Title: Exodus 16
Content Exodus 16:1-36
The Israelites passed through Marah and came to Elim. Elim had “twelve springs of water and seventy palms” (15:27). It was a resting place where all the people of Israel could rest comfortably. But according to 16:1, “the whole congregation of the children of Israel departed from Elim and came to the wilderness of Sin between Elim and Mount Sinai.” No matter how comfortable they were, their destination was not Elim, but the land of Canaan. Therefore, leaving the place of rest behind, they left this good place and went to the land of Canaan, thinking that the land of Canaan was a better place of rest, and they had to go back into the wilderness.
Perhaps the church today is trying to give the chapel building on this land a haven for its members. If you look at the churches that emphasize the building of the temple (?) and explain the justification of building the temple by using silent words, you can see that the deceptive singular number is really high. Our goal is to glorify God in heaven, not to earthly things. What if the chapel cannot be built? If we can just gather in the name of the Lord and ask for the above, then that gathering is the church, and that is the body of the Lord... Why do we not know that the church, the body of the Lord, is not spare enough to risk life and death to build a chapel?
Nevertheless, Israel, who had crossed the Red Sea and praised the Lord, continued to complain, not only in Marah, but also in the Wilderness of Sin, thinking about their satisfaction and comfort in Egypt. Israel's resentment was because it went against their expectations. This shows that what we expect and want is fundamentally different from the new world God presents. However, the Israelites were comparing the situation in Egypt in the past with the situation in the present. In that sense, the wilderness they saw was only an extension of Egypt. No, I saw it as a worse place than Egypt. For that reason, they always want to return to Egypt unless the given circumstances improve.
Likewise, we today think of believing in Jesus this way. I do not think that the salvation we want and the salvation God provides are fundamentally different. I am hoping that God will tailor the salvation I want on my side. It's like running on endless parallel lines. In doing so, I examine my environment, situation, and circumstances. As soon as we discover that nothing has improved in the world even after we believe in Jesus, we are ready to give up our seats and return to the world.
But God made such sinners his people, and he wants to put his heart in them. That is why God is testing Israel (v. 4) to reveal the Egyptian mindset. This is because the fact that Israel escaped from Egypt, but still drenched in nostalgia for Egypt, is the basis for not knowing that the meaning of their present existence lies in the blood of the Lamb. In the end, we, too, should know that our greed, which focuses on ourselves with longing for the past and the world, is to become the enemy of God. Israel's resentment against Moses was the same as it was against God (verse 8). That is why we must die every day (1 Corinthians 15:31).
When Israel was resentful, God gave manna in the morning and quail in the evening according to God's own will, not the food they wanted. Israel said, “What is this?” (Manna) as they gathered what God had given them in the morning. Manna was something Israel had never seen before. That is, it is not of the world. The people of God are no longer those who look at the world’s food, but have changed to beings who look at the heavenly food that God provides to them.
It is a worldly way of thinking that one wants to live on this earth as being filled. If we live this way of thinking, all that comes out of us is resentment and complaints. will never be satisfied. Therefore, the fact that God sent manna from heaven was evidence of the people's resentment. In other words, the manna contains the meaning of rebuking Israel for its unbelief. So God said, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and set it before the Lord to be kept for your generations” (verse 33). Talking about God's grace is clearly revealed when it is contrasted with human unbelief.
Manna was never given to solve the hunger problem of the Israelites. Later, in Deuteronomy 8:3, God reveals: “He humbled you and made you hungry, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know, so that you might know that man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of the LORD.”
Here, God said that the food of human life is the Word. In other words, the word of God saved Israel, not the bread (manna). In other words, Israel can live only by following the Word of God, not about what to eat, what to wear, or what to become (refer to Matt. 6:31,32). Because what Israel needs is not food, but eternal life that comes from trusting in the Lord.
The question of survival is not for humans to worry about. In the plague of the firstborn in Egypt, Israel was already dead. In other words, living despite the fact that they should have died should not depend on their worth. We have no choice but to be thankful for the grace of the cross that goes beyond survival and gives life.
For this reason, manna had to be thoroughly treated according to God's word. After eating, it could not be left until morning, nor could it be harvested on the Sabbath. Whether it is for a day or two, it is not important to live according to my readiness, but to live according to the Word. There is no happiness or rest in how much of the earthly things you have prepared to eat and live. God can ask us this right now. “You fool, tonight your soul will be required of you, and whose will your preparations be?” (Luke 12:20). Since the things of heaven always contain the meaning of perfection, those who can be satisfied with what is given from heaven are those who have received the Holy Spirit.