your Bible to Exodus chapter 16. We are continuing in our series through this wonderful book
about the God who saves. Exodus 16, we're looking at the whole chapter this morning,
but I'll begin by reading verses 1 through 12.
They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin,
which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed
from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and
Aaron in the wilderness. And the people of Israel said to them, 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?
Then the Lord said to Moses, 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. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as
they gather daily. So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, at evening you shall know
that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see
the glory of the Lord, because He has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we that
you grumble against us? And Moses said, when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the
morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against Him,
what are we? Your grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron,
say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, come near before the Lord, for He has heard
your grumbling. And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel,
they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
And the Lord said to Moses, 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. Let's pray. Father, we pray that as we look into this passage this morning
that we would know that you are the Lord our God. We pray that we would see you as the God who saves
and sustains. And we pray that you would strengthen our faith and hope in you that we may trust you.
In Jesus' name, amen. Have you ever found yourself facing a wilderness? A wilderness is an unwelcoming
place, a harsh and barren landscape, seemingly no protection from the heat of the day,
and the shivering cold of the night. Maybe you've faced, or maybe you're facing a literal wilderness,
hunger, thirst, homelessness. You don't know where your next meal is coming from.
Maybe you've lived in a wilderness of loneliness, isolation, grief, uncertainty.
Rejection. Maybe you've come to New Haven from somewhere far away where you felt at home and
where you were flourishing, and you've come here and you haven't quite found it to be a city that
opens its arms to you. And you wonder, can I really find a place here? Can I flourish here? Will I ever feel
at home? The motto of the state of Connecticut is qui transtulat sustenet, which means he who
transplanted still sustains. And if you look at the seal of the state of Connecticut, it has the motto
along with three grape vines. It actually goes all the way back to 1639 when Connecticut was a British
colony. And one historian wrote, the vine symbolized the colony brought over and planted here in the
wilderness. And the motto expresses our belief that he who brought over the vine continues to sustain it.
Those God saves, he also sustains. That's the idea behind the motto of our state, and that's also the
main idea of this section in Exodus chapter 16, 17, and 18. We've seen how God saved the Israelites.
He brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He brought them through the Red Sea waters, and they sang a song
of victory. But now they face a wilderness ahead. Today we're looking at how God supplies bread for
their hunger. Next week we'll look at how God supplies water for their thirst. Two weeks from now we'll look at
how God gives them help when they're facing conflicts within and without.
And in all these episodes we'll see that the same God who saves is also the God who sustains.
Now today I want to look at this passage in two parts. I want to look at the people's grumbling,
and I want to look at the Lord's provision.
So first the people's grumbling. Did you notice how often that word grumbling appeared in those
first 12 verses? I counted at least eight times. But I want you to notice three things about the
people's grumbling. First notice how quickly the people started grumbling. Verse 1 says that it was
on the 15th day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.
In other words, it was only one month after the Exodus because the Exodus, the Passover, was the
14th day of the first month, and now it's the 15th day of the second month.
And think about all that God had done for the Israelites during that one month. He had delivered them
from centuries of cruel bondage under Pharaoh. He had spared them from the judgment on the firstborn
in their households. He had accompanied them with a pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by
night. He had parted the Red Sea and saved them from the Egyptian army that was pursuing them and
wanted to kill them. And then after a journey into the desert, God led them to a place called Elim
where there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. Sounds like a pretty nice oasis in the desert.
But what are the people doing? They're grumbling, whining, complaining. Now, they weren't just
lamenting some legitimately hard circumstances, and that's not wrong. They weren't turning to the Lord
and crying out to Him for help. That would have been a good thing. They quickly became angry and bitter
and hopeless, and they said, we wish we had died back in the land of Egypt. Now, do they really mean
that? I don't know. Do you really mean what you say when you're angry and bitter and hopeless and you
say all kinds of things? The Israelites were a little bit like toddlers. If you've ever spent time with
young children, you know that you can go from spending the whole day at the beach and you have hot dogs or a
picnic lunch and you get ice cream from the ice cream truck, and then you finally say it's time to go home
and there's a complete meltdown. Right? You've just had this great day.
I mean, don't you remember all the things that happened to us today?
In Deuteronomy, Moses describes that wilderness period as the time of Israel's infancy or sort of toddlerhood.
He says, in the wilderness, the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son.
God was patient in bearing with his children's tendency to quickly grumble and rebel and complain.
That's the first thing about their grumbling. Notice how quickly it happened. But second,
notice how their perspective became distorted in the process. Their memory of the past,
their perspective on the present, and on the future.
You know, last week we looked at that great song of praise that they sang to the Lord when they
stood on the other side of the Red Sea and they sang the song of joy and victory.
You know, it seems like they stopped singing that song pretty quickly.
They started singing a different song.
They started singing about those happy golden years back in Egypt when we sat by the meat pots and ate
all the bread we wanted. That's an interesting way to remember the land of slavery.
Now, the Israelites probably ate meat sometimes in Egypt. They owned livestock after all.
But that was a pretty distorted memory of the past.
They only remember a tiny fraction of what it really was.
And then, they say to Moses and Aaron,
you have brought us into the wilderness to kill us and starve us to death.
Even though in the wilderness, they had actually come closer to God than ever before.
They had seen his power and seen his glory and experienced his saving grace
in more powerful ways than they ever had in their entire life.
And they were on their way to the promised land.
They were closer to their final destination than ever before.
And yet, they look around.
And they say, you've brought us here to kill us.
Now, it's not even clear whether they had run out of food yet.
Next week, we're going to look at the water passages.
And there, it actually says they had no water or the water was bitter.
They were thirsty.
Here, it doesn't even say they ran out of food.
It just says they started grumbling.
Psalm 78 says they tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.
You know, the Bible distinguishes between good desires and sinful cravings.
As human beings, we have good desires, right?
You get hungry, you need food.
You get thirsty, you need water.
You get tired, you need rest.
Those are legitimate desires.
But sometimes, a legitimate desire becomes a sinful craving.
And a sinful craving has a bottomless pit like the pit of hell.
It's never satisfied.
It's never satisfied because it's a space that can only be filled with God himself.
And when you're trying to fill that space with anything else, it'll never fill the hole.
And so, the Bible says we have to put sinful cravings to death because they're idolatries.
They're pursuing something else as if it's going to satisfy us like only God can.
And it says we need to bring to God our legitimate desires and ask him for help and for what we need.
You know, it's very easy for Acts, in the book of Acts, chapter 7, it says this.
It says,
That's an interesting way to put it.
They were facing the wilderness, but in their hearts, they turned back to Egypt.
You see, God had gotten them out of Egypt.
And we've just seen that.
But in some ways, that was the easy part because he still had to get Egypt out of them.
Now, it's very easy for our perspective on the past, present, and future to become distorted
in the midst of trying circumstances when we're in the middle of a wilderness.
Several years ago, some family researchers conducted a study of several hundred unhappily married people.
They started with a representative sample from a larger nationwide survey.
They then followed up with him five years later.
Here are some of their conclusions.
Unhappily married adults who divorced were no happier five years after the divorce
than were equally unhappy couples who remained together.
And two-thirds of unhappily married people who remained married
reported marriages that were happy five years later.
Many of these had endured serious problems, including alcoholism, infidelity, verbal abuse,
emotional neglect, depression, illness, and work and money troubles.
Unhappy spouses who divorced had no greater sense of overall happiness,
no greater sense of personal mastery,
no less hostility,
no higher sense of purpose in life,
and no more self-acceptance or self-esteem than unhappily married people who stuck with their marriages.
They had slightly more depressive symptoms,
and they reported a good deal more alcohol consumption.
The only situation where divorce generally increased psychological well-being
was when the marriage had been characterized by ongoing physical violence.
Now, these are generalizations,
and there's much more that could be said from the Bible
about marriage and divorce in specific cases.
But this isn't a sermon on marriage and divorce.
I'm simply trying to make a general point.
When we're in the wilderness,
our perspective can easily become distorted.
We say the grass always seems greener on the other side.
One husband who was quoted in that study said,
you just have to remember
that the greener grass
is actually just astroturf.
So they grumbled quickly.
Their perspective was distorted.
And third, notice to whom their grumbling was directed.
The people did not bring their complaints to the Lord.
In fact, they don't talk to God at all.
They grumbled against their spiritual leaders.
Psychologists call this displacement.
You're angry about one thing,
but you take it out on somebody else
who might be completely unrelated
or only tangentially relevant to the situation.
So here, they grumble against Moses and Aaron.
And Moses says, Moses calls their bluff.
Moses says, why us?
Your beef is with the Lord.
Let's be honest here.
God has heard your grumbling,
and God is going to answer you.
Now, every so often,
people have an issue with one of the pastors
or with the elders.
And you know what?
As pastors, we sometimes fall short.
And sometimes we need you,
and we need each other.
That's why we have a team of elders here.
Sometimes we need other people to lovingly correct us
and to sharpen us and challenge us
and broaden our perspective.
We should never be above
receiving constructive criticism.
Now, it's not always easy for us to do,
so it's helpful if you can be both gentle and clear
if you have a concern.
But you know, sometimes people don't just give
constructive criticism and thoughtful concerns.
Sometimes people grumble
against one spiritual leader
and then another spiritual leader.
Sometimes they go from one church
to another church to another church,
and they always have a beef
with whoever's in charge.
And the issue is not actually
about whoever's in charge.
The issue is with the Lord.
And if that's you,
if you acknowledge that
you tend to be discontented
and fault-finding
and bitter
toward your spiritual leaders
or toward your spouse
or toward your boss,
whoever they may be,
the question is,
is there really an issue
between you and God?
And you need to deal with that with God.
You need to acknowledge what the issue is,
and you also need to acknowledge
that you have no right
to hold on to a beef with God.
You did not create the universe,
and you do not hold it together.
And you don't have the right
to carry around your beef with God
and spew it out on everyone else
who represents God's authority
over you
or who comes close
to love you.
But you know what?
There's good news.
Look at how God responds
to the people's grumbling.
He doesn't pay them back
as they deserve.
The good news is that
in Jesus Christ,
you have a heavenly father.
Not just a boss,
not just an authority figure
way up there.
You have a heavenly father
in Jesus Christ.
And he knows your needs.
And he hears your grumbling.
And he loves you anyway.
Like a parent loves their kid
no matter how many times
they grumble.
You just can't stop loving them.
And God is committed to you.
And you can approach,
he says,
that through his son,
Jesus Christ,
you can approach
his throne of grace
and you can ask him
and help in your time of need.
Not because you deserve it,
but because he's merciful
and gracious.
And Jesus says,
if you ask your father
in heaven for bread,
he won't give you a stone.
Isn't that what we see here
with the Israelites?
We see not just the people's
sinful grumbling,
we also see the Lord's
sustaining and gracious provision.
That's the second half
of this passage.
I mean,
the amazing thing
about this episode
and really the whole
wilderness experience
is God doesn't give
the people what they deserve.
He doesn't repay them
tit for tat.
He doesn't say,
okay,
you're complaining against me,
I'll leave you alone.
You fend for yourself
and you see how that turns out.
No,
he doesn't.
He doesn't say,
okay,
I'll give you starvation rations.
I'll keep you barely alive,
but I'll give you
half-rotten,
low-quality food.
Fit for grumblers.
No.
Look at what he does.
Verse 13,
in the evening,
quail came up
and covered the camp.
And in the morning,
dew lay around the camp.
And when the dew had gone up,
there was on the face
of the wilderness
a fine flake-like thing,
fine as frost on the ground.
When the people of Israel
saw it,
they said to one another,
what is it?
For they did not know
what it was.
And Moses said to them,
it is the bread
that the Lord
has given you
to eat.
So they got quail
in the evening.
Quail was considered
a delicacy
in ancient Egypt.
Every spring,
the quail would fly north
from Egypt
to the Sinai Peninsula.
Sometimes,
because of flying
such a long way
and because of the wind currents,
they'd flop on the ground.
They'd be all over the place.
And it seems like
the Lord providentially
arranged that
and to provide
a filling meal
for the Israelites
that very evening.
But the quail
isn't the main point
of the story.
That didn't happen every day.
It seemed to be
just an occasional thing.
The main point
or the main provision here
is the miraculous manna.
the bread from heaven
that came every morning.
And this bread
wasn't low quality.
It wasn't just
the cheap stuff.
It says it was
a fine flake-like thing
as fine as frost
on the ground.
Verse 31 says
it tasted like wafers
made with honey.
Now,
I have never made wafers,
but I'm told
that they take
a lot of time to make.
And so people
didn't make them
back then
because they were
sort of like a delicacy.
You'd only get them
in the king's court.
You just would make
ordinary bread.
But here God
gives them wafers
that taste like honey.
Now, honey,
there were no beekeepers
back then.
You had to go
into the wild
to get honey.
You were lucky
if you found honey.
Honey was, again,
sort of a special
kind of food.
And so God says to them,
you know,
if back then
they heard
that it tasted
like wafers
made with honey,
people would say,
ooh,
that's delicious.
Mmm.
That's good.
It was miraculous
and providential.
It was tasty
and nutritious
and it was sufficient
and sustaining.
Now, I want to focus
on three aspects
of the sufficiency
of God's provision
for the rest
of our time
this morning.
First,
there was enough
for every one.
Verse 16,
this is what the Lord
has commanded.
Gather of it,
each one of you,
as much as he can eat.
You shall each take
an omer,
that's about a half gallon,
according to the number
of the persons
that each of you
has in his tent.
And the people
of Israel did so.
They gathered
some more,
some less.
But when they measured
it with an omer,
whoever gathered much
had nothing left over
and whoever gathered
little had no lack.
Each of them gathered
as much as he could eat.
Now, there's two things
that are clear.
One is,
some gathered more
than others.
The second thing is,
in the end,
everyone had just enough.
What it doesn't explain
is,
how did that happen?
Some gathered more
than others,
but in the end,
everyone had just enough.
Now, it's possible
that God directly
ensured that
no matter how much
you gather,
when you put it
in the measuring vessel,
it comes out
to exactly half a gallon.
But it's also possible
that the people
had a hand
in sharing
with one another.
Verse 16 says,
take an omer
according to the number
of the persons
that each of you
has in his tent.
In other words,
each tent
that would be like
an extended family
or perhaps even
a larger clan
was responsible
to see
that everyone
in the tent
got fed.
And so,
if there were
young children,
they might not
gather as much
and they also
might not eat as much.
If there were
elderly people
who had trouble
getting around,
right,
they might not
gather so much.
Able-bodied people
might gather more.
But within the tent,
they all find
a way to share.
Now,
it doesn't say
that here,
but the Apostle Paul
quotes verse 18
in a very interesting
context
that goes along
with that.
He quotes it
in 2 Corinthians 8
verse 14.
And it's a chapter
where Paul
is encouraging
Christians
who have an abundance
to share with
Christians
who have a need.
So he says,
your abundance
at the present time
should supply
their need
so that their
abundance
may supply
your need,
that there may be
fairness
or equality.
As it is written,
whoever gathered
much had nothing
left over
and whoever gathered
little had no lack.
Paul says,
just like with
the manna,
some gather
more than others
but in the end
everyone gets
just enough
within the tent.
that's how
God's grace
is supposed
to work
within the church.
When God
blesses you
with abundance,
share generously
with your brothers
and sisters
in Christ.
Maybe that's
financial abundance.
Maybe that's
a house
that you can
welcome someone
into.
Maybe that's
relational abundance
that you can
help people
who are alone
or lonely
make connections.
Maybe it's
spiritual growth
and things
that you're
learning
that you can
teach to others.
On the other
hand,
if you find
yourself in
need,
gather what
you can.
Everybody has
a part to do.
Nobody just
sat around
and did
nothing.
But look
to your brothers
and sisters
in Christ
for help.
And this
should happen
on all kinds
of levels.
It should happen
within Christian
families.
From one
brother or
sister to
another,
within local
churches,
between local
churches,
and even
between churches
in different
parts of the
world.
Because that's
what Paul is
talking about
in 2 Corinthians
8,
is one church
in one part
of the world
that has an
abundance helps
another church
in another part
of the world
that has a
lack.
And there's
an exchange
back and
forth of both
financial and
spiritual blessings
and care.
many years
ago this
church fell
on hard
times.
At that
time we
barely had
enough money
to pay our
pastor and
to pay the
rent on the
building that
we were
renting.
We weren't
here.
We didn't
own a
building.
And another
church from a
different part
of the country
helped us.
They sent us
several thousand
dollars each
year for two
years to help
us get our
feet on the
ground.
world.
Now that
was so long
ago that
hardly any of
us were here.
There's a few
people who are
here who can
probably remember
that.
But thank God
for that church
from far away
who knew about
our need and
helped us.
And thank God
that we're now
in a place where
we can be
generous.
last year we
gave 20% of
our annual
church budget
to local and
global missions
including two
church plants
Shoreline in
New London and
the Ethiopian and
Eritrean ministry
that meets right
here.
And God has
blessed us as a
church in many
ways so that we
can help others
get on their
feet and grow
and be strong.
I don't know
what that looks
like for you.
Right?
We need to be
doing that for
one another here
as well.
Right?
Maybe you have a
financial need.
We have a
deacon's
benevolence fund
where the
deacons try to
use discernment
to help people
with needs as
best we can.
And to see that
everybody's doing
their part and
doing their
responsibility.
Paul said
there was enough
for everyone.
Second, there was
also enough for
every day.
verse 19,
Moses said to
them,
let no one
leave any of
it over till
the morning.
Now this was
in some ways
the first test.
If you look
back at verse
four, God
had said,
the people need
to gather one
day's portion
every day that
I may test
them whether
they will walk
in my law or
not.
God did not
explain every
detail of his
plan for the
Israelites in
advance.
He did not
lay out their
entire itinerary
through the
wilderness and
then say to
them, here's
all my reasons
for doing all
these things,
do you accept?
No.
He was teaching
the people to
trust him one
day at a
time.
Because trusting
God doesn't just
mean following
him when you
understand all
his reasons and
can see all of
his ways.
Trusting God
means trusting
him when you're
afraid and when
you feel desperate
and when you
feel tempted.
As a parent, I
have to teach my
kids to trust me
even when I
can't explain all
my reasons to
them.
To trust me
because I love
them and at
least for now,
I'm wiser than
them.
And how much
more so with
God?
He is our
ultimate provider.
He doesn't
always give us
what we want.
He won't always
give you what you
expect, but he
will always provide
what we need.
That's one of the
lessons the Lord
was drilling into
the head of his
people over and
over.
For 40 years,
they ate the
manna until they
came to the
promised land.
At the end of
their journey
across the
wilderness,
Moses said,
remember the
whole way the
Lord your God
has led you
these 40 years.
that he might
humble you,
testing you to
know what was
in your heart.
He humbled you,
he let you hunger,
and he fed you
with manna,
that he might
make you know
that man does
not live by bread
alone,
but by every word
that comes from
the mouth of the
Lord.
You see, every day
the manna was a
test.
Would the people
trust God or
not?
Every morning,
they had to get
out of bed.
Say, if you
wait till the
afternoon, if you
wait till the
sun is hot, the
manna melts, and
you're hungry.
God's teaching
them some
principles about
working diligently.
Get up out of
bed and do
something.
But every
night, God
wanted them also
to go to sleep
in peace and
trust that the
next morning, the
manna would be
there all over
again.
Now, of course,
the Israelites
didn't all, some
of them failed
this test, right?
Verse 20.
They did not
listen to Moses.
Some left part
of the manna till
the morning, and
it bred worms and
stank.
But you see,
every day, the
manna was a
sign.
God saying to
his people, you
can trust me.
I'm here again
and again and
again and
again.
I'm your father
in heaven.
I see you.
I'm providing
for you.
I haven't left
you, and I
won't forsake
you.
Now, what's the
lesson for us
here from this
daily provision
of manna?
Some people have
attempted to apply
this principle
directly.
They say,
I will trust
God day by
day.
Therefore, I
won't save.
whatever money I
get, I will
spend, maybe
give a little
bit.
I won't
bother planning
for the future
because God
provides for his
people day by
day.
Now, the
problem with that
attitude is that
you are not an
Israelite in the
wilderness.
The manna
happened for
40 years, and
then they got to
the promised land
and it stopped,
and it has never
started again.
And when they
got to the promised
land, they were
responsible to
cultivate the land
and to store up
their crops.
And in the book
of Proverbs, it
says, he who
gathers money
little by little
makes it grow.
It even says,
look at the
ants.
The ants store
up their
provisions in
the winter or
in the summer,
so they have
provisions in
the winter.
In the same
way, there's
wisdom in
saving.
So the lesson
here is not
don't save and
don't plan for
the future.
Sometimes we
don't plan for
the future because
we're too afraid
and we're trying
to avoid looking
into the future
because we're too
overwhelmed and
afraid.
And if that's
how you feel,
then that's where
you need to pray.
And that's
where you need
to find a
brother or
sister in
Christ and
say, I
need some
help.
I don't
just need
some money,
but I also
need someone
to help me
make a good
plan about
how I can
go forward.
So the
lesson of the
manna is
not that we
shouldn't plan,
it's not that
we shouldn't
save, but
that it's
every day to
depend on the
Lord and
to give
thanks to
him.
To wake
up every
morning and
pray like
Jesus taught
us to pray
in the
Lord's
prayer,
give us
each day
our daily
bread.
God.
You know, you
can't grow and
thrive by eating
spiritual
leftovers, by
relying on
yesterday's
spiritual
provision.
Every day we
need to wake
up and
commit our
day to the
Lord in
prayer.
And every
evening we
can lay
down and
say, thank
you, Lord.
As I go to
sleep, I
trust you,
because you're
the God who
neither slumbers
nor sleeps,
and you'll be
there for me
in the
morning.
There is
enough for
everyone, there's
enough for
every day.
Finally, verse
22 to 30 teach
us that there was
enough for every
Sabbath, every
day of rest.
On the
sixth day they
gathered twice as
much bread,
verse 22, two
omers each.
When all the
leaders of the
congregation
came and told
Moses, 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.
So they lay
it aside till
the morning as
Moses commanded
them, and it
did not stink, and
there were no
worms in it.
Moses said, eat
it today.
For today is a
Sabbath to the
Lord.
Today you won't
find it in the
field.
Six days you
shall gather it,
but on the
seventh day, which
is a Sabbath, there
will be none.
Not surprisingly,
verse 27, on the
seventh day, some
of the people
nevertheless went
out to gather, but
they found none.
What's God teaching
the people here?
He's giving them a
gift.
He's giving them
one day every week
where they can rest
and receive and
rejoice.
Now, some of the
people didn't want
that, right?
First they tried to
hoard and keep
manna overnight, and
now they try to
overwork and keep
working every day and
never, ever stop.
One person said, a
grumbling heart under
deprivation becomes a
greedy heart under
abundance.
But God says, six
days you shall work.
Work hard, but one
day you shall rest.
Why?
The reason is because
you're not slaves
anymore.
When the people of
Israel were slaves in
Egypt, they had no
days off.
There was no such
thing as a weekend in
ancient Egypt, especially
if you were a slave.
Pharaoh never gave
them days off.
And God wants the
Israelites to know, I
am not a harsh task
master like Pharaoh.
I want you to work
hard in my kingdom, but
I also want you to
rest with peace and
joy.
I want to give you a
day to celebrate and a
day to receive and a
day to know that I'm
your creator and you're
just a creature and you
can let go.
Now, how does this one
apply to us?
Well, Christians have
debated whether the
Sabbath is also, continues
to be a commandment under
the new covenant in
Christ.
But regardless of whether
you think it's a
commandment in the same
way as it was in the Old
Testament or a different
way, the Sabbath is
written into the pattern
of creation.
And Jesus himself said
the Sabbath was made for
man, for human beings,
for our blessing, for our
benefit.
Even if it's not a law,
why would we reject a
good gift from God?
That's meant for our
sustaining provision.
Now, I don't know what the
details will look like for
you.
You might need to
reorganize your schedule
during the rest of the
week.
The Israelites did some
extra cooking on the
sixth day so they could
rest on the seventh day.
Maybe you'll do Sunday.
That's the traditional
Christian day of rest.
Maybe you'll do Saturday
dinner to Sunday dinner,
like the evening and
morning thing.
Maybe you have to work on
Sunday, so maybe you try
to take a different day.
I think there's some
Christian freedom in how we
work out the details.
But can you receive the
Sabbath as a gift from the
God who has saved you and
the God who continues to
sustain you?
It's part of how God
sustains us.
It's by giving us rest and
giving us joy.
So there's enough for
everyone, there was enough
for every day, and there
was enough for every
Sabbath because those God
saves, he also sustains.
The end of the passage
tells us that the people of
Israel kept one omer of
manna, one half gallon,
one day's serving of manna
in the Ark of the Covenant
before the testimony.
It was a perpetual reminder of
God's faithfulness to the
people in the wilderness.
Now, we don't have that
anymore.
It's gone, disappeared
somewhere through the ages.
But you know what?
We have something even
better.
We have a reminder of an
even greater provision than
the manna.
Jesus Christ said, the bread of
God is he who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the
world.
He says, I am the living bread
that came down from heaven.
I am the bread of life.
Jesus Christ came into the
world not just to sustain us
physically, but to rescue us
and sustain us spiritually.
And as we take the Lord's
supper, which is what we're
going to do in just a minute,
the bread that we pass out is
not the bread of life.
Jesus himself is the bread of
life, but it's an enduring
testimony.
It's a regular reminder that
Jesus is faithful, that God is
faithful to all his promises,
that we can trust him and he
will sustain us.
When we feed on him by faith
with thanksgiving, that just as
he brought the Israelites through
the wilderness, he will walk with
us and sustain us through whatever
the wilderness we face today.
The same God who saves us will
continue to sustain us.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for your
provision for the Israelites in the
wilderness.
We thank you for your kindness to
them, for not repaying them as
their grumbling deserved.
We thank you for your faithfulness
to us.
Lord, we thank you above all that
while we were still sinners, your
son Jesus Christ died for us.
And Lord, that is our hope.
That is our confidence.
We pray that we would trust you,
that you are enough.
And you are our provider.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.