By Shirley Rosemarie Evans
19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.
21 After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts[e] for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. 23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”
24 So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor. 25 Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. 26 You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.”
27 Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. 28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions?
Exodus 16:19-28
Wow!
Some of us may ask – “How hard is it?” God’s instructions – “Just take what you need for today and don’t save any till the morning.” A simple enough instruction, but yet some disobeyed. Why was that? Clearly, they didn’t trust God enough to know that He would supply all their daily needs. They wanted to make sure or somehow got to thinking that this was on them. They could do it for themselves. But God taught them a lesson, or so we would think. The next day the manna was full of maggots and inedible. But then they still didn’t get it, for the instructions for the Sabbath was to collect enough for two days, but again some failed to follow these directions and went out on the Sabbath day to gather food and found there was nothing.
There are lessons to be learnt: First, God is not like man. He says what He means, and He means what He says. If He says He will supply our daily needs, guess what – He does just that! If He says just take what you need there will be more tomorrow, we know that tomorrow there will be more.
Secondly, our responsibility is to trust and obey. If we are to reap and enjoy all the benefits of being in a covenant family, we have our part to play. We trust God in everything always and as a result we choose to obey. Trust is always accompanied by obedience. Obedience equals blessing.
It is also important to note the partnership relationship in this episode. God provided the manna, but the Israelites had to go out and gather it. The manna was like thin wafers and could not be simply picked up, it had to be swept up. So the Israelites had a part to play in reaping what God had already provided. So, there was a harvest to be had but some effort was required.
This recalls the mandate to all believers to go out into the world and to make disciples of all nations. Sometimes we are guilty of failing to hear the command to go. We convince ourselves that the task is too great or that in this high speed, microwave, “you only live once,” era there are very few to be saved. But let us remember that really it is not about us. We are the one sent but that Christ is Lord of the harvest.
We are told in Matthew 37:36 that as Jesus went from towns to villages proclaiming the kingdom he was followed by crowds and as he looked at them, He was moved with compassion recognising how helpless & hopeless they were. Turning to the disciples He said “… The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.” May we be so moved by the plight of the lost and heed the command to go. Let us partner with the Lord of the harvest in reaping this harvest, and may we also pray for others to become co-workers with Christ to reach the lost.
Ask – Why would God make the Israelites work to gather the manna?
Seek – Have you heard and obeyed the command to go into the harvest?
Knock – Commit afresh today to become a co-worker in this great harvest and pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers.
(Upper Photo by Sammy Williams on Unsplash)
(Inner Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash)
