CONTEXT: Yahweh freed the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt, and led them into the wilderness as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (13:17-22). The cloud and fire gave Israel visible assurance of the presence of God in their midst.
However, the Egyptians had second thoughts about allowing the Israelites to leave, because the Israelites constituted a large body of cheap labor (14:5). Pharaoh therefore led his army in pursuit of the Israelites-to capture them and return them to Egypt.
When the Israelites came to the shore of the Red Sea, with the sea at their front and pursuing Egyptian soldiers at their rear, they complained to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt? Isn't this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness" (14:11-12). Moses, however, reassured them, saying, "Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still" (14:14). Yahweh did just that-fought for them-in the familiar story of the Egyptian army being drowned in the Red Sea (14:15-30). As a result, "they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses" (14:31).
However, when the Israelites came to Marah where the water was bitter, they complained again to Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" (15:24). When Moses cried out to the Lord, Yahweh had Moses drop a piece of wood in the water. Moses did so, and it sweetened the water so that the people could drink (15:25a).
Yahweh then promised, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you" (15:26).
The Israelites then proceeded to Elim, where there were a dozen springs and seventy palm trees-an abundant oasis in the midst of the desert wilderness (15:27). From there, "on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt," they proceeded to the wilderness of Sin, located between Elim and Sinai (16:1), camping by the Red Sea as they went (Numbers 33:10). Since they departed Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month (12:6, 51), they have been traveling for one month.
The word Sin in "the wilderness of Sin" might be related to the Hebrew word for Sinai, but is not related to our word "sin." Also, we should not confuse the wilderness of Sin with the wilderness of Zin, which is also mentioned in the Old Testament.
Numbers 11 tells a similar but different story. In that story, the place was Taberah, the people were already receiving manna, and they complained, "Who will give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic" (Numbers 11:4-5). The Lord responded to their complaint by giving them meat for a month-abundant meat-"until it come out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because that you have rejected Yahweh who is among you" (Numbers 11:19-20). The Lord brought in quails-quails covering the whole region, stacked two cubits (six feet-two meters) deep. When the people ate the quails, many of them became sick and died (Numbers 11:31-34).
EXODUS 16:2-3. ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GRUMBLED
2 But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The sons of Israel said to them, "If only 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 until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!"
"The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness" (v. 2). The Israelites have come to realize that, while God has brought them out of slavery in Egypt, their lives in the wilderness are not especially appealing.
"and the children of Israel said to them, 'We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread'" (v. 3a). This is a serious case of distorted memory-the kind of thing that often happens when people begin to reminisce about the "good old days." As slaves in Egypt, they had been oppressed in many ways-although it doesn't seem that they were deprived of food. They almost certainly enjoyed better food in Egypt than they have had in the wilderness. Short of a miracle, it would be impossible to feed so many people in the wilderness.
"for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (v. 3b). They accuse Moses and Aaron of disastrous leadership-leadership so flawed that it threatens their fledgling nation-leadership so demented that it threatens to kill them all. It sounds as if they are accusing Moses and Aaron of something even more serious-deliberately setting out to bring them to ruin.
We know that the Israelites "despoiled the Egyptians" as they left Egypt (12:36)-taking silver and gold and clothing (12:35). They also took "flocks, herds, and even much livestock" (12:38). However, they would be loath to slaughter sheep more quickly than lambing could replenish their flocks, because in watching their flocks gradually shrink, they would also see their own eventual demise.
Comment: I live in a town of twenty-five thousand people. To feed us, we have four large supermarkets-plus several convenience stores-plus a half dozen fast food restaurants-plus a number of traditional restaurants (our Yellow Pages, which serve several towns, list sixty-six pages of restaurants). To feed two and a half million people would require multiplying all those resources by one hundred. Or, if that fails to paint the picture clearly enough, imagine taking a youth group of twenty-five kids to a remote camp ground for a week. How much food would you have to take to feed those kids for a week? Multiply that times one hundred thousand to get the amount of food required to feed the Israelites for a week.
EXODUS 16:4-8. I WILL RAIN BREAD FROM THE SKY FOR YOU
4 Then 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, so that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. 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 sons of Israel, "At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt; 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?" 8 And Moses said, "This will happen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the LORD hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD."
"Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you'" (v. 4a). Yahweh responds to their complaint about food in much the same way that he earlier responded to their complaint about bad water at Marah (15:24-25). In that case, he gave Moses the means to sweeten the water to make it potable. In this case, he promises Moses that he will "rain bread from the sky" to feed the people. Note that the food is called "bread" here, as well as in verses 12 and 15. It will receive its name, Manna, in verses 31ff.
"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" (v. 4b). Yahweh words these instructions to make it clear that there will be more bread from heaven than the people will require for any given day. However, they are to collect only enough bread for that day. By requiring them to collect only enough to meet the needs of the day, Yahweh is testing them. Will they obey, or will they succumb to the temptation to collect more than they require for the day? "gather a day's portion" (v. 4b). In the New Testament, Jesus will teach his disciples to pray for "daily bread" (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3). Presumably, the inspiration for that prayer comes from this provision of daily bread for the Israelites.
"It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily" (v. 5). They are to collect twice as much on the sixth day so they will have food for the Sabbath (see also 16:22). The concerns here are threefold:
"Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, 'At evening, then you shall know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt'" (v. 6). The manna is a morning gift, but we will learn in verse 8 that quail will be an evening gift.
"and in the morning, then you shall see the glory (kebod) of Yahweh" (v. 7a). The word kebod is often used to speak of God's glory-an aura associated with God's appearance that reveals God's majesty to humans. Biblical writers, attempting to describe God's glory using human words, portray it as "a devouring fire" (Exodus 24:17). When Moses asked to see God's glory, God replied, "You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live" (Exodus 33:20)-but God continued, "Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen" (Exodus 33:21-23). The point is that God's glory is so overwhelming that humans aren't engineered to endure it. An analogy might be coming into contact with a live high-voltage electrical line. It would be too much for us. We couldn't deal with it.
"because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?"(v. 7b). Moses re-emphasizes that their complaining, while apparently directed against him and Aaron, is really complaining against Yahweh. It wouldn't make sense for them to complain against Moses and Aaron, because "what are we?" They are just doing what Yahweh has commanded them to do.
"Moses said, 'Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh'" (v. 8). Yet again, Moses emphasizes that their complaining is against Yahweh. This is the first that we have heard of "meat to eat in the evening." Verse 13 tells us that the meat is quails that come in the evening.
EXODUS 16:9-12. COME NEAR BEFORE YAHWEH
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, 'Come forward before the LORD, for He has heard your grumblings.'" 10 And it came about, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 "I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ' At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"
"Moses said to Aaron, 'Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, "Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings"'" (v. 9). Moses has been Yahweh's spokesman. Now he asks Aaron to serve as spokesman.
"It happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud" (v. 10). Yahweh has been leading them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As the congregation gathers, they see "the glory of Yahweh...in the cloud." See the comments on the glory of the Lord in verse 7a above. "Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying" (v. 11). The people have presumably gathered in the presence of the Lord, as Aaron directed, but the Lord addresses his remarks to Moses.
"I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, 'At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God'" (v. 12). Other than the mention of fleshpots in verse 3, we have not heard a complaint about the lack of meat in this story. However, as noted above, in a similar story in Numbers 11, the people complained specifically about the lack of meat.
EXODUS 16:13-15. THERE WAS A SMALL ROUND THING, SMALL AS FROST
13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. 15 When the sons 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 which the LORD has given you to eat.
"It happened at evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp" (v. 13). Now Yahweh begins making good on his promises. In the evening, quails cover the camp. This is the last time that quails are mentioned in the book of Exodus, but (in addition to the Numbers 11 story), Psalm 105:40 says, "They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky."
In the morning, there is a layer of dew around the camp. The layer of dew is not the manna. The manna will be revealed as the dew dissipates.
"When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground" (v. 14). This is the first appearance of manna (but this flaky substance won't receive its name until verse 31). Some scholars, in an attempt to explain that manna occurred by natural means, suggest that manna was the secretion of insects-and there are insects in that wilderness that secrete a sweet substance. However, while Yahweh could provide for his people by natural means, the tenor of this story is that he did so by miraculous means. While he could have provided food by having billions of insects secrete tons of ooze every day for a forty year period, why would he bother? It seems more likely that God simply spoke his powerful word, and the manna came into being.
"When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, 'What is it?' (man hu) For they didn't know what it was" Verse 31 says that the people called it manna (Hebrew: man). Apparently this name is related to their question. "What is it?" (Hebrew: man hu).
"Moses said to them, 'It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat'" (v. 15b). Moses could have told them the components of the substance or the manner by which Yahweh made it. However, he goes straight to the point-the manna is bread (food) given by Yahweh to provide for their nourishment.
NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO MANNA:
Manna is mentioned three times in the New Testament:
EW: Ex. 16:1-20 Commentary
A. God's promise to provide.
1. (16:1) From Elim to the Wilderness of Sin.
And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.
2. (16:2-3) Israel complains against Moses and Aaron.
Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
3. (16:4-5) God announces to Moses the coming of bread from heaven.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."
1. (16:11-12) God shows His glory and promises to provide.
Then Moses spoke to Aaron, "Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your complaints.'" Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.
2. (16:13-14) God provides quail for meat and bread from heaven.
So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
3. (16:15-16) The people call the bread from heaven manna.
So when the children 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, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat." "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.'"
4. (16:17-19) Instructions on the gathering of bread from heaven.
"This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.'" Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need. And Moses said, "Let no one leave any of it till morning."
5. (16:20-21) Some of the people fail God's test.
Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
Exodus Chapter 16
Exodus 16:1 "And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which [is] between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt."
"Wilderness of Sin": More details of the camp sites in the journey from Rameses to Succoth and beyond are found (in Num. 33:5-11). That itinerary also lists the next stop as having been Dophkah (Num. 33:12), identifying it as an encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness. It was in the desert of sin, on the eastern shore of the western arm of the Red Sea, somewhere in the Wadi Feiran area. We see from this that, the children of Israel had been on this trip exactly one month. The second month was Ziff, or May by our calendar. It seems they moved as a company and all were present at "the wilderness of Sin".
Exodus 16:2 "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:"
"The whole congregation ... murmured": What characterized them as a whole was this attitude of negativism. Faced with the scarcity of resources in the wilderness, they hankered after the abundant resources they had experience in Egypt. The country which had enslaved them looked good in comparison to the wilderness. Their complaining so soon after benefitting from the miracles done by the Lord on their behalf only goes to show their short-term memory and self-centeredness.
Gone from Egypt for only a month, the "whole congregation" accused Moses and Aaron of deliberately leading them into the wilderness to "kill" them (verse 3).
We see by this verse, that, these people did not learn a lesson at Marah, because we see them murmur again here. They blamed Moses and Aaron for their problem. When will they ever learn?
Exodus 16:3 "And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, [and] when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
"Died by the hand of the Lord": Incredibly, Israel's complaint still acknowledges the intervention of the Lord in their affairs. Sarcastically they voice a preference for dying in Egypt. The hand of the Lord which they had glorified in song (15:6), only a month beforehand, they now pretended would have been better used to kill them in Egypt.
No one put a gun to their head and made them go with Moses. They came of their own accord. They just had not learned their lesson yet and God allowed them to go through more problems to teach them His ways. They had forgotten how terrible it was in Egypt and were looking back with fond memories of the past, because they had forgotten the taskmasters. It is easy to complain and find fault with the present circumstance and blame someone else, when the fault is right at home with your own self. They were even saying that God brought them out here to starve them.
Exodus 16:4 "Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no."
"I will rain bread": God's gracious answer to their complaining was to promise an abundance of the bread they missed. God's directions on how to gather it would also test their obedience to Him (verses 4-5, 16, 26-28; see note on 16:31).
For them to survive without food from any natural source required the Lord to do what only He could do. For five days each week, He delivered daily portions of "bread from heaven" for each individual.
We see that God would answer Moses' prayer for food. This would not be like bread they cooked at home, but would be a foodstuff, that would sustain them on their journey. Notice they were to gather this each day. This was another test from God to see if they would do as He said or not. There is an interesting Scripture reference to this manna from heaven (in John chapter 6:31-51). I will show just a few chosen verses of that here, but be sure to read all of it.
John 6:31-35 "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat." "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." "Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread." "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
Be sure and read all of this from verse 31 through verse 51. I will give you one more verse of this and then go back to Exodus.
John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
You see, this manna that rained from heaven was miracle bread that would save their lives. I really believe this one day supply at a time indicates to me, our daily need for the Word of God (Jesus). We are told to eat the Word of God. Jesus is the Word. Read (John chapter 1), and you will see, that Jesus and the Word are the same.
Exodus 16:5, "And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."
On the sixth day, there was a double provision; and on the seventh, there was none at all. What anyone needs to get through the "wilderness" is not available except from God Himself.
The same principal on a larger scale would feed the nation during and after the sabbatical year (Lev. 25:18-22).
This "twice as much" on the sixth day would carry them through their Sabbath. They were not to do any work on the Sabbath.
Exodus 16:11 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,"
Out of the bright and glorious cloud: saying; as follows:
Exodus 16:12 "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye
shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD your God."
This gave proof of His power as the Lord, and His particular favor to them as their God; when God plagued the Egyptians, it was to make them know that He is the Lord. When He provided for the Israelites, it was to make them know that He was their God.
It seems to me, if they did not realize by now that this was God fighting for them and protecting them, they were very hard to convince. God raining meat (quail), in the evening and bread in the morning should be evidence enough. God also, had made them aware of the presence of the Lord when His glory appeared in the cloud. God wanted them to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is God and that they belong to Him. They were His chosen people.
Verses 13-16: The meal of "quails" were a miracle (Num. 11:31-35), but the "small round thing" was the greater surprise. The word "manna" comes from the question the Hebrew people asked that first morning: "what it was" (Hebrew, man hu). Manna would be their food for the next 40 years, until the new generation entered the Promised Land (16:35; Josh. 5:11-12). The amount of food the Lord provided was staggering: one day's "delivery" for more than 2-1/2 million people for nearly 40 years!
Exodus 16:13 "And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host."
"Quails": The psalmist removed all doubt about whether these birds of the partridge family were not real birds but something else, for he called them "winged fowl and in the preceding line of the parallelism referred to the coming of the quails as God having "rained meat" on them (Psalm 78:27). Upon return to their former habitat, these migratory birds would often fall to the ground, exhausted from prolonged flight. In ancient Egyptian paintings, people were shown catching quails by throwing nets over the brush where they were nesting.
Exodus 16:14 "And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness [there lay] a small round thing, [as] small as the hoar frost on the ground."
To wit, into the air; or was vanished, "there lay a small round thing": According to (Numbers 11:9), there was dew which fell before the manna. For it is said, when the dew fell in the night, the manna fell upon it. But it appears here, that there was also dew upon it, which went up when the sun rose, so that the manna lay as it were enclosed. This might be designed to keep it pure and clean.
God is good for His word. The quails came that very evening. It seems they came in and landed, and sat there to be caught. This bread that fell from heaven looked like white frost. When the dampness of the morning was gone, there were left little round portions of bread, they would be Manna. At any rate, they were little tiny droplets of something that could substitute for bread. To feed 2-1/2 million people, there would have to be an abundance of quail and an abundance of manna. "Manna" means, what is it?
Exodus 16:15 "And when the children of Israel saw [it], they said one to another, It [is] manna: for they wist not what it [was]. And Moses said unto them, This [is] the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat."
The "manna" literally means "What is it?" Not only was it remarkable for its size, shape, color, taste and a variety of uses (16:14; 23, 31; Num. 11:7-8), but especially for its daily appearance at dawn, its tremendous abundance, its strange capacity for breeding worms at the end of each day, except the sixth, and its sudden and permanent disappearance as soon as the Israelites entered Canaan (Joshua 5:12). It taught the people to look Godward for their daily bread, and it pointed toward the One who claimed to be the true bread from heaven, even "the bread of life" (John 6:32, 35).
Exodus 16:16 "This [is] the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, [according to] the number of your persons; take ye every man for [them] which [are] in his tents."
Compare Exodus 12:4. Each man was to gather according to his immediate need and that of his family. No one was to seek to accumulate a store.
"For every man": Literally, for every head. As families would average four members, each man would have to gather, on an average, six quarts. If even 500,000 men gathered this amount, the daily supply must have been 93,500 bushels.
An "omer", in our language, would be a little over five pints, slightly more than two quarts. You see here, that five pints is what the average person would eat per day. Some of the little ones, probably ate less and the big ones more, but it would average out. The dad went out and gathered, and he brought enough for his own family. You can easily see why a family of ten would need more than a family of five. They were to get just one day's supply.
Exodus 16:17 "And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less."
According as their families was, more or less numerous; or as the gatherers was, more or less strong and active in gathering it.
Exodus 16:18 "And when they did mete [it] with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating."
Each Israelite gathered what he supposed would be about an omer for each member of his family. Some naturally made an over and some an under estimate. But whatever the quantity collected, when it came to be measured in the camp, the result was always the same, there was found to be just an omer for each. This result can only have been miraculous.
See (2 Cor. 8:15), where Paul applies this truth to Christian giving.
This was just repeating that, if they gathered five pints for each member of their family, it worked out just fine. "Mete" means to measure.
Exodus 16:19 "And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning."
Moses must have been divinely instructed to issue this command. It was doubtless given in order that the Israelites might realize their absolute dependence upon God for food from day to day, and might so be habituated to complete trust and confidence in Him.
They were to discipline themselves to one day's supply at a time. This is similar to the song, "ONE DAY AT A TIME". You see, God was teaching them that He was sufficient for their needs each day. We are even warned ourselves about planning more than that, because we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
Exodus 16:20 "Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them."
Either distrusting God's providence, for a future supply, or out of curiosity to learn the nature of this manna, and what they might do if occasion required; it bred worms and stank. Not so much of its own nature, which was pure and durable, as from God's judgment. Thus will that be corrupted in which we do not trust in God, and which we do not employ for His glory.
Here we see greed in action, and what it did. Many of the problems in society today are caused by the greed of the people. Wanting something that does not belong to you, can cause robberies, lies, and even murder. Even the thought of it is called coveting in the Bible. One of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt not covet". Some religions of our day tell people to claim things they have not worked to get, something that actually belongs to someone else. This is a sin. Thou shalt not covet thou neighbor's possessions.