Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

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.  2: And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 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. 

We see several pictures here.

One, we see a picture of the fall.  Elim was a garden of communion like the garden in which God placed Adam.  But Adam departed from that garden in sin, like as the children of Israel departed Elim.   Adam came unto the wilderness of Sin and so did the children of Israel.  Like as the whole congregation of the children of Israel sinned against God by their murmuring, all God’s true Israel sinned in Adam.

Two, we see an illustration of the believer’s journey.  We come here to this building to hear the gospel.  God refreshes us like he did them at Elim.  But as soon as we leave, we enter the wilderness of sin.  And the whole congregation—every believer here—sins against God.

Three, we see God’s gracious provision.  God provided them manna from heaven and a sabbath day of rest—both picturing Christ.  Therefore, between them and Sinai stood Christ.  Since God has provided his elect in this earth Christ our Life and Christ our Rest, our Mediator stands between us and God, in whom God accepts us rather than consume us.

Title: Our Bread and our Sabbath

Divisions: 1) We will see a picture of Christ in the manna and the sabbath day 2) We will look at how God proved them through the manna and the sabbath day

CHRIST OUR BREAD

Exodus 16: 4: Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you;…

God gave them bread from heaven.  The Bread is a type of Christ Jesus the Son of God who God gave for his people.

John 6: 31: Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32: 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.  33: For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world…35: 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…

We see many ways that the manna typified Christ.

One, God gave them manna when the whole congregation was sinning against him.  God gave his Son when the whole congregation of God’s elect while we sinned against him.

Romans 5: 6: For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Two, God gave the manna only for the children of Israel.  God gave his Son only for his elect, the Israel of God.  We preach and believe that Christ died only for his elect because he came “to make an end of sin.”  Christ accomplished it for all his people.  If he had accomplished it for all sinners without exception then all sinners would be saved.  But Christ gave himself to make his people “the righteousness of God in him”—and he accomplished it for all for whom he died.  We preach particular redemption to declare Christ victorious!  God left nothing to chance in salvation!

Three, through the manna they were made to know the LORD as their God—Exodus 16: 10: And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto 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. 11: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 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.   Christ is “the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”  Everything God is to us, we behold in Christ.  “And ye are complete in him”.  Everything Christ made us, God beholds in Christ.  When Christ is revealed to one of God’s elect then he beholds the glory of God and is made to know the LORD as his God—"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2Co 4:6)

Four, to the natural eye, the manna was nothing—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.  There is nothing attractive about Christ to the natural eye—"There is no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”  (Is 53: 2) The blind, religious folks in John 6, said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?” (Jn 6: 42)

Five, they did not know what the manna was; it had to be revealed to them by Moses declaring it to them—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 word “manna” means “what is this?”  We do not know Christ by nature.  God reveals Christ to his people through the preaching of the gospel.  Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17: For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Rom 1: 16)

Six, there was enough manna for each person—Exodus 16: 18: And when they did mete it [measure 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.  This was a miracle of God’s grace.  As we measure corn, an omer would be six gallons, three pints, and three solid inches per man with which to make bread every day.  Some estimate for all the children of Israel it would amount to 94,466 bushels every day, and in forty years 1,379,203,600 bushels.   By the miracle of God’s grace there is abundance in Christ.  His righteousness covers each and every elect child of God.  John said, “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.  Christ said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” (Jn 1: 16)

Seven, the manna was good to eat—Exodus 16: 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.  Christ and his finished works are “sweet to my taste.”  (SOS 2:3) His rule over us is “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.” (Ps 19: 10)  In Numbers 11: 8 it says the manna tasted like “fresh oil.”  There were different tastes to it.  The Spirit of God makes Christ new to us every morning so that we never grow tired of feeding upon Christ in the gospel.

Eight, the manna was laid up before the LORD for all their future generations—Exodus 16: 32: And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt…34: As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.  Before the LORD, Christ rose up.  He sits before God with all his people in him.  Christ sits before God for a Testimony that he finished the work.  Furthermore, Christ shall be preached to all generations till all his elect be called out.  "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance…account that the longsuffering of the LORD is salvation.” (2Pe 3:9, 15)

Nine, the children of Israel ate manna until they reached the promised land—Exodus 16: 35: And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.  God’s people partake of Christ through the gospel throughout our entire life of faith until we reach heaven’s glory which God has promised us.  The Spirit of God says, “we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” (Heb 10: 39)

CHRIST OUR SABBATH

In addition to the manna, God gave them a sabbath so they could rest. God provided twice as much manna on the sixth day—Exodus 16: 25: And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: 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.

This sabbath day, like all sabbath days, pictured Christ our Sabbath.  It pictured Christ in whom the believer rests from all our works.  We are not to worship or observe a day.  The day was but a shadow.  We rest in Christ from all our works and worship Christ every day of the week.  God the Holy Spirit says the sabbath days, “are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Col 2: 16-17) 

When creating the world, God rested on the seventh day because all the works were finished.  There was nothing left to be done to make the first creation perfect.  Likewise, through faith, the believer rests in Christ, bearing witness that Christ finished the work.  There is nothing left to do to make the new creation perfect.  Therefore, God the Holy Spirit says, “We which have believed do enter into rest,…For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” (Heb 4:3, 10)

Dear sinner are you being whipped with the heavy burden of legal bondage?  Are men telling you that you cannot be saved except you observe a sabbath day?  The very one that day typifies says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mt 11: 28-30)

GOD TESTS SINNERS BY CHRIST

Exodus 16: 4…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.

God used the manna and the sabbath day to test the children of Israel, whether they would walk in his law or not.  The law he speaks of is not the law at Sinai; it was not given yet.  God speaks of the law of faith which walks by the constraint of Christ’s love for us.  Every sinner is either disobeying God by walking under the law of works or obeying God by walking under the law of faith—and what we think of Christ is the test whereby it is proven which we are under.

There are two simple lessons taught in the manna and the sabbath day. 

The first lesson is in the manna.  Those who disobey God, do so by not living upon Christ alone.  Unbelief will not walk by faith depending upon Christ’s full provision daily.  Something else is their life—Exodus 16: 19: And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 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.  Those who saved the bread disobeyed the clear word of God given through Moses.  The reason they disobeyed is because they did not believe that God would provide manna the next day.  They proved it by saving manna until the next morning.  Those who do not believe God will not believe on Christ and live upon Christ alone.  When we attempt to live by our wisdom and our works, God makes the manna to breed worms and stink, that is, Christ is made a savor of death unto death unto the unbeliever.  (2 Cor 2: 16) In Moses’ anger, we see God’s just wrath against those who will not believe on his Son.

On the other hand, those who obey God, do so by living only upon Christ through faith.  Believers depend Christ for our entire acceptance with God and we live upon grace for today—Exodus 16: 21: And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.  God provided manna every morning and they gathered it first every morning.  Christ said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” and he will provide every lesser thing you need.  (Mt 6:33) Believers seek Christ preeminently.  He is our All!  Walking by faith in Christ, every man finds all that he needs according to his eating, that is, God makes Christ a savor of life unto life to us. (2 Cor 2:16) What do we see in the fact the manna melted when the sun waxed hot?  God said, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”  (Is 55:6) Do not delay seeking Christ.  Believe on him today!  Just as there came a time when the manna was not available there comes a time when it is too late to call on Christ.  Call on him now! 

So the first lesson is that obedience to God is to walk by faith in Christ.  God declares, “The just shall live by faith.”  (Gal 3: 11) We live by faith upon Christ as Christ lived by faith upon God the Father, “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” (Jn 6:57)

The second lesson is in the sabbath day.  Obeying God is to rest in Christ our Sabbath, from all our works, adding none of our works.  Moses declared that God would provide twice as much manna on the 6th day so that they could rest from all their works on the 7th day.  Those who obeyed did so because they believed God and rested in the sabbath—Exodus 16: 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 LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.  In Christ, God has provided complete Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption for all eternity.  Therefore, those who obey, believe on Christ his Son.  Through faith, we know that we are complete in Christ.  We prove we believe this by resting from all our vain works whereby we once tried to make ourselves accepted of God.

Contrary to this, those who disobey God do not rest in Christ.  They add their works to Christ—Exodus 16: 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 LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?   The picture here is that the people worked instead of resting.  Refusing to rest in Christ, sinners find no bread of life just as they found no bread in the field.  The only thing sinners find by not resting in Christ is the wrath of God, “How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?”

Romans 10: 1: Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2: For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3: For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Galatians 3: 11: But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12: And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Obedience to God is to be under the law of faith, seeking Christ preeminently, every day.  We live upon Christ alone and rest from all our works.  Just as we never have LIFE for our souls except we feed upon Christ our Bread, so we never have REST for our souls, except we trust him alone as our Lord and Savior. 

Psalm 78:10: They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;…22: Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:       

Amen!