Note: Devotion taken from Lord's Day afternoon sermon on July 5, 2026.
And the whole congregation of the
children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (Exodus
16:2).
And when the children of Israel saw
it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And
Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat (Exodus 16:15).
Exodus
16:1-21 describes the pilgrimage of Israel after leaving its bondage in Egypt,
as they move from Elim to the wilderness of Sin on their way to Sinai where
they will receive God’s law.
Here are three spiritual applications one might draw from this
passage:
Notice first: The LORD meets their murmuring with
manna.
When the people murmur against Moses and Aaron, Moses tells them, “your
murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD” (v.8). Nevertheless, the
LORD did not pour out his wrath on them or abandon them. Instead, he gave them
quail in the evening and manna (literally, “What is it?”) in the morning. The LORD
is great in grace, mercy, and compassion toward his elect people. As Paul wrote
to Timothy, “If we believe not [i.e., if we are not faithful], yet he abideth
faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim 2:13).
Notice second: This passage challenges us to consider
our confidence in the Lord’s provision for us.
He provided for the Israelites of old even though they murmured.
Will he not provide for us in our material and spiritual needs?
In Philippians 4:19, Paul said, “But my God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
As the
Psalmist noted, “the cattle on a thousand hills are thine” (Ps 50:10).
Notice Third: The provision of manna in the wilderness points toward a
greater fulfillment of the LORD provision in Christ for spiritually hungry and
thirsty men and women.
In John 6, after feeding five thousand physically hungry
men, Christ declared,, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall
never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
After reminding them that their fathers “ate manna in the
wilderness, and are dead,” Christ added, “I
am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread,
he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I
will give for the life of the world” (v.51).
The
Lord did indeed meet our murmuring with manna, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
To
Him be all praise and glory!
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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