Heavenly Bread (Part 2)

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HEAVENLY BREAD – p. 2

Exodus 16:13-36

Bread from Heaven

The bread from heaven was called “manna” –

-Manna means “What is it?”

-Numbers 11 gives a few more details with what they actually did with the manna –

-vs. 7-9 – “Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that

of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or

beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it

was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell on the camp in the

night, the manna fell with it.”

This was something completely unique –

-Never had there been anything like it before and never has there been anything like it

since.

-That was to show that the solving of the problem was totally of God!

-This has nothing to do with human ingenuity, intelligence, or effort –

-God did it.

-Salvation is of the LORD!

-And His salvation is sufficient, satisfying, and sweet!

God not only graciously provides for them, but He uses the daily giving of manna as an ongoing

test of faith –

-The proof of faith is always obedience.

-The proof of faith is not a stress-free life.

-Some will tell you that – “Just have faith and you’ll be healthy, wealthy, and wise!

-Not so much – sometimes it is the exact opposite of that!

The reason God tests our faith the way He does is something we will get to –

-For now, let’s look at what their obedience to God’s Word looked like.

Manna Instructions

1 – It had to be gathered in the morning –

-vs. 13, 14 – “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.”

2 – It had to be gathered daily (with one exception) –

-Read verses 16-18

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-The reason for daily provision becomes obvious because faith is walking with the LORD,

day by day.

-Moses – Duet. 33:25 – “…as your days are, so shall your strength be.”

-Jesus – Matt. 6:34 – “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be

anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

-Paul – 2 Cor. 4:16 – “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away,

our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

-So, gathering manna is a day by day exercise of faith –

-Just like a life of faith is – day by day walking with and trusting the LORD will

provide what I need to glorify Him.

-Something else to be see in this –

-They all were given enough manna – big family or small family, everyone had

enough.

3 – It could not be kept overnight –

-v. 19 – “And Moses said to them, ‘Let no one leave any of it over till morning.’”

-We know that there is disobedience to this part of the instructions –

-v. 20 – “But they did not listen to the voice of Moses. Some left part of it till the

morning, and it bred worms and stank. Moses was angry with them.”

-We all understand human nature –

-We even have expression like “Get while the gettin’s good!”

-We can almost see ourselves collecting all the manna we possibly can…

-It is so easy to justify disobedience –

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-There’s both an Old Testament and New Testament lesson to learn from this –

-OT = The lesson of the plagues

-NT = A Christian lesson on giving!

-2 Cor. 9

4 – Extra was taken for the Sabbath –

-Read verses 22-26

-So, they had to gather extra for the Sabbath – But what’s the Sabbath?!

-They don’t have the Ten Commandments yet – the 4th is “Honor the Sabbath”.

-They don’t have the Creation story yet – Moses will write that later.

-So, God begins to teach them about the observance of a special day each week –

-When people think about the Sabbath, what do they say?

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-Typically, it’s about what you can’t do on the Sabbath –

-You can’t work on Sabbath…can’t cook on Sabbath…can’t take a trip on

the Sabbath…etc.

-But that is a distortion of the Sabbath –

-The reason we might think that way is because of all the burdensome rules

that the Pharisees had added to the Sabbath.

-However, the truth is that the Sabbath was God’s gift to His people –

-It was a day to rest from all your work – following God’s example in

Creation.

-Here, God graciously provides what they need for the Sabbath the day before the

Sabbath so that the gift of God – Sabbath rest – can be experienced.

Why Does God Test Faith?

1 – To expose our sin

-When the heat is turn up, the real us gets exposed –

-By the “real us” I mean the things that we value the most.

-The things we love the most.

-The things that define us best get exposed.

-Testing can be the perfect time to see the idols we have become comfortable with –

-James 4

2 – To teach us to obey

-Man will not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of

God.

3 – To Equip us for life

4 – To reveal our need for Jesus