Manna and Quail from Heaven
On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, 1 which is between Elim and Sinai. Num 33:10-12Exo 15:27Exo 17:1Ezk 30:15-16 And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 1Co 10:10Exo 15:24Psa 106:25Psa 106:7Exo 14:11Psa 106:13Gen 19:4 “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!” Num 11:4-5Exo 17:3Num 20:3-5Deu 28:67Lam 4:9Jer 2:6Num 14:21Co 4:8
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions. 1Co 10:3Deu 8:2Psa 105:40Psa 78:24-25Deu 8:16Exo 15:25Jhn 6:31-32Neh 9:15 Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” Exo 16:22-23Lev 25:21-22Exo 35:2-3
So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, Exo 6:7Exo 16:12-13Num 16:28Num 16:30Exo 12:51Exo 16:3Exo 16:8Exo 32:1 and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we that you should grumble against us?” Isa 40:5Jhn 11:40Num 16:11Exo 16:10Isa 35:2Jhn 11:4Exo 40:34Num 14:10
And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.” Rom 13:21Sa 8:7Luk 10:161Th 4:8Num 14:27Num 21:71Co 10:10Exo 16:12
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’” Num 16:16Exo 16:2Exo 16:8
And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared. Exo 16:7Num 16:19Num 16:421Ki 8:10-11Exo 13:21-22Lev 9:6Exo 40:34-38Mat 17:5
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight 2you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’” Jol 3:17Exo 16:7-8Exo 6:7Ezk 39:22Exo 4:5Exo 7:17Ezk 34:30Jer 31:24
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. Num 11:9Psa 105:40Psa 78:27-28Num 11:31-33 When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground. Deu 8:3Neh 9:15Num 11:7-9Psa 105:40Psa 78:24Exo 16:31Psa 147:16 When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Exo 16:4Jhn 6:31-32Jhn 6:58Exo 16:311Co 10:3Deu 8:3Jhn 6:49Jos 5:12
So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer 3for each person in your tent.’” Exo 16:36Exo 16:18Exo 16:32-33
So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less. When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. 4 Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat. 2Co 8:14-15
Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.” Exo 12:10Exo 23:18Mat 6:34Exo 16:23 But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Eph 4:26Heb 13:5Jas 5:2-3Luk 12:15Luk 12:33Mat 6:19Mrk 10:14Mrk 3:5
Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 2Co 6:2Ecc 12:1Ecc 9:10Jhn 12:35Mat 6:33Pro 6:6-11
The Sabbath Observed
(Genesis 2:1–3; Hebrews 4:1–11)
On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person 5—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses. Exo 16:5Exo 16:16Exo 34:31Lev 25:12Lev 25:22 He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’” Lev 23:3Exo 20:8-11Exo 31:15Exo 35:2-3Gen 2:2-3Exo 23:12Luk 23:56Mrk 2:27-28
So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots. Exo 16:20Exo 16:33 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field. Exo 16:23Exo 16:29Neh 9:14 For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.” Exo 20:9-11Deu 5:13Ezk 46:1Luk 13:14
Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything. Pro 20:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions? Psa 78:102Ki 17:14Psa 106:13Ezk 20:13Num 14:11Psa 78:22Exo 10:3Ezk 20:16 Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.” Exo 31:13Isa 58:13-14Ezk 20:12Luk 23:56Neh 9:14
So the people rested on the seventh day. Deu 5:12-14Heb 4:9Lev 23:3
The Jar of Manna
Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. 6 It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Num 11:6-9Exo 16:15Sng 2:3 Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” Psa 105:5Luk 22:19Psa 111:4-5Heb 2:1Psa 103:1-2
So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.” Heb 9:4 And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, 7 to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Exo 25:16Exo 25:21Exo 27:21Exo 40:20Num 17:10Deu 10:5Exo 30:36Exo 30:6
The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. Jos 5:12Neh 9:20-21Deu 8:2-3Jhn 6:30-58Deu 1:8Num 33:38Psa 78:24-25Deu 34:1-4 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.) 8 Exo 16:16Exo 16:32-33