Manna
Exodus 16:2-15 (King James Version)
2And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
3And 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.
4Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; 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.
5And 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.
6And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8And 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; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
9And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.
10And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
11And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.
13And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
So here is our Bible story for this coming Sunday. Having been delivered from bondage in Egypt, the Israelites are in the wilderness for their forty year trek under the leadership of Moses. It would be incorrect to observe that they have now started complaining, because this is not the first time: they had started complaining even before God through Moses parted the sea so they could walk through on dry land. They are simply continuing to grouse and whine, and this won’t be the last time; in fact, whining will be their wilderness themesong. By now, Moses is surely thinking, “Why, oh why did I stop and talk to that burning bush?”
As for the Lord, he moves in mysterious ways and to this day we can’t be certain why he chose this particular people instead of some other -- though the Lord of heilsgeschichte does seem to prefer the down-and-out over the well-to-do for some reason. Still, their constant complaining irritates even God, as the Bible testifies.
Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Aren't we there yet? Now are we there? Are we there yet?
In Bible terms, “forty years” means a very long time, and that forty years in the wilderness with this insufferable band of whiners had to be as long and unpleasant for the Creator as it was for Moses, not to mention the people themselves.
It’s your breakfast, lunch, tea and supper for the next forty years, says Moses, and you'll bloody well eat it. Bon appetit.
Next, no doubt, they'll be whining for something to drink with it.
TW+