Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Yesterday the Israelites found a great oasis that they stayed at for a while, but today

they continue their journey into the wilderness.

We're just 45 days out from God's miraculous deliverance of them and they're already grumbling

wishing they were back in Egypt because the food was better. But all these

complaints against Moses are actually complaints against God. Moses knows

this. He has a proper understanding of God's sovereignty and who is actually the provider here.

Complaining reveals our view of God and his provision.

God hears these complaints, but he doesn't punish the people for mistrusting him.

Instead, he promises food.

Chapter 16 says the glory of the Lord appears to them in the cloud.

This was possibly some sort of luminescence in the cloud or

something else distinct just to remind them in case they'd forgotten that it's not just

some regular cloud they're dealing with. He tells them he'll give them bread in the morning and meat in the evening.

I feel like I'm on the same wavelength with God here, carbs for breakfast, protein for dinner.

This bread from heaven was called manna, and though it's not clearly marked out in the text,

this bread seems to serve a threefold purpose.

It serves a practical purpose by feeding the people.

It serves an eternal purpose by glorifying God and revealing his power, and it serves a spiritual

purpose by testing the people and training them to trust God.

Will they obey the rules he sets up for how and when to gather the manna? He says they're supposed to gather it every day except the

Sabbath, which is the Hebrew name for the seventh day of the week. It's what we call Saturday.

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