Nehemiah 9:15
And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them. And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
God gave Israel bread from heaven for their hunger, brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should go in to possess the land which He had sworn to give them. That provision stands among His merciful gifts at Sinai alongside right judgments, true laws, and the holy Sabbath. Those gifts were set in contrast with Israel's pride, hardened necks, and refusal to obey, yet met by a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful.
Christ Himself led ancient Israel and provided for them in the wilderness. These miracles did not save them because they refused to obey His will. The verse is part of the repeating in Nehemiah 9 of the Lord's works in behalf of His people joined with pointing out the people's sins in turning from God, sins that had separated them from God so that He permitted them to come under the control of heathen nations. It belongs to the account of Ezra and Nehemiah humbling themselves before God, confessing their own sins and the sins of their people, and asking for pardon.
These acts of care belong to a history in which God was gracious to His people though they often failed to value His favors or give Him glory, a history resembling the experience of Seventh-day Adventists whom God has led in truth and righteousness and has not wholly forsaken despite their failures. It belongs to a representation to be presented to the people as occasion requires to stand boldly in defense of the truth, which will otherwise be perverted into strong representations of evil without decided reformation.