seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
My family has fought obesity since I was a little kid. My mom had a diet once built entirely on cake. She said that if we ate enough cake we would get sick of eating it and stop. Well that didn't work but I loved that diet. At the end of the diet, Mom declared that only one cake was safe to eat. It wasn't pound cake because pound cake added pounds, with all that butter and egg. The only cake we could have that was not loaded down with fat was/is Angel Food Cake.
That little story was brought to mind by the Blueletterbible.org commentary.
The blessing of bread from heaven came with the responsibility of obedience. This responsibility would test Israel and measure their obedience.
Murmuring Israel called this bread from heaven "manna" (Exodus 16:31). God almost always called it bread from heaven (Nehemiah 9:15, Psalm 78:24 and Psalm 105:40) or sometimes it was called angels' food (Psalm 78:25).
The test came on the sixth day, when they were to gather twice as much, so the seventh day could be received as a day of rest.
The test came on the sixth day, when they were to gather twice as much, so the seventh day could be received as a day of rest.
Here's the easy English commentary on the verses today.
The LORD would test the Israelites again. He wanted to see if they would obey him that time. They must collect only enough food for each day. But they must collect twice the amount on the day before the Sabbath. The prayer for our ‘daily bread’ means that we must trust God too. He will provide our food each day (Matthew 6:11).
These two commentaries, much like the others I looked at, seem to be in conflict about the day the tests began. The Blueletterbible.org commentary says the test would be on the sixth day, while the easy English commentary shows the test began on the first day. It's a matter of greed being the sin or would it be the failure to follow instructions. See, the manna would spoil if it was more than one day old. They could take all that they needed but they had to be careful not to take more than they needed. If the angel food would spoil during the week, did they have the faith to let the bread sit overnight for the Sabbath meals?
Bible.org commentary has another way to put this in perspective.
This week, one of my friends reminded me of the newspaper account of a Brinks armored truck, which was loaded with money which was nearly worn out and was on its way to be destroyed. The truck was involved in some kind of traffic accident, the result of which was that the doors flew open and the money was scattered in the intersection. It doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to visualize what happened. People jumped out of their cars, which they left to block the traffic, and frantically ran about, trying to gather as much money as they could hold.
Naturally, none of us would have done such a thing. Well, at least none of you would. But I would. One Christmas Eve, my younger brother and I had run to our neighborhood Safeway store to purchase some last minute provisions. We wanted to be sure to get what we needed, knowing that the stores would soon close for Christmas. When we got to the checkout counter, my brother overheard the checker telling a customer that all the bread which was on the shelves was free for the taking, since it would be too old to sell after Christmas.
Besides my brother and I, several other customers heard the good news, and began to work their way over to the breads. They walked slowly, and they picked through the bread, being careful to take only a loaf or two. Not so with us. We grabbed a couple empty shopping carts and began sweeping loaves of bread into them, starting of course with the expensive specialty breads. Fortunately, we had come in my van, which we loaded with bread. Calling friends and relatives, we shared the blessing of the free bread.
Naturally, none of us would have done such a thing. Well, at least none of you would. But I would. One Christmas Eve, my younger brother and I had run to our neighborhood Safeway store to purchase some last minute provisions. We wanted to be sure to get what we needed, knowing that the stores would soon close for Christmas. When we got to the checkout counter, my brother overheard the checker telling a customer that all the bread which was on the shelves was free for the taking, since it would be too old to sell after Christmas.
Besides my brother and I, several other customers heard the good news, and began to work their way over to the breads. They walked slowly, and they picked through the bread, being careful to take only a loaf or two. Not so with us. We grabbed a couple empty shopping carts and began sweeping loaves of bread into them, starting of course with the expensive specialty breads. Fortunately, we had come in my van, which we loaded with bread. Calling friends and relatives, we shared the blessing of the free bread.
No doubt there were a lot of Israelites who would have gathered as much as they could to keep for themselves, while others gathered as much as they could to share with those who could not be there to gather the angel food, and still others would only take what they needed.
I wonder.... how will I treat the next pot luck or cookie exchange....
