"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'" Sermons
I. THE SYMPTOMS. Cf. vers. 3. The monotony of the wilderness had had time to tell upon the people; so different from the varied routine of Egypt. Slavery, too, had become, from long use, almost a second nature with many; they had chafed under it, yet, in some sort, they had relied upon its restraint as a support. After the first novelty has passed, unaccustomed freedom is felt to be a weariness. (Illustration: The cripple rejoices to be quit of his supporting irons and crutches, but without them, at first, he soon tires.) Present privation, contrasted with past sufficiency, intensified the misgivings which were sure to come when the new life was fairly entered upon. Freedom wedded to starvation seemed to be but a poor exchange for tyranny. "The people murmured." It was the murmuring of the half-weaned child, the yet weak though enfranchised cripple; it expressed itself in strong language; but the language was stronger than the offence. Under the circumstances murmming was so natural that it did not call for severe censure; it was rather a symptom of imperfect health, suggesting the need of strengthening medicine. II. THE TREATMENT. God knew what was the matter; His action shows His knowledge. No rebuke, only a promise, which is to be, and is, fulfilled immediately. (Illustration: The doctor does not take offence at the irritability of the convalescent; says, "I will send some strengthening medicine," sends it, and relies on the effect.) A table spread in the wilderness; the love of freedom revived and strengthened, nurtured by the longed-for food. What should be the effect of such treatment? It stays murmuring, of course; but, further, it should strengthen against further murmuring. On the other hand, whilst it may, as it ought to do, lead to reliance upon the provider, it may also lead to reliance upon the food provided. (Illustration: One patient, strengthened by medicine, will have more confidence in the doctor. Another, strengthened in like manner, will be always grumbling, whatever the circumstances, if he do not experience like treatment.) Practical lessons. - 1. God treats us all according to our real character and position "How unjust," says one, "that that man should have so much easier a time than I. That my comparatively slight offence should be punished so much more heavily than his, which is far more heinous!" Nay! By What standard do you measure the relative enormity of the offences? God's standard is character and experience; the child's open defiance is less heinous than the man's half-veiled impatience. 2. God's treatment should inspire confidence in Himself. All God's gifts are index fingers saying, "Look off from us to God." Our tendency is to rest upon them and credit them as the causes of the satisfaction they occasion. The same medicine may not be appropriate next time, but the same doctor may be trusted. If we forget the doctor and think only of the medicine, we shall be as irritable and dissatisfied as ever; only by confidence in the Physician himself can we hope to go on "from strength to strength." - G.
The wilderness of Sin. People may be strong and hopeful at the beginning of a project, and most effusively and devoutly thankful at its close, but the difficulty is to go manfully through the process.I. PROCESSES TRY MEN'S TEMPER. See how the temper of Israel was tried in the wilderness! No bread, no water, no rest! How do processes try men's temper? 1. They are often tedious. 2. They, are often uncontrollable. 3. They often seem to be made worse by the incompetency of others. II. THE TRIALS OF PROCESSES ARE TO BE MET, NOT ALL AT ONCE, BUT A DAY AT A TIME. Daily hunger was met by daily bread. This daffy display of Divine care teaches — 1. That physical as well as spiritual gifts are God's. 2. That one of God's gifts is the pledge of another. "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." Why am I to be easy about to-morrow? Because God is good to-day! "He is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." III. PROCESSES SHOW THE DIFFERENT DISPOSITIONS OF MEN. Though the people were told in the distinctest manner that there would be no manna on the seventh day, yet they went out to gather it just as if they had never been warned! Such men are the vexation of the world. They plague every community of which they are a portion. 1. We have the means of life at our disposal: the manna lies at our tent-door! 2. We are distinctly assured that such means are given under law: there is a set time for the duration of the opportunity: the night cometh! IV. ALL THE PROCESSES OF LIFE SHOULD BE HALLOWED BY RELIGIOUS EXERCISES. There was a Sabbath even in the wilderness. 1. The Sabbath is more than a mere law; it is an expression of mercy. 2. No man ever loses anything by keeping the Sabbath: "The Lord giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days." 3. He is the loser who has no day of rest. V. PROCESSES SHOULD LEAVE SOME TENDER AND HOPE-INSPIRING MEMORIES BEHIND THEM. "Fill an omer of it to be kept," etc. VI. THE PROCESS WILL END. Are you ready? (J. Parker, D. D.) Clerical Library. In the anecdote books of our boyhood we used to be told the story of an Indian faquir who entered an Eastern palace and spread his bed in one of its antechambers, pretending that he had mistaken the building for a caravanserai or inn. The prince, amused by the oddity of the circumstance, ordered — so ran the tale — the man to be brought before him, and asked him how he came to make such a mistake. "What is an inn?" the faquir asked. "A place," was the reply, "where travellers rest a little while before proceeding on their journey." "Who dwelt here before you?" again asked the faquir. "My father," was the prince's reply. "And did he remain here?" "No," was the answer; "He died and went away." "And who dwelt here before him?" "His ancestors." "And did they remain here?" "No; they also died and went away." "Then," rejoined the faquir, "I have made no mistake, for your palace is but an inn after all." The faquir was right, Our houses are but inns, and the whole world a caravanserai.(Clerical Library.) (Little's "Historical Lights.) What unbelief and sad forgetfulness of God betrayed itself in these words! They quite forgot the bitter bondage of Egypt under which they had sighed and groaned so long. They now thought only of its "flesh-pots" and "its bread." They altogether overlooked the mercy and the grace which had spared them when the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain. The miracles of love at the Red Sea and at Marah, so great and so recent, had passed away from their memories. They thought nothing of the promise of the land flowing with milk and honey. The argument, so evident and so comforting, "Can the faithful God who has brought us out of bondage mean to let us perish in the wilderness?" did not withhold them from the impatient conclusion, "Ye have brought us forth into the wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." And if you watch your own hearts, you will find that there is always this forgetfulness in a murmuring and discontented spirit. We forget, first, that we deserve nothing but punishment at God's hands; and, secondly, we forget all the mercy and love which He has shown us in His acts and promises.(G. Wagner.) If I grumble because life is so arranged that I tear my clothes, and get many a scratch in the upward journey, my grumble is only an added burden. The difference between a soul that is soured by unbelief and a soul that honestly struggles and strives as the gymnast does, who tries to lift the heavy weight, knowing that, whether he succeeds or fails, the muscular development, which is the end sought, is still attained, is incalculable. To trudge along the moor after nightfall, then now knee deep, with the feeling that you are going nowhere, is indeed discouraging; but to do the same thing with the feeling that you are going home to the fireside of the loved and expectant, is to keep both feet and hands warm through our power of anticipating the heat and the welcome under the roof tree not far off. Rude, discourteous experience has taught us that an evil which is all an evil is a double evil, and that an evil with a joy behind it or beyond it is the healthy and invigorating toil by means of which a man may acquire a lasting good.Daniel Webster, after his wonderful career, and in the close of his life, writes: "If I were to live my life over again, with my present experiences, I would under no considerations allow myself to enter public life. The public are ungrateful. The man who serves the public most faithfully receives no adequate reward. In my own history those acts which have been, before God, most disinterested and the least stained by selfish considerations, have been precisely those for which I have been most freely abused. No, no; have nothing to do with politics. Sell your iron, eat the bread of independence, support your family with the rewards of honest toil, do your duty as a private citizen to your country, but let politics alone. It is a hard life, a thankless life. I have had in the course of my political life, which is not a short one, my full share of ingratitude, but the 'unkindest cut of all,' the shaft that has sunk the deepest in my heart, has been the refusal of this administration to grant my request for an office of small pecuniary consideration for my only son."(T. De Witt Talmage.) I heard a good man say once, as we passed the home of a millionaire: "It doesn't seem right that such a man as he is should be rolling in wealth, while I have to work hard for my daily bread." I made no reply. But when we reached the home of the grumbler, and a troop of rosy children ran out to meet us, I caught one in my arms, and, holding him up, said: "John, how much will you take for this boy?" And he answered, while the moisture gathered in his eyes: "That boy, my namesake! I wouldn't sell him for his weight in gold." "Why, John, he weighs forty pounds at least, and forty pounds of gold would make you many times a millionaire. And you would probably ask as much for each of the others. So, according to your own admission, you are immensely rich. Yes, a great deal richer than that cold, selfish, childless millionaire whom you were envying as we came along. Nothing would tempt you to change places with him. Then you ought to be grateful instead of grumbling. You are the favourite of fortune, or, rather, of Providence, and not he."(H. W. Beecher.) People Aaron, Ephah, Israelites, MosesPlaces Canaan, Elim, Sin Desert, SinaiTopics Bread, Dusk, Ears, Eat, Evening, Evenings, Filled, Flesh, Full, Grumblings, Israelites, Measure, Meat, Morning, Murmurings, Nightfall, Outcry, Satisfied, Saying, Sons, Speak, TwilightOutline 1. The Israelites come to Sin, and murmur for want of bread4. God promises them bread and meat from heaven, and they are rebuked 13. Quail and manna are sent 16. The ordering of manna 25. It was not to be found on the Sabbath 32. An omer of it is preserved Dictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 16:12 4933 evening Library The Bread of God'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. 5. 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. 6. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture September the Twenty-Eighth the Daily Manna Dining with a Pharisee. Sabbath Healing and Three Lessons Suggested by the Event. The Beauty and Glory of the Risen Body. Questions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath. Tithing The Personality of Power. Epistle xvii. To Felix, Bishop of Messana. How Subjects and Prelates are to be Admonished. 1 to Pray is as it were to be on Speaking Terms with Me... Appendix viii. Rabbinic Traditions About Elijah, the Forerunner of the Messiah The Deity of the Holy Spirit. 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