Today we'll conclude Chapter 16 and find out how the Sabbath was conducted in regard to the manna, and that the Lord instructed Moses and Aaron to save a portion of manna for generations to come, and that this portion of manna was eventually placed inside an object whose location is unknown at this time.
Regarding the manna that fell like dew in the mornings, the Bible says, "Each morning they gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away." (Exodus 16:21) A person could not be lazy about gathering the manna. It had to be done early in the morning before the sun rose high in the sky.
"On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much---two omers for each person---and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, 'This is what the Lord commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" (Exodus 16:22-23) The Lord gave this instruction to Moses regarding the Sabbath in Exodus 16:5, saying, "On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days." Moses relayed these instructions to the people and the elders report back to Moses that the people have done what was asked of them.
You'll recall that on the first morning the manna appeared some of the people gathered more than enough for just one day and saved it til the next morning, even though the Lord told them not to do this. The manna was rotten by morning. But that's not what will happen for the manna saved up for the Sabbath. "So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 'Eat it today,' Moses said, 'because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.'" (Exodus 16:24-26) Most forms of work are not to be performed on the Sabbath, and since the gathering of the manna is a form of work, the Lord will not send any on the Sabbath. The people are to eat the extra that they gathered the day before.
"Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none." (Exodus 16:27) Not everyone believes Moses. Some go out to gather manna on the Sabbath and find none, just as the Lord said. They go out to gather it even though they have enough food for the Sabbath. I don't know exactly what they were thinking, but God is trying to teach them something the Lord Jesus will also teach in one of His sermons: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27) In other words, it was created for man's benefit. God didn't create man in order to observe a religious requirement like the Sabbath; He created the Sabbath to serve man---to provide man with a day each week to be devoted to spiritual and physical and mental refreshment. I have a theory regarding why the people have to be retaught what a Sabbath rest is, and I don't know whether I'm correct about this, but I suspect the Egyptian slavemasters forced the Israelites to work seven days a week. The people are used to performing some type of labor every single day. They don't know how to be still on the seventh day. It's necessary for them to relearn how to observe a day in which their minds are focused on the Lord. This will help their relationship with Him to grow during their years in the wilderness.
In yesterday's passage we found Moses angry because some of the people didn't follow the instructions properly. Today we find the Lord sounding exasperated with those who go out to try to find and gather manna on the Sabbath. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He gives you enough for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.' So the people rested on the seventh day." (Exodus 16:28-30) When the Lord says the word "you" to Moses it's in the plural form. The Lord means the entire assembly of Israel, not Moses specifically. We can safely assume Moses followed the instructions regarding the manna, but he is to pass along the Lord's words to the Israelites.
"The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey." (Exodus 16:31) Now we know what it looked like and what it tasted like.
Next we find out that a jar of manna was preserved along with other objects which have not yet made their appearance. "Moses said, 'This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.' So Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.' As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved." (Exodus 16:32-34) We have to keep in mind that Moses wrote down the book of Exodus many years after the things of Chapter 16 took place. That's why he speaks of the tablets of the covenant even though they do not yet exist in Chapter 16.
Later on in Exodus the Israelites will manufacture an object known as the Ark of the Covenant and sometime after that the jar of manna, the tablets of the covenant, and Aaron's rod will be placed inside it. (Hebrews 9:4) The location of the Ark of the Covenant is not known at this time. It disappeared from the pages of the Bible around the time the city of Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian Empire. Some believe the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, took the Ark along with with many other valuable objects he stole from the temple, but the Ark is not mentioned in any list of the items Nebuchadnezzar carried back to Babylon. I tend to believe, as do many who know far more about such things than I, that the Ark was hidden before the city fell to the Babylonian forces. I believe it is still in the area of Jerusalem somewhere. It was the most holy object belonging to the people and the object they would most have wanted to protect. They were under siege for approximately thirty months and would have had time to secrete the Ark so it would not be captured by the enemy.
The Israelites are going to dwell in the wilderness for forty years before entering the promised land. The journey from Egypt to Canaan should have taken several weeks, at most, but they will dwell in the wilderness forty years for reasons which will become apparent as our study moves ahead. During that time the Lord is going to give them their daily bread. "The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)" (Exodus 16:35-36) The Lord will not allow these people to go hungry, and later on when looking back on their forty years in the wilderness, Moses will say to them, "The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything." (Deuteronomy 2:7)
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