are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord” (Ex 16:8).
So came the birth of manna, the bread from Heaven, that God provided for His people. It was described “a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground” (Ex 16:14). When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” [Heb Man hu, cf v 31] for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat”. God had a detailed plan for the distribution of the manna. He said: ”Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer [6 pints] apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent. When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.” But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one because the Sabbath occurred on the 7th day where there was no work allowed. God made sure that when they gathered twice as much it didn’t spoil” (Ex 16:15-22). The house of Israel named it manna, [man] and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. A jar of the manna was kept throughout the generations and it was kept in the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant in the temple. Christ may have referred to this manna in His Lord’s prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt 6:11). Even more, in the Kingdom Age, it meant the living word of God that would provide sustenance. As God said: “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Dt 89:3).
The Israelites journeyed to Rephidim where once again there was no water. The people rose up against Moses. Moses was so frustrated at the people that he said: “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me” (Ex 17:4). “Then the Lord said to Moses,… “ you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah [test] and Meribah [quarrel] because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?” (Ex 17:5-7).
At this point we should take a step back and understand what God was doing with the Israelite people and how it relates to us today. The Israelites were being tested on necessary ingredients for a successful walk with God—obedience, testing and suffering. The Lord had delivered them from a land of oppression into a land ruled by God. He knew they were to enter a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, Today we are entering into the Kingdom of God. The process for entering both are essentially the same. We are continually tested by God whereby we learn obedience. In those tests we learn obedience. It was the same with Christ. It was said of Christ: “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Christ was not born with perfect obedience—He had to learn it by sufferings (testings) just as we must learn it. Hebrews 12:6–8 says: “FOr those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons”. 1 Peter 4:12-14 says: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you”. And: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3:19). “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, [or temptations] knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance [steadfastness]. And let endurance [steadfastness] have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, [mature] lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).
The Israelites were in a desert wilderness, a foreign land to them. God was trying to create them into a nation. God loved them and according to the scriptures (above) God chastens (tests) every son He receives. As each test is completed obedience is created as they learn to trust the Lord more and more. God was starting with a clean slate and was, in a sense, writing His laws on their hearts. Moses was suffering and growing himself as he faced the brunt of their unbelief. When the 40 years were complete, the children of those who would take Canaan land were trained in obedience for Joshua to lead. The trials that come upon us, that we consider sufferings, are producing the same thing—mature Sons who can take the Kingdom. ”The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:16-18). As we read and study the Old Testament Israelites we realize we are reading the story of all true believers who are being trained by the same God in the same way. “Who is this coming up from the wilderness Leaning on the arm of her beloved?” (Song of Solomon 8:5).
The Israelites were camping comfortably at Rephidim, after they had gotten sufficient water from the rock struck by Moses. There they experienced their first attack from a foreign nation. The Amalekites were nomads in the desert south of Canaan. They were descendants of Esau through Eliphaz (Gen. 36:12). They apparently were attempting to dislodge the Israelites from this pleasant oasis and to secure the territory for themselves. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand” Their victory was secured in an unusual manner. With Moses stationed at the top of a hill it came about when Moses held his hands up that Israel prevailed, and when he let them down, Amalek prevailed. So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and its people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek. But Moses’ hands grew heavy so then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set” Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is My Banner; and he said, “The Lord has sworn; the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.” The Israelites fought the Amalekites for many years. It was not until the time of David that the Amalekites were totally defeated” (Ex 17:8-16).
Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law from Midian, came with his sons, his wife and Moses wife and sons to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped. Moses told his Father-in-Law all the success Israel was having in the wilderness and Jethro rejoiced. “When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. “When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws. Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone” (Ex 18:14-18). So Jethro gave Moses some advice on delegation. “You should select out of all the people able men who
