, God permitted Satan to take his best shot.

“All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” – Job 2:6 NLT

God never relinquished control. At no point was He impotent or incapable of protecting Job’s life. And at no time, was God’s assessment of Job’s righteousness threatened or in question. He knew how Job would respond. He knew that Job would survive. God stated that Behemoth is “not disturbed by the raging river, not concerned when the swelling Jordan rushes around it” (Job 40:23 NLT), and that was what he expected from Job. The great beast that God created was capable of enjoying the peaceful respite provided by the shade of the Lotus plant, but it also accepted the storms that occasionally accompanied life. How much more so should Job trust in the goodness and graciousness of God? He had enjoyed great blessings for the vast majority of his life and now, when trials had come, he had lost his faith in God. But now was the time when he needed to know and understand that he too was “a prime example of God’s handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it” (Job 40:19 NLT).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Source of all Sustenance

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18 “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. 19 All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.

21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. 22 You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. 23 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

25 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. 26 The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. – Exodus 34:18-28 ESV

This portion of Exodus 34 has left scholars scratching their heads in confusion and contradicting one another in their attempts to explain what is going on. In these verses, Moses records the words spoken to him by God when he returned to the top of Mount Sinai. It is clear that God’s emphasis was on the covenant and the law that accompanied it. But why does God seem to give such a strange and disjointed summary of the Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant? He provides Moses with a random list of moral and ceremonial laws that appear to have no rhyme or reason behind them.

Yet, if one considers the context, it all begins to make sense. This entire exchange between God and Moses took place shortly after Israel had committed the sin of apostasy by worshiping the golden calf. In doing so, they had broken God’s laws and violated the covenant commitment they had agreed to keep. God had expressed His anger and judgment with their rejection of Him by having the leaders of the rebellion executed and by sending a plague to punish all those who had joined them in the worship of the false god they had made. But Moses had intervened on behalf of the people of Israel, begging God to extend grace, mercy, and forgiveness. He had also pleaded with Yahweh to remain with His chosen people, rather than abandon them as punishment for their sinfulness. And God had agreed to all of Moses’ requests.

But while God was willing to renew His relationship with His rebellious people, He was going to reiterate and renew His covenant requirements of them.

“Observe what I command you this day.” – Exodus 34:11 ESV

And what follows is a summary list of the laws He had previously given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Moses had already provided the people of Israel with the complete compilation of the Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant.

Moses came and told the people all the Lord’s words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said,” and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. – Exodus 24:3-4 NLT

God had also given Moses the original set of stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” – Exodus 24:12 NLT

These tablets had been shattered by Moses when he had come down from the mountaintop and discovered the people of Israel celebrating their new god. But the breaking of the tablets was not the problem; it was the Israelite’s breaking of the laws the tablets contained. They had not acted in ignorance. They had willingly disobeyed their covenant commitment by refusing to keep God’s commandments. So now, God was preparing to provide them with a second copy of the Ten Commandments and He accompanied it with a carefully chosen collection of laws that emphasized their covenant relationship with Him.

A close look at this seemingly random list of rules and regulations reveals that they have much in common. First of all, they were not to repeat the mistake they had just made.

“You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.” – Exodus 34:17 ESV

No more golden calves. And no adoption and adaptation of the false gods of the inhabitants of Canaan. When they finally entered the land of promise, they were to purge it of all remnants of idolatry and pagan worship. No shrines were to be left standing. Not altars to false gods were to remain intact.

Not only that, they were to keep the feast days that God had established for them. There were to be no new feast days or special events associated with false gods or worthless idols. One of the things that infuriated Moses and caused him to destroy the original tablets of stone was to see his fellow Israelites dancing around the golden calf.

When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. – Exodus 32:19 NLT

What Moses had witnessed that day was a man-made festival decreed by his very own brother. Aaron had not only given in to the people’s demand for a new god, but he also set aside the following day as an official feast day.

“Tomorrow will be a feast to the Lord.” So they got up early on the next day and offered up burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. – Exodus 32:5-6 NLT

So, it makes sense that God would remind His people that they were limited to celebrating the feasts that He had established for them, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Once a year, they were to celebrate their deliverance from Egypt by holding three closely connected days of remembrance. The first was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days they were forbidden to eat anything containing yeast, a symbol of sin. Then, on the seventh day, they were to hold a feast, commemorating and celebrating their deliverance from their captivity in Egypt. Notice that the feast was to follow a period of abstinence from and purging of sin – the opposite of the celebration that took place after their sinful worship of the golden calf.

God also reminded them of the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Ingathering. These two feasts were to bookend the annual harvest.

“You must observe the Feast of Weeks—the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat—and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year.” – Exodus 34:22 NLT

They were to recognize God as the faithful provider of all their needs by offering Him the first of all their harvests. There were to be no celebrations of false gods because they were incapable of providing any help or hope. Everything the Israelites had was a gift from God, including their food, shelter, flocks, herds, and children.

“Every firstborn of the womb belongs to me, even every firstborn of your cattle that is a male, whether ox or sheep.” – Exodus 34:19 NLT

God was reemphasizing His providential care for His people. The very thought of aligning themselves with another god should have been abhorrent to them. No man-made god could match Yahweh’s generosity and goodness. The Israelites owed all that they had to the gracious benevolence of their God, and they were to regularly celebrate His providential care by keeping His prescribed feasts. Even the weekly celebration of the Sabbath was intended to remind the Israelites that His provision was so generous that they could take the seventh day off. But this day was to be dedicated to Him.

Three times each year, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Ingathering, the men of Israel were required to appear before the Lord. These mandatory festivals were designed to be reminders of God’s covenant faithfulness and to prompt the people of Israel to treat their gracious and generous God with the reverence and gratitude He deserved.

Every law and regulation God gave them was to be faithfully kept, including the rather obscure one that prohibited the boiling of a lamb in its mother’s milk. God seems to reiterate this one for emphasis. There were to be no commandments that were overlooked or ignored. God’s will was serious business and His call to obedience was not to be taken lightly.

For 40 days and nights, Moses communed with God, going without food or water. This reference to Moses’ extended fast is just another reminder that Yahweh was to be the provider and sustainer of all their needs. Moses was energized and fueled by his access to God Almighty. He suffered no hunger, pain, or diminishment of his strength during that time. He feasted on the words of God and was nourished by His presence. And when Moses finished his time along with Yahweh, he descended the mountain one more time with a brand new copy of the Decalogue in his hands.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Doubting God’s Presence

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1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” – Exodus 17:1-7 ESV

Since leaving Egypt, the Israelites have displayed a clear pattern of behavior when encountering what they believe to be unexpected and undesirable difficulties. As soon as things take a perceived turn for the worse, they express their disapproval to Moses and Aaron. At Marah, they discovered that the water was undrinkable, so they took their dissatisfaction with the situation to the two brothers.

So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” – Exodus 15:24 NLT

Rather than reprimand them for their mistreatment of His appointed leaders, God miraculously transformed the bitter water of Marah into fresh drinking water. But He also gave them a warning about their ongoing behavior. He demanded that they begin to do what is right and obey His commands or they could find themselves suffering some of the same plagues that befell the Egyptians. His constant care for them came with conditions.

Not long after that event, as the people made their way through the desolate wilderness of Sin, their supply of unleavened bread ran out, and their growing hunger caused them to lash out in frustration yet again.

The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we 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 NLT

Once again, God intervened and performed yet another miracle. He provided them with quail each evening and a bread-like substance every morning that would supply all their nutritional requirements for the rest of their journey. But just days later, when the people arrived at a place called Rephidim, they found another reason to complain. There was no water. It seems that the water they had gathered at Marah had run out and now Moses and Aaron had led them to yet another desolate and dry spot that provided no hope of quenching their thirst. So…

…the people were very thirsty there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world did you bring us up from Egypt—to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” – Exodus 17:3 NLT

In each successive encounter, their complaints become increasingly darker and more desperate. Their inflammatory rhetoric reflects their growing disillusionment with the entire enterprise. They expressed their regret of having ever left Egypt and accused Moses and Aaron of leading them on a virtual death march into the God-forsaken wilderness.

The further they got from Egypt and the closer they got to Canaan, they began to second-guess the leadership of Moses and the reliability of Yahweh. Despite all that God had done for them, they questioned the very nature of His “deliverance” by declaring it to be headed to certain failure. In their minds, each difficulty they faced provided further evidence that this problem-plagued trip to the promised land had been a huge mistake.

Driven by thirst and fear, they accused Moses of trying to kill them. Their deliverer had become their executioner. But what they failed to understand was that Moses was simply following directions. He was being guided by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. These manifestations of God’s presence were always with them and had been guiding them all along the way. Their arrival in Marah had not been a mistake. God had led them to a place where the water was undrinkable. He had known all along that their bread would eventually run out and their hunger would cause them to question His goodness.

God was not lost. He had not become disoriented in the trackless wilderness of Sin. He knew exactly where He was going and what He was doing. He was testing His people to see if they would trust Him. He was placing them in situations that were designed to expose their doubts and fears. And here at Rephidim, He provided them with yet another test of their confidence in Him. There was no water. But the pillar of cloud remained at the head of their column. As they made camp, the divine presence of God was visible for all to see. He had not left them or forsaken them.

But the people had their doubts. They could not understand why this God of Moses and Aaron would allow them to suffer. If this Yahweh was so powerful and great and if He truly was with them, why did they keep ending up in less-than-satisfactory situations? Did He not know that Rephadim had no water source? But rather than take their questions and concerns to God, they turned on Moses and Aaron, and their anger was so intense that Moses feared for his life.

“What will I do with this people?—a little more and they will stone me!” – Exodus 17:4 NLT

But, once again, God intervened. He gave Moses the following instructions:

“Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” – Exodus 17:5-6 NLT

God could have acted on His own, but He chose to use His servant Moses as the means of addressing their perceived problem. As the elders looked on, the pillar of cloud moved from the camp and repositioned itself above a particular rock. In a desert filled with rocks, this relocation of God’s divine presence provided Moses with a clear indication as to which rock he was to strike. Not just any rock would do. In fact, God clearly indicates that His presence will reside over “the rock” in Horeb.

This rock had already been set apart by God as the source of their sustenance. He had known all along that Rephidim would be an arid region devoid of water. But “the rock” was already in place and ready to deliver what the people needed. So, when Moses obeyed the command of the Lord and struck the rock, water poured from it in a steady stream. That ordinary-looking rock became a source of life-giving refreshment in the midst of a barren wilderness. And it became a symbol of God’s salvation that, centuries later, the apostle Paul would use as a foreshadowing of Jesus

I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. – 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 NLT

This divine deliverance would be repeated multiple times during the peoples’ wilderness journey. God delivering water from a rock would become a symbol of His providential care and life-sustaining power. Even in the midst of a waterless desert, God could provide salvation from the most unlikely of sources. But would the people trust Him? Would they stop judging His character based on the nature of their surroundings?

God knew that the real problem with the people was not a lack of water, but a lack of trust. Despite the pillar of cloud, the manna and quail, and the miracle at Marah, the Israelites continued to doubt the presence of God.

…they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” – Exodus 17:7 ESV

And to commemorate this place of testing, Moses gave it two different names: Massah and Meribah. Massah means “place of testing” and Meribah means “place of murmuring or discontentment.” It was a place of testing because the people tested the patience of God. But it was also a place where God tested the faith of His people and, sadly, they failed. Rather than recalling God’s past provision in times of difficulty, they murmured and complained. Instead of trusting in God’s proven ability to provide for all their needs, they allowed present circumstances to raise doubts about His power and presence.

Reluctantly and rather slowly, they were learning to trust in God. He was sufficient to supply all their needs. There was no circumstance too dire, no enemy too great, or difficulty too large that God could not overcome. But that lesson would take years for the Israelites to learn.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Bread of Life

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19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. 35 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. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.) – Exodus 16:19-36 ESV

Moses had clearly instructed the people to refrain from hoarding the manna that God provided. The Lord had promised to provide just enough to meet their daily dietary requirements.

…whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. – Exodus 16:18 ESV

But some within the camp of Israel refused to follow Moses’ instructions, choosing instead to preserve some of their manna for the following day. Underlying this action was a doubt in God’s ability to provide for their daily needs. Fearing that the manna might not show up the next day, they tried to preserve some of their rations to help tide them over. But when they woke the following morning, they found that their manna had spoiled and become inedible. And their actions angered Moses.

These people had no need to doubt God because He sent the manna every morning, like clockwork. And after the people had gathered what they needed, whatever manna was left over simply melted away from the heat of the sun. God graciously and miraculously met their needs, and no one among the millions of Israelites went hungry.

But God’s provision of manna came with a second and highly important test. Up until this point, the people had been instructed to gather just enough manna to meet their needs for that day.

“Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat.” – Exodus 16:16 ESV

But on the sixth day, Moses announced that they were to gather twice as much manna. When the leaders of the people questioned Moses about this surprising change in protocol, he revealed the message he had received from the Lord.

“This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Whatever you want to bake, bake today; whatever you want to boil, boil today; whatever is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’” – Exodus 16:24 NLT

On this occasion, God altered His prohibition against attempting to keep manna for the next day. This time He told the Israelites to gather enough for two days and assured them that it would not spoil. But God had a specific reason for changing the rules of the game. He was establishing a new pattern for their daily lives by setting aside the seventh day of each week for the purpose of rest. Moses made God’s instructions perfectly clear.

“Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” – Exodus 16:25-26 ESV

God would provide double the amount of manna on the sixth day, but on the seventh day, there would be none to gather. He would remove any temptation for the Israelites to go out and gather on that final day of the week. But when that first “Sabbath” day arrived, some of the people refused to believe God’s word and went out to gather their daily quota of manna, only to find that the ground was bare. And this time, it was God who became incensed by the peoples’ refusal to obey His commands.

“How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” – Exodus 16:28-29 ESV

God was attempting to indoctrinate His people into this new way of life. From this point forward, the seventh day was to be a special day, set aside for rest. There would be no need to gather manna because God had already provided enough for that day. And there was to be no preparation of the manna on the seventh day because it was to be a work-free day. All of this was instituted to prepare the people for the fourth law that would be given to them on Mount Sinai.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” – Exodus 20:8-11 ESV

God was making the seventh day a holy day. The Hebrew word for “holy” is קָדַשׁ (qāḏaš) and it means “to be set apart, to consecrate.” God was separating this day from all the rest, indicating that it was to be treated as sacred or hallowed. On this day, the people were to cease from their labors and, in so doing, they would be following the example given by God during the days of creation.

“The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” – Exodus 31:16-17 NLT

God was giving His people a day set apart for rest and refreshment. But more than that, it was a day to remember His providential provision for all their needs. The God who made the heavens and the earth and all they contain was also capable of meeting all their needs. In time, the Israelites would understand the sanctity of this special day. It was a non-optional observance that came with severe consequences if it was ignored.

“Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed, if anyone does any work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his people. Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.” – Exodus 31:12-15 NLT

From this point forward, the observance of the Sabbath was to remind the people of Israel of their long tenure in Egypt, where they labored seven days a week without rest. They never knew where their next meal would come from. Their desire for rest was never met. But now, God had provided them with freedom from labor and the fear of want. He was their liberator, provider, and protector. And to commemorate this special act of provision, God instructed Moses, “Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 16:32 ESV). This specially preserved manna was placed in the ark of the covenant as a memorial and a reminder of God’s gracious providential care. And for the next 40 years, the lives of the Israelites would be preserved by this daily sign of God’s faithfulness and love. 

It would become their bread of life and provide a foreshadowing of a future day when the Messiah would come to earth, offering Himself as the true bread of life. On one occasion, His disciples reminded Jesus,  “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (John 6:31 NLT). But Jesus responded, “I tell you the solemn truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:32-33 NLT).

For now, the Israelites would have to be satisfied with manna. But it served as a sign of greater things to come. God was going to preserve their lives so that, one day, He could send His Son as one of their own so that He might become the true bread from heaven.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.