22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25a And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

25b There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 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. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’ ” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’ ” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. 35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 15:22–17:7, ESV)

Though a long passage, it is good to read these three episodes at one time because they are clearly meant to be considered together. Common threads run throughout each story, tying them together. One major similarity is that in each story, something is named. At the first location, they named the place Marah—which means "bitter"—because the water was bitter and undrinkable at first. At the second location, they named the bread from heaven manna—which means "what is it?"—because they had never seen manna before. At the last location, Moses gave the place where water flowed from the rock two names, Maasah and Meribah—which mean "testing" and "quarreling"—because they had tested God and argued with Moses there.

So, something is named in all three episodes. This signifies that momentous lessons were learned at each location. And these lessons were not only for them but for us, and each one of these lessons is also found threaded throughout all three stories.

For instance, at each location, the people complain—we are going to think about that today. And each episode of grumbling was about food or drink—they were moved greatly by hunger and thirst!

Another common thread here is that God provides. In the first story, God makes the bitter water sweet. In the second story, God provides bread from heaven. In the third story, God produces water from the rock.

And that leads to another major connection between these episodes—they are stories of testing. In the opening story, God tested them with a statute and rule, which we will discuss at the end of our time this morning (Ex. 15:25). In the middle story, God tested the Hebrews by telling them not to collect any manna on the Sabbath (Ex. 16:4)—would they obey? And in the third story, Israel tested the Lord (Ex.17:2, 7)! So, these three episodes are episodes of testing.

These three common threads—the complaining nature of Israel, God's provision for his people, and God's testing of his people—will serve as our outline today.

1. Israel Complained

The complaining nature of the Hebrews in the wilderness is a major theme in this portion of the Bible. The Pentateuch (the Torah, or the first five books of the Bible) mentions the grumbling of the Israelites about a dozen times.

In this passage, they complained at all three locations. Three days after their victory at the Red Sea, they were in the wilderness and stressed because they found no water (15:22). Their relief, when they saw the water of Marah, was quickly replaced by panic when they discovered the water was undrinkable, so they grumbled against Moses again and asked him what they should drink (15:23-24). God led Moses to do another water miracle, and when Moses threw a tree or branch into the water, it became drinkable (15:25). The same God who rendered the greatest water source Israel would ever know—the Nile River—undrinkable could make water sources drinkable for his people.

But a month later, the people ran out of food and again grumbled, this time against Moses and Moses' brother Aaron (16:2). The people turned up the drama dial when they said, "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (3). Moses prayed. God told him he was about to rain bread from heaven for them (4).[^1]

Then, in our last episode, their complaining spirit developed lawsuit overtones when they began quarreling with Moses and tested the Lord (17:2). They were thirsty again—they needed water to accompany their daily miracle meal—so they accused Moses of bringing them out there to kill their children (17:3). They were ready to stone Moses (which I must remind Californians was not a recreational activity, but a way to administer capital punishment).[^2] God responded to their threats by standing on the rock before Moses (17:5-6). He told Moses to strike the rock, and water came out of it, and the people drank (17:6).

As I said, much of their complaining is natural enough. It's not hard to imagine doing the same thing if we had been there. But there is also something about it that is intensely childish and immature. Have you ever seen a child get so thirsty or hungry or bored or whatever that they just lie down right where they are? "I'm starving! I can't move!" This is how the Israelites seem to behave.

We know maturity means facing difficulties with trust and confidence in the Lord, but Israel didn't have that maturity at this point. But before we jump straight to chastising ourselves about times we grumble and complain, I think we should investigate what fueled their grumbling. It seems they had both a terrible memory of the past and a tendency to judge their circumstances by their stomachs. They were like the youngest child in the family who cannot remember going to Disneyland with the family when they were two years old. It happened to them, but they can't recall it, so it's as if they've never been. These Israelites had experienced God's provision—his mighty right hand on their lives—over and over again while while persecuted by Pharaoh and during the plagues. But it's like none of that ever happened. They had terrible memories.

But they also let their feelings of hunger and thirst—their base bodily appetites—become the measuring stick for their quality of life. Their thirst, then hunger, then thirst again made them think all about themselves, which meant they were not thinking about trusting God.

As believers, we must be people who remember God's past faithfulness to us, especially his faithfulness at the cross of Christ, and we should also be on guard against our tendency to judge our circumstances by our stomachs. Philippians tells us to "do all things without grumbling or disputing," and we need exhortations like that one because we often drift into complaining (Phil. 2:14).

The wild thing about complaining is that we know how unpleasant it can be to experience it from others. Ephesians says, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, that it may give grace to those who hear" (Eph. 4:29). But our complaints and grumblings have the opposite effect—grace is not imparted to the hearer. To illustrate this, think of time spent with someone as represented by delicious cookies in a jar, cookies that people love. Then imagine grumbling and complaining as bitter cookies placed in that same jar. The more bitter cookies in the jar, the less people will risk taking a cookie. The more we complain, the less people will risk our company. Or worse, we will soon find ourselves surrounded by others who will complain and grumble right along with us.

Proverbs instruct every one of us: "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23). Your heart is like soil from which a good garden can grow, but complaining and grumbling put weeds there, choking out the fruit that could have been. And since the tendency to grumble is there in all of us, we must constantly tend to this area of our lives.

2. God Provided

So the people complained in all three episodes—and their complaining intensified with each stage—but God provided for them at all three locations. When the water was bitter, God told Moses to throw a log into it, and it became sweet. When they grew hungry for lack of food, God gave them a night of quail meat followed by years of morning manna. And when they were again without a water source, God told Moses to strike a rock with his shepherd staff, and a torrent came gushing out to water the flock of Israel.

What was God teaching them in these episodes? At least one lesson must have been that God would provide for his people. He wanted them to look to him for their provision. Their time in the desert was meant to prepare them for life in the Promised Land. When they came into the land, it was important for them to be a distinct people and not get swallowed up by the cultures and customs of other nations. To do this, they would need to trust that their provision came from God. As they walked with him in obedience, he would supply their every need according to his riches in glory (Phil. 4:19). And these early episodes were teachable moments, core memories designed to help Israel trust God in the future. The passage even tells us that the Lord commanded Moses to take a jar and put some manna in it to place inside the ark of the covenant in the future (16:33-34, Heb. 9:4). It was meant as a perpetual reminder of God's loyalty to his people and his ability to supply them with their daily bread.

And this provision is one of God's favorite ways to reveal himself. In the manna episode, Moses told the people that in the morning, when they went out to get the food, they would see the glory of the Lord (16:7). At this point in Exodus, Yahweh has revealed himself by preserving Israel during years under Egypt's tyranny, miraculous plagues of judgment upon the Egyptian false gods, and the total victory over the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. But when God provided a daily meal for his people, he was revealing his glory.

So, God's heart for his people, one of his favorite things to do was to provide for his people each day. If this is so, we might expect to find this same heart repeated in the New Testament. And we do. Jesus taught us to pray:

"Give us this day our daily bread." (Matt. 6:11)

It's a daily prayer. And it's for today's bread. God did not give Israel a Costco-sized supply of manna that they could live off until it was time to resupply. The rest of the Old Testament story shows us that times of prosperity were often hard for Israel to endure. In seasons of plenty, many of them neglected daily and weekly rhythms of worship. Many of us understand this when it comes to our pets—some dogs will eat only when they're hungry, but others will eat whatever is in front of them, so we have to measure out their portions multiple times each day. Giving it too much would harm it, so we mete it out at a healthy pace. Israel always did better in dependence on God than when they could coast on a fat supply. So, from the beginning, through the manna, God sought to show how important daily dependence upon him is. Each day, they had to go out and gather what God had provided. And each of them had to go out for their own household.

I know there is something devotional here about getting our spiritual bread from God each day. I have often thought of the daily manna as a proverb encouraging me to get up every morning to meditate on Scripture. They had to go get the manna before the sun grew hot and melted it, and I have considered my daily time in God's Word the same way. I gotta get up and get it for myself. Jesus said we live off God's word and that he is the true bread come down from heaven (Mat. 4:4, Deut. 8:3, John 6:22-33). So, by looking at this passage through my Jesus lens, I want to get up every morning and spend time with the word of God as a way to spend time with Jesus. My battery drains each day, and only time with Jesus in his word can get me back to full charge. We all—just like ancient Israel did—have a personal decision to make about that, but I know I don't want to go hungry.

But, though that might be the spiritual lesson regarding the manna, I don't want us to forget the lesson that spans all three of our episodes. God wants to provide for his people; God wants his people to trust him for that provision.

Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness"—put God, his priorities, and the constant pursuit of godliness at the center of who you are—"and all these things" (food, shelter, provision) "will be added to you" (Matt. 6:33). God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers in the field, but he cares more for his people.

Proverbs tells us: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart" (Prov. 3:5). And finances are a huge area we are tested in our trust of him. In this area of life, we might need faith to be content with what we have rather than overextend ourselves, believing that "better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it" (Prov. 15:17). In this case, we must trust that life with God can be rich even if we don't have the square footage, vacations, clothing, or cars that others have. Just as you cannot quench your thirst with saltwater, so you cannot find satisfaction with material goods or bodily experiences. But we also might need to express financial faith by being generous. Nothing shouts dependence on God like giving. Or we might need to merely express faith in God by refusing to compromise in order to make money. Too many have ditched church, refused to Sabbath, or cut ethical corners in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. In all these instances and more, God is looking for us to trust him. He will provide if we give him a chance.

3. God Tested

The last theme that is a constant in all these episodes was likely the most important one for them—and is the most important one for us. A theme of testing reverberates throughout the trilogy. In the first two episodes, God said he would test Israel, but in the final episode, they are caught testing God. What God did in testing them was very different from what they did when they tested him, so let's start with them first. In the final episode, they grumbled and quarreled with Moses, accusing him of bringing them out of Egypt to kill them, their children, and their livestock with thirst (3). Moses called this the place of testing because they tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" (7). Their testing of God was punitive (If you don't do what we want, we will rebel.), legal (Come defend yourself in our court of law.), and totally forgetful (Is God with us? He doesn't seem to be. What Red Sea? What manna? What bitter water turned sweet?).

But God's testing of them was different. We think of the wrong things when we think of God testing us. The word "test" makes me think of the DMV lady who sat next to me in my mom's Mitsubishi Galant sedan in 1994. She made me nervous. I was so nervous that I ran the first red light we came to—automatic fail. Many of us think of God's tests this way. We don't really like the word test—it conjures up images of graded or pass/fail tests of knowledge or skill. Pressure. Grading. Performance. All-night study sessions.

But God's tests are designed to train us toward a better way of living life. This is why God tested them on the seventh day. Would they go out to find manna on the Sabbath, or would they trust what God had said about resting on that seventh day? Would they believe that he would double their supply on day six, or would they ignore his Word and fend for themselves? Why did God test them in this way? Because, in a few short chapters, they are going to receive the Ten Commandments and the expanded law from God. They needed training that would help them resist their natural impulses and obey whatever God said. In fact, this is what I think Jesus meant when he said man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from God's mouth. It wasn't the manna that fulfilled them, but the word/command from God's mouth that the manna would be there the first six days of the week. On the seventh, would they trust God's Word or their own impulses?

And this testing is rooted in a shocking development in the first episode at Marah. After turning the bitter water sweet, Yahweh introduced a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer" (15:25-26). Up to this point, God's blessing on the Hebrews has appeared to be elective, by God's sovereign choice. But this rule is filled with "if you will, then I will" language. None of God's promises in Exodus so far have been conditional, but he clearly states now that their best life will unfold if they listen to God's voice and do that which is right in his eyes. If they keep his commandments, he will heal them.

It is unfortunate that these conditional promises are shocking to many modern Christians who have been deceived into thinking that the cross lets them live however they choose. So we go out, do our own thing, and wonder why our lives are a mess. Sometimes—not always, I must be careful to say, because I don't want to be lumped with Job's miserable comforters—life becomes a mess because we have ignored God's Word. Again, this should not be shocking. We would never ignore the directions when baking a cake, building a house, or learning a musical instrument. If we do, the cake will be bad, the house will not stand, and the music will be terrible. So we should not be shocked when God gives us the ingredients that lead to the best life, the plans that build a legacy of righteousness, or the sequence of notes that makes life's song soar.

And when some of them ignored God's Word and tried to save up manna overnight, it bred worms and stank. And others went out on the seventh day looking for manna, even though God said the sixth day's supply would miraculously double so they could respect this new day called the Sabbath. It was all designed to train the ex-slaves to rest in God's commands. Let's live the way God tells us to live because it works! This was all preparation for the Ten Commandments—Let's obey those tablets because it must work!

We face the same series of tests they endured in this passage. We often fail them, but the Spirit of Christ in us can help us overcome because he overcame. When Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted, he echoed all three of these episodes. Just as they learned at Marah, it was important for him to worship God alone by giving allegiance and obedience to his Father in heaven rather than bow to the devil (Matt. 4:8-10). And as they learned in with the manna, Jesus saw that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from God's mouth (Matt. 4:3-4). And as they saw at Maasah and Meribah, Jesus knew that we should not put the Lord our God to the test, but instead trust he is there for us (Matt. 4:5-7).

Study Questions

Mind (Head) Questions:

How do the Israelites' reactions in the wilderness reflect their understanding of God's character and promises?
In what ways were God's tests of the Israelites meant to benefit them?
How did Jesus overcome the same types of tests when he was in the wilderness?

Heart (Feelings) Questions:

When have you responded with complaint or ingratitude in the midst of difficulty? What shifted your perspective?
Do you tend to judge circumstances based on physical needs or spiritual realities? How can you grow in this area?
How does reflecting on God’s past faithfulness in your life impact your emotional response to current challenges?

Hands (Actions) Questions:

What practical steps can you take to remember and rely on God's provision in times of personal trials?
How can you apply the lessons of trust and obedience from this passage in your daily life? How can you demonstrate trust in God's provision in your finances and generosity?
In what ways can you help others in your community to recognize and trust in God’s provision, especially in difficult times?

[^1]: This is God's grace—grace that is felt even further when you consider that this is only the fourth time rain is mentioned in the Bible. First, there was the rain attached to the flood of judgment in Genesis. Second, there was the rain of hail and fire God brought in judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah. Third, the same rain of judgment was brought upon Egypt. But rain #4 is God's merciful and gracious bread from heaven. Their grumbling deserved God's judgment, but he withheld it (mercy) and blessed them anyway (grace), a huge sign they were his people. [^2]: Seriously, stay away from weed. It isn't God's best for you.