Exodus 16:31

The Bible says in Exodus 16:31-36, “And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.” God gave the children of Israel manna to eat for forty years. This reminds us of the faithfulness of the Lord to take care of us day after day. Jesus will take care of you today, and He will take care of you forty years from now, if you live that long. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The children of Israel were given manna, and the manna gave them life upon this earth. Without the manna they would have died. There is an important spiritual lesson concerning this manna that came down from heaven and gave them life. Jesus told us about the spiritual meaning of the manna. The Bible says in John 6:32-41, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.” It is very interesting what Jesus said about the manna that came down from heaven. Jesus said that the manna that the people saw, and touched, and ate was not the true manna. Manna was only symbolic of that which would come later: Jesus Himself. The same thing can be said about many things in the Old Testament. The holy of holies inside the temple was not the true location of the presence of God. Because of Jesus every believer can now enter into the presence of God through prayer. The Sabbath Day that was given in the Old Testament was not the true rest. True rest only comes by finding peace and rest in Christ.

God said in Exodus 16:32, “I have fed you.” That is why Christians pray and thank the Lord for their food. Believers understand where their food came from. Jesus taught us that our prayers should contain reference to the food that we eat. Jesus told us in Matthew 6:11 to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Notice that it says of Jesus in Mark 8:6, “And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.” When the Lord told the children of Israel to save some of the manna so that future generations could see it and know about it, the Lord was saying that it is important for those who have been blessed of the Lord to tell the next generation about those blessings. It is important for young people to know that God will take care of them. They do not need to worry or get stressed out about the future. They can rely upon the Lord and be confident in the Lord’s help. The Lord gives life, and the Lord sustains life: He will take care of His own.

The Bible says in Exodus 17:1-7, “And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” It says in Exodus 17:1 that “there was no water for the people to drink.” Something similar to this had happened to them before. Do you remember the bitter water at Marah in Exodus chapter fifteen when the people said in Exodus 15:23, “What shall we drink?” They did not learn from their past mistakes, and they did not learn from God’s past blessings. If God has blessed you and provided for you in the past, then He is going to do the same in the future. It says in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Along this line, here is a wonderful promise in Romans 8:32, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?” This is especially a great promise in regards to your sinfulness. Has Jesus forgiven you in the past, then He will forgive you again.

In Exodus 17:7 the people said something that was very bad. They used speech and language that they should have never used. The words that they used were so bad that the Bible says that they “tempted” the Lord with these words. What were these terrible words? Were these curse words? Were these words taking God’s name in vain? No, nothing like that. They simply said words of doubt. Listen once again to the terrible words that they said. They said, “Is the LORD among us, or not?” A believer should never doubt the presence of the Lord. That is the same as calling God a liar. That is the same as denying that God is God. Jesus is all-powerful, all-knowing, and He is everywhere present. If He was not, He would not be God. God is not pleased when we have lack of faith in Him, and it is a very great lack of faith to doubt His presence. We may fail at many things, but He wants us to always have faith in Him. Jesus definitely notices how much faith that people have. Jesus marveled when the disciples showed only a little faith. Jesus said to them in Matthew 6:30, Matthew 8:26, and Matthew 16:8, “O ye of little faith.” In Luke 7:9 Jesus marveled when He did find a great deal of faith in the heart of someone. It says, “When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

If you want to have faith, then make sure that you use words of faith. Many people say that they believe, but then they too often use words of unbelief when they speak. The words that you speak will influence your own heart into faith or out of it. The Bible says in First Timothy 4:6 says, “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.” And it says in Second Timothy 1:13, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” Do not look at some problem that comes into your life and say something like, “O no, what a terrible problem. I do not know what we are going to do. Woe is me,” or words to that effect. That is the human reaction. That is the carnal reaction. With a reaction based upon faith you would say something like, “We will see what the Lord will do this time. The Lord always provides, and the Lord always shows a way. We will do the best that we can, and then see how the Lord helps us, because He always does.” Think and talk like a Christian instead of an unbeliever. Use words of faith and your own faith will be strengthened.

The Bible says in Exodus 17:8-16, “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” One of the important lessons demonstrated in this passage of scripture is the fact that the people were winning the battle only as long as Moses’ hands were held high. The holding up of the hands was symbolic of praying and looking to the Lord for help. As long as we truly trust in the Lord we will find the victory that we need. It is very similar to the meaning of what Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” As long as Paul trusted in Christ, Paul would be made strong to face whatever difficulty came his way. If we let down our hands of prayer, we become weak and we fail. But if we learn to look to the Lord every moment of every day, we will be strong every moment of every day. It says of Moses in Exodus 17:12 that “his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” In other words we need to trust in the Lord all day long, not just part of the day.

Notice that the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 17:14, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua.” This is one of many Bible verses that tell us very clearly the source of God’s Word. Certain men were chosen by God to take part in the writing of the book. The words came from God, and because God had these words written down, the words are preserved for every generation. Everyone else is supposed to take the words that were written down, and learn them, and teach them to others. Of course, God was very wise to give us a written word about His truth. An oral tradition would possibly eventually be corrupted and changed. It says in Second Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

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