“When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.’”

Exodus 16:15
After 430 years of brutal slavery in Egypt, two million Israelites had just been miraculously freed (Exodus 12:37.42). Moses now led them through a wilderness where there was no food to be found. Complaints quickly mounted, and God heard each one. Ever faithful to His promises, He did not forsake His grumbling, rebellious people, but daily satisfied their hunger with a bread of “thin flakes like frost.” They poignantly named it manna, meaning What is it?
Every now and then, our Department of Corrections prepares a meal which many inmates look at with dismay and ask, “What is it?” Several years passed by before I gained the courage (and sense) to eat everything served on each tray. These days I’m ashamed of how immaturely I acted; I’m doubly ashamed of my ingratitude. For a time I nurtured that feeling into full-grown resentment toward the Lord’s loving provision. Yet it is His great mercy that pardoned such a wicked attitude.
By prodigal grace, He replaces our complaining with genuine contentment and praise.



Scripture Focus

Exodus 16

Insight

“For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” (1 Timothy 4:4)

Bible In A Year

  • Exodus 33-34
  • Psalm 42
  • Luke 6

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