After their wonderful saving grace at the Red Sea, Moses led the Israelites from there to the Desert of Shur. Three days traveling, and they could not find water. When they came to a place called Marah , which means bitter, they tried the water there, but it was just like its name, bitter. Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the bitter water, and the water became sweet. This was a sign to them that the Lord lives by His laws and wants the Law for His people. "Do what is right in my eyes, and if you pay attention to my commands and keep my decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals."
Then they went to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water. It was the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, when they decided to move on. They set out from Elim to the Desert of Sin, where they began to grumble against Moses and Aaron. "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve!"
Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people must go out each day and gather enough just for that day. I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that must be twice as much as they gather on the other days, so they will not gather on the Sabbath Day." And Moses and Aaron gave this good news to the people, and reminded them that their grumbling was not to them, but they had grumbled to the Lord! And God brought quail for them to eat that evening, covering the camp grounds with the birds.
And in the morning, after the dew was gone, there were thin flakes like frost on the ground all over the desert floor. Moses said, "This is what the Lord has commanded; Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take about 2 quarts for each person." And each one gathered as much as he needed. Moses warned them, "Do not keep any of it until morning." However, some of them paid no attention to Moses and they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. Each morning everyone gathered what was needed, and when the sun grew hot, the rest melted away. On the sixth day, they obeyed and gathered twice as much in preparation to having no work on the Sabbath. They were advised, "Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning." And it did not stink or get maggots. Nevertheless, some did not follow directions and tried to gather on the seventh day. But they found nothing.
The people called the bread manna, white like coriander seed and tasting like wafers made with honey. And they attempted to put some manna in a jar as a reminder of the way God provided for them in the desert.
The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land that they were to have for their own. Even today, the people of Israel remember yearly what the Lord had done for them in the desert. God truly does provide, maybe not in the way we most desire, but he does provide.
I bow my head in thanks for the provisions God has made for my family in my lifetime, and even today, when things are a little less easy, God still provides.
Loving you, each one,
Jo INMN
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