Expository Sermon on Exodus 16
by Maylan Schurch
Bellevue Seventh-day Adventist Church 1/29/2022
©2022 by Maylan Schurch
Please open your Bibles to Exodus 16.
I remember as a kid being fascinated by the Bible story of the manna, which this chapter tells about. Did you ever wonder what manna tasted like?
Like any other kid, I could get pretty bored if mom served us the same food every day. I loved her mushrooms and noodles, but I wouldn’t have wanted them every day. I loved mom’s fried hashbrowns. Back in those days I ate meat, and I loved fried chicken, or a good juicy hamburger once in a while, which had come from one of the Black Angus steers dad kept in our pasture. I liked a variety of food, including Jello with pineapple chunks in it.
So naturally, when I read in Exodus 16 that the manna was what they ate every day, and that they ate it for 40 years until they went into the promised land, I got to wondering what kind of food would keep the people’s interest for that long. From Exodus 16’s description, it sort of looked like oatmeal flakes, but it must’ve been more interesting than oatmeal.
After all, Verse 31 says that it tasted like “wafers made with honey.” I thought, “Well, that wouldn’t be so bad.” Back when I was a kid there was a type of cookie that I think they still make today. I think we called them vanilla wafers. They were rectangular and were made up of a wafer, then a layer of sugary cream, then another layer of wafer, and so on. I looked them up online, and the closest I could come to what they were is made in Italy. Here’s what the description says:
“Balocco Wafers with Vanilla Milk Cream are delicious sweets from one of Italy’s top dessert makers. Layers of flaky wafers and smooth vanilla cream are piled together for a satisfying, crunchy bite. Enjoy vanilla wafers at breakfast alongside coffee, tea, or a cappuccino for a taste of la dolce vita.”
But I couldn’t imagine wafers-and-honey manna being this sweet, and still being enjoyable day after day. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a taste of it in heaven!
Exodus 16 is the “manna chapter,” and when I was reading along in our Bible reading plan, it caught my attention. I’ve always assumed that it was simply the fact that the manna showed up which was the miracle.
But as I read the chapter, I found at least least four manna miracles–plural. And I found that God gave these miracles for much more than simply providing nutritious food rations for a wilderness camping trip.
And I believe that each of these manna miracles will draw us closer to the heart of God, and also will be very helpful for the week ahead. Let’s take a look at them.
Exodus 16:1 [NKJV]: And they [the Children of Israel] journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin . . . .
This wilderness wasn’t necessarily sinful. The word “Sin” might refer to the thorny bushes that this wilderness probably contained (the Hebrew words sound pretty close to each other), or it might refer to the pagan moon god, whose name was Sin.
Verses 1 – 5: And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
And that is pretty much a synopsis of what happens in the rest of chapter 16. We will discover quite a few more surprising details, but right now let’s lay down Sermon Point One.
What’s the first “manna miracle” we can learn from this story?
God’s supernatural power can satisfy my needs.
Because as we’ll see, this manna was not ordinary food, but miracle food. God didn’t have to have it trucked in, or flown in, across from Egypt or some other country. He specifically said, “I will rain bread from heaven for you.” In other words, this manna would be supernatural.
God’s supernatural intervention is easier for longtime Christians to accept, because they’ve been taught this in the Bible all their lives. But it’s not so easy for people who don’t have a Christian background.
That’s why I am so thrilled to own a couple of recent books, which I brought with me this morning. One of them is called There Is A God, by Antony Flew. On the back cover, it says, “In There is a God, one of the world’s preeminent atheists discloses how his commitment to ‘follow the argument wherever it leads’ led him into a belief in God as creator. This is a compelling and refreshingly open-minded argument that will forever change the atheism debate.”
The other book was published just last year, in 2021. It’s called Taking Leave of Darwin, by Neil Thomas. Its back cover says, “University professor Neil Thomas was a committed Darwinist and agnostic – until an investigation of evolutionary theory led him to a startling conclusion: ‘I had been conned!’ As he studied the work of Darwin’s defenders, he found himself encountering tactics eerily similar to the methods of political brainwashing he had studied as a scholar . . . . Thomas’s deeply personal conclusion? Intelligent design is not only possible but, indeed, is presently the most reasonable explanation for the origin of life’s great diversity of forms.”
Antony Flew, who passed away not long ago, actually came closer to being a Christian than Neil Thomas has so far. But Thomas still firmly believes that there is some kind of intelligent designer who created all of the amazing diversity we see around us.
So here are two important thinkers – formerly evolution-believers – who had the intellectual honesty to study things out for themselves, and they both came to the belief that there must be a supernatural designer.
So the manna miracle we see in Exodus 16 is that God’s supernatural power can satisfy my needs. And we’ll see this happening as the chapter goes along.
But what do we do with this knowledge? Well, first we need to stop thinking that it is only the natural, normal resources that we can depend on – resources like money, or education, or a defensive shotgun in the bedroom, or being aligned with the right political party.
As you know, right now the people in the Ukraine are in the uncomfortable position of worrying about the hundred thousand Russian soldiers on their border. They have to decide which side they will be on if it comes to war. I heard a radio interview this week with a Ukrainian government official, a mother of a teenage daughter. This mother had never served in the army, but she said that she was willing to take weapons training if necessary, to defend her daughter and her country.
I’m sure there are many Ukrainian Adventists and other Christians who are fervently praying that God will send his supernatural power to fend off the Russian army. And we need to pray for them too, and for other conflict and persecution situations over the world.
The bottom line is, as I face staggering challenges of my own, I need to remember that God has supernatural power available to take care of my needs.
But now let’s move on to another miracle in this chapter.
Verses 6 – 10: Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD; for He hears your complaints against the LORD. But what are we, that you complain against us?” Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the LORD hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD.” Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to 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.
Here comes what I think is the second “manna miracle” in this chapter.
The first “manna miracle” is that God’s supernatural power can satisfy my needs. The second manna miracle is that if I look, God reveals His glory.
Back there in the Sinai wilderness, God traveled with the Israelites, hovering above them in the cloud that stood over the camp. He was right there, with them, guiding them.
And at this very important crisis – where the people were complaining about the food they missed in Egypt – God knew that they needed to see His glory.
So they looked out into the wilderness where the cloud hung in the sky, and it says that “the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.” What it looked like, the Bible doesn’t say. Maybe it was an intensely bright glow. And as the people looked at it, they knew without a doubt that God was with them.
So what do we do with this today, when there’s no visible guiding cloud above us? Can we still see the glory of God? I believe we can. The two authors I just mentioned very clearly discerned an intelligent designer who had to have been behind all of Earth’s complex life forms.
Shelley and I saw the glory of God this past Sunday when we took a walk in our neighborhood. We paused beside a yard owned by people who put up several birdfeeders. A couple of days earlier, as we walked there, we had seen a tiny hummingbird just sitting on a branch. I’m not used to seeing hummingbirds sitting still – most often all I hear is a whizzing sound as they fly past. And then I might see them pause for a second at a flower, and then they’ll whip on to another flower, and then to another flower.
But this hummingbird was just sitting on a tree branch. Even though we cautiously walked closer, it didn’t move. The morning was chilly and foggy, and I imagine the bird was just trying to keep warm.
So again, yesterday, as we walked past that same yard, I looked up to see if by chance the hummingbird was there, and it was gone. However, a hummingbird was perched over on the hummingbird feeder, but I didn’t know if it was the same bird. But as we glanced around the yard, we saw several fat robins in the trees, some of them pecking away at old berries on the branches.
And we saw a squirrel who had figured out a way to get access to a seed birdfeeder. The feeder was a clear plastic tube full of seeds. There was a large plastic dome over the top, so if the squirrel had landed on top of the dome and tried to work his way down around to the feeder below, he would’ve simply fallen off.
But this squirrel had discovered a way to get to the feeder. The feeder was hanging from a tree branch, so the squirrel went partway up the trunk, and leaped out into the air and embraced that feeder with all four feet, then turned upside down, slid to the bottom of the tube, and began filling his mouth with seeds.
But every once in a while, the blood would rush to his head, I suppose, because he jumped down to the ground, chewed a little bit, then ran up the trunk and took a flying leap at the feeder again, and he always made it.
I believe we were watching a little of the glory of God. God had created these wonderful animals and birds, and had created the nutrition in the nuts and in the sugar in the feeders (and the flowers, earlier in the year). After all, Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” And Genesis chapters 1 and 2 tell how He created the earth and the ancestors of those birds and squirrels.
I think it’s a good idea to get into the habit of keeping an eye out for the glory of God. One of the ways to do this is to take walks and keep your eyes open. Another way is to make a habit of checking out our church website’s “Daily Photo Parable.” We have a rotating group of church members who enjoy photography, and who are willing to take nature photos and then write brief devotional blogs about them. Just go to our church website, bellevueadventist.org, and click on the “Daily Photo Parable” icon. (If you do that today, you will see my photo of the tiny hummingbird sitting high on a branch in that yard I was telling you about.)
And of course the ultimate advice-giver about looking for God’s glory is Jesus. Put some kind of bookmark here in Exodus 16, it because we’ll be back soon. Let’s go to Matthew chapter 6 and hear what Jesus says about this.
Matthew 6:25 – 34: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Now find that bookmark and go back to Exodus 16 again. Let’s look for the next “manna miracle.”
Exodus 16:11 – 21: And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’ ” So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ” Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.” Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
The verses we’ve just read are simply bristling with miracles, aren’t they? But I’ve boiled them down into one sermon point – Sermon Point Three.
The first “manna miracle” is that God’s supernatural power can satisfy my needs. The second is that if I look, God reveals His glory. The third manna miracle is that God is full of surprises.
First of all, the Lord knows well that the Israelites missed those meat-filled hot-pots back in Egypt, so He arranges for what might have been just a one-time evening meal of quail, just to satisfy their taste for it.
Now, those quails might have been blown in from somewhere else, but the manna was definitely not. It appeared in the mornings. And maybe for one time only, each person’s supply expanded or contracted according to what they needed, to show them how much to gather.
And God made sure they knew that they were only to take what they needed for that day. “Give us this day our daily bread.” No need to hoard, no need to defraud someone else by sneaking some of their supply. If you tried to hoard, your manna experienced rapid decomposition, and worms appeared in it. (Except that the memorial jar of manna which God later said to put in the ark of the covenant didn’t spoil.)
I mean, these are miracles. God is full of surprises.
So what do I do, now that I know this? Well, one thing I’ve learned – both from Bible reading and from just living a Christian life – is that God can do exactly what He wants, how He wants. You and I must never limit God. As the Christian song says, “If it matters to you, it matters to the Master.”
So when you talk to God about what’s bothering you, or if you are interceding for somebody else, tell Him, “Lord, I learned in Exodus chapter 16 that You are God of surprises. I am perfectly willing to be surprised by You. Please intervene as amazingly as You want to.”
And do you remember how, first thing in the morning, the Israelites were supposed to gather their manna, because later in the day, any that was left on the ground would melt in the sunlight? Maybe that’s a reminder that, first thing in the morning, you and I need to gather spiritual nourishment from God through Bible reading and prayer.
Let’s just look at one more “manna miracle” I can find in this chapter.
Verses 22 – 30: And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.” Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.
Here comes Sermon Point Four:
The first “manna miracle” is that God’s supernatural power can satisfy my needs. The second is that if I look, God reveals His glory. The third is that God is full of surprises. And the fourth manna miracle is God’s weekly Sabbath day.
Why do I call the Sabbath a miracle? Most of us in this room are familiar with it, and we are in the habit of keeping it. It might not seem very miraculous.
But one reason I think it’s a miracle is that God really does want to be with us. He wants us to be acquainted with Him. He loves us. And we need to keep in mind that the Sabbath was the final miracle of creation during that first week of earth’s history. I think it’s truly miraculous that the God who created the entire universe, which the James Webb telescope will be sending back pictures of in about six months–this God is willing to devote one out of every seven days to be with us out here on the third rock from the sun, in our little solar system, in our little galaxy. That’s a miracle.
As John W. Peterson’s beloved song says:
It took a miracle to put the stars in place
It took a miracle to hang the world in space
But when He saved my soul
Cleansed and made me whole
It took a miracle of Love and Grace
The Sabbath, as you know, is a memorial both of creation and redemption. Love is a miracle, and God’s love for us is the greatest miracle of all. The Sabbath tells me that God wants to be with me, and he wants me to enjoy physical, mental, and emotional rest, and He wants me to gather together with others in fellowship as we’re doing this morning.
And remember how some of the manna-gatherers went out Sabbath morning to see if they could find some manna? I think that if you and I understand the true meaning of the Sabbath, and still choose to do regular work on it, maybe we are like those Sabbath manna-gatherers. Maybe we need to trust God more, trust that if we honor Him, He will turn around and work things out for us.
Because the Sabbath isn’t an option for those who truly want to follow God. The Sabbath gives us permission to lay our worries down and rest in his love.
What you think of our four manna miracles? Aren’t they encouraging? Would you like to tell God, “I accept your manna miracles for me, and I thank you for Your love”?
Would you like to do that? If so, would you raise your hand with me?