Exodus 16

This chapter features more repetition than usual, even for an account that was probably oral in origin. We have God giving instructions to Moses, Moses repeating those directives to Aaron, Moses and Aaron relaying that information to the Israelites, and God reiterating His instructions again for good measure. However, there's a good reason for this seemingly superfluous amount of repetition: the Israelites, despite having been rescued from bondage by God's beneficent hand, grouse like entitled children and ignore God's succinct directives no less than three times.

1. They complain about having no food and wish they were slaves again (really?) (verse 3).
2. They don't listen to Moses when he says to not hoard the manna, and as a result, it becomes infested with lovely maggots (verses 19-20).
3. They gather manna on the Sabbath even though God told them that there wouldn't be any (verse 27).

Like I've mentioned before, the Israelites have just witnessed phenomenally preternatural plagues and walked through parted waters that closed behind them, so why are they so obstreperous? Heck, as a reminder, God even graces His people with a physical manifestation of His glory in verse 10.

This story always made me feel hungry, as many descriptions of food do. I've only had quail once a year or two ago at a "fancy" restaurant. If you've ever seen quail, they're rather small, so even though the dish had two quail, there still wasn't a whole lot of meat. And the taste? From what I remember, it tasted like chicken (of course).

As for the manna, I admit that I'm curious about its appearance and taste. (Just watch; I'll get my wish someday and end up having an allergic reaction.) Verse 31 says that it's white and "tasted like wafers made with honey." So, in effect, God created the first graham crackers, meaning that s'mores probably weren't far behind.

I find it funny that the chapter ends with the parenthetical statement, "(An omer is one-tenth of an ephah)" (verse 36). Thanks, Moses, that clears everything up. Even if one knows what omers and ephahs are, I still think it's droll that Moses waited until the end of the chapter to give this clarification as if he almost forgot.

The Sunday school point of this chapter is that God provides, even when we complain. He may not give us what we want--I doubt that many Israelites fancied eating only manna and quail for 40 years--and He may not always answer our prayers to cure loved ones, for example. But I know I need to learn to trust on Him more. I know I've been saying that since I started writing these posts, so I'm still very much a work in progress.