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Scripture: Nehemiah
9:15
15 “You
provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You
brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And
You told them to enter in order to possess
The
land which You swore to give them.
A. The Miraculous Supply of the
Bread
“You provided bread from
heaven . . .”
1. It was a Unique Provision
Exodus 16:2,3; 2The whole congregation of
the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3The sons of Israel said to
them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt,
when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you
have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with
hunger.”
2. It was
a Divine Provision
Exodus 16:4Then the LORD said to
Moses, “Behold, I will 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 or not they will walk in My instruction.
Exodus
16:15;15When the sons of Israel
saw it, they said to one another,
“What is it?” ( man; or mannu;
what?). מָן) ) For they did not know
what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has
given you to eat.
Exodus
16:31 The house of Israel named
it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like
wafers with honey.
B. The Meticulous Standard
Applied to the Bread
“You provided bread from
heaven for them for their hunger.”
God had
a specific purpose and specific rules in the provision of food for His
people. There were several
important considerations.
1.
Instructions for the Daily Gathering
Exodus 16:16‘This is the thing which Jehovah
hath commanded: Gather of it each according to his eating, an omer for a
poll; and the number of your persons, take ye each for those in his
tent.’
2.
Instruction for Sabbath Observance
a. The
Lessons of Obedience; Exodus
16:23And he saith unto them,
‘It is that which Jehovah hath
spoken of; a rest—a holy sabbath
to Jehovah—is to-morrow; that which ye
bake, bake; and that which ye boil, boil; and all that is over, let rest
for yourselves in charge till the morning.’ 24And they let it rest until
the morning, as Moses hath commanded, and it hath not stank, and a worm
hath not been in it.
25And Moses saith, ‘Eat it
to-day, for to-day is a sabbath to Jehovah;
to-day ye find it not in the field: 26six days ye do gather it,
and in the seventh day—the sabbath—in it there is none.’
b. The
Lessons of Disobedience; Exodus
16:27And it cometh to pass on
the seventh day, some of the people have gone out to gather, and have not
found.
28And Jehovah saith unto
Moses, ‘How long have ye refused to keep My commands, and My laws? 29see, because Jehovah hath
given to you the sabbath, therefore He is giving to you on the sixth day
bread of two days; abide ye each in his place, no one doth go
out from his place on the seventh day.’
3.
Implementation of Efficiency Standards
a. The
Example of Efficiency; Exodus
16:17And the sons of Israel do
so, and they gather, he who is gathering much, and he who is gathering | 
