We need to make our own personal connection to the Exodus and the events leading up to Sinai. These events are not only for those who have an ethnic Jewish heritage. This history belongs to all who are called by God our Father to take hold of Yeshua as our elder brother and kinsmen redeemer. At this point in the Exodus, God gives them manna to eat but also gives them very specific instructions of how, when and what to do with the manna after they gather it. The people violated those instructions and incurred different punishments for their folly.
Thought Questions
How long was the manna originally meant to last?
Where were they at this time?
What is the wilderness of Sin?
What mountain was their mountain destination?
What does the name Sinai mean?
Why did God have to teach them when the Shabbat was?
Didn’t they already know when Shabbat was?
What did they murmur about first?
What was their second complaint?
How can the “counting of the omer” be a red herring? Why are the firstborn important? What is the omer? What is really being counted?
What else did people eat besides manna?
Was manna like bread?
Is there a significance to the fact that the people were not able to eat “the bread of the earth” or the “fruit of the vine” for this time?
What did manna taste like?
How much manna did the people gather?
Why didn’t the people heed Moses instruction on how and when to gather the manna?
What happened when they attempt to keep some over from one day to the next day?
Why did God not want the people to stockpile manna during the week?
Why did they gather double on Friday?
Why did God tell them not to gather any on Sabbath?
Why was God upset at the people?
What does this episode tell us about how God loves His people?
How long did the manna last?
If the manna was the breakfast food, what did they eat the rest of the day?
How did the manna become a memorial of the Exodus?
How are we “within the Torah”?
What kind of misunderstanding do some people have about the meaning of mitzvah, translated as “commandment”?
Reader: Dave De Fever. Speaker: Richard Agee