16:5Exodus 16:5

On the sixth day Israel was to gather twice the daily amount of manna, bring it in and prepare it beforehand, so they could rest on the seventh-day Sabbath without gathering food.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17+2
The double supply on the sixth day, with none falling on the seventh and the Sabbath portion kept fresh while manna kept at other times spoiled, was a weekly threefold miracle that tested whether Israel would obey God's law and impressed the sacredness of the Sabbath before it was proclaimed at Sinai.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17+4
The manna was bread from heaven, given by God's miracle out of care and love as healthy food sufficient for all to eat freely.Ms 21, 1897, par. 12–15+2
It pictures Christ, the living bread from heaven, whom the Father gives as the true bread of far more consequence than temporal food, to be received by coming to Him and believing on Him so as never to hunger or thirst.DA 377.1+3
As God then sustained His people when they had no ordinary supply, He still provides for bodily and spiritual needs today, yet He requires each person to cooperate by gathering and preparing what is given and sharing it with those who have less.7T 61.2+4

On the sixth day Israel was to gather twice the daily amount of manna, bring it in, and prepare it in advance, so that they could rest on the seventh-day Sabbath without gathering food on that day.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17+4 The double provision was part of God's daily test of whether they would obey His law, and its miraculous preservation for the Sabbath showed His miraculous care for the Sabbath law through Israel's forty years in the wilderness.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17 By this miracle God sustained the validity of the seventh-day Sabbath, causing twice as much to be gathered and prepared on the sixth day so that the seventh day would be kept holy.Ms 19, 1894, par. 10–12+1 Though God could have supplied everything needed, He chose a plan requiring each person's cooperation in gathering and preparing the double portion, and this shared responsibility served as moral discipline.4T 469.1 This special sixth-day gathering continually testified to the Sabbath commandment, which had been given in Eden before it was proclaimed at Sinai.Ms 63, 1897, par. 1–3

This belongs to the history given in Exodus 13-16, when Christ enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night led Israel as their invisible Leader out of Egyptian bondage.Ms 21, 1897, par. 12–15+2 He communicated the will of God and gave great light and precious opportunity to know it, bringing them to a place where they might observe unmolested all the precepts of Jehovah, afterward confirmed when the law was spoken at Sinai.PK 180.2+1 At the exodus He brought the Sabbath prominently before Israel by giving a double portion of manna on the sixth day, the preparation day, and withholding manna every seventh day.PK 180.2 The double portion that fell on the preparation day was miraculously preserved through the Sabbath, and by this Israel was constantly reminded through nearly forty years of wandering of God's appointed rest-day.PK 180.2 This delivered them from bondage where their taskmasters had attempted to force them to labor on the Sabbath by again and again making the weekly work harder and more exacting.PK 180.2

The manna gathered in double portion on the sixth day was given by a miracle of God, bread from heaven, angels' food, sent out of great care and love.Ms 21, 1897, par. 12–15+2 It was food God designed for them, healthy and sufficient for Israel to eat freely.SG4 121.3–122.1 The double quantity on the sixth day is one part of a threefold miracle, together with no manna falling on the seventh day and the Sabbath portion being kept fresh through the Sabbath while manna kept on other days became unfit for use.SG3 255.1 This recurring miracle was designed to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath.SG3 255.1

When they hankered after the fleshpots of Egypt after deliverance from Egyptian bondage, God gave them manna, angels' food, as part of reforming their habits of eating to make them a separate people.Lt 112, 1909, par. 18–19 In adverse circumstances they murmured against Moses, as complaints are directed at a person carrying responsibility for God's work.3T 85.1–3 Christ was their leader and teacher, guiding them by the pillar of cloud and of fire and preserving them through forty years in the wilderness, working wondrously for hungry Israel to quiet their murmurings, together with defending them against Pharaoh's vast army, giving springs of cool water flowing from the rock when thirsty, and manifesting His glory, giving unmistakable evidence that they were led and protected by divine power.Lt 112, 1909, par. 18–19+1 These mercies they still met with unbelief and readiness to turn away and follow temptation against Him, but the abundant supply shamed them for unbelief and murmuring and led them to promise to trust the Lord for the future.SG3 255.1+1

On the sixth day twice the usual amount was to fall and be gathered, brought in and prepared in advance, so that no gathering would be needed and rest could be kept on the seventh-day Sabbath.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17+4 This double quantity was one part of a threefold miracle, together with no manna falling on the seventh day and the Sabbath portion being miraculously preserved fresh through the Sabbath while manna kept on other days became unfit for use.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17+2 The wonder was repeated through nearly forty years of wilderness wandering, showing miraculous care for the Sabbath law.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17+1

By this recurring provision God brought the Sabbath prominently before Israel at the exodus from Egypt, with a double portion on the preparation day and manna withheld every seventh day.PK 180.2 By causing twice as much to be gathered and prepared on the sixth day so that the seventh day would be kept holy, He sustained the validity of the seventh-day Sabbath.Ms 19, 1894, par. 10–12+1 The special sixth-day gathering and the preservation of the food continually testified to the Sabbath commandment given in Eden before it was proclaimed at Sinai.Ms 63, 1897, par. 1–3+1

The daily giving with its double provision for the Sabbath was God's test of whether Israel would obey His law.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17 It was designed to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath and to shame unbelief and murmuring by abundant supply.SG3 255.1 It delivered them from bondage where taskmasters had attempted to force Sabbath labor by again and again making the weekly work harder and more exacting, bringing them to a place where they might observe unmolested all the precepts, afterward confirmed when the law was spoken at Sinai.PK 180.2 By this they were constantly reminded through their wanderings of God's appointed rest-day and of holy keeping of the seventh day.Ms 77, 1899, par. 15–17+1

As God once fed Israel with manna in the desert, Christ feeding the multitude with five barley loaves and two small fishes repeated that same divine act of feeding the people as God had fed Israel.DA 377.1 No human power could make so little feed thousands of hungry people, so the miracle proves divine power at work for the benefit of the whole multitude, since everyone in that vast crowd shared in it.DA 377.1 Heard together with words that came as the voice of God and works of healing that only divine power could perform, it identifies Christ as the prophet Moses foretold who should come into the world.DA 377.1

The manna is a picture of spiritual nourishment received from Christ, the living bread from heaven.STE 83.1 The true bread is given by the Father through Christ and can be obtained from no human agent, not from Moses, while Christ is not unmindful of physical wants and will provide food to satisfy bodily necessities.17MR 252.4–254.2 That spiritual food is of far more consequence than temporal food, so chief labor and anxiety belong not to meat that perishes but to the living bread that endures to everlasting life, by coming to Christ and believing on Him whom the Father sent and sealed so as never to hunger and never to thirst.17MR 252.4–254.2 The manna account also pictures presenting fresh spiritual teaching suited to people's needs.21MR 300.3–4

The giving of manna from heaven shows that God sustains His people, provides food for bodily and spiritual needs, and can sustain them when they have no ordinary food supply.7T 61.2+3 The same God who provided then remains able to guide and provide for His people and their work today.7T 61.2+1 He will give His people today knowledge of how to provide food in a simple manner as part of the education He requires.Ms 96, 1905, par. 3–4

God gave the food from heaven but required the people to gather and prepare it, including gathering and preparing a double portion on the sixth day.4T 469.1+1 Though He could have supplied everything needed, He chose a plan requiring each person's cooperation, and this shared responsibility served as moral discipline.4T 469.1+1 Those who receive His blessings are to give from what He has entrusted to them and share them with those who have less.Ms 101, 1906, par. 42–43+1 The manna was given for the benefit of the community and shows God's work serving the community rather than belonging to one person alone.Lt 180, 1901, par. 17–18

That gift is a pattern for today, for what manna was to Israel the light God has given and will continue to give on the food question is to His people now.Ms 42, 1902, par. 1–5+1 It teaches them to live simply without flesh meats and to reform habits of eating to make them a separate people.Lt 112, 1909, par. 18–19+1 In the different countries of the world health foods suited to those countries are to be prepared from the products of the earth, from fruits and grains, simple and easily prepared, to take the place of flesh meat.Ms 42, 1902, par. 1–5+1 Those preparations are to be more simple and less expensive than costly manufactured preparations, so that those who cannot obtain expensive foods can still eat adequately and need not live on an impoverished diet.Ms 96, 1905, par. 3–4