Daily Scripture Reading Exodus 16:15-36
When Christians are asked to explain why we believe what we believe, we rely on the historical accuracy of the Bible to buttress our claims that we can believe what the Bible tells us about God and Jesus. In other words, we ask people to assess the validity of the Bible using facts, logic, and reason. If we are going to ask non-Christians to be intellectually honest when they evaluate the Bible, then we have to be intellectually honest about everything we believe.
One area where modern Christianity fails to honestly assess what the Bible actually says has to do with the authorship of the first five books of the Bible. Most Christians are firmly convinced Moses wrote the first five books. However, those books themselves do not say who wrote them. Furthermore, there are verses in those books which indicate Moses did not write them. Today’s passage contains one of those verses. If we are going to be consistent in our belief system, we need to be willing to scrutinize whether or not Moses wrote Genesis through Deuteronomy.
After being delivered from the clutches of the Egyptians, the Israelites traveled into the wilderness. By definition, a wilderness lacks food and water. Within a very short time, Israel complained about the dearth of sustenance.
Yahweh promised to rain bread from heaven in order to sustain them. He also said this would be a test. One evening, quails covered the camp. The next morning, when the dew evaporated, there was a fine, flake-like thing on the ground.
Ex. 16:15 And the sons of Israel saw it and said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.
Notice the question the Israelites asked. When they saw the flake-like thing on the ground they asked what it is, because they were unfamiliar with it. The Hebrew word that is translated “what” is the word “man”.
Ex. 16:16 This is what Yahweh has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’”
The Israelites were given specific commands about how much to gather per person.
Ex. 16:17 And the sons of Israel did so; some gathered much and some little.
Ex. 16:18 And they measured it with an omer, and he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.
Ex. 16:19 And Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.”
The Israelites were also told not to keep any for the next day. This would have required faith. They were out in the wilderness. There was little food. By not keeping any till morning, they could prove they had faith that Yahweh would provide food each day.
Ex. 16:20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.
Look at the word “angry”. Yahweh was testing Israel to see if they would obey (see Exodus 16:4) and they were failing the test.
Ex. 16:21 So they gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but the sun would grow hot, and it would melt.
Ex. 16:22 ¶ Now it happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. Then all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses.
Ex. 16:23 And he said to them, “This is what Yahweh has spoken: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to Yahweh. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is in excess put aside to be kept until morning.”
Ex. 16:24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had commanded, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it.
Ex. 16:25 And Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to Yahweh; today you will not find it in the field.
Ex. 16:26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.”
Ex. 16:27 ¶ Now it happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
Even though they had been told not to gather on the Sabbath, some people attempted to do so anyway.
Ex. 16:28 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
Once again, some of the Israelites failed the test. They did not obey Yahweh’s instructions. I don’t think in this case they were being deliberately rebellious as much as they didn’t have enough faith to trust that Yahweh would provide this bread everyday. They wanted to stockpile the bread so that they would always have extra in their possession.
Ex. 16:29 See, Yahweh has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
Ex. 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Ex. 16:31 ¶ And the house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey.
Look at the word “manna”. The Hebrew word that is translated “manna” is the word “man”. That is the Hebrew word for “What?” When Israel first saw the bread on the ground they asked, “What is it?” Thus, they called it “What”.
Ex. 16:32 Then Moses said, “This is what Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
Ex. 16:33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before Yahweh to be kept throughout your generations.”
Ex. 16:34 As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony to be kept.
Ex. 16:35 And the sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
Take note that the author of Exodus wrote that Israel ate the manna until they came to Canaan. Many people believe Moses wrote the book of Exodus. However, Moses died before Israel entered the Promised Land; thus, this is an argument that Moses did not write the book of Exodus because this verse is a reference to something that happened after Moses died.
The book of Exodus itself does not say who wrote it. The only “proof” that is offered that Moses wrote Exodus is Mark 12:26 and Luke 20:37 where Jesus quoted Exodus and calls it the book of Moses. Those passages do not specifically say Moses wrote Exodus. Calling Exodus the book of Moses could mean Moses was the main character, not that he wrote it.
Ex. 16:36 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
When Christians are asked to explain why we believe what we believe, we rely on the historical accuracy of the Bible to buttress our claims that we can believe what the Bible tells us about God and Jesus. In other words, we ask non-Christians to be intellectually honest when they evaluate the Bible. If we ask that of them, then we have to be intellectually honest about everything we believe.
Most Christians are firmly convinced Moses wrote the first five books. However, those books themselves do not say who wrote them. Furthermore, there are verses in those books which indicate Moses did not write them. Today’s passage seems to indicate Moses did not write the book of Exodus. If we are going to be consistent in our belief system, then we need to be willing to scrutinize whether or not Moses wrote Genesis through Deuteronomy.
How might a non-Christian respond if we insist Moses wrote the book of Exodus, and yet they know of this verse in Exodus 16 which indicates Moses did not write the book of Exodus?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”