Cure for Grumbling: The Bread That Grants Eternal Life

Heavenly Father, you say in Psalm 19

that your word is sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

We pray this morning that you would

refresh us with that sweet word.

Renew us that we might appreciate,

partake in your word in faith as we ought to.

And we pray that you would also lead us by your spirit

to believe in and to take hold of Jesus,

the bread of life, that we might live with you forever.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Please stand for the reading of God's word

from Exodus 16, 1 to 21.

They set out from Elim,

and all the congregation of the people of Israel

came to the wilderness of Sin,

which is between Elim and Sinai,

on the 15th day of the second month

after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel

grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

And the people of Israel said to them,

would that we had died by the hand of the Lord

in the land of Egypt,

when we sat by the meat pots

and ate bread to the full?

For you have brought us out into this wilderness

to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you,

and the people shall go out

and gather a day's portion every day

that I may test them,

whether they will walk in my law or not.

On the sixth day,

when they prepare what they bring in,

it will be twice as much as they gather daily.

So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel,

at 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 grumbling against the Lord.

For what are we that you grumble against us?

And Moses said,

when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat

and in the morning bread to the full,

because the Lord has heard your grumbling

that you grumble against him.

What are we?

Your grumbling is not against us,

but against the Lord.

Then Moses said to Aaron,

say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel,

come near before the Lord,

for he has heard your grumbling.

And as soon as Aaron spoke

to the whole congregation of the people of Israel,

they looked toward the wilderness,

and behold,

the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

And the Lord 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 the Lord your God.

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.

When the people of Israel saw it,

they said to one another,

what is it?

For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them,

it is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

This is what the Lord has commanded.

Gather of it,

each one of you,

as much as he can eat.

You shall each take an omer,

according to the number of the persons

that each of you has in his tent.

And the people of Israel did so.

They gathered some more,

some less,

but when they measured it with an omer,

whoever gathered much had nothing left over,

and whoever gathered little had no lack.

Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

And Moses said to them,

let no one leave any of it over till the morning.

But they did not listen to Moses.

Some left part of it till the morning,

and it bred worms and stank.

And Moses was angry with them.

Morning by morning,

they gathered it,

each as much as he could eat.

But when the sun grew hot,

it melted.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Some of us know what it's like

to live from paycheck to paycheck.

Your paycheck is just enough

to pay for what you need.

So you literally spend all of it

before receiving your next paycheck.

Probably only a few of us,

if any,

know what it's like to live from hand to mouth.

You have no money to spare,

and all of it goes to your bare necessities,

like food.

You work with your hands

in order to literally put food in your mouth.

And that's your daily existence.

That kind of dire situation

is something that we usually try to avoid.

Because we don't do well with uncertainty.

It makes us anxious.

We want to know ahead of time

where our next meal is coming from.

Or more accurately,

we want to know

where our next 300 meals

are coming from,

don't we?

Since the standard financial advice

given in the US

is that we should have

three to six months worth of expenses

in an emergency savings account.

We idealize and admire

independent people,

self-sufficient people.

However,

whether we live

hand to mouth

or have

million dollar investments,

God calls

every Christian

to live with a sense

of dependence on God.

that's what we learn

in this passage

that rather than

grumbling against the Lord,

we should depend

on His daily provision

of the bread of life.

So first,

we're going to see

the grumbling of the people

in verses 1 to 12

and then the testing of the Lord

in verses 13 to 21.

Let's first talk about

the people's grumbling.

In Exodus 15, 22 to 17, 7,

there are three passages

about grumbling.

We saw one last week.

We're going to see another one

next week.

And so this is kind of

the middle, central passage

that Moses is really emphasizing.

So we have here

a mini-series

about,

topical series

about grumbling,

three-week series

in the middle of our

expository series

in the book of Exodus.

It says in verse 1,

they set out from Elim

and all the congregation

of the people of Israel

came to the wilderness of Sin,

which is between Elim

and Sinai,

or Sinai,

on the 15th day

of the second month

after they had departed

from the land of Egypt.

So they've passed

the wilderness of Shur

and they passed

the oasis of Elim

and they have now come

to the wilderness of Sin.

Sin is just

a transliteration

of the Hebrew word

that sounds like sin.

It's probably related

to Sinai,

or as we say

in English,

Sinai.

So it has nothing

to do with the

English word sin,

even though Israelites

do a lot of sinning

here in the wilderness

of Sin.

And so it's,

verse 1 tells us

that they are in

to the 15th day

of the second month

after they have

departed from the land

of Egypt.

So it's been over a month,

nearly two months,

since Israel's

exodus from Egypt.

So it's,

foreseeable,

it's possible

that they're actually

running out of food.

They still have

some livestock,

but they need those

to, you know,

for the sacrifices later

or to carry

some of their

luggages even.

but they're exhausting

their food supply

and there's no place

in the middle of the wilderness

to replenish their supply.

And so it says

in verses 2 to 3,

and the whole congregation

of the people of Israel

grumbled against Moses

and Aaron in the wilderness.

And they said to them,

would that we had died

by the hand of the Lord

in the land of Egypt

when we sat by

the meat pots

and ate bread

to the full.

For you have brought us

out into this wilderness

to kill this whole assembly

with hunger.

It's similar

to the way

they've grown

to God

in Exodus 14,

11 to 12

with the Egyptians

pursuing them

behind them

and the Red Sea

before them

and they were stuck

between a rock

and a hard place.

And at that point

the Israelites said,

well,

it would be better

if we had been slaves

in Egypt

if you never brought us out.

But the situation

they're complaining

now is escalating.

Instead of just saying,

I wish we had been

slaves back in Egypt,

now they say,

we wish that we would

rather have died

in Egypt

rather than

died a slow death

of starvation

here in the wilderness.

But this grumbling,

this reveals

a few things

about grumbling.

This grumbling

betrays their Israelites'

profound forgetfulness,

their ungratefulness,

and their faithlessness.

They describe

their slavery in Egypt

at a time

when they

wistfully described

this time.

They sat by meat pots

and ate bread

to the full.

It sounds like

they were living

like kings

in a palace,

but we know

that wasn't

what was happening

in the Exodus story.

If you look at

chapter 1,

verses 13 to 14,

the Egyptians,

it says,

ruthlessly made

the people of Israel

work as slaves

and made their lives

bitter with hard service.

And it says

in chapter 223

that the people of Israel

for that reason

groaned because

of their slavery

and cried out

for rescue

from slavery.

They were told

by Pharaoh

and his minions

to produce bricks

without straw

needed to make it.

Their life in Egypt

was miserable,

and yet in their hunger

in the wilderness,

their memory

is very selective

and distorted.

They say,

oh,

we sat by meat pots

and ate bread

to the full.

Remember those

good old days

when we were slaves

in Egypt.

This betrays

their profound

forgetfulness.

People who tend

to reminisce

dreamily

about the good old days

likely don't remember

accurately

all the bad things

about those good old days.

If you are mired

in discontentment

and grumbling

this morning,

remember that the grass

always seems greener

on the other side,

but it often isn't.

Surely the Israelites'

bitter slavery

in Egypt

was not better

than the time

of wilderness

in sin,

but they were forgetful.

Their memory

was selective

and distorted.

The Lord remembers

much farther

than we do,

and the Lord

sees things farther,

much farther ahead

than we do.

And if our gracious

Lord has seen fit

to keep us

in our present lot,

then our grumbling

is misguided.

Israel's grumbling

also betrays

their profound

ungratefulness.

They say,

would that we had died

by the hand

of the Lord

in the land of Egypt.

This is ironic

because we have seen

over and over again

that the Lord

delivered Israel

by His strong hand,

it says.

Right?

The Lord said

in chapter 7,

verse 5,

the Egyptians

shall know

that I am the Lord

when I stretch out

my hand

against Egypt

and bring out

the people of Israel

from among them.

And Moses said

in chapter 13,

verse 3,

remember this day

in which you came out

from Egypt

out of the house

of slavery,

for by a strong hand

the Lord brought you

out from this place.

Having been delivered

by the hand of the Lord

in their newfound freedom,

the Israelites

have the shameless audacity

not to wish

that they had instead

died by that very hand

of the Lord.

Instead of saving us,

we wish the Lord

had killed us instead.

That's what they're saying.

This betrays the depth

of Israel's ungratefulness.

They think

that a quick death

at the hand of the Lord

that Passover night

is preferable

to a slow death

by starvation

in the wilderness.

In saying this,

they ironically point out

that death

is precisely

what they deserved

that night

of the Passover

and what they deserve still

because they are sinners

and rebels before God

and that it is only

by the grace

and mercy of God

that they still

are breathing

and have breath

left to grumble.

Third,

Israel's grumbling

also exposes

their utter faithlessness.

Having witnessed,

think about this,

having witnessed the Lord

turn water into blood,

unleash frogs

and gnats

and flies

and pestilence

and boils

and locusts

and darkness

upon the land of Egypt,

having witnessed the Lord

kill the firstborn sons

of Egypt

in retribution

for the murder

of Israel's sons

and for enslaving Israel

and God's firstborn son,

and having witnessed

the Lord split the Red Sea

and make them walk

through it on dry ground

and having witnessed

the Lord turn

the bitter waters

of Mara

into sweet water

for them to drink,

they still do not

seem to think

that maybe,

just maybe,

that the Lord

can and will

do something

about them

needing bread.

their grumbling

betrays

their failure

to remember

what God has already

done on their behalf,

their failure

to remember

what God has promised

for the future.

Their grumbling

is essentially

atheistic.

God is not

in the picture.

He is conspicuously

absent

from the Israelites'

perspective.

Instead,

they fixate

on Moses and Aaron

and blame them

for their problems.

They say to Moses

and Aaron

in verse 3,

for you have

brought us

out into the wilderness

to kill the whole

assembly with hunger.

But it was not

Moses and Aaron

who brought Israel

out of Egypt

into the wilderness.

It was the Lord.

So Moses points out

their error

in verses 6 to 8.

At 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 grumbling

against the Lord.

For what are we

that you grumble

against us?

And Moses said,

when the Lord

gives you in the evening

meat to eat

and in the morning

bread to the full

because the Lord

has heard your grumbling

and that you grumble

against him.

What are we?

Your grumbling

is not against us

but against the Lord.

Israelites

directed their grumbling

against Moses

and Aaron

because they were

easier,

more reachable targets.

But Moses

reminds them

that ultimately

their grumbling

is against the Lord.

You think I

brought those plagues

upon Egypt?

You think I

split the Red Sea?

You think I

brought you out

into the wilderness?

Not a chance.

What are we?

This is what

Moses and Aaron

are saying.

What are we?

We're nobodies.

We're just

God's instruments

and tools.

Your grumbling

is not against us

but against the Lord.

Of course

there are people

who sin against us

and don't do right

by us.

I'm not denying

that those things happen

but if bitterness

has taken root

in your heart,

if there is

unforgiveness,

if there is grumbling

in your heart,

then your grumbling

is ultimately

against the sovereign

Lord who is in charge

of your life.

Remember what I said

last week

about the difference

between groaning

and grumbling.

Both the Old

and the New Testaments

consistently make

a distinction

between groaning

and grumbling.

Groaning is

when we pour out

our complaints

to God

in lament

and prayer,

when we moan

in pain

before God

as Job does

and as the psalmists

do over and over again.

It's what the Holy Spirit

does when he intercedes

for us with groanings

to deeper words.

It's what Jesus does

in some passages

in the Gospels.

To groan is

to cry out to God.

The grumble

is to complain

about him.

We groan before God

but grumble

against him.

A person

who is groaning

flings himself

into the arms

of God

grasping onto him

asking him

for help

crying out

in pain.

A person

who is grumbling

is pointing

his finger

at God

whispering

in sedition

opposed

to God's rule.

Grumbling

stems from

a fundamental

misunderstanding

and suspicion

of God's character.

This is why

the Lord answers

Israel's grumbling

the way he does

in verse 12.

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

and get this

then you shall

know

that I am

the Lord

your God.

Knowing the Lord

is a major theme

throughout the book

of Exodus.

Remember how Pharaoh

responded to Moses'

demand to let

the Israelites go

out of slavery

to serve the Lord.

He said

who is the Lord

that I should obey

his voice

and let Israel go?

I do not know

the Lord.

Moreover,

I will not let Israel go.

After Pharaoh's

arrogant and ignorant

response,

the Lord reveals

himself layer

after layer

more and more

with each successive

strike on Egypt

and demonstrates

his lordship

over all the gods

of Egypt

and his explicit

purpose

in those signs

over and over again

is this,

that the Egyptians

shall know

that I am

the Lord.

And the Lord

was not revealing

himself only

to the Egyptians,

he was also revealing

himself to his own

people.

He said in Exodus 6,

6 to 7,

I am the Lord

and I will bring

you out from under

the burdens

of the Egyptians

and I will deliver

you from slavery

to them

and I will redeem

you with an

outstretched arm

and with great

acts of judgment.

I will take you

to be my people

and I will be

your God

and you shall

know that I am

the Lord your God

who has brought you

out from under

the burdens

of the Egyptians.

I am the Lord.

Lord.

This entire Exodus

ordeal is so

that the Israelites

might know

that the Lord

is,

the Yahweh

is the Lord

their God,

that they might

know him.

But tragically,

after all that

has happened

so far,

the Israelites

still do not

know the Lord

as they should.

They do not

know that

Yahweh

is the unchanging

one who has

promised to be

with them yesterday

today and forever.

They do not know

Yahweh's steadfast

love and faithfulness.

They do not know

the Lord is mighty

to provide for them

and to preserve them.

And in their

forgetfulness

and ignorance,

they grumble

against God

thinking that

they can rule

the universe

better than he can.

Thinking that

they know better

than God does

what is best for them.

This is why

the Lord must

reveal his glory

to them once again.

Twice we see

the phrase

the glory of the Lord

in this passage.

It says in verse 10,

they look toward

the wilderness

and behold,

the glory of the Lord

appeared in the cloud.

The word glory

is the Hebrew word

that is often

translated honor.

And it literally

means the heaviness

or the weight

of something.

The Israelites'

fundamental problem

is that they do not

give proper weight

to the Lord.

They treat him

lightly.

in their grumbling,

there is little

if any acknowledgement

of the Lord's

faithfulness.

There is little

if any acknowledgement

of the Lord's power.

But the Lord

is not someone

to be taken lightly.

He's not someone

to be trifled with.

He is not

an inconsequential being.

He is

the supreme being

of utmost importance.

He is weighty.

He is considerable.

He is honorable.

Glorious.

And so it is

that the Lord

must reveal

His glory

to the Israelites.

The Lord

is not content

to be a wallflower

in your life.

A forgotten

and overlooked deity.

The Lord

cannot be relegated

to the footnotes

of your lives.

The Lord

must be

the heading,

the title,

the thesis,

He must sit

on the throne

of your life.

In your daily lives,

brothers and sisters,

do you give

little consideration

to God

or much consideration

to Him?

How much weight

do you give Him

in your scheduling,

in your decision making,

in your relationship building?

Perhaps your grumbling

is a warning sign

that you are not giving

due weight

to the Lord.

As we see

in verses 13 to 14,

the Lord sends

quail

to Israel's camp

in the evening

so that they might

eat meat.

He rains manna

on them

in the morning

so that they might

eat bread.

Migrating quails

have been observed

in the Sinai region

that they would,

as they're flying

in their migration,

they get exhausted

and they would descend

upon the wilderness

of Sinai

and then they would

cover

the desert area.

But the focus

of the passage here

is on the manna

and not on the quail

because the quail

is only temporary provision.

Only here,

toward the beginning

of Israel's journey

in the wilderness

and toward the end

of Israel's journey

in the wilderness,

Numbers 11,

does God provide

quail for the Israelites.

And in that second instance,

God only provides quail

because they complain,

they grumble again

about having

only manna to eat.

But manna is special.

It becomes

the Israelites'

regular diet.

It's their staple.

It's described here

as bread from heaven,

suggesting God's direct

and supernatural intervention.

Psalm 78,

recalling God's provision

of manna in the wilderness,

calls it the grain of heaven,

the bread of the angels.

It is a token

of heavenly provision

intended to sustain

the Israelites

through their long journey

in the wilderness.

I just finished

the Lord of the Rings trilogy

again recently

and it's like Lembus

or the way bread of the elves

that sustains the hobbits

through their journey

in the wilderness

to Mordor.

Verses 14 to 15

tells us more

about this mysterious

bread from heaven.

It says,

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.

When the people of Israel

saw it,

they said to one another,

What is it?

For they did not know

what it was.

And Moses said to them,

It is the bread

that the Lord

has given you to eat.

Later,

verse 31 adds

that manna

was like coriander seed,

white,

and the taste of it

was like wafers

made with honey.

So we have a little bit

of a picture here

of what manna was like.

It was white,

perhaps the size

of a coriander seed,

and it had a fine,

you know,

crystal-like texture,

like frost on the ground.

And when consumed raw,

it tasted like wafers

with honey.

And as Numbers 11a tells us,

if you ground it

in a handmaid

and beat it,

and then you cooked it,

it tasted like cakes

baked with oil.

Isn't that kind of the Lord?

He could have just

given them really

stuffy,

stale bread to eat,

and they would have

had no choice.

But he gives them

wafer that tastes

like honey.

Sometimes,

when I'm parenting,

and the kids

are grumbling a lot,

they're like,

I really don't want

to give them

what they're asking for.

It's like,

ask me in your

normal voice.

They're grumbling

again and again

and again,

and it says,

again and again

and again,

the Lord heard

their grumbling.

How kind of the Lord.

He doesn't need

to listen to them.

He owes them nothing.

Everything they have

is from Him.

And yet,

they are complaining

to Him

and that He is kind

to hear their grumbling,

to answer them

with wafers

like honey.

The Israelites

have no idea

what it is.

They've never had

manna before.

And it ceases

when they are at,

right about to enter

the land of Canaan.

So it was God's provision

for that time

in the wilderness.

And so they ask each other,

what is it?

And that's the meaning

in Hebrew

of the name manna.

What is it?

They literally named it.

What's my call it?

God's so kind.

And God,

because they have

no idea what it is,

when God provides it,

He provides a little manual

for how to use it.

He says in verses 16 to 19,

this is what the Lord

has commanded.

Gather of it,

each one of you

as much as he can eat,

you shall each take

an omer

according to the number

of the persons

that each of you

has in his tent.

And the people of Israel

did so.

They gathered some more,

some less,

but when they measured it

with an omer,

whoever gathered much

had nothing left over,

and whoever gathered

little had no lack.

Each of them gathered

as much as he could eat,

and Moses said to them,

let no one leave

any of it over

till the morning.

So this,

reconstructing what exactly

happened here

could be a little bit

confusing,

and there's some

disagreement among people

in the interpretation.

The best way I can make

sense of it is this,

each person was commanded

to gather as much

as he or she could eat.

So the way you determine

how much to collect

is how much can you eat,

how hungry are you,

how much do you think

you eat,

collect that much.

And then they bring

all of it in seams

to a communal pot,

and then they use

a measuring unit

called an omer

to distribute it.

And each person,

no matter how much

they brought in,

whether they gather

much or little,

they get an omer.

Per person

in the household.

And when they do that,

it seems that,

so an omer is,

you know,

like a,

it's a tenth of an ephah,

it says,

in verse 36.

An ephah is 22 liters,

this is probably

2.2 liters or so,

or half a gallon.

So imagine half a gallon,

half of a milk gallon jug,

they're filling that

with manna,

and giving it to each

person in the household.

And what was amazing

is that even though

they distributed it

like that,

so that even the people

who gather little

were able to take

an omer home,

it said,

whoever gathered much

had nothing left over,

and whoever gathered little

had no lack.

This is God's

miraculous provision.

Each household found

that what they had

been apportioned

according to the

measuring unit

that God has chosen

was sufficient

for every person

in their household.

So then,

no one could be gluttonous,

and no one could go hungry.

There was neither

left over nor lack

for any of the Israelites.

God's provision

was sufficient

for all.

There's an exhortation

here for us

about sharing

and being generous

with fellow Christians

in need.

In 2 Corinthians 8,

Paul prepares

the Corinthian church

for the offering,

the collection he will make

when he visits them,

so that the funds

can be used

to relieve

the poor saints

in the church

in Jerusalem,

because they were

not doing well,

affected by famine.

And at the end

of the passage,

Paul cites this verse,

Exodus 16, 18.

He says to the Corinthians,

your abundance

at the present time

should supply

their need

so that their abundance

may supply your need

that there may be fairness.

As it is written,

whoever gathered much

had nothing left over,

and whoever gathered

little had no lack.

So in the wilderness,

as the Israelites

gathered as much

as they could eat,

some more,

some less,

and yet each person

was allotted an omer

of manna,

no more,

no less,

and in God's economy,

whoever gathered much

had nothing left over,

and whoever gathered

little had no lack.

So this is what Paul

is saying.

Some of you in the church,

in the Corinthian church,

you have gathered much,

while others,

in other churches,

the church in Jerusalem,

they have gathered little.

Some of you are rich,

while other believers

are poor.

And it's God's intention

that the saints

who have abundance

should supply the saints

who have need

so that there is no lack

among God's people.

And when fortunes turn,

and one day it is you

who have need,

these other saints

will then have your back

and supply your need.

We often fail to give

because we are worried

that there won't be enough

left for us,

don't we?

Well, if I give

to that Christian brother

or sister now,

will I have enough money

for the future?

Inflation is pinching

my budget,

and who knows,

I might lose my job

in the near future

or remain jobless

for the foreseeable future.

But this is the scarcity mindset

of a spiritual orphan

who fears for tomorrow,

not knowing that she has

a heavenly father

who cares for her.

And this is also

the mindset of independence.

Each man for himself.

I fend for myself,

I provide myself,

you provide for yourself.

But God calls us

as God's people

not to independence,

but to interdependence.

We are to live

as a community

of mutual trust

and provision,

which is described

in Acts 4, 34 to 35.

There was not

a needy person among them,

for as many as were

owners of lands

or houses sold them

and brought the proceeds

of what was sold

and laid it

at the apostles'

feet,

and it was distributed

to each as any

had need.

You guys have

historically done this

really, really well.

I know people

who have paid

thousands of dollars

of debt

for other church members,

people who have paid

for oral surgery

that they couldn't do,

people who paid

for who were jobless

during COVID times.

We are to give

without reservation

because we know

that our brothers

and sisters in Christ

will have our backs

and will rise

to the occasion

to supply what we need

in the future.

We are to give

without fear

because we know

that our Heavenly Father

is our ultimate provider.

And this applies

not only to giving

within the local church,

but also to giving

between local churches.

For example,

Paul in 2 Corinthians 8

applies this principle

in Exodus 16, 18

to the Corinthian church

giving to the Jerusalem church,

to another church

in a different part

of the Roman Empire.

We do this as a church

in part by giving

a portion of our money

to our denomination,

Sovereign Grace Churches,

each month.

Most of the money

that we give

to our denomination

gets funneled

to our region's

missions budget,

and recently,

our region used

some of that funds

to give $7,500

toward our denomination's

Ukrainian Relief Fund,

which is supporting

a church

that is connected

with our denomination

in Dnipro, Ukraine.

Here's an excerpt

from an email

that we received,

some of the pastors

received from this pastor

in the Ukrainian church.

I cut out the details

about the rockets

and different things,

but he says,

Friends,

every time we receive money,

I get very excited,

and every time I cry

because of God's care for us.

The more dangerous

the situation

in our city becomes,

the more people

come to our services.

We distribute

300 food parcels

every week

to refugees

and displaced people

from bombed-out cities.

We are looking

for every opportunity

to pray for these people

and share the gospel

with them.

We thank the Lord

for your generosity

and faithfulness

to the gospel,

all for the glory

of our Savior,

Jesus Christ.

Christ.

We as a church

in Cambridge

have abundance now,

but here is another church

in a different part

of the world

that has need now,

and God is using us

to provide for the church

in a small way

so that whoever gathers much

has nothing left over,

and whoever gathers little

has no lack.

The gracious provision

of manna

also brings a test

of God with it.

The Lord said to Moses

early in verses 45,

Behold,

I'm about to rain bread

from heaven for you,

and the people

shall go out

and gather a day's portion

every day

that I may test them

whether they will walk

in my law or not.

The test is to see

whether the Israelites

will walk in God's law

or not,

and what is God's law here?

One of them was this.

Let no one leave any of it

over till the morning.

God had promised

in verse 4

to provide for everyone

a day's portion

every day.

He was not going to provide

for them a week's portion

of food

or a month's portion

of food.

He was only going to provide

a day's portion

so that they have to learn

to trust God

for their daily provision.

But,

it says in verse 20,

they did not listen

to Moses.

Some left part of it

till the morning,

and it breathed worms

and stank,

and Moses was angry

with them.

I'm very compassionate

toward these frugal Israelites

because I would be

one of those people,

I think.

These are the kind of people

who are always saved

and prepared

for the future.

You guys know exactly

who you are.

Despite the fact

that they were given

just enough to eat,

they choose to eat

a little less

so they could save it

for tomorrow.

You know,

if God were not

in the picture,

that would be a very

shrewd thing to do.

But in light of God's promise

that He would provide

manna for them daily,

it betrays a grievous

lack of trust in God.

You could imagine

the conversation

at the dinner table.

The father

rations out

only half of the manna

that they got

for the day.

And then you could imagine

the kids complaining,

grumbling,

saying,

Dad,

I'm still hungry.

Can I have some more

of that manna?

He's like,

hey,

watch it.

That's for tomorrow.

Dad,

but didn't Mr. Moses

tell us that God's

going to give us

new manna tomorrow?

Kid,

I know better than you.

Yeah,

he said he's going

to give it tomorrow,

but how do you know?

How do you know?

What if God

is not there tomorrow?

What if He goes

on vacation?

What if He decides

He doesn't want us

to be His people anymore

one day

and we don't have food to eat?

Then you'll be glad

I saved some of this

for tomorrow.

Think about that

from our Heavenly Father's

perspective.

I would be

heartbroken

if my daughters

started hoarding food

at the dinner table.

If I found out

that they were

intentionally

not eating

and putting away

half their dinner

every night

because they were

worried

that they might

go hungry.

I would ask them,

do you not know

that I am your Father?

Do you not know

that I love you?

Do you not know

that I would go hungry

myself

to make sure

I put food

on your table?

Do you not know

that I would work

night and day

to make sure

you have food

on your table?

Do you not know

that you're my

beloved daughter?

Do you not know

that I am

your Father?

this was exactly

what the Israelites

were doing

to the Lord.

There's a

heartbreaking

mistrust

of their

Heavenly Father

and God

would have

none of it.

People try

to save

the manna

overnight

and it breathes

warms

and stinks.

It's incredible

food,

this manna.

it's like

it's been

engineered

precisely

to cultivate

trust

in God's

provision.

So they have

to depend

on it

morning

by morning

it says

in verse 21.

Brothers and sisters,

children of God,

do you know

also that

the Lord

provides

for your

needs

daily

morning

by morning?

this is why

Jesus taught us

to pray

to our

Heavenly Father,

give us

each day

our

daily bread,

not our

weeks worth

of bread.

There's a

reason why

Jesus taught us,

therefore do not

be anxious

about tomorrow,

for tomorrow

will be anxious

for itself,

sufficient for

the day

is its own

trouble.

God sustains

us on a

daily basis,

so if you're

worried that you

don't have what

you need for

tomorrow,

well that's

because God

hasn't provided

for you yet,

but he will.

Whether you

are a

millionaire,

or whether you

live from

hand to

mouth,

God calls

every Christian

to trust

in him

daily for

his provision.

With the

stock market

crash,

all your

investments

can be

wiped out

in a day.

With the

hurricane,

your house

can be

destroyed

in a day.

With an

accident,

your car

can be

totaled

in a day.

With the

recession,

you can

lose your

job in

a day.

With the

war,

you can

lose your

very life

in a

day.

Your money

is uncertain.

Your property

is uncertain.

Your life,

your tomorrow

is uncertain,

but the

Lord who

loves you

and the

Lord who

provides for

you every

single day

is a

certainty.

eternity.

This is

why the

Christians all

over the

world have

a habit of

praying before

their meals.

It's not

because it's a

law that we

have to

observe,

but because

we're trying

to remind

ourselves that

we can't even

take this meal

for granted.

It's from

the hand of

the Lord.

Are you

worried about

the economy

or climate

change or

about wars?

Don't eat

the bread of

anxious toil

by worrying

about tomorrow.

Receive with

thankfulness

God's provision

of bread for

today and

entrust tomorrow

to Him as

well.

Lamentations

3, 22-23

says this,

The steadfast

love of the

Lord never

ceases.

His mercies

never come to

an end.

They are

new every

morning.

Great is

your

faithfulness.

This test

of manna

was also

intended to

teach the

Israelites that

there is

something more

fundamental to

their survival

than bread.

Recalling

God's provision

of manna in

the wilderness,

Deuteronomy

8-3 says

this,

And He

humbled you

and let you

hunger and

fed you with

manna,

which you

did not

know,

nor did

your fathers

know,

that He

might make

you know

that man

does not

live by

bread alone,

but man

lives by

every word

that comes

from the

mouth of

the Lord.

This is a

very important

lesson for us

believers.

There was

something more

basic to

Israel's existence

than bread.

It was the

word of God.

His commands

and His

promises.

The Lord

has said

that He

would provide

manna for

them every

morning,

and it's

that word

that sustains

the Israelites.

It is

short-sighted

of the

Israelites to

try to

cling to

manna like

their survival

depends on

it,

when it is

the Lord

who supplies

it morning

by morning.

Their

survival does

not depend

on manna.

Their

survival

depends on

the Lord

who supplies

it.

So they

should cling

to Him.

They should

cling to

His word.

The wilderness

is the

training ground

for the

Israelites

before they

enter the

promised land

Canaan that

flows with