Thoughts on Exodus 16

Today's reading: Exodus 16; 2 Corinthians 7

I never noticed before, until I was reading it this morning, that the instruction for the Israelites to gather twice as much manna on the 6th day doesn’t come until after they have already done it and come to Moses confused about it.

Obviously the manna itself is a direct miracle from God on behalf of Israel, but there is also a daily miraculous thing happening in the measuring of it. It says that whether they gathered a little or a lot, when they measured it, each person had the right amount (an omer per person in their tent). Evidently though, on the 6th day, when they went to measure it, expecting an omer per person again, they had twice as much as expected, and this situation sends the elders to Moses to find out what’s going on. They may also be worried, in the same way Joseph’s brothers were worried to find their money in the mouths of their grain sacks. Extra manna seems great, except that people already got in trouble for trying to keep it into a second day, and now every tent has twice as much as they need for today, so a lot of manna is going to be left over and it’s better to get out in front of that than to have Moses find out and get angry tomorrow…

But when they go to Moses, they find out that this is from the Lord, and that they are to always gather twice as much on the 6th day so that they can observe the 7th day as a day of rest.

How God provides

While I don’t want to stretch the text too far for the sake of application, I do think this is a good picture and follows a pattern we see throughout Scripture, of how God provides.

It is very easy, when we are in need (or want) to sit before God and pray (or whine) about what we need, and then to sit back, waiting for Him to provide what we asked for, and then get angry when it doesn’t happen.

But what we see in Scripture is that God provides for us as we pursue His will in His way.

The Israelites had a legitimate need for food, and God was gracious enough to provide manna for them every day. And it was as they actively went out and did the work God had before them (gathering it each day, for the day) that God provided a double portion on the 6th day. The fact of the matter is that if they had not been faithful to go out and gather on the 6th day, they would not have received their needed portion for the 7th day and would have been found lacking when no manna appeared on the 7th day.

The point being that God will, at times, in his mercy and graciousness, provide before we have moved, but much more often He provides as we move. As Jesus puts it, “To him who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Whatever it is we are looking for God to provide, most likely it will happen as we are faithful to move on what God has already given or revealed to us. 

Whether you want character growth, opportunities to serve in ministry, financial or material resources, or something else entirely, my question to you is, are you already being faithful with what God has before you now while you look for him to provide more, or are you simply telling Him what you want and sitting back waiting for the Amazon delivery driver to drop it at your front door?