There’s a fun conversation-starting question that people like to ask each other. It’s:
“If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?”
For my husband, the answer is steak. For my grandson, it’s pizza.
I think of that question when I read about the Israelites traveling to The Promised Land.
God dropped manna from heaven for them every morning. What a miracle that was and what a blessing. They were given food on a daily basis for sustenance without having to hunt for it or go hungry. They didn’t even have to store it or keep it fresh. They just had to have faith that God would provide a fresh batch every day.
But they ate that manna for forty years. That’s a long time. I doubt that my guys would really be happy eating only steak or pizza for forty days. Would anyone?
It’s easy to be judgmental when I read about the Israelites complaining about the manna. Seriously, people? God is providing heavenly nourishment for you and you’re complaining? Talk about spoiled children! But would I have been any different? That’s a scary thought.
Let’s dive into manna.
The Israelites started complaining rather quickly.
“The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Exodus 16:3
Exodus 16:4 states: “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‘”.
“The Lord said to Moses, “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.’” Exodus 16:11-12
“That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.” Exodus 16:13-15
The meaning of the word “manna” is WHAT IS IT? Can you imagine? Manna was not seen before the exodus or after.
“Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” Exodus 16:15 – 16
(An omer is roughly 9-10 cups).
“The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.” Exodus 16:17-18
Then Moses added an important rule:
“Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” Exodus 16:19
That was a real test of faith. Don’t save any? What if no more appeared? What if they starved? Did they trust God to deliver it every single day?
Some of them did not.
“However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.” Exodus 16:20
Gross! But what an amazing reminder to obey God’s word. I need that in my own life sometimes. Walk away from God’s direction? Fine, here are some maggots! I’d get back in line really fast.
On the sixth day the Israelites were allowed to gather twice as much to honor the Sabbath. And guess what, no maggots! God is a God of miracles.
Even though Moses instructed the people not to try and gather manna on the seventh day, some went out anyway. Of course they found none. They finally understood the rules of manna gathering.
Exodus 16:31 gives us a description of manna. “The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.”
Wafers made with honey sound pretty delicious but again it would take faith to eat that for forty years. Do I have that kind of faith?
According to Joshua 5:12, the manna stopped falling the day after the Israelites celebrated the Passover and ate the produce of the Promised Land of Canaan for the first time. They didn’t need it anymore.
“The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.”
“Manna from heaven” is a saying that is still used today. It means any unexpected and much-needed help. It can mean a financial windfall or a timely blessing that arrives precisely when things look bleak. In other words, just like the original manna from heaven!
In Exodus 16:23 when Moses was instructing the Israelites to gather and prepare double the portion of manna, he mentioned baking or boiling it. This gives us a hint on how it was prepared for consumption.
For generations manna has made people curious. Yes, we have been told what it looks like and how it tastes, but we’d love to be able to taste it ourselves. After doing some research, I have found some recipes for making your own “manna”. Of course it won’t be exactly like the manna God provided. We can only guess and try to mimic it. But it’s a fun way to study Exodus. I chose this old recipe to try.
At Home Manna Cakes
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon cold diced butter
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons honey
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening or butter. Stir in warm water and honey until mixed (I did all these steps in my mixer). Knead the dough together. Roll into little balls, flatten them with your fingers, and bake on a greased parchment-lined cookie sheet for about 5-7 minutes. You don’t need to brown them.
They’re bland. They taste like those rolled tinned biscuits BEFORE you slather them with butter and honey or jam. As I baked them I thought, “Hmmm, these would be good with sesame seeds added.” Or, “What if I added jam in the center of each cake.” And, full disclosure, I did add seeds and jam to some of them!
So I can’t be judgmental towards the Israelites anymore. I couldn’t last even one day eating manna. My situation is a bit different of course, but after this experiment I ended up with a new appreciation for the Exodus and more questions than I had when I started.
Were the people allowed to add spices and found food ingredients to the manna?
Was there a right and wrong way to prepare it?
Was the lesson only about the faith that God would provide for them and how did that affect their grumbling?
And how long would I have lasted before I started whining?
This has been a humbling lesson and one that I’m glad I participated in. The next time you hear someone being judgmental about the Israelites, pull out your flour and make them some “manna”.
I think we can all agree that our faith can always use a little refreshing.
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Read more of Ann’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
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