Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/321

Rh and very necessary (Dr. Grew says) to cleanse them from disorders, with which he thinks it probable that they were, in the time of their bondage, more or less infected, which disorders a luxurious diet would have made contagious. By this spare and plain diet we are all taught a lesson of temperance, and forbidden to desire dainties and varieties.

2. They were to gather it every morning, (v. 16.) the portion of a day in his day, v. 4. Thus they must live upon daily providence, as the fowls of the air, of whom it is said, That thou givest them, they gather; (Ps. 104. 28.) not to-day for to-morrow, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself. To this daily raining and gathering of manna our Saviour seems to allude, when he teaches us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. We are hereby taught, (1.) Prudence and diligence in providing food convenient for ourselves and our households; what God graciously gives, we must industriously gather, with quietness working, and eating our own bread, not the bread either of idleness or deceit. God's bounty leaves room for man's duty; it did so even when manna was rained, they must not eat till they have gathered. (2.) Contentment and satisfaction with a sufficiency; they must gather, every man according to his eating; enough is as good as a feast, and more than enough is as bad as a surfeit. They that have most, have, for themselves, but food, and raiment, and mirth; and they that have least, generally have these: so that he who gathers much has nothing over, and he who gathers little has no lack. There is not so great a disproportion between one and another, in the comforts and enjoyments of the things of this life, as there is in the property and possession of the things themselves. (3.) Dependence upon Providence; "Let no man leave till morning, (v. 19.) but let them learn to go to bed and sleep, quietly, though they have not a bit of bread in their tent, nor in all their camp, trusting that God, with the following day, will bring them their daily bread." It was surer and safer in God's store-house than in their own, and would thence come to them sweeter and fresher. Read with this, Matt. 6. 25, Take no thought for your life, &c. See here the folly of hoarding. The manna that was laid up by some (who thought themselves wiser and better managers than their neighbours, and who would provide, in case it should fail next day,) putrefied and bred worms, and became good for nothing. Note, That proves to be most wasted, which is covetously and distrustfully spared. Those riches are corrupted, Jam. 5. 2, 3.

Let us set ourselves to think, [1.] Of that great power of God which fed Israel in the wilderness, and made miracles their daily bread. What cannot this God do, who prepared a table in the wilderness, and furnished it richly even for those who questioned whether he could or no? Ps. 78. 19, 20. Never was there such a market of provisions as this, where so many hundred thousand men were daily furnished, without money, and without price. Never was there such an open house kept as God kept in the wilderness for forty years together, nor such free and plentiful entertainment given. The feast which Ahasuerus made, to show the riches of his kingdom, and the honour of his majesty, was nothing to this, Esth. 1. 4. It is said, (v. 21.) When the sun waxed hot, it melted; as if what was left, were drawn up by the heat of the sun into the air to be the seed of the next day's harvest, and so from day to day. [2.] Of that constant providence of God, which gives food to all flesh, for his mercy endures for ever, Ps. 136. 25. He is a great House-keeper that provides for all the creatures. The same wisdom, power, and goodness, that now brought food daily out of the clouds, does, in the constant course of nature, bring food yearly out of the earth, and gives us all things richly to enjoy.

22. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23. And he said unto them, This is that which the hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the : bake that which you will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you, to be kept until the morning. 24. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. 25. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a sabbath unto the : to-day ye shall not find it in the field. 26. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. 27. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28. And the said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? 29. See, for that the hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days: abide ye every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30. So the people rested on the seventh day. 31. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander-seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

We have here,

1. A plain intimation of the observing of a seventh- day sabbath, not only before the giving of the law upon mount Sinai, but before the bringing of Israel out of Egypt, and therefore from the beginning, Gen. 2. 3. If the sabbath had now been first instituted, how could Moses have understood what God said to him, (v. 5.) concerning a double portion to be gathered on the sixth day, without making any express mention of the sabbath? And how could the people so readily take the hint, (v. 22.) even to the surprise of the rulers, before Moses had declared that it was done with a regard to the sabbath, if they had not had some knowledge of the sabbath before? The setting apart of one day in the seven for holy work, and, in order to that, for holy rest, was a divine appointment ever since God created man upon the earth, and the most ancient of positive laws. The way of sabbath-sanctification is the good old way.

2. The double provision which God made for the Israelites, and which they were to make for themselves, on the sixth day; God gave them on the sixth day the bread of two days, v. 29. Appointing them to rest on the seventh day, he took care that they should be no losers by it: and none ever will be losers by serving God. On that day, they were to fetch in enough for two days, and to