Title Remember (Exodus 16:23-30)
Contents
A holy God wants His people living in the world to lead a holy life in the likeness of God, because that is the purpose of creation by creating human beings in God's holy likeness and image. Although man has sinned and fallen, he does not give up and trains his people through suffering in a world like the wilderness. The ultimate purpose of sending Jesus Christ into the world to be like him is to restore his holiness and become a people who glorify God.
1. Spiritual Forgetfulness
How disappointing is a fallen human being? What vividly shows what they do is the Israelite people who forgot God's grace and complained about selfishness.
Considering that the people of Israel were freed from Egypt by God's grace and saved through the miracle of the Red Sea, even though they had to endure and give thanks in all hardships, they complained against Moses that the water was bitter at Marah, and turned the bitter water into sweet water. Even though Oasis allowed them to taste the abundant blessings of Elim, they still blamed God.
When they came to the wilderness and ran out of food, instead of praying to God (Exodus 16:2), the whole congregation of Israel complained again, just as they said, “Reproach Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.” The Israelites, who had fallen into spiritual forgetfulness, forgot the painful slavery life in Egypt (Exodus 16:3), when we sat by the meat kilns in the land of Egypt and when we ate bread to our full satisfaction. I was disappointed.
Because human beings are weak, whoever asks, like the Israelites, “What shall we eat and drink?” Jesus also said (Matthew 6:33) Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:34) So do not worry about tomorrow. He said that tomorrow's work will be worrying about tomorrow.
2. God who gives manna
God, whose love and power did not change, did not forsake the ungrateful and ungrateful people of Israel, but fed them with manna and quail every day so that there was no shortage
(Exodus 16:12) I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, and I told them, "At sunset you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread, and you will know that I am the LORD your God."
It was a great providence that God led the people of Israel into the wilderness where hunger and thirst awaited them. He used the wilderness as a training ground and trained them to remove the corruption of sin and the remnants of Egypt, strengthen their faith, and become God's people. It is to make them live by relying on only one man, and we must not forget that we too are people who need more training and refinement in a world like the wilderness.
This journey of Israel teaches us that what we absolutely need today in a world like the wilderness is the manna of life that gives us eternal life and the living water that makes us never thirsty.
In the New Testament (Matthew 4:4), Jesus answered and said to them, “It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
3. Keep the Sabbath
God's purpose in giving manna to the people of Israel was not simply to satisfy their physical hunger (Exodus 16:28). It was to test whether they kept the commandments and laws of God.
1) How vain is the greed of the people of Israel because the people of Israel are not satisfied with their daily bread through this manna. (Exodus 16:18) In an omerized version, he allowed us to experience as it is said, “Those who gathered much did not have any leftovers, and those who gathered little did not lack anything.
2) He made the Sabbath day holy as a training tool. God sends manna every day, so you can live that day, but not on the Sabbath, but on the preparation day (Ex 16:22) On the sixth day, each man gathered double the amount of food, two omers per sabbath. He made them eat twice as much, and rested on the sabbath, but they became greedy (Exodus 16:27), and on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and found nothing. He trained to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
* Let's not forget God's grace, realizing that the most serious diseases for God's people are spiritual forgetfulness, which easily forgets God's grace, and greed for greed without knowing satisfaction.
Through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught these people to put away their worries, be content with our daily bread, and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Above all, let us not forget that the Lord's Resurrection Sunday is a better day than the Sabbath of the Old Testament, keep it holy and long for the word better than manna.