Manna Delivered
[Editor's Note: This is the first in a three part series on A Heavenly Meal for a Hungry Multitude.]
Introduction
As we enter Exodus 16, we find the children of Israel doing what they did so often in their wilderness wanderings - complaining. This is quite a contrast from the "Song of Redemption" that they sang only two months earlier, for they had experienced the mighty power of God, in delivering them from slavery in Egypt, as well as defeating their enemies at the Red Sea.
The children of Israel certainly had cause to sing, as they stood as a free nation, on the banks of the Red Sea. They had spent four hundred years in bondage to a heathen king and his people. But God did for the little nation of Israel what He had never done for any other. He chose them to be His very own people, revealing Himself to them in a most magnificent way.
Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage is a beautiful picture of man's salvation, and the resulting deliverance from the bondage of sin, through the direct intervention of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pharaoh was to the Israelites what Satan is to lost sinners: the ruler of a harsh, cruel world, which was typified by Egypt. Israel's bondage in Egypt is a type of the sinner's bondage to sin and Satan's rule. When the blood of the Passover lamb was applied to the lintel and doorpost of each Israelite dwelling, the nation of Israel was protected from the wrath of God's judgment upon Egypt. The next morning, the order came forth from Pharaoh that the people of God were free to leave Egypt.
But Israel escaped Egyptian bondage only to find themselves pursued by their nemesis, and blocked by the Red Sea. The Red Sea is a type of death to the old life of sinful bondage. Just as the Red Sea was the border of Pharaoh's kingdom, even so death to the old life, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, is the end of Satan's rule over the believer. Again, I say, Israel had good cause to sing the praises of God, after reaching the eastern shore of the Read Sea.
It was not long after Israel's victory over Egypt, that God's people began to experience the realities and realizations of redemption life. They found the waters of Mara to be bitter; much like Christians of our day, who find that salvation and forgiveness of sin doesn't mean that life's journey will be without its problems and difficulties. But as Israel discovered, God had the remedy for the bitter waters. That remedy was found in a tree. In like manner, the cross of Christ is still the answer for the bitter waters of life.
Two months into their wilderness journey, this newly redeemed people, found themselves facing a different problem. They were without food. But once again, God met the need, with what Psalm 78: 25 refers to as "angels' food." Exodus 16 simply refers to this heavenly food as "manna." In this incident, we are permitted some wondrous insights into the grace and greatness of God, in Christ Jesus.
Jesus is the manna of our souls. It is by feeding daily upon Him through worship and the Word, that we are spiritually nourished and sustained on this spiritual journey we call life. It is how the qualities of the manna of old relate to the Master that I wish to reveal in this message. There is much about manna that is typical of the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
So let's note the Manna Was Delivered.
I. Notice Where It Came From
A. Israel's Substance Came From Above
Exodus16:4a, "Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you..."
Psalm 105:40, "The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven."
B. Our Savior Came From Above To Live Life To All
John 6:48-51, "I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
II. Notice When It Fell
A. The Manna Of God's Grace Fell When Earthly Means Failed
Exodus 12:34, "And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders."
Exodus 16:1, "And they took their journey from E'lim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between E'lim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt."
This is often how God deals with His people today. In Israel's case, He waited until all the bread brought out of Egypt had been expended before His grace was extended. Dependence upon earthly resources often thwarts God's grace in our behalf. God will many times allow our human resources to become exhausted that He might teach us that our only reliable resources come from heaven; for they are inexhaustible in Christ. That's precisely the place we had to come before we got saved. Paul put it like this: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly" (Rom.5: 6). That's also the way it works in sanctification as well. God told Paul: "My grace is sufficient for thee" (II Cor.12: 9). Later Paul would write: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil.4: 19).
B. The Manna Of God's Grace Fell While Evil Men Murmured
Evil men murmured and fretted, but the Manna was sent by the Lord anyway.
Exodus 16:2-3, "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
The grace of God is so evident here. This bunch of forgetful and ungrateful Israelites had only a short time before, witnessed God's great power to deliver them from bondage in Egypt. Yet the moment things got a little tough, they accused God, Moses and Aaron of deceiving them, and leading them out into the wilderness to die of hunger. The grace and power of God was available to them the whole time they were griping and complaining.
It was 1916, and Hattie Green was dead. Hattie's life is a sad demonstration of what it is like to be among the living dead. When Hattie died, her estate was valued at over $100 million; yet Hattie lived in poverty. She ate cold oatmeal because it cost money to heat it. When her son's leg became infected, Hattie wouldn't get it treated until she could find a clinic that wouldn't charge her. By then, her son's leg had to be amputated. Hattie died arguing over the value of drinking skim milk. She had money to meet her every need, but she chose to live as if it didn't exist. Turning Point, March, 1993.
If ever there was a group of people who did not deserve to receive God's goodness, it was this crowd. But folks, grace is never about what one deserves, for grace is receiving from God what one doesn't deserve. God so loved His people that even their murmurings against Him could not quench His love and quash His grace.
When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars-a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."
Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid-but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten-dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner!
"That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!" Progress Magazine, December 14, 1992.
C. The Manna Of God's Grace Fell At A Time When Darkness Had Fallen
Exodus 16:8a, "And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full..."
Numbers 11:9,"And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it."
The word translated "morning," in Exodus 16: 8, makes reference to dawn, that period of the day just before sunrise. This is significant in that just as the manna fell during the dark hours, it was also at man's darkest hour that Jesus came to die for the sins of the world. Simeon, speaking of baby Jesus, said, "Through the tender mercy of God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness..." (Luke 1: 78 & 79a).
It is often in the Christian's dark moments that the manna of God's grace in Christ falls. That's what happened to the disciples when they were being tossed about by a storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matt.14: 25).
Are You At Wit's End Corner?
Are you standing at "Wits End Corner"
Christian, with troubled brow?
Are you thinking of what is before you,
And all you are bearing now?
Does all the world seem against you,
And you in the battle alone?
Remember at "Wits End Corner"
Is where God's power is shown.
Are you standing at "Wits End Corner,"
Blinded with wearying pain,
Feeling you cannot endure it,
You cannot bear the strain?
Bruised through the constant suffering,
Dizzy and dazed, and numb.
Remember at "Wits End Corner"
Is where Jesus loves to come.
Are you standing at "Wits End Corner,"
Your work before you spread.
Longing for strength to do it,
Stretching out trembling hands?
Remember at "Wits End Corner"
The burden bearer stands.
Are you standing at "Wits End Corner,"
Yearning for those you love
Longing and praying and watching,
Pleading their cause above
Trying to lead them to Jesus,
Wondering if you've been true?
He whispers at "Wits End Corner,"
"I'll win them as I won you."
Are you standing at "Wits End Corner?"
Then you're just in the very spot,
To learn the wondrous resources
Of Him who faileth not!
No doubt to a brighter pathway,
Your footsteps will soon be moved.
But only at "Wits End Corner"
Is the God who is able, "proved." (Antoinette Wilson.)
III. Notice What It Was For
A. For The People's Needs
Exodus 16:4b-5, "...and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."
B. For Today's Needs
C. For The Sinner's Needs
The sinner can appropriate God's grace in Christ Jesus.
John 6:51a, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever..."
The saint can appropriate God's grace in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:"