The Manna Test

Context

Journey of Faith.

Last Week, Exodus 14, the crossing of the Red Sea. Destruction of Egyptian army. A new beginning for Israel.

The people have been on the way for a month (it is the 15th of the second month since the passover, Exodus 12:2)

They come to the wilderness of Sin. We cannot help but notice the name of this wilderness. Not related to our english word — “sin”, fault against God, yet it is in the wilderness travels that the people wrestle between faith and fault.

Much to teach us about our own walk of faith with God.

Text

Exodus 16:2–15 “The whole congregation of the Israelites complained 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 fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the 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 complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.” Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ” In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

Introduction

When I was in a graduate program, I took a course on group counseling. During the course we students were formed into groups. We were assigned tasks to complete. We raced against each other to complete the tasks and complete them correctly. After the exercises, the instructors gave us feedback. We are all surprised to discover that the point of the tests was not to complete the tasks. Instead, the instructors were evaluating how we were interacting with each other. In other words, the test was not measuring what we thought it was measuring.

Today’s lesson wants us to see that God uses tests in our lives to get at something deeper than we maybe thinking about.

Exegesis - God tests his people

Journeying in the wilderness. Food starts to run low.

People begin to be hungry. And they complain against Moses.

O that we had died by the hand of the LORD in Egypt…when we sat by the meats and bread. You have led us into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Moses may have been surprised:

They have forgotten that they were in bondage and how happy they were to be freed;

they have forgotten how amazed they were at the LORD who parted the sea and how they revered Moses his servant.

They have lost hold of the faith they had in the Lord at the beginning of the journey when he led them out in a pillar of cloud and fire.

But God is not surprised.

The LORD is all knowing. He knows his people are mortal and have needs.

He is not surprised when they come to Moses, for the LORD heard the complaints in the tents and their minds long before they voiced them.

The Lord had no intention of letting them starve to death.

The LORD has allowed their hunger so that he could test THEM.

Exodus 16:4 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.”

I will give my hungry people bread SO THAT — I may test them. (Not merely feed them, not merely comfort them, not merely show my power to provide…) but to test them.

The people think the situation is about bread. It is not about bread. It is about their relationship with God…

God wants to know, God wants them to know, whether they will obey him. This is a critical issue because only he can bring them through the wilderness to the promised land.

So the LORD provides bread for his people.

It appeared like a dew on the ground.

It was a miraculous bread, like in some ways to earthly bread — tasting like honey and coriander — but unique and unearthly, so that there was no doubt that it indeed came from God.

That is why Moses identified it for them: This is the bread that that GOD is giving you.

They called it Manna — what is it? There is no name for it.

With the bread came a command: to gather each day enough for the day. Do not try to keep a storage of it overnight. And gather twice as much on Friday, so that you can rest on Saturday. A sabbath rest.

The people were tested. Because they were hungry the test was acute. Which will you obey, the command of God, or the command of your rumbling belly. Who will you listen to, the LORD or yourself?

Sadly the people did not pass the test.

They tried to hoard the bread. They tried to keep it overnight. But it went bad.

They didn’t rest on the Sabbath. But went looking for more bread. But there was none.

And so God and Moses were disappointed. The people got their bread, but they did not yet receive what God really wanted to give them…a confident relationship with himself.

They did not rise to the promise of Exodus 16:12 ““…you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ””

the test was never really about the bread. Manna test was about their relationship with God.

Yet Gods love for his people is always stronger than their love for him. God in his great love, still provided the bread they needed every day and a double portion on the Sabbath, He kept training them to trust him.

Deuteronomy 8:3 “He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Interpretation - God provided Jesus to help us when we are tested.

The ancient Hebrews in this instance failed to live by God’s word.

Not because they were Hebrews. Not because they were ancient.

But because they were human.

We all naturally tend more to what is physical than to what is spiritual.

And when we don’t get what we need physically or emotionally or circumstantially, our instinct is to complain against God rather than to trust him.

When we are running out of money… God, how can you let this happen to me?

our health is in decline … God, why don’t you just put me out of my misery?

When X is not working in our life…how can you do this to me?

It is surprising that we can so quickly turn against God. It is surprising how we can forget the many good things that God has done for us.

But God is not surprised.

In his wisdom and goodness, God allows these difficult times to come into our life so he can test our faith – direct our attention to what is most important.

And what is most important is not the money.

Not our physical health.

It’s not where we live or what we wear or what we drive or what we can hoard.

The most important thing in life is our relationship with God.

God knows: God alone is our highest good. God alone can lead us through every circumstance of life. God alone is the one who gives us life in this world and in the world to come.

And God knows that left to ourselves we focus on everything else except him.

So God sent his only son Jesus Christ to pass the test for us - that is to obey God’s word completely - so that he could become the source of help for us.

In the NT, Jesus passes the manna test. He understood it is not about the bread.

Matthew 4:1-4. Temptation in the wilderness. Devil says, You are hungry; turn these stones to bread. But Jesus refused. — man does not live by bread alone but by the Word of God. God will end my fast, feed me, when HE chooses.

Jesus always prioritized faith and obedience to God. Even when he was hungry, even when people complained against him, even when it cost him his life and he went to the cross at the hands of sinners.

Jesus knew that every test and trial he faced was not just about the earthly circumstance. It was about his relationship with God, his father.

Therefore God raised him from the dead. Placed him in glory.

He comes to our aid and says, John 6 - I am the true bread of heaven that has come down to give life to the world.

He will nourish help guide everyone who turns to him with his spiritual life. He will remind them of what is most important in life. And help them to live for their relationship with God. Pass the manna test.

Application - when we face tests grow in Jesus.

So if we want to have a life with God that God desires to give to us, then we need to be ready to look at the trials of life in a new way. Deeper way.

In my graduate course. We thought it was about completing the task. It was really about our relationship with each other. The same goes for life. God our spiritual instructor will test us. The real lesson: the most important thing is our relationship with God.

To pass the manna test:

We immediately see the hardship.

Resist the impulse to complain.

God loves us has good plans not to harm. Has delivered.

Then we need to look deeper and realize that this (circumstance) is about our relationship with God. Manna test.

Do we want his will in our lives? or our own?

commit to obey. Forward, back, left, right, now, wait…

Only by trusting him and obeying him can we find the life that he longs to give us and that we desire to receive.

We should to Jesus every day as the one who can remind us of what is most important and give us the grace. We need to trust God.

We should gather Jesus twice on Sunday . We to him privately and him as a community. In the strength of Sunday morning worship we go to live our to God.

Conclusion

What rest are you facing? How can you turn to Jesus and build your relationship with him?

Prayer: Give us as much as we can stand, take us much from us as will help us turn to you.