Exodus 16:7, commentary and pictures

After their deliverance from Egyptian bondage the people longed for its food and complained of hardship in the wilderness, and their murmuring against Moses and Aaron was against the Lord Himself who was their true leader and provider, so in the morning He revealed His glory and power by giving bread from heaven with the dew.
That manna was angels' food, the best that could be given in a continuing miracle suited to their need, yet their craving for meat and dissatisfaction brought judgment.
The morning gift, especially in its double portion on the sixth day and its absence on the seventh, tested whether they would walk in His law and preserved the seventh-day Sabbath hallowed at creation and proclaimed at Sinai.
The same provision shows that God gives temporal food and the far greater living bread that gives eternal life, and that the living God still guides His people and supplies their need for His work.
His mercy in providing was also their moral discipline, requiring each person to cooperate with Him, to remember with gratitude and teach their children, and to share temporal and spiritual blessings with the less favored.

Murmuring and Morning Glory

The promise was given in the wilderness after deliverance from Egyptian bondage and temptation, when Israel longed for the flesh pots of Egypt and complained about food and hardship. The bread sent from heaven was a marked event of that deliverance never to be forgotten, with memorials of the miraculous escape from bondage and oppression to be preserved so that when children asked, parents would tell of the great events of the exodus that they might serve God and keep His Sabbaths. It was given to reform their habits of eating and to make them a separate people.

Their murmuring against Moses and Aaron was in fact against the Lord, for He was their true leader guiding and providing for them while they were only His servants. The people therefore had no cause to blame them as though they were responsible for the hardship. The complaint about food was ultimately a complaint against the Lord, not merely against men.

In the morning they would see the glory of the Lord, for He heard their murmurings. He revealed His glory by miraculously providing bread from heaven, daily bread descending with the dew in the wilderness and displaying His presence and power. That provision remains the precedent for God sustaining His people with food when they lack it. The same wilderness provision shows that God still lives and reigns to guide His people and supply what they need for their work.

The manna was angels' food, the best food that could be given, given to stop their murmuring, yet it did not satisfy them. It was a continuing miracle supplying food, and a fresh provision suited to the people's needs. Their craving for meat and dissatisfaction with His provision led to judgment, even as God tested the people by providing food.

The gift came with unmistakable evidence of divine leading and preserving care, together with forty years of guidance by the pillar of cloud and fire under Christ as invisible leader and teacher, and miracles such as pure water from the rock when thirsty. Christ Himself, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, communicated the will of God to a people blessed with great light and precious opportunities, defended them against the vast army of Pharaoh, provided food when hungry, quieted murmurings by giving springs of cool water flowing from the Rock, and manifested His glory to them. Yet even after such wondrous working they were ever ready to turn away and believe Satan's suggestions and representations against Moses and Aaron and against Joshua and Caleb, passing the boundary of God's forbearance and patience and awakening His anger against the rebellious.

Sabbath Test and Provision

In the morning the glory of the Lord was to be seen in His providing for Israel after their murmuring, and the manna with its special supply for the sixth and seventh days showed that He was testing whether they would walk in His law and preserved the Sabbath through the wilderness years. The complaint about food was in truth against the Lord and not merely against Moses, since Moses and Aaron were only His servants, and the provision of food in the wilderness revealed His glory and showed that He heard the murmuring. The test by providing food exposed craving for meat and dissatisfaction with His provision, which led to judgment.

God sustained the validity of the seventh-day Sabbath by miracle in the giving of the manna, and the manna given from heaven serves as a continuing testimony to the Sabbath commandment. The seventh day was hallowed and sanctified by God at creation in Eden, its binding force was upheld by the manna, and its sacredness was proclaimed in the giving of the commandments on Mount Sinai in the very bosom of the Decalogue, yet this holy institution is discarded for a spurious first-day sabbath.

The feeding of thousands from five barley loaves and two small fishes repeated God's act of feeding Israel with manna in the desert and showed that Christ who fed the people is the divine provider whom Moses had foretold. The words heard that day came as the voice of God and the healings witnessed could only be done by divine power, and because the miracle of the loaves appealed to everyone in the vast multitude through all sharing in its benefit, they said this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. The manna teaches that God provides temporal food as well as spiritual nourishment, and those who receive His blessings should share them with people who are less favored. The provision was a continuing miracle supplying food for bodily needs, yet the living bread He gives is of greater importance because it gives eternal life.

The wilderness provision shows the Lord's work for the benefit of His people in guiding them and supplying what they need for their work. The same God who provided manna for Israel in Exodus 16:4-15 continues to guide and provide for His people, giving wisdom and skill for their work in answer to earnest prayer. He still lives and reigns, and as He sustained Israel with manna when they lacked food and revealed His glory in answering complaint, so He can sustain His people with food when they lack it.

Trust and Obedience Today

The bread given in the wilderness shows mercy, yet the manner of giving was also discipline, for what was needed for religious life and service was not supplied apart from the cooperation of each person with God. That cooperation was itself part of moral training, shaping the receivers even as it sustained them. As Israel murmured against Moses when circumstances were difficult, so still those in God's work may complain against the one bearing the most responsible burdens.

The deliverance from Egypt and the food from heaven call for continual gratitude and praise. The bread sent from heaven was a marked event of that deliverance, never to be forgotten. Memorials of the miraculous escape from bondage and oppression were to be preserved, and when children asked about them parents were to recount the great events of the exodus, that the next generation might serve God and keep His Sabbaths.

The morning gift revealing the glory of the Lord came after deliverance from Egyptian bondage and temptation, when Israel longed for the flesh pots of Egypt, and it was given to reform habits of eating and to make them a separate people. The same God still provides for His people by giving knowledge of how to prepare simple, inexpensive food from fruits and grains without flesh meats. By that knowledge even those who cannot obtain expensive preparations need not live on an impoverished diet. Teaching simplicity and hygienic cookery is therefore an essential part of education to be given in schools and with the truth in new places. Those who receive such blessings of temporal and spiritual food should share them with people who are less favored.