Exodus 16:2-15 (NRSV)
2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 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.”
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. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lordwho brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 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?” 8 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.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10 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. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 “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.’ ”
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 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. 15 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.
Exodus 16:2-15 relates the story of the complaint of hunger by the Hebrew people in the wilderness and the response of the Lord to provide food. Few of us like those who complain. A wise person stays away from them.
Exodus 16:4-5, 13b-15, 27-31, 36 relates the J story of manna. The story relates the continuous care the Lord provides the people of God in their time of trouble. We can also see the devotion of the Lord to this people that arises out of love for them. It also becomes a test, to see if they can respect the Sabbath by not gathering on that day. In verses 4-5, the Lord promises to rain bread from heaven. They are to gather enough bread from heaven for each day. 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. In Adam, humanity has shown it cannot follow the instruction of the Lord, but the provision of the Lord here will illustrate that not even the people of the Lord can follow instructions that come from the Lord. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” This command would require discipline, for our naturally tendency is to get more than enough. Given the critical nature of this journey, they are to leave bread for others. Further, the Lord will allow them to gather more on the sixth day so that they will not need to work on the Sabbath. Such commands are part of the test of whether these people can obey the Lord. The nature of the test is like that of Deuteronomy 8:2-3, where the test of their hearts was to humble them through their hunger, and then the Lord fed them manna to teach them their reliance upon the Lord. They were to learn that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. In verses 13b-15, we find the fulfillment of the promise of food. 13bAnd in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 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. If this has a natural explanation, it is the sweet, edible honeydew found in parts of the Sinai in June and July. Scale insects and plant lice ingest the sap of tamarisk trees and excrete it onto the branches, from which it crystallizes and falls to the ground as sticky solids. Bedouin use it as a sweetener. The miracle was that it arrived just when the Israelites needed it and that enough was produced to feed the people. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” (man hu) For they did not know what it was. Even today, locals harvest sap from the tamarisk tree. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. We can see that the welfare of the Israelites is not coincidental or accidental. Rather, we see they are under the deliberate care of their divine patron.
In the New Testament, manna is a sign of divine reality. Negatively, it could not satisfy. Positively, it is a gift of redeeming quality, understood to be Christ. See I Corinthians 10:3 and John 6. See the Temptation of Jesus as well, referring to Deuteronomy 8:3. Jesus discerns the reality to which the manna points. In the feeding of the 5000, there is an implicit reference to the manna. Paul in I Corinthians 10:1-13 compares Israel and the church. The most extensive use is John 6:31-58. Such connections with the Lord’s Supper are important, but Christian readers need to exercise some care, for the story clearly has social implications in calling us to open our hearts to the hungry people around us. The Christian life is all about trusting God for our needs. "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him," said Jesus (Matthew 6:8). "And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus," said Paul (Philippians 4:19).
Exodus 16:1-3, 6-13a, 16-26, 32-35 are the priestly account of the quail and manna in the wilderness provided by the Lord for the Israelites. Another episode is in Numbers 11. The story stresses the continuous care God has for the people of God in their time of trouble. It stresses the relation of love that exists between God and Israel. It also illustrates the tendency of the people of God is toward disobedience and their need for divine instruction provided in Torah. Verses 1-3 are an itinerary notice. The author is at pains to stress the itinerary consistently, for the modest theological intent to stress that God led Israel. The author begins that the congregation (‘eda) of Israel set out from Elim and came to the wilderness of Sin between the oasis of Elim and Sinai, doing so on the 15th day of the second month after they left Egypt. Thus, after a month, the people have run low on food. The wilderness in the Hebrew Bible was a hostile, dangerous, fearsome place — the antithesis of everything civilized and safe — and the normal rules governing behavior in settled areas, whether village or city life, did not usually apply to the harsh conditions of wilderness survival. This serves as a transitional bridge from the previous episode, the complaint of the Israelites concerning their thirst. It will also localize the gift of quail and manna to a specific place. Although the precise locations are unknown, the Hebrews are headed south along the coast of the Gulf of Suez on the western side of the Sinai Peninsula. They have been traveling for exactly one month (a brief period relative to ancient journeys and for the 40 years of wandering that lie ahead). 2 The whole congregation (‘eda, a broad section of the people) of the Israelites, a broad section from every part of those who marched out of Egypt, complained (lun, a word rare in the Hebrew Bible.) against Moses and Aaron (17:11 and 15:24 the complaint is against Moses) in the wilderness. They complained in 14:11 and 15:24 as well. This complaint focuses on the lack of food after their rushed departure from Egypt. Their journey began with the Passover meal. If we look upon them as an army, the point of their continuing meals was not luxury or variety. The menu is going to be expedient and sometimes sparse. Yet, God promised to provide a steady supply chain for the march.
Napoleon said it well, “An army marches on its stomach.” In the American Civil War, an aspiring poet from a Union regiment sent a little piece of doggerel to a newspaper as a humorous way of describing life in the army. Among the verses was this one about his daily field rations:
The soldier's fare is very rough,
The bread is hard, the beef is tough;
If they can stand it, it will be,
Through love of God, a mystery.
At that time, the army marched uneasily on its stomach with rations consisting of thick hard crackers called hardtack (which troops only half-jokingly considered to be hard enough to stop a bullet), some salt beef or pork, beans, sugar, salt and coffee. Fast forward in United States military history and you will hear veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam talking about their K or C-rations -- meals contained in tin cans that were legendary for their ubiquitous blandness and need of a can opener. The MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) of the Army, started in the 1980s, received a quite different interpretation from soldiers (Meals Rejected by Everybody).
The concern of Lord is that they have what they need to keep moving toward the larger objective of fulfilling their mission. Yet, their complaint is rhetorical. 3 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. Clearly, this was not true. “Fleshpots” has its only occurrence in this passage. It refers to large communal cooking pots in which they boiled sacrificial meat and from which they fed groups of people. They speared the meat, in large chunks, out of the cooking liquid and distributed it by heads of households, after which the women and children, along with some of the men, drank the broth. As slaves, the Egyptians would have given the Hebrews basic sustenance, but the minimum of provisions. They make their slavery past look good to justify the complaint they offer today. This points to the reality of freedom. As slaves, many of their decisions were made for them. Freedom will mean making decisions and taking risks. The new responsibilities can be unnerving. Many people become so comfortable with the prison they have built for themselves that the risk of freedom is a difficult step to take. Abusive relationships are like that. This is also an example of another quirk of human beings in romanticizing the past because of some dissatisfaction with the challenges of the present. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly (qahal) with hunger. Of note here is that the Israelites think it was Moses and Aaron who brought them out of Egypt. Again, they go to rhetorical extreme. Such rhetorical extremes point to the desperation they felt. Even today, we find it tempting to go back in order to form our own “back to Egypt” committee, forgetting the growth we have made through the challenges we have had. [1] In verses 6-13a, 6 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, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, a reminder that they are recipients of the deliberate care of their divine patron. Since the manna will come in the morning, it may be the manna itself is the expression of the glory or presence of the Lord. This miracle or this providence manifests the power of the Lord. Because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” Divinely provided food and the appearance of the Lord will remind the people that the Lord who took them from Egypt. Thus, their complaint is not with Moses and Aaron but with the Lord. 8 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.” 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, (a technical term for the sanctuary, but here toward the pillar of cloud) for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10 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, suggesting the fiery presence of the Lord became more visible within the cloud. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 “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.’ ” 13 In the evening quails (not mentioned again, the focus becomes the manna) came up and covered the camp, thus fulfilling the divine promise. Even today, birds migrate between Africa and Europe in the Spring and Fall and fall exhausted in the Sinai, easily caught by hunters. The quail is a timely appearance, an expression of the providence of the Lord and fulfillment of the divine promise.
To conclude, I offer a well-known piece of humor. A young Catholic priest decided to enter a monastery. He joined one particularly strict sect. The head monk told him, at his indoctrination, that they were sworn to TOTAL silence. They could not speak one word at all. However, every ten years, they would be permitted to speak two words. After 10 years of total silence, the head monk indicated it was now time for him to speak his two words. The monk said, "Bed hard!" And then he resumed his silent study and work. Another 10 years passed, and the head monk again indicated it was time for him to speak his two words. The monk said, "Food bad!" And then he resumed his silent study and work. Another 10 years passed, and the head monk again indicated it was time for him to speak his two words. The monk said, "I quit!" The head monk shook his head and said, "I knew this was coming. You've done nothing but complain for the past 30 years!"
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