Gathering the Manna

Quail arrived in the Israelite camp, directed there by the gracious providence of God, so that the people would have meat after they complained of hunger (Ex. 16:1–13). Note that the quail are mentioned only in Exodus 16:13, and this is because the birds would not be part of Israel’s daily diet in the wilderness. It was a temporary provision, provided in the evening of the day that Israel grumbled, so that the people would have something to eat before the next morning when their daily bread would begin to arrive with the dew of the morning. The bread, or manna, would be the regular sustenance God provided miraculously to His people (Ex. 16:31–36).

Today’s passage gives us more details on how the Israelites collected the manna. Instructed to gather only an omer—about two quarts—per person, the people of Israel went out each morning to gather the food provided by God. They did this work in the early hours of the day, for when the sun grew hot, whatever was left on the ground melted away (Ex. 16:21). Verses 17–18 indicate that some people gathered more than an omer and some less but that when they went to measure it, it turned out that all ended up with the same amount. Some commentators have suggested that another miracle happened here such that the Lord miraculously transformed what each person gathered into one omer of manna no matter how much the individual collected. This is possible, but it is also possible that the Israelites just collected it all in the camp and then from the mass of gathered bread measured out an omer per person. Either way, the appearance of the manna itself resulted from God’s performing a miracle.

Most days of the week, the Israelites were to gather only enough for one day, and they were not to keep any of it overnight. Sadly—though unsurprisingly in light of the evident lack of faith on the part of many Israelites (Ex. 14:11–12; 15:24; 16:3)—some of the people left some overnight, presumably because they did not trust God to provide manna the following morning or because they did not want to put in the work the next day to feed themselves. Consequently, the leftover manna was spoiled, giving Israel an object lesson on their need to believe the Lord (Ex. 16:19–20).

Although we do not gather manna today, we learn an important lesson from Israel’s experience with the manna. Like them, we have to trust God to provide our daily bread, though for us He normally gives it through His ordinary providence (Matt. 6:9–13).