Exodus 16:12, commentary and pictures

God heard the complaints of Israel in the wilderness and promised them meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy them in the morning, so that they would know that He is the LORD their God. The morning bread was manna, bread from heaven given by miracle with the dew in abundance for every person's need, coming from God Himself through the gift of Christ. By miracle the manna continually upheld the seventh-day Sabbath as holy from creation before it was spoken at Sinai. The manna is a type of Christ, the living and true bread from heaven on whom all must feed by coming to Him and believing on Him for everlasting life. The same God who fed Israel still lives and provides for the bodily needs of His people, and He withheld a meat diet and gave bread from heaven because it was better suited to make them a pure, healthy and righteous people.

Promise in the Wilderness

God heard the murmurings and complaints of the children of Israel and told Moses to promise them flesh to eat at evening and bread in the morning to be filled with, so that they would know that He is the LORD their God. The food was provision from God himself, the morning bread being manna, and each person gathered enough for his needs. It was given by a miracle of God, a miracle of mercy showing that He still lives and reigns. Even in the time of trouble when ordinary supplies fail He can sustain His people so that their bread and water will be sure and they will not lack or go hungry.

The morning bread is manna, bread from heaven, angels' food, given by miracle with the falling dew in plenty and palatable to eat. It came as a display of His power and goodness, a standing miracle supplying bodily necessities and showing He is not unmindful of physical wants. Each one gathered enough to fill his need, sufficient food rather than a miraculously provided meat diet. That bread comes from God Himself through the gift of Christ, not from any human agent such as Moses.

The promise was given while God was leading Israel out of Egyptian bondage and oppression and the temptations of Egypt, testing them in the wilderness through forty years of guidance just before reaching Sinai, to make them a separate people and to reform their habits of eating. Christ was their invisible Leader and teacher, guiding and instructing them through Moses by the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, working miracles for them in straitened places. He defended them against Pharaoh's army and gave pure water from the rock when they were thirsty, giving unmistakable evidence that they were led and protected by divine power. At the first clamors for flesh-meat at the giving of the manna He gave them flesh for only one day and then withheld it, and when they hankered after the fleshpots He let craving be satisfied, yet many died while eating the meat.

The sending of bread from heaven together with water from the rock was a marked event never to be forgotten. It was proof of the wonderful deliverance by which the Lord brought Israel out of bondage and oppression that they might serve Him and keep His Sabbaths. The provision was directed from the pillar of cloud through Moses as a lesson for Israel. It was to be preserved as a memorial and told to children when they inquired about the memorials.

Truths the Manna Reveals

The giving of the manna sustained the validity of the seventh-day Sabbath by miracle, continually testifying to the Sabbath commandment as a holy institution hallowed and sanctified at creation in Eden before it was spoken at Sinai. The morning bread is a type of Christ, the living bread from heaven and the true bread that gives life to the world and endures to everlasting life, on whom believers must continually feast for spiritual life by coming to Him and believing on Him so as never to hunger or thirst. The temporal bread points beyond itself, so no chief labor and anxiety is to be bestowed on perishable bread for physical sustenance while the spiritual food is to be sought far more earnestly. The same divine power that fed Israel with manna in the desert for the benefit of all fed the multitude through Christ, making food sufficient for thousands from five barley loaves and two small fishes, which only divine power can perform and which proves He is the prophet whom Moses foretold who should come into the world.

At the giving of the manna just before reaching Sinai, God first answered the clamors for flesh-meat by granting flesh for only one day and then withholding it, giving bread from heaven as sufficient food rather than miraculously providing a meat diet, because flesh-meat was not the best food for Israel while traveling. His purpose in leading Israel out of Egypt was to establish them in Canaan as a pure, happy, healthy and righteous people, so He subjected them to discipline, removed flesh food in great measure though He could have provided flesh as easily as manna, and placed restriction upon them for their good. He wanted to supply food better suited to their wants than the feverish diet of Egypt and to bring their perverted appetite into a more healthy state so they might enjoy the food given to Adam and Eve in Eden. Had they cheerfully denied appetite in obedience, feebleness and disease would have been unknown among them, and their descendants would have possessed physical and mental strength, clear perceptions of truth and duty, keen discrimination, and sound judgment.

When they hankered after the flesh-pots of Egypt and demanded meat to satisfy craving, He in His preserving power gave them flesh at evening and manna, angels' food, in the morning to fill them with bread, to reform their habits of eating and make them a separate people during forty years of guidance through the wilderness. Christ was their leader and teacher, leading them by the pillar of cloud and of fire and working miracles for them in straitened places, giving pure water from the rock when they were thirsty, giving unmistakable evidence that they were led and protected by divine power and that He is the LORD their God. Yet though God let them have flesh it proved a curse to them, with many dying while eating the meat, and the lesson is that God is displeased when appetite controls His people.

Trust and Obedience Today

The wilderness provision shows that God still lives and reigns, guiding His people, giving them skill and understanding for their work, and answering earnest prayer with wisdom, so that under His blessing work can grow and efforts succeed. He heard the complaints and made His care known by supplying food, meat in the evening and bread in the morning, to satisfy bodily necessities. He is not unmindful of physical wants, and the manna that supplied the necessities of His people shows He will provide food for His people today. He can sustain His people when ordinary supplies fail, so that in the time of trouble their bread and water will be sure and they will not lack or go hungry. The blessings and necessities He gave were to be shared with those less favored.

The same God who fed Israel with bread from heaven will give His people today knowledge of how to provide food in a simple, less expensive manner from fruits and grains without flesh meats. Those who cannot obtain expensive preparations need not live on an impoverished diet. This is part of diet reform education in simplicity of living to be imparted in schools and in new places, with lessons in hygienic cookery.

God's ability to provide by a miracle of mercy did not remove His people's part, for He could have provided everything necessary for religious service in the same miraculous way but did not. In His infinite wisdom He saw that their moral discipline depended on cooperating with Him, every one doing something. As long as truth is progressive, His claims rest on men to give of what He has entrusted to them for that purpose, with the work bearing equally on all according to ability. The manna that supplied necessities also teaches that the blessings He gives are to be shared with those less favored.

Temporal bread points beyond itself to the true bread from heaven, the living bread that endures to everlasting life and gives life to the world, which is Christ Himself. Therefore no chief labor and anxiety should be bestowed on perishable bread for physical sustenance, while spiritual food is to be sought far more earnestly by coming to Christ and believing on Him whom God sent and sealed so as never to hunger and never to thirst. Like the manna from heaven suited to need, teaching should offer something fresh as people's needs require.

The provision of flesh at evening and bread to satisfy in the morning was one of His wondrous works, along with defending them against the vast army of Pharaoh and giving springs of cool water flowing from the Rock. It was done for a people blessed with great light and precious opportunities to know the will of God, that they might know that He is the LORD their God. Yet even after He manifested His glory to them, they were ever ready to turn away from Him and follow suggestions against His appointed leaders. So they passed the boundary of His forbearance and patience and awakened His anger against them as rebellious.