RCL reading for Sunday, August 2, 2009:
Excerpt from the New Revised Standard Version via Oremus (http://bible.oremus.org)
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
3The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, “Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.” ’
10And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked towards the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11The Lord spoke to Moses and said,
12‘I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” ’
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
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Kenneth says ...
ReplyDeleteThe bread that rained from heaven is a fascinating story of God's providential care for His people. Within the record there is a humorous story of how the bread came to be named. It involves a play on words in the Hebrew. Verse 15 says that when the children of Israel saw the residue left when the dew evaporated, they exclaimed to each other, "man hu" "what is it?" for they did not know "Ma hu" the "what it was". Verse 31 indicates that they named the coriander-seed-like deposit, "man na", "what-is-it". Daily for forty years they went out to gather the bread from heaven saying as at the beginning "what is it" is here" The gift sustained them until they miraculously entered the Promised Land. (Cf. Josh. 5:12)