One of Aesop’s fables talks about a hungry wolf that sees a bunch of grapes high up in a tree. He tries to get the grapes, but cannot reach them. He finally gives up and thinks to himself, “they were probably bad grapes anyway.” The moral of the story according to Aesop is that “it is easy to despise what you know you cannot possess.” For our purposes this morning I would suggest that this fable suggest “that we often change our opinion about something, depending on how it relates to us.” This morning we see how that happens to the children of Israel and we are reminded that it happens to us as well. Getting back to the fable, I do want to say that God’s Word is not a fable. A fable is a story with a moral. God’s Word never has a moral. I get antsy anytime someone, speaking about a portion of Holy Scripture says, “the moral of he story is...” Holy Scripture is Law and Gospel, not a book of stories that teach morals.
As we get into our text we read how Moses is an ambassador from God, to the people. We begin at verse two, “2And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3and the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’ 4Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I am about to 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 they will walk in my law or not. 5On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily’” (v. 2-5).
Did you notice the exaggeration of the people. They were not getting what they wanted so they changed “their perception of reality.” They said “we had so much to eat in Egypt. We sat around pots of meat and had all the food we wanted.” Is that what you remember about the Israelites in Egypt? Were they not complaining about being slave in Egypt? Now they are grumbling about what little they have to eat in the desert and are remembering how good they had it in Egypt. Maybe they are exaggerating a little.
Moses is the Lord’s ambassador. God hears the complaint of the Israelites and He comes to Moses and tells him what He will do. The Lord will rain down bread from heaven and He will use this as a test for the Children of Israel. The test will be if they listen to and obey the Lord or not. They are only to gather as much as they need and twice as much on Friday, for the Sabbath, and they are not to keep any over night. Notice that the Lord also uses this as a way to prepare the people for the keeping of the Sabbath Day. Notice also how the Lord uses this to remind the people that He is the One who is taking care of them.
Continuing in our text, Moses and Aaron bring the word to the Israelites. We pick up at verse six, “6So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ‘At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?’ 8And Moses said, ‘When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him— what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.’ 9Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, “Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.”’” (v. 6-9).
Moses and Aaron speak to the people. They tell them that God has heard their complaint. They tell them that God will answer their grumbling. God will show His mercy in the morning and in the evening. In the morning they will have bread to eat. In the evening they will have meat in the form of quails to eat.
Moses and Aaron warn the people that their grumbling was not against them, but against the Lord. Moses and Aaron are merely ambassadors, heralds of the Lord’s word. This same thing happens even in the church today. When things are not going the way we think they should, we want to blame the pastor when in reality we often end up blaming God. It must have something to do with our being children of Adam. Remember, Adam blamed God way back at the beginning of the world, when he first fell into sin. Interestingly enough, it is the fact that as the people are grumbling against God, they are also recognizing that He is God, that God is in charge and that He is the one with all power, might, and authority. Moses and Aaron exhort the people to come to God and repent.
Our text continues with the appearance of the glory of the Lord and His voice. We pick up at verse ten, “10And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11And the Lord said to Moses, 12‘I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”’” (v. 10-12).
While Aaron was speaking to the children of Israel, the Lord came and showed them His glory. And as He spoke to Moses the people heard His voice. This is one of those times that the Children of Israel know that the Lord is God and that He is the one who is directing all that is happening, not Moses and Aaron.
Finally we have the giving of “what is this,” or what we have come to call “manna.” We read at verse thirteen, “13In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15When the people 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 that the Lord has given you to eat.’” (v. 13-15).
The Lord told the children of Israel what He would do and He did it. That statement should remind us of what we heard last week, that is that God said it and that settles it. God does what He says, no matter our unbelief or faith. In the evening the Lord provided meat. He provided all the quail they could eat. In the morning the Lord provided “what is it,” manna. He gave them all the manna they could eat. Again, God said it and it happened. God gives and we are given to.
Here, once again, the Lord is the one who is the provider. The Lord gives and the people are given too. The Lord shows over and over, time and time again, that He is a gracious and loving God who gives all His good gifts and blessings.
Are we not like the Children of Israel in our world today? We hunger today, we have cravings, we have needs, we have wants. We hunger, maybe not so much for food, but more for physical, earthly things. As sinful human beings we hunger for every kind of impurity. We have needs, but often we confuse our wants for our needs. We live in an affluent country. We have more than we need and often more than we want and yet we still want more and in our wanting more we tend to let the work of the Lord go neglected. We are negligent in our response to all the Lord gives. The Lord gives and we are given to and we forget that it is the Lord who gives and we want more.
In the same way that our Lord supplied the children of Israel with all they needed, so our Lord supplies us with all we need. Notice, I did not say all that we want, but I said all that we need. Most of us have more than we need as well as more than we want. Our Lord supplies us with all that we need, as we confess in the explanation to the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.”
However, and having made that statement concerning our physical needs, God would have us crave even more for our spiritual food, that is that we would crave for His Word and Sacraments. Our Lord would have us crave after His Spiritual food which is what we need the most anyway. Our Lord would have us hunger for spiritual food, bread of life. In the Gospel reading Jesus tells the people and reminds us that He is the bread of life. Jesus is the true bread which we eat at the Lord’s Supper. He is the true bread who gave His life for ours on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins. He is the sacrificial lamb which we eat at His Holy Supper for the forgiveness of sins.
Our Lord provides, gives, us all that we need to support our daily lives. We are given all the physical things we need as we just heard in Luther’s explanation to the first article of the Apostles’ Creed. We are also given God’s spiritual food, the bread of life through the means that He gives them, through the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and the greatest gift, forgiveness of sins through Holy Absolution. He feeds us through Bible Study, Divine Service, His Holy Supper, personal and family devotions, our personal reading of His Word and so on. Our Lord gives and gives and gives and we are given to.
Our text for today reminds us, once again, how we are very much like the children of Israel. Our Lord would have us come to Him yearning for spiritual blessings, praising and thanking Him for all His good gifts and blessings, but instead we come grumbling because we do not have what others have, we do not have enough earthly things to keep us content. Yet, our Lord continues to come to us through His Word and Sacraments to urge us to repent of our sins and to be given His forgiveness and all His other good gifts and blessings. Our Lord knows what is best for us and what we need and He gives to us according to His good and gracious will. What a great loving, merciful God we have. He gives and gives and gives and we are given to and to that we say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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