Exodus 16:1 - Meaning and Application

The people of Israel, it seems, had taken with them from Egypt enough food for a month. They left on the fifteenth day of the first month, and by the fifteenth day of the second month, it was all gone. Then we read of their discontent and complaining, Exodus 16:2, Exodus 16:3. The whole camp, or at least most of them, joined in this rebellion. Their complaint was aimed at Moses and Aaron, God’s appointed leaders among them, though in effect it was against God himself.

First, they assumed they would die in the wilderness. That was their first thought at the first sign of trouble. If the Lord had wanted to kill them, he could have done it at the Red Sea. Instead, he saved them there, and he could just as easily provide for them now. It shows great distrust of God, his power, and his goodness to give up hope so quickly in every danger and to talk only about dying.

Second, they unfairly accused Moses of leading them out of Egypt to starve them. But Moses had acted by God’s command and for their good. It is nothing new for people to twist the kindest acts into the worst injuries. The worst blame is often put on the best deeds.

Third, they lowered the value of their deliverance so much that they wished they had died in Egypt, even by the hand of the Lord, meaning by one of the plagues that struck the Egyptians. As if it were not also the Lord’s hand that had brought them into this hungry wilderness through Moses! People often say of pain or sickness, “It is God’s will,” as if that were not true of events that come through human actions or visible causes too. What terrible folly! They would rather die among the flesh pots of Egypt, where they had food, than live under the guiding pillar of heaven in the wilderness and be fed by God’s hand. They thought it better to die with God’s enemies than to bear the loving discipline of his children.

We should not imagine they had real abundance in Egypt, no matter how loudly they now spoke of the flesh pots. Nor could they truly fear starvation in the wilderness while they still had their flocks and herds with them. But discontent makes the past look better than it was and the present look worse than it is, without any concern for truth or reason. People who complain are often the least sensible. Their impatience, ingratitude, and distrust were all the worse because they had just seen God’s mighty help and clear proof that he could meet their greatest needs and already had mercy waiting for them. They forgot his works so soon and provoked him at the Red Sea, (Psalm 106:7-13). God’s mercies, when we have experienced them, make our distrust and complaining even more serious.

Second, we see the gracious care God took to provide for them. He could justly have said, “I will rain fire and burning judgment on these complainers and destroy them.” Instead, he promised to rain bread on them. God told Moses his kind intention so that Moses would not be troubled by their complaints or tempted to wish he had left them in Egypt.

God first took notice of the people’s complaints: “I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel,” Exodus 16:12. As a God of pity, he saw their need, which had led to their complaints. As a holy and just God, he also heard their shameful attacks on his servant Moses, and he was displeased with them. When we begin to grumble, we should remember that God hears every complaint, even the silent ones in the heart. Princes, parents, and masters do not hear all the complaints made against them, and it is often a mercy that they do not. God hears, and yet he bears with people. We must not think that because God does not punish sin at once, he does not notice it. He hears Israel’s murmuring, is grieved by it, and still keeps caring for them, like a tender parent with a stubborn child.

He also promised them quick, enough, and lasting supply, Exodus 16:4. Since humans are made from the earth, God wisely orders them to be fed from the earth, (Psalm 104:14). But Israel, which pictured the church of the firstborn written in heaven and born from above, was under heaven’s direct rule. Their laws, commands, and authority came from heaven, and their food came from heaven too. Because their law was given through angels, they also ate angels’ food.

God explained why he would provide for them: “that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” In this way he tested whether they would trust him and live by faith, whether they could be content with each day’s bread and depend on God for tomorrow’s need. He also tested whether they would serve him faithfully as a good Master who cared so well for his servants. In the end, this showed the world how ungrateful they were, since nothing seemed able to move them to thankfulness. Even when favor is shown to them, they do not learn righteousness, (Isaiah 26:10).

Moses then made God’s intentions known to Israel, just as God had told him. Here Aaron, Moses’ brother, acted as his spokesman, as he had done before Pharaoh. Moses told Aaron what to say to the congregation of Israel, Exodus 16:9. Some think that while Aaron was calling the people to come near before the Lord, Moses went apart to pray, and that the glory of the Lord appearing, Exodus 16:10, was God’s answer to that prayer. They were called to come near, as in (Isaiah 1:18), “Come, and let us reason together.” God is willing to hear even complainers fairly. Should we then refuse to hear the case of those under us when they challenge us? (Job 31:13).

God also showed them the evil of their complaining. They thought they were only criticizing Moses and Aaron, but they were really striking at God through them. This is strongly stated in Exodus 16:7, Exodus 16:8: “Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.” It was he who led them into these hard circumstances, not Moses and Aaron. We should remember that when we complain against the people who are only God’s instruments, we are really speaking against God himself. Men are only God’s hand.

Those who resent the reproofs and convictions of God’s word, and are angry with ministers when the word touches a sore spot, do not understand what they are doing. In resisting them, they are fighting with their Maker.

Let this forever silence complaining. It is bold sin to complain against God, because he is God. It is also foolish to complain against people, because they are only human.

God also promised to meet their needs. Since they had talked so much about the meat in Egypt, he would give them meat that same evening, bread the next morning, and food day by day from then on (Exodus 16:8, 12). Some people are, as we say, better fed than taught, but God fed Israel so that he could teach them. “He led him about, he instructed him” (Deuteronomy 32:10). In this case, “He fed you with manna, so that you might know that man does not live by bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

God had two lessons in mind when he sent manna. First, “By this you will know that the Lord brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 16:6). Their rescue from Egypt was obvious enough, but they were so dull and short-sighted that they said Moses had brought them out (Exodus 16:3). So God gave them manna to show that only his power and goodness could have done this. The same God who began their rescue would also finish it. If Moses alone had brought them out, he could not have fed them in this way. They had to admit that this was the Lord’s work, because this gift was as amazing as their deliverance. Yet even later they still needed to be told that Moses did not give them this bread from heaven (John 6:32).

Second, “By this you will know that I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 16:12). This showed his power as the Lord, and his special kindness to them as their God. When God punished the Egyptians, he wanted them to know that he was the Lord. When he provided for Israel, he wanted them to know that he was their God.

God also showed his glory to quiet the people’s complaints and to honor Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16:10). While Aaron was speaking, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The cloud itself should have been enough to make them reverent and to encourage them. But after a few days they had become so used to it that it no longer moved them, unless it shone with unusual brightness. We should note this: what God’s servants say to us is most likely to help us when God’s glory shines on our hearts with it.