Exodus 16
11 May 2026 - Theology
Test of the Heart
The first test continues in this chapter - God is still testing the hearts of the people to see whether they will follow His commandments. Have the people learned anything from the first part of the test in Exodus 15b?
Exodus 16:4-5 - “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
This was the Lord’s response to the grumblings and complaints of His people: not anger or condemnation, but an acknowledgment of their needs and a promise to provide.
Exodus 16:8 - “And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”
Moses raises the ante of what the Lord will provide, saying that the Lord would provide not only bread, but also flesh (meat) in the evenings.
Exodus 16:11-12 - “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.”
“ye shall know” (yada) = to know experientially
The Lord honored Moses’ request, even though it wasn’t what He had said He would provide in verse 4. We see this come to pass in the next few verses:
Exodus 16:13-14 - “And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.”
Moses then tells the people the commandment of the Lord:
Exodus 16:16 - “ This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.”
omer = a heap, sheaf
Verse 17 shows that the people did follow the Lord’s command!
Exodus 16:17-18 - “And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.”
2 Corinthians 8 implies that each person had enough according to their needs because those who gathered more shared with those who gathered less.
2 Corinthians 8:13-15 - “For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
The people learned the lesson from the well of Marah. Those who gathered more than enough were generous and shared with those who were unable to gather for whatever reason.
Moses gave the people another commandment, but the people did not obey this time:
Exodus 16:19-20 - “And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.”
Moses gives one last command regarding the Sabbath. No one is to go out to gather on the seventh day, but they are supposed to store extra on the sixth day to eat.
Exodus 16:25-27 - “And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.”
Unfortunately, some of the people went out to gather, not trusting what Moses had said.
Exodus 16:28-29 - “And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
Moses and Aaron also saved some of the manna in a pot to be kept before the Lord, so that all of their descendants could see the food that the Lord had provided for His people (32-34).
Exodus 16:35 - “And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.”
Through this test of the heart, the people are learning to trust. At different points in the story, for different commandments, some people trusted and obeyed, while others did not. We can not look down on the Israelites then because it is the same with those of us today who are being sanctified - we do not always obey every commandment we have received.
Matthew 4:4 - “But he [Jesus] answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
References:
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The BEMA Podcast, Episode 20: With All Your Heart