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Exodus 16:31–36
“Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations.’ As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept” (vv. 33–34).
When the Israelites were hungry in the wilderness after they had been liberated from Egyptian slavery, the Lord gave them manna, a bread-like food. The term manna comes from Israel’s initial response to the provision, when they asked, “What is it?” (Ex. 16:1–30). As we have noted, the Lord’s giving of the manna revealed His grace. Israel by no means deserved the food because they grumbled against God, calling His goodness into question and doubting His wisdom in bringing them into the wilderness (vv. 1–3).
Commenting on today’s passage, John Calvin says that the Lord’s goodness in giving the manna also served as a rebuke to the Israelites’ ingratitude. Calvin draws this conclusion from Exodus 16:31, where we read that the manna had the taste of honey. The Lord did not give them bare sustenance that met their needs but was not a delight to consume; rather, He gave them a food greatly pleasing to their senses. In eating the good bread, the Israelites should have seen the contrast between the sweetness of God’s provision and the bitterness of their ingratitude, moving them to repentance, but how many people understood this lesson we do not know. We, however, can learn from those occasions on which we get things far better than we deserve to thank the Lord and repent of our own ingratitude.
Verse 31 tells us also that the manna was white, like coriander seed. Probably the color is the only similarity between the manna and the seed, but there may also be a reference here to the shape and size of the bread. In verses 32–34, we read that some of the manna was placed in a jar to be kept before the Lord as a remembrance of His providing the food in the wilderness. From Hebrews 9:3–4, we learn that this jar of manna was placed in the ark of the covenant, but that likely reflects later Jewish practice, for initially the jar was probably not placed in the ark in the tabernacle and temple but next to it or in front of it. That the Lord called for this reminds us that we should endeavor to remember the good He has done for us. Matthew Henry comments, “God’s miracles and mercies are to be had in everlasting remembrance, for our encouragement to trust in him at all times.”
God’s provision of manna was temporary, lasting only during the forty years Israel wandered in the wilderness (Ex. 16:35–36). Nearly fifteen hundred years after the manna, God gave a better food, the Lord Jesus Christ, for our everlasting nourishment (John 6:51).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
When we forget the Lord’s goodness and mercy to us in the past, we are more likely to sin in the present. It is a good habit, therefore, to remember regularly what the Lord has done. The chief way we do this is through participation in Lord’s Day worship, where we weekly remember Christ’s death and resurrection for our salvation. We can also do this daily by cultivating habits of regular prayer and Bible reading.
For Further Study
- Numbers 11:7
- Nehemiah 9:20
- 2 Timothy 2:8
- Revelation 2:12–17