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| 1 And they journey from Elim, and all the company of the sons of Israel come in unto the wilderness of Sin, which [is] between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt. |
Wilderness of Sin – Typical of the Christian journey through the wilderness of sin to the heavenly Canaan. A221
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| 2 And all the company of the sons of Israel murmur against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; |
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| 3 and the sons of Israel say unto them, 'Oh that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, in our sitting by the flesh-pot, in our eating bread to satiety for ye have brought us out unto this wilderness to put all this assembly to death with hunger.' |
The flesh pots – The world's theories. R5307:1
Bread to the full – How apt are all to remember the pleasures of the sinful condition and to forget its burdens and disappointments. R3036:3
With hunger – Having learned of their need they were able to appreciate the provision and its miraculous source. So with spiritual Israelites, they are permitted to feel their needs, and to ask, that they may receive. R3036:1
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| 4 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Lo, I am raining to you bread from the heavens and the people have gone out and gathered the matter of a day in its day so that I try them whether they walk in My law, or not; |
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| 5 and it hath been on the sixth day, that they have prepared that which they bring in, and it hath been double above that which they gather day [by] day.' |
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| 6 And Moses saith Aaron also unto all the sons of Israel, 'Evening and ye have known that Jehovah hath brought you out from the land of Egypt; |
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| 7 and morning and ye have seen the honour of Jehovah, in His hearing your murmurings against Jehovah, and what [are] we, that ye murmur against us ' |
What are we – Spiritual Israelites are to keep in mind that the real leader is the Lord and not men. R3036:2
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| 8 And Moses saith, 'In Jehovah's giving to you in the evening flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety in Jehovah's hearing your murmurings, which ye are murmuring against Him, and what [are] we your murmurings [are] not against us, but against Jehovah.' |
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| 9 And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Say unto all the company of the sons of Israel, Come ye near before Jehovah, for He hath heard your murmurings;' |
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| 10 and it cometh to pass, when Aaron is speaking unto all the company of the sons of Israel, that they turn towards the wilderness, and lo, the honour of Jehovah is seen in the cloud. |
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| 11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, |
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| 12 'I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; speak unto them, saying, Between the evenings ye eat flesh, and in the morning ye are satisfied [with] bread, and ye have known that I [am] Jehovah your God.' |
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| 13 And it cometh to pass in the evening, that the quail cometh up, and covereth the camp, and in the morning there hath been the lying of dew round about the camp, |
Quails came up – In the spring. They often come in great flocks and, wearied with their long flight across the water, fly low, and thus are easily caught. R4012:3, R3036:4
Corresponding to the invasion of Darwinism among God's people. Evolution gives the people worldly doctrines for religious food. R5267:3*
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| 14 and the lying of the dew goeth up, and lo, on the face of the wilderness a thin, bare thing, thin as hoar-frost on the earth. |
A small round thing – Evidently deposited in, or from, the dew by some power of God working in harmony with the natural laws of chemistry not yet thoroughly understood. R3036:4
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| 15 And the sons of Israel see, and say one unto another, 'What [is] it ' for they have not known what it [is]; and Moses saith unto them, 'It [is] the bread which Jehovah hath given to you for food. |
It is manna – Nothing of the kind was known to the Israelites, and they asked, "What is it?" and this became its name--"What is it?"--or, "that manna." R5279:4
A symbol of our Lord's flesh, the bread from heaven. B130; T122; R5279:4
The grains were small and white, required painstaking labor to gather, and had to be boiled or baked before using. R3036:4
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| 16 'This [is] the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his tent.' |
Gather of it – To obtain the bread from heaven requires some effort on the part of him who would partake. R3036:6, R5279:4
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| 17 And the sons of Israel do so, and they gather, he who is [gathering] much, and he who is [gathering] little; |
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| 18 and they measure with an omer, and he who is [gathering] much hath nothing over, and he who is [gathering] little hath no lack, each according to his eating they have gathered. |
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| 19 And Moses saith unto them, 'Let no man leave of it till morning;' |
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| 20 and they have not hearkened unto Moses, and some of them do leave of it till morning, and it bringeth up worms and stinketh; and Moses is wroth with them. |
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| 21 And they gather it morning by morning, each according to his eating; when the sun hath been warm, then it hath melted. |
Every morning – So it will be necessary for the world ever to seek supplies of life and grace if they would live everlastingly. T123
Our own supply of grace in Christ needs to be gathered daily; it will not keep over for succeeding days. R4012:5
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| 22 And it cometh to pass on the sixth day, they have gathered a second bread, two omers for one, and all the princes of the company come in, and declare to Moses. |
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| 23 And he saith unto them, 'It [is] that which Jehovah hath spoken [of]; a rest a holy sabbath to Jehovah [is] to-morrow; that which ye bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest for yourselves in charge till the morning.' |
To morrow is the rest – That the Sabbath was something new to the Israelites is evident by its explanation to them. R971:6
The holy sabbath – Type of the Millennial age. B40
There was no mention of the keeping of a sabbath prior to Israel's arriving at the Wilderness of Sin, of which Mt. Sinai is the center. R3039:2
Inaugurated as a memorial of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, in which they had no rest from their taskmasters. R1731:2
The Sabbath day was instituted about two weeks before the formal giving of the Law. R1731:2
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| 24 And they let it rest until the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm hath not been in it. |
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| 25 And Moses saith, 'Eat it to-day, for to-day [is] a sabbath to Jehovah; to-day ye find it not in the field: |
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| 26 six days ye do gather it, and in the seventh day the sabbath in it there is none.' |
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| 27 And it cometh to pass on the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not found. |
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| 28 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws |
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| 29 see, because Jehovah hath given to you the sabbath, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day bread of two days; abide ye each [in] his place, no one doth go out from his place on the seventh day.' |
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| 30 And the people rest on the seventh day, |
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| 31 and the house of Israel call its name Manna, and it [is] as coriander seed, white; and its taste [is] as a cake with honey. |
Wafers made with honey – Suggesting that the wafers on the Day of Atonement may have had a mixture of honey; but the prohibition of the burning of honey may imply otherwise. R4045:4
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| 32 And Moses saith, 'This [is] the thing which Jehovah hath commanded: Fill the omer with it, for a charge for your generations, so that they see the bread which I have caused you to eat in the wilderness, in My bringing you out from the land of Egypt.' |
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| 33 And Moses saith unto Aaron, 'Take one pot, and put there the fulness of the omer of manna, and let it rest before Jehovah, for a charge for your generations;' |
To be kept – Symbolizing that our Lord's flesh did not see corruption and is possibly preserved as an everlasting testimony of infinite love and perfect obedience. B130
Illustrating the immortal, incorruptible condition promised to all members of the Church. "To him that overcometh will I grant to eat of the hidden manna." (Rev. 2:17) T122
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| 34 as Jehovah hath given commandment unto Moses, so doth Aaron let it rest before the Testimony, for a charge. |
To be kept – In the Ark of the covenant. T121
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| 35 And the sons of Israel have eaten the manna forty years, until their coming in unto the land to be inhabited; the manna they have eaten till their coming in unto the extremity of the land of Canaan. |
Forty years – Just as at the first advent they rejected him who was the antitype of Moses and Aaron and therefore did not enter into rest; instead, another long and wearisome journey in the wilderness for nearly 1900 years. R3064:4
The land of Canaan – Representing the Millennial Kingdom condition. R3064:3
Representing the rest promised to God's children who hear his call: "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) Have we the faith to ente T25
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| 36 and the omer is a tenth of the ephah. |
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