Scripture Reading: Exodus 16:2-5 (ESV)
And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
Brief Thoughts on the Sermon:
Tomorrow’s sermon comes from Exodus 16, where Israel is in the wilderness after being delivered from Egypt. God has set them free, but they’re still learning how to live as free people.
That’s one of the striking aspects of this passage. The Israelites are no longer slaves in Egypt, but Egypt is still very much alive in their hearts. When life gets hard, they begin to look back on slavery as though it was security. They grumble, they fear, and they imagine that bondage was better than trusting God in the wilderness.
The wilderness has a way of exposing us. It reveals what we really trust, what we really fear, and what still has a hold on us. God doesn’t lead his people into the wilderness because he’s careless with them. He leads them there because he’s training them. He’s teaching them to depend on him, not just in theory, but in the daily realities of hunger, uncertainty, and need.
That’s why the manna matters. God gives them bread from heaven, but he gives it one day at a time. They can’t control it, and they can’t secure tomorrow with it. They have to receive it daily. The manna becomes a lesson in dependence. Every morning, Israel has to learn again that life comes from the hand of God.
And even when they fail, God keeps providing. He corrects them, but he doesn’t cast them off. He patiently trains his children as they stumble their way toward freedom.
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