Exo 15:22-16:24

Timing:

• 15:22 Three days into the wilderness
  • Exodus 5: Moses asked Pharaoh to let the Israelites take a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord
• v1 About a month of travel (15th of the first month to the 15th of the second month)
  • Numbers 10 - On the 20th day of the second month of the second year (exactly one year after the events of Exodus 16), the Israelites depart from Sinai and resume traveling.
  • Numbers 11 - a later complaint after about a year of eating manna daily. The people complain that they are tired of eating only manna and crave meat (Numbers 11:4-6). God sends a massive amount of quail, but also judges their grumbling with a plague.
    Elements:
• Bread - Food, sustenance, or provision in general. In ancient Near Eastern and biblical contexts, lechem often functions as a generic term for any edible nourishment needed for daily life, not strictly literal bread. This is similar to how English once used "bread" idiomatically for food (e.g., "our daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer means basic sustenance).
• Manna (literally “whatness” or “what is it?”)
  • "That I may test them" it was a test
  • To see if they will walk in "my law or not"
    • The word here means directions or instructions
  • v17, 20 some failed
    • Gather according to his eating, an omer
      • v 18 No matter how much they gathered it was an omer's worth
        • he who gathered much had nothing over (meaning not more than an omer)
        • he who gathered little had no lack (meaning not less than an omer)
          • everyone ended up with exactly one omer — the precise daily amount the YHWH appointed for each person.
      • v19 Moses said "let no one leave of it until the morning"
      • v20 They didn't listen - some left of it until the morning
        • YHWH portioned out an omer for each person but some didn't eat the omer's worth.
        • There is no instruction telling them what to do with any uneaten portion (e.g., no command to burn it, give it away, or store it differently on a normal day).
        • v20 any that remained from the omer bred worms and became foul
          • literal rendending "and it bred worms and stank"
        • v21 any that remained after they gathered when the sun grew hot melted
  • In Deuteronomy 8, Moses will tell them he humbled them by making them hungry and then feeding them with unfamiliar manna. Yah did this to teach them, humankind cannot live by "bread" alone, but also by everything that comes from Yah's mouth.
  • Seventh day rest
    • v5 They are not told why to gather twice as much on the sixth day.
    • This is presented BEFORE Mt. Sinai gives direction about the Seventh Day rest
  • Manna continues uninterrupted for the full 40 years until they enter the Promised Land (confirmed again in Joshua 5:10-12, where it stops the day after they eat produce from Canaan).
• At evening
  • v3 they said for "you" meaning Moses and Aaron
  • v6 They will know that YHWH has brought them out from the land of Egypt
  • v9 Aaron calls the people together - the glory of Yah appears in a cloud
    • In Exodus 13 it was a cloud by day that lead them but here the glory is manifested IN the cloud.
• Murmured
  • v2 Says the Congregation of Israelites against Moses and Aaron
  • v7 YHWH hears the murmuring against YHWH
  • The NET Bible commentary: The verb וַיִּלֹּנוּ (vayyillonu) from לוּן (lun) is a much stronger word than “to grumble” or “to complain.” It is used almost exclusively in the wilderness wandering stories, to describe the rebellion of the Israelites against God (see also Ps 59:14-15). They were not merely complaining—they were questioning God’s abilities and motives. The action is something like a parliamentary vote of no confidence.

There is a chiastic structure here:

• a journey into the wilderness and complaining about lack of food
  • YHWH promises food to test obedience
    • Promise of evening meat and morning bread
      • YHWH hears their murmuring
        • YHWH's glory is seen
      • YHWH hears their murmuring
    • Fulfillment of promises of meat in evening, manna in morning
  • instructions and testing of manna
• Manny is kept in a pot for the rest of the journey as a memorial before the lord

Isa 49:8-14, 52

Phil 4:4-23

• Gentleness
• Anxious
• Prayer and Supplication (The original Greek text uses two distinct terms here)
  • Proseuchē (προσευχῇ) — translated as "prayer." This is the most common and general New Testament word for prayer. It comes from pros (toward) + euchomai (to wish, vow, or pray), carrying the idea of drawing near to God in worship, devotion, or general communication. It often includes adoration, praise, and a broad sense of relating to God.
  • Deēsis (δεήσει) — translated as "supplication" (or "petition" in some versions). This emphasizes urgent requests, pleas, or specific petitions arising from a sense of need. It highlights earnest asking or begging God to meet a lack.
    • Supplication WITH thanksgiving
• Philippi

Connections