Honey on Biscuits

O.T. #179  "Honey on Biscuits"
Dec. 2, 2013
Exodus 16-Part 2
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the peole shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no.  Exodus 16:4 KJV

LET IT GLOW

What's for breakfast? What's for dinner? Familiar words?
Wheat, rice, and oats can be ground up into flour, thus used in baking homemade biscuits. Now biscuits call for honey. (I don't need the butter or oleo.) That can be eaten as a meal, a dessert, or a supplement with the meal. However, eaten, it is goooood. Of course, I don't have it daily, so it is a treat. If I had to bake it daily and had to eat it daily, biscuits and honey would not be a treat. Perhaps I would even begin to complain about the matter. What did the Israelites do?

After complaining again, 30 days later, the Israelites waited, but not quietly.
They had grown accustomed to Egyptian cuisine of fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic (Numbers 11:5-6).
What did the Lord come up with?

• Daily provisions of bread in the morning and meat in the evening for the Israelites to eat.
• A double portion was given on the 6th day in order to rest on the Sabbath, no gathering nor cooking then.
• Also, they saw the glory of the Lord appearing in a cloud in the desert.
• The breakfast was manna, a type of bread. After the dew was gone, it appeared on the ground as flakes with frost. Could it be frosted flakes? They were to gather as much as they needed, taking an omer for each person in their tent. An omar probably measured about 2 quarts.
• They were not to take too much, as extras for leftovers, except for the Sabbath's meal on the 6th day. When the Israelites gathered too  much, the next day maggots appeared with a stinch. (It spoiled because they were not obedient.)
• The bread manna was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.     (verse 31)
• They could bake or boil the manna, making it like wafers or mush.
• God provided them with the same meal for 40 years in the desert.
• Quail was the meat for the dinner meal. They ran out of seasonings, so the Israelites got tired of the same main course, being ungrateful to God for His provision.
• The people rested on the seventh day. Those who went out to gather their Sabbath's meal found none provided for them. (verse 27)

Perhaps the Lord was teaching His children to depend on Him daily for their food. A lack of faith in such resulted in their gathering more than needed. However, when they did, their sins found them out by the manna spoiling and stinking. Simple obedience showed up as disobedience.

Dear, do you want baked or boiled flakes this morning for breakfast? Did the wife always ask that?
Maybe the husband didn't have to ask what was for breakfast or dinner-he knew for 40 years. At least there were no menus to make nor shopping to do.

Gratitude or Ingratitude?

LET IT GROW

Moses told Aaron to put an omer of manna into a jar, to keep for the future generations to come. Actually, it was kept in the Ark of the Covenant later on. The pot, a gold jar of manna was placed inside the ark of the Testimony (Heb. 9:4 NIV).
 
Manna was called What is it? It came from God, and later Christ claimed to be the true bread of life from heaven (John 6:35). (Falwell)

The Jews could not explain this new food that God had sent. The manna pictures Jesus Christ. (Wiersbe)

Until they reached the border of Cannan, the Promised Land, the Israelites ate the manna.

Later on, we read in Numbers 11:31-35 where the Israelites complained about the quail for dinner. As a result, the Lord gave enough meat to make them 3 feet deep in quail. Oh, they never learned. Do we?

Manna pictures Jesus Christ by His:

• humility (small wafer), became a baby and then a servant.
• eternal nature (round wafer).
• holiness (white wafer), purity and sinlessness, Son of God.
• sweetness (a sweet tasting wafer) of salvation and Word of God.
• nourishment of us spiritually (physical food for the Israelites).

Believers should follow the same instructions, feeding on the Word of God early each day.
Jesus is our Bread of Life. He wants to feed us daily with His Word and His life.
Christians are to rest on the Lord's Day, then work and serve God with the energy He supplies.
Rebellious ones must stoop down to Jesus, just as the Israelites had to stoop down to pick up the manna. It didn't fall on their tables nor in the trees, but on the ground.

Believers are to feed on Christ by reading, studying, and meditating on His Word.

What else can we learn?

[Resource: Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the Old Testament, Liberty Bible Commentary, New International Version Bible]

LET IT GO

Daily eat from the Word of God.

Jesus is my Bread of Life.

Trust God for my needs.

Be thankful for what I have.

Stop complaining.

In everything give thanks...