Pam Padgett ... teacher
In the second month after being delivered from Egypt, the children of
Israel were led to the wilderness of Sin. They began to murmur because
there was no food. God said HE would rain down bread from heaven for
them, and that HE would prove (try) the children of Israel in this, testing
them to see if they would obey HIS instructions ...
Exodus 16:4 Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain
bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a
certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in
my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the
sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be
twice as much as they gather daily.
The bread God provided was left on the ground after the dew of the morning was gone ...
Exodus 16:13 ... and in the
morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 And when the dew that lay
was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small
round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 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.
God told them to gather an omer of the bread for every man, which
provided what they needed with nothing left over and no lack ...
Exodus 16:16 This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded,
Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man,
according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them
which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and
gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an
omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered
little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
They were also instructed to not leave any of the bread until
morning. But some did not obey. The left-over bread bred worms and
stank ...
Exodus 16:19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the
morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of
them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and
Moses was wroth with them.
As instructed by God, on the sixth day, they gathered twice as much,
keeping what remained until the next day. Bread kept from the sixth day
as God instructed did not breed worms and did not stink. ...
Exodus 16:22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they
gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers
of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This
is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy
sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe
that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be
kept until the morning. 24 And they laid it up till the morning, as
Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
On the seventh day they were to eat the bread remaining from the
sixth day, rather than going to find more bread in the field ...
Exodus 16:25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a
sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in the field. 26 Six
days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath,
in it there shall be none.
But some went out on the seventh day to gather bread, not obeying what God had commanded, and found no bread ...
Exodus 16:27 And it came to pass, that there went out
some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found
none. 28 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my
commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the Lord hath given you the
sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days;
abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the
seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Each day it was important to do what God commanded them to that day. On
the first five days of a week, they were to
gather what they needed that day and keep nothing over until the next
day. On the sixth day they were to gather twice as much as was needed for a day,
and keep part of the bread until the seventh day, when they were to rest
and not gather bread.
God proved the children of Israel, seeing if they would obey his
commandments. Those who obeyed had no worms or stink, and had plenty to
eat all seven days of the week. Those who did not obey, leaving bread until the next day during the first five days of the week, had worms and stink; those who went out looking for bread on the seventh day found none.