TODAY’S MESSAGE
Exodus 16:1-36 The Sabbath Test
Ex 16:1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
“Sin” in this verse is a geographical location.
Ex 16:2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron.
Israel complained for a second Time
and YeHoVaH responded with a test like He did the first time in the previous chapter.
Ex 15:25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
Ex 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
Murmured – 03885 לוּן luwn {loon} or לִין liyn {leen}
Meaning: 1) to lodge, stop over, pass the night, abide 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to lodge, pass the night 1a2) to abide, remain (fig.) 1b) (Hiphil) to cause to rest or lodge 1c) (Hithpalpel) to dwell, abide 2) to grumble, complain, murmur 2a) (Niphal) to grumble 2b) (Hiphil) to complain, cause to grumble
Usage: AV - lodge 33, murmur 14, ... the night 14, abide 7, remain 6, tarry 2, lodge in 2, continue 1, dwell 1, endure 1, grudge 1, left 1, lie 1, variant 3; 87
Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, but Israel was saying YeHoVaH should have killed them in Egypt instead of bringing them out into the wilderness to kill them with hunger.
Ex 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
For whatever reason, many of the Israelites felt that YeHoVaH wanted to kill or destroy them instead of keeping the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.
Ex 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.
Prove – 05254 נָסַה nacah {naw-saw'}
Meaning: 1) to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test 1a) (Piel) 1a1) to test, try 1a2) to attempt, assay, try 1a3) to test, try, prove, tempt
Usage: AV - prove 20, tempt 12, assay 2, adventure 1, try 1; 36
First mentioned:
Ge 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. Ge 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Abraham, when he was tested/proved/tempted, he
Obeyed YeHoVaH.
Abraham passed the test. Israel failed.
I call this test the Sabbath test
because YeHoVaH presents to them the Law of the seventh day Sabbath in verse 25, 26.
Law – to-raw'} or תֹּרָה torah {to-raw'}
Meaning: 1) law, direction, instruction 1a) instruction, direction (human or divine) 1a1) body of prophetic teaching 1a2) instruction in Messianic age 1a3) body of priestly direction or instruction
1a4) body of legal directives 1b) law 1b1) law of the burnt offering 1b2) of special law, codes of law 1c) custom, manner 1d) the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law
Usage: AV - law 219; 219
Ex 16:5 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.
Ex 16:6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
Verse 6: then ye shall know YeHoVaH has brought you out.
Did they not know that?
They had witnessed the destruction. Although they had physically left Egypt, their hearts and minds were still in Egypt around the flesh pots.
Ex 16:7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
Murmur – {leen}
Meaning: 1) to lodge, stop over, pass the night, abide 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to lodge, pass the night 1a2) to abide, remain (fig.) 1b) (Hiphil) to cause to rest or lodge 1c) (Hithpalpel) to dwell, abide 2) to grumble, complain, murmur 2a) (Niphal) to grumble 2b) (Hiphil) to complain, cause to grumble
Usage: AV - lodge 33, murmur 14, ... the night 14, abide 7, remain 6, tarry 2, lodge in 2, continue 1, dwell 1, endure 1, grudge 1, left 1, lie 1, variant 3; 87
Murmurings – 08519 תְּלוּנָּה teluwnah {tel-oo-naw'} or תְּלֻנָּה telunnah {tel-oon-naw'}
Meaning: 1) murmuring
Usage: AV - murmuring 8; 8
Ex 16:8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
Ex 16:9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.
Ex 16:10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
The Israelites saw the glory of YeHoVaH in the clouds.
Ex 16:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Ex 16:12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.
Ex 16:13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
Ex 16:14 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.
Ex 16:15 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.
Ex 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.
Ex 16:17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
Ex 16:18 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.
Ex 16:19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
They were supposed to eat all of it and leave none till morning.
Ex 16:20 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.
Ex 16:21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. Ex 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.
Ex 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
Ex 16:24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
Ex 16:25 And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a sabbath unto the LORD: today ye shall not find it in the field.
Ex 16:26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
Ex 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.
They had not been instructed to stay in their homes or tents or place.
Some people went out on the Sabbath day to gather manna and found none, yet YeHoVaH did not put them to death nor command the making of fringes until much later.
Ex 16:28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
As a whole, the Laws had not yet been given. But what was being given was the Torah and they were not obeying the instructions of YeHoVaH given to Moses to give them.
Law – to-raw'} or תֹּרָה torah {to-raw'}
Meaning: 1) law, direction, instruction 1a) instruction, direction (human or divine) 1a1) body of prophetic teaching 1a2) instruction in Messianic age 1a3) body of priestly direction or instruction
1a4) body of legal directives 1b) law 1b1) law of the burnt offering 1b2) of special law, codes of law 1c) custom, manner 1d) the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law
Usage: AV - law 219; 219
Because they disobeyed, they were commanded not go out of their place on the Sabbath.
Ex 16:29 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.
Ex 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Ex 16:31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Manna – 04478 מָן man {mawn}
Meaning: 1) manna 1a) the bread from Heaven that fed the Israelites for 40 years of wilderness wanderings 1b) means 'What is it?'
Origin: from 04100; TWOT - 1208,1209; n m
Usage: AV - manna 14; 14
Ex 16:32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
The manna was a reminder of how YeHoVaH fed them bread from heaven in the wilderness.
Yeshua likened the bread of heaven to Himself, saying He was that bread.
Jn 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Jn 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Jn 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Jn 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Jn 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Israel would later be given water from the rock. Paul compared that rock to Messiah.
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Ex 16:33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
Ex 16:34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
Ex 16:35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
Ex 16:36 Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.
