And HaShem 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 HaShem your God.’ “ (16:12)
So far, the Israelites have seen God do wondrous plagues, culminating in their deliverance from Egypt; the parting of the Red Sea, so that they can walk across it; the drowning of their enemies; and the provision of water—miracles to fill them with awe! But before the miracles, they endured years of slavery, their male babies being killed, the terror of a powerful army chasing them down, and serious thirst. God provides for those in need, but how needy do we want to be? Don’t we want God to do marvelous things when we’re not very needy?
In today’s reading, the Israelites have been grumbling about their hunger—it was probably more acute than just missing a meal or two—and God says He will provide meat and bread. And He did. In the evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was this new food, called “manna.” It covered the ground and was “like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (16:31).
The Israelites were given instructions to gather a certain amount daily and not to leave any of it until morning. Some left part of it until the next day, and it bred worms and stank. I imagine they learned their lesson. But on the seventh day, Shabbat (the Sabbath), they were to gather twice as much because the seventh day was to be a day of rest. The manna they gathered on the sixth day would not go bad on the seventh day, because God ordained it so.
Some still went out on Shabbat to gather the manna, because… people have a tendency to think they know better and to do what they want to do.
But we don’t. We absolutely don’t know better than God.
When I was a very new believer, I was told that followers of Yeshua were supposed to not do certain things, and I begrudgingly thought, “Well, I don’t agree, but I guess I have to follow this since God says so.” It wasn’t that long before I began to see that God truly knows best, and when what I want to do differs from what He says, I will do it His way with a good attitude. It’s not always easy going against my inclinations, but I want to be pleasing to Him, and it is the way to abundant life!
As the psalmist writes, “I will run in the way of your commandments” (Psalm 119:32), this brings life!
Prayer: Help me be attentive to your directives, O Lord. Help me to eagerly seek to live according to Your ways! (If there is some command/directive/way of the Lord that you are having trouble with, tell that to Him and ask for His help.)
