In our last episode, the Israelites were in the wilderness of Sin. They had been away from the familiarity of their old lives in Egypt for 2 1/2 months and hadn’t reached the Promised Land. Don’t you know they were tired, and hungry, and scared, and probably starting to wonder if this Moses guy was a crazy person? The whole community was complaining to Moses & Aaron.
If only….the Lord had killed us in Egypt.
If only….we had….pots full of meat and ate all the bread we wanted
But now….you brought us here to starve to death
God hears their complaining and tells Moses he is going to send down food: bread in the morning and meat in the evening. But there were some rules: these hungry and tired people could only pick up enough food to eat for that one day. It was a test. They would have to fight their instinct to hoard for the future and rely on God by trusting that he would provide their basic needs each and every day. Since God was serious about keeping the Sabbath day as a day set apart for rest, God would provide a double portion on the 6th day.
Let’s see what happens next in Genesis chapter 17.
Reflection Questions
- What do you see God doing in this chapter? What does it tell us about his character?
- How did humans fail and what was God’s response to that failure?
- Where does this story point us to Jesus?