What is it?

With Questions and Proposed Answers

 

 

Background and printed text: Exodus chapter 16

 

Exodus 16:1 And they journeyed from Their-Ram. And they came—all the witness of the children of Israel—unto the Thorn Desert that is between Their-Ram and between My-Thorn in the fifteenth day to the second month to their exiting from the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt].

 

²And they lodged—all the witness of the children of Israel—upon Draw [Moshe] and upon Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] in the desert. ³And the children of Israel said unto them, “Who will give our death? Via the hand of Yehovah? Via the land of Egypt? Via our sitting upon a pot of the flesh? Via our eating bread to the full? For ye exited us unto this desert to kill all this congregation via famine!”

 

⁴And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Behold I am raining bread to you from the heavens! And the people shall exit. And they shall glean a speech of a day in his day so-that I will test him: Will he walk via my Teaching, if not? ⁵And he shall be in the sixth day. And they shall foundation what they shall bring. And he shall be doubled upon what they shall glean: day, day.

 

⁶And Draw [Moshe] said, and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], unto all the children of Israel: “Evening! And ye shall know that Yehovah exited you from the land of Egypt! ⁷And morning! And ye shall see the importance of Yehovah via His hearkening-to your lodgings upon Yehovah! And what are we that ye shall be lodged upon us?”

 

⁸And Draw [Moshe] said, “Via Yehovah’s giving flesh to you in the evening to eat and bread in the morning to satisfaction! Via Yehovah’s hearkening-to your lodgings that ye are lodging them upon us! And what are we? Your lodgings are not upon us; for, upon Yehovah!”

 

⁹And Draw [Moshe] said unto Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], “Say unto all the witness of the children of Israel, ‘Approach-ye to the faces of Yehovah! For He hearkened-to your lodgings!’” ¹⁰And he was as the speech of Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] is unto all the witness of the children of Israel. And they faced unto the desert. And behold, the importance of Yehovah was seen via a cloud.

 

¹¹And Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe] to say, ¹² “I hearkened-to the lodgings of the children of Israel. Speak unto them to say, ‘Ye shall eat flesh between the evenings. And ye shall be satisfied of bread in the morning. And ye shall know that I am Yehovah your Gods!’”

 

¹³And he shall be in the evening. And the quail has ascended. And she covered the camp. And in the morning she was the lying of the dew around to the camp. ¹⁴And the lying of the dew ascended. And behold upon the faces of the desert is the fineness of a fine, vanishing pottery-refuge as a cover upon the land. ¹⁵And the children of Israel saw. And they said a man unto his brother, “What is that?” For they didn’t know what he is. And Draw [Moshe] said unto them, “He is the bread that Yehovah gave her to you to eat. ¹⁶This is the speech that Yehovah commanded: Glean-ye from him, a man to the mouth of his eating, a baler to the skull from a scrolling of your beings. Ye shall take a man to what is in his tent.” ¹⁷And established, the children of Israel did. And they gleaned, the multiplier and the little-causer. ¹⁸And they measured via a baler. And the multiplier didn’t-cause the surplus. And the little-causer didn’t cause-lack. They gleaned a man to the mouth of his eating!

 

¹⁹And Draw [Moshe] said unto them, “A man shall not ‘excess’ from him unto morning!” ²⁰And they didn’t hearken unto Draw [Moshe]. And men ‘excessed’ from him unto morning. And he elevated worms. And he stank. And Draw [Moshe] angered concerning them. ²¹And they gleaned him in the morning, in the morning, a man as the mouth of his eating. And the sun heated. And he melted.

 

²²And he was in day sixth. They gleaned double bread: two of the baler to one. And all of the carriers of the congregation came. And they told to Draw [Moshe]. ²³And he said unto them, “He is what Yehovah spoke. A cessation—a ceasing of the Holy-[One] is to Yehovah tomorrow. Bake-ye what ye shall bake and boil-ye what ye shall boil. And ye shall rest to you all the surplus to tomorrow unto the morning.” ²⁴And they rested him unto the morning just-as Draw [Moshe] commanded. And he didn’t stink. And a maggot wasn’t in him.

 

²⁵And Draw [Moshe] said, “Eat-thou him today. For today is a ceasing to Yehovah. Ye shall not find him today in the field. ²⁶Thou shalt glean him six days. And cease-thou in the seventh day! He will not be in him!”

 

²⁷And he was in the Day Seventh. They exited from the people to glean. And they didn’t find. ²⁸And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Until when are ye refusing to guard my commandments and my teachings? ²⁹See-ye that Yehovah gave the Ceasing to you! Therefore He, He gave bread of two days to you in Day Seventh! Return-ye a man under himself! A man shall not exit from his place in the Day Seventh!” ³⁰And they ceased—the people—in Day the Seventh. ³¹And they—the House of Israel—called his name, ‘What?’ [män]. And he is as the seed of white coriander. And his taste is as a pancake in honey.

 

³²And Draw [Moshe] said, “This is the speech that Yehovah commanded: ‘Fill the baler from him for a guarding to your generations so-that they shall see the bread that I caused-you-to-eat in the desert during my exiting you from the land of Egypt!’”

 

³³And Draw [Moshe] said unto Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], “Take one concave-concave. And give a fullness of a baler of ‘What?’. And rest him to the faces of Yehovah for a guarding to your generations ³⁴just-as Yehovah commanded unto Draw [Moshe]. And Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] rested him to the faces of the Witness for a guarding. ³⁵And the children of Israel ate the ‘What?’ forty year[s] unto their coming unto a dwelt land. They ate the ‘What?’ unto their coming unto an edge of the land of Merchant [Canaan]. ³⁶And the baler is a tenth of the baker.

 

 

 

I. The Long Journey (verse 1)

 

The Israelis journeyed from Their-Ram to Thorn Desert. This desert is between Their-Ram and My-Thorn.

 

The Israelis together are called the witness of the children of Israel.

 

They traveled until the fifteenth day of the second month from the time that they exited from Egypt!

 

 

Questions

1.    Why would a desert be named Thorn Desert? I suspect that it has very thorny plants! Some deserts have many plants with very sharp thorns. Now, cacti are from the continents that have the United States (and Canada), Mexico, Central America, and South America. Cacti are not native to other parts of the world, though they grow very well in many places once they have been introduced. All cacti have thorns, but there weren’t any cacti where the Israelis were. There were thorny plants, however, like thorny bushes and trees.

 

2.    How long have the Israelis been traveling at this time? They have been traveling one month.

 

3.    Did the Israelis know where they were going? No, they didn’t. They will soon show their anxiety over not knowing some things.

 

 

 

II. Anger and Bitterness (verses 2-3)

 

The witness of the children of Israel became angry, and came into the personal space of Moshe and Aharon. They wanted to know who will give (cause) their death; will it be the hand of Yehovah? Will it be the land of Egypt? Will it be by means of sitting upon a pot of flesh? Will it be by means of having plenty of food? They then accused them both: “Ye exited us unto this desert to kill all this congregation via famine!”

 

 

Questions

1.    The text states that all the witness of the children of Israel lodged upon Moshe and Aharon. What does this mean? To lodge is to lean or recline in a place, or in this case, upon folks. It is getting into their space, and putting pressure on them. This is one step away from becoming violent. When the Israelis lodge, they are in the process of working themselves up to violence.

 

2.    The text states that the witness of the children of Israel lodged in the desert. What is a witness as it is used here? A witness is either a person or a group acting as one person who is seeing something, experiencing something, and/or hearing something that will later be important to remember and to recall.

 

3.    Why does the text mention that this witness of Israel lodged upon Moshe and Aharon in the desert? Why is that so important? A desert is one of the hardest environments in which to survive. Food is scarce or not present, and water is scarce or not present. Humans easily die in deserts (unless they have been trained to survive there).

 

4.    Are the children of Israel young? The word children is used in the Bible to mean the offspring without regard to age. Thus, 80-year-old folks can be children of their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. These children of Israel are of all possible ages.

 

5.    The children of Israel said, “Who will give our death?” What did they mean? They are asking to know who (or what) will be the cause of all of them dying. Will Yehovah cause them to die, or will the land of Egypt (from which Yehovah took them)? They are also asking if they will die next to a pot of the flesh (what we would call a stew)—that is, will they die full, or will they starve to death? Will they die via eating bread (food) to the full? They are furious, claiming that Yehovah has brought them out there to kill them in the desert!

 

6.    Explain their accusation against Moshe and Aharon: The Israelis said, “For ye exited us unto this desert to kill all this congregation via famine!” They are claiming that Moshe and Aharon will cause the entire congregation to starve to death in the desert.

 

7.    Are the Israelis in danger of dying of starvation? If the reader ignores Yehovah, yes! The land is a very stark and harsh land. Why ignore Yehovah, though? He did so many miracles. They aren’t really considering Yehovah, however; they only see Moshe and Aharon, and they think those two are incompetent!

 

8.    Why did Yehovah permit them to become so hungry? He explains in Deuteronomy 8:2 that He caused the Israelis to hunger so that they will learn (in the distant future) that man lives by everything that proceeds from the mouth of Yehovah!

 

 

 

III. The Test (verses 4-5)

 

Yehovah spoke unto Moshe. He explained what He was about to do: “Behold I am raining bread to you from the heavens.” He then explained how the Israelis were to respond: “And the people shall exit. And they shall glean a speech of a day in his day.” Yehovah’s purpose was to test them in order to demonstrate if they will walk via His Teaching, or not.

 

Yehovah then gave more instructions: “And he shall be in the sixth day. And they shall foundation what they shall bring. And he shall be doubled upon what they shall glean: day, day.” This is what will occur for the Sabbath.

 

 

Questions

1.    How will Yehovah rain bread to the Israelis from the heavens? He is about to explain this. It won’t be in the form of loaves of bread. The word bread in the Bible is also used for food (of any kind).

 

2.    The next statement is, “And the people shall exit.” What shall he (the people) exit? He shall exit the tents of Israel. All the Israelis will go outside to do what Yehovah will next explain.

 

3.    What does glean mean and involve? Gleaning is picking up grain and food from the ground. For example, when a wheat field is harvested, some of the harvested wheat berries (that are ground to flour to make breads and pie crusts, etc.) fall to the ground. If a person picks these up from the ground and collects them, that person is gleaning. If the person picks up wheat shafts with the berries still attached, whether the wheat shafts fell to the ground or were just missed, this is also gleaning. If a person picks up apples that fell from the tree once the tree was harvested, that is also gleaning.

 

4.    What will the Israelis glean in this case? What is there to harvest? That will be explained a few verses down.

 

5.    What does “a speech of a day in his day” mean? Every new day starts with a speech: an announcement that it has arrived. Since the day starts in the evening, the evening breezes and the sounds of the evening start the speech. When the sun rises after the night, another speech (often of birds) announces this event. This is the speech that also announces that the gleaning can begin.

 

6.    What is the purpose for causing the Israelis to have to glean for their food, according to the text? It is a test that Yehovah is giving: “Will he walk via my Teaching, if not?”

 

7.    Who is he in, “Will he walk via my Teaching”? He is Israel; He is the people (of Israel). Yehovah’s interest isn’t to find out if individuals will walk via His Teaching, but whether the entire group (without any exceptions) will walk via His Teaching. He will only be satisfied if the entire group does so.

 

8.    Explain if in, “Will he walk via my Teaching, if not”: Speakers of English would say or instead of if. Hebrew uses if because Israel’s walking via Yehovah’s Teaching is uncertain from the view of humans. Yehovah knows which Israel will do; the test is for the sakes of the Israelis, not for the sake of Yehovah.

 

9.    What does “And they shall foundation what they shall bring” mean? The word foundation is like the word establish; a foundation must be certain if it will support a building. The Israelis must make certain how much of this gleaned food they will bring to their tents. Whatever they will bring, the amount (he) will be doubled! This will occur every sixth day.

 

10. At the end of the statement, “And he shall be doubled upon what they shall glean: day, day,” the words day, day are found. What do they mean? They mean that every day that is the sixth day of the week, this event will take place: the doubling of the amount of the gleaned food that they will bring to their tents.

 

 

 

IV. Moshe’s and Aharon’s Response (verses 6-7)

 

Moshe and Aharon told the Israelis what Yehovah had told them. They explained, “Evening! And ye shall know that Yehovah exited you from the land of Egypt!” Thus, they would know this by evening. They also said, “And morning! And ye shall see the importance of Yehovah via His hearkening-to your lodgings upon Yehovah!” They then added, “And what are we that ye shall be lodged upon us?”

 

 

Questions

1.    Verse 6 starts out, “And Moshe said, and Aharon, unto all the children of Israel…” Why didn’t it just say, “And Moshe and Aharon said unto all the children of Israel…”? The text is explaining that Moshe did the speaking, and Aharon repeated what Moshe said. Thus, Moshe said (first), and then Aharon said the same thing (second).

 

2.    What did Moshe (and Aharon) mean by saying, “Evening”? That is the succinct (very short, brief, and to-the-point) way of saying, “When the evening arrives…”

 

3.    Didn’t the Israelis already know that Yehovah is the One Who exited them from the land of Egypt? They thought that Moshe and Aharon had done this! They didn’t truly believe in Yehovah Whom they didn’t see; blaming Moshe and Aharon was much more convenient. Thus, the Israelis will learn by evening that Yehovah was the One Who did this.

 

4.    What did Moshe mean by, “ye shall see the importance of Yehovah”? The Israelis still didn’t see Yehovah as all that important. They knew that Moshe and Aharon saw Him as important, but the Israelis continued to see Egypt as important rather than Yehovah. Seeing Him as important is a necessary part of fearing Him; fearing Him is necessary if a person will successfully refuse to sin and will refuse to practice idolatry (believing in false gods).

 

5.    How will the Israelis see Yehovah’s importance? This will occur by means of Yehovah’s hearkening to the lodgings (potentially violent protests) upon Yehovah! They didn’t just lodge upon Moshe and Aharon, but upon Yehovah, since Yehovah sent Moshe and Aharon! Yehovah will hearken to these lodgings, and He will respond with very strong action!

 

6.    Moshe added, “And what are we that ye shall be lodged upon us?” What did he mean by this? Moshe is declaring that Moshe and Aharon are not important. Therefore, lodging upon them is useless. They don’t have any power to do anything; they are sent by Yehovah Who alone has the power to do things.

 

 

 

V. Outrage (verse 8)

 

The next statement of Moshe seems to be the answer to a question: “Via Yehovah’s giving flesh to you in the evening to eat and bread in the morning to satisfaction, via Yehovah’s hearkening-to your lodgings that ye are lodging them upon us…” Moshe then again stated, “And what are we?” He then accused them: “Your lodgings are not upon us; for, upon Yehovah!”

 

 

Questions

1.    Moshe gave two incomplete sentences (they have no verb). The first states, “Via Yehovah’s giving flesh to you in the evening to eat and bread in the morning to satisfaction!” What did he mean by this? It is as if Moshe were answering a question of the Israelis, like this: “And how will we see the importance of Yehovah?” with Moshe answering, “Via Yehovah’s giving flesh to you in the evening to eat and bread in the morning to satisfaction!”

 

2.    Explain the second incomplete sentence, “Via Yehovah’s hearkening-to your lodgings that ye are lodging them upon us”: It is again as if Moshe were answering another question of the Israelis, like this: “And how will we know that it is Yehovah who is doing this instead of some trick of magicians?” with Moshe answering, “Via Yehovah’s hearkening-to your lodgings that ye are lodging them upon us!”

 

3.    What did Moshe mean by, “Your lodgings are not upon us; for, upon Yehovah”? English speakers would say, “Your lodgings are not against us, but against Yehovah!” Moshe found this astonishing since He knew the power of Yehovah and the powerlessness of the Israelis! Moshe knew that the Israelis were inviting a great destruction by what they were saying and doing.

 

 

 

VI. The Glory of Yehovah (verses 9-10)

 

Moshe now spoke to Aharon, giving him instructions to tell the Israelis: “Say unto all the witness of the children of Israel, ‘Approach-ye to the faces of Yehovah! For He hearkened-to your lodgings!’”

 

When Aharon was just finished relaying this information to all the witness of the children of Israel, they faced toward the desert. And they beheld; they saw the importance of Yehovah by means of a cloud!

 

 

Questions

1.    Why did Moshe tell Aharon to say things to the witness of the children of Israel instead of saying things himself? Moshe knew that the Israelis wouldn’t listen to him; they would at least listen to Aharon, since he had been a slave with them. Also, Aharon will later be established as a priest between the Israelis and Yehovah.

 

2.    How can the witness of the children of Israel approach to the faces of Yehovah? Where are His faces located? The text later said that they faced unto the desert. The cloud was located there; His faces were in that cloud.

 

3.    The text next stated, “And he was as the speech of Aharon is unto all the witness of the children of Israel.” Who is he? He is the next event that is about to take place. The next event occurred just as Aharon finished the speech.

 

4.    The text says, “And behold, the importance of Yehovah was seen via a cloud.” What did they see? I propose that they saw a cloud of quails coming toward the camp! If this is what they saw, it showed the importance of Yehovah because He easily controlled nature when He desired.

 

 

 

VII. Yehovah Speaks (verses 11-12)

 

Now Yehovah spoke unto Moshe: “I hearkened-to the lodgings of the children of Israel.” Yehovah gave Moshe a reply for them: “Ye shall eat flesh between the evenings. And ye shall be satisfied of bread in the morning. And ye shall know that I am Yehovah your Gods!”

 

 

Questions

1.    What does “Ye shall eat flesh between the evenings” mean, and what does between the evenings mean? Between the evenings is between sunset and sunrise; this then represents the time of night. Eating flesh is eating what we call meat (as distinct from vegetables, salads, deserts, etc.). Yehovah sent quails to the camp of Israel; the Israelis can now obtain all the quails they desire.

 

2.    What does “And ye shall be satisfied of bread” mean? This means “ye shall be satisfied with bread,” as in food, “ye shall be satisfied by bread,” and “ye shall be satisfied from bread.” The Israelis will have plenty to eat.

 

3.    The last statement is, “And ye shall know that I am Yehovah your Gods.” Didn’t they already know that Yehovah is their Gods? Yehovah wasn’t saying this for their sakes, but for the sakes of future Israelis who will be able to identify Yehovah as their Gods when He has supplied them with food! The Israelis about which we are reading who lived in Moshe’s day never knew that Yehovah was their Gods; they didn’t believe in Him.

 

 

 

VIII. What is He? (verses 13-18)

 

When the evening will come, the quail has ascended and has covered the camp! She is still there in the morning as the dew began to set. Then the lying of the dew ascended. In its place is the fineness of a fine vanishing refuge (a little shelter that disappears) that altogether is a cover upon the land! The children of Israel saw this and began questioning each other: “What is that?” They didn’t know what it was. Moshe said unto them, “He is the bread that Yehovah gave her to you to eat. This is the speech that Yehovah commanded.”

 

Moshe told them what to do: “Glean-ye from him, a man to the mouth of his eating, a baler to the skull from a scrolling of your beings.” (A baler measures grain taken from bales of grain stalks; the skull refers to the head-count.) He continued: “Ye shall take a man to what is in his tent,” referring to collecting the amount needed for all the occupants.

 

The Israelis did what they were told. They gleaned. Some multiplied the amounts gathered, and some only took a small amount. They then began to measure what they took using a baler (a grain measuring container, like a measuring cup). The person who took much more than he would need didn’t cause a surplus, and the one who took very little didn’t cause any lack! Every person gleaned exactly what he or she needed to eat!

 

 

Questions

1.    Who is he who shall be in the evening? He is the event about to be described.

 

2.    If the quail ascended (went up), from where did they ascend? They (the quail—the word quail can be singular or plural) ascended from wherever they were, and from great distances from each other to congregate in the camp of the Israelis. Yehovah called them to come together. (He will do something like this in the future!)

 

3.    What does “she covered the camp” mean? There were quail everywhere! Yehovah made certain that the Israelis couldn’t even walk without practically stepping on quail!

 

4.    What does “And in the morning she was the lying of the dew around to the camp” mean? Quail was everywhere in the camp in the early morning hours when dew began to settle. The Israelis could still capture quail to eat, if they desired.

 

5.    What happened when the lying of the dew ascended? I propose that the quail that were left took flight and left the Israeli camp.

 

6.    What does “the fineness of a fine, vanishing pottery-refuge” describe? What was on the land was the color of pottery—a light brown or tan colored small object as if it is ready to vanish, and in which something might take refuge (perhaps looking like a roly-poly when it is closed). The word fine indicates something that has been crushed or beaten into very small parts. I obtained the words “vanishing pottery-refuge” by taking the Hebrew word apart into two parts. This is often the way to solve definition mysteries in the Bible. These items were edible just the way they were, or they could be cooked and used in recipes.

 

7.    Where were these small items found? They were found as a cover upon the land! They were everywhere, like frost is everywhere on a very cold and humid morning.

 

8.    Wouldn’t this item be mixed with soil, with bird droppings, and with other things that would pollute it so that it couldn’t be eaten? Yehovah made certain that the Israelis had excellent health; these objects were not mixed with soil or droppings from animals. They were quite clean and could be gathered that way.

 

9.    Why did Yehovah make certain that it covered the land? This way, no one had to travel far to obtain it; it was just outside of the Israelis’ tents. Besides this, it pictures the Bread of Lives (that gives everlasting life to anyone who eats it); that Bread is available everywhere.

 

10. What was the reaction of the Israelis to this stuff? They didn’t know what it was (“what he is”). They asked in Hebrew, “Män hu?” from which the word manna will come.

 

11. Moshe explained, “He is the bread that Yehovah gave her to you to eat.” Who is her? She is the very different ‘bread’ that was over the entire camp. Yehovah gave her to the Israelis to eat.

 

12. Why did Yehovah force them to glean for this food instead of causing it to appear in their empty bowls each morning? This food is a type: a picture of something far more important. The Israelis had to go get it just like they have to obtain the Bread of the everlasting life in order to live. It is freely available to anyone who desires it, but each person must reach to obtain it. Now, a man or a woman could collect it for his household, but they still had to eat it in order to obtain benefit from it. Thus, one person could also obtain the Bread of everlasting life, and could then present it to others, but each had to eat it to be benefited.

 

13. How must of this food was each collector told to collect? The amount should be according to how much each person would eat. (Yehovah helped, as a future verse will show.) That is what the text means when it says, “a man to the mouth of his eating.”

 

14. What does baler mean? I propose that a baler measures grain taken from bales of grain stalks. I am thinking that this is a bowl-shaped container.

 

15. To what does the skull refer? I propose that the skull refers to the head-count. Thus, the baler (or bowl) of this product is gathered for each skull (each head).

 

16. What is a scrolling of beings? It is a count and a record of all persons. Using scrolls to keep track meant that pages could not easily be removed, since pages were sewn end on end or side on side to each other. While books are far easier to make and far less bulky, scrolls were used so that tampering was more difficult. Modern computers work on the basis of scrolling instead of book pages.

 

17. Explain using more modern and simpler words what “Glean-ye from him, a man to the mouth of his eating, a baler to the skull from a scrolling of your beings” means:

 

• Glean: pick up from the ground
• Him: the bread—that is, the food
• A man to the mouth of his eating: each person (man, woman, child) according to the amount of food that each one eats
• A baler: a measuring container: a bowl
• The skull: each head, used in a head count
• A scrolling of your beings: a record of each person who will eat

       Put this together: Pick up the food from the ground according to the amount each eats, a bowl amount for each person in the head-count according to the record of each person who will eat.

 

18. What does “Ye shall take a man to what is in his tent” mean? Each person (thus, a man, referring to a human) will take the amount of the food for the persons in his tent. Thus, what refers to the record of each person.

 

19. Why did Yehovah find it necessary to say that the children of Israel did? Many will not try something new—especially something that suddenly appears on the ground. All the Israelis tried this new food!

 

20. What does “the multiplier and the little-causer” mean? The multiplier is the person who gathered as much as he could, thinking that there might not be enough to solve his hunger. The little-causer is the person who gathered just a bit, perhaps thinking that he or she might not like it.

 

21. Why did they measure via a baler? What were they trying to see? Yehovah had commanded them to use a baler, which measures amounts; so, they measured! They wanted to see how much they each had.

 

22. What miracle is described in verse 18, and what does this show? The miracle was the amount for each person. The one who gathered and kept on gathering, perhaps thinking that it wouldn’t be enough, found that the measurement was perfect for him; he had not managed to gather any extra! The person who had gathered just a little in the bowl found that there was the perfect amount in the bowl (as if it multiplied when being carried back)! No matter what amount each gleaned, it was perfect for the appetite of each!

 

       Since this food is a picture of the Bread of the Lives (the food that will give a human everlasting life), this shows that if a person eats of that Bread, the person will always have exactly the right amount to give everlasting life!

 

 

 

IX. No Leftovers (verses 19-21)

 

Moshe warned the Israelis: “A man shall not ‘excess’ from him unto morning,” indicating that none of the gleaning was to be left until morning. The Israelis didn’t hearken; they set some extra aside for the next morning. It developed worms, and it stank! Moshe became angry at them.

 

They gleaned this every morning just as a person needed for his mouth (his appetite). When the sun became hot, this item left on the ground melted.

 

 

 

 

Questions

1.    What does “A man shall not ‘excess’ from him unto morning” mean? This means that no one is to keep leftovers of this food for use the next morning.

 

2.    What was wrong with keeping leftovers? First, the amount of the food was already exactly right for each eater; there should not be any leftovers. Secondly, this food pictured the Bread of the Lives. Keeping leftovers for the next morning ruined the type (the picture), since this communicated that one could reserve the Bread of the Lives to the next day, and not eat it all! That would picture a person becoming partly born of God, and that makes no sense!

 

3.    The text states, “And they didn’t hearken unto Moshe. And men ‘excessed’ from him unto morning.” Why did they do this? I am thinking that they were concerned that there wouldn’t be a supply of food the next day; some wanted to reserve food (hoard food) in case they again went hungry.

 

4.    Who elevated worms, and what does this mean? This special appearing bread elevated worms (maggots)! The food rotted overnight, and it stank!

 

5.    Why did Moshe anger? What was the big deal? The Israelis were not obeying Yehovah’s commands. If they didn’t obey with a small and simple command, they wouldn’t obey if given a much harder command. Yehovah’s commands are designed to save lives. Disobeying what seems to be a minor or relatively unimportant command will get folks killed. Yehovah only commands what is absolutely vital and necessary; He never commands anything that is truly unnecessary. Moshe knew this; he therefore became angry.

 

6.    What does “And they gleaned him in the morning, in the morning, a man as the mouth of his eating” mean? This means that they did this according to a routine: they gleaned this food each morning, picking up exactly what was right for each person’s appetite.

 

7.    Who or what melted? What does this mean? After the Israelis (and all their animals) obtained the amount of this food that they needed for the rest of the day, when the sun became hot, this food melted as if it were ice. It went down into the sandy soil.

 

8.    Of what was this food made? It was made of whatever each person and each animal needed for the entire day: the right amount of vitamins, minerals, sugars, fiber, proteins, amino acids, etc. with good flavours for all. Yehovah created it each day that it appeared. The Israelis could either eat it straight or could cook it, fry it, bake using it as flour, eat it with other food items that they might grow, etc. It would still provide exactly what they needed to live. Thus, it was a true picture of the Bread of the Lives (the Bread of Life). Yet, all that remained that wasn’t used melted (if on the ground) or bred maggots (if stored for a later time—with one exception about to be mentioned).

 

 

 

X. Double (verses 22-24)

 

Day sixth (Friday) came. Whatever they picked up was double compared to the previous days; the baler (measurer) showed this. Those in the congregation who carried information came to tell Moshe. He said unto them, “He is what Yehovah spoke. A cessation—a ceasing of the Holy-[One] is to Yehovah tomorrow.” He then instructed them, “Bake-ye what ye shall bake and boil-ye what ye shall boil.” They could fix this product in any way they chose. “And ye shall rest to you all the surplus to tomorrow unto the morning.” That way, they would have food for the next day. The Israelis did this. This product didn’t stink, and no maggot was found in it.

 

 

Questions

1.    What was in day sixth? The next event about to be described was in day sixth (that is, in the sixth day of the week).

 

2.    What miracle occurred on day sixth, according to this text? Each person gleaned exactly double the amount of this bread! The measuring bowls showed that it was double!

 

3.    What are the carriers of the congregation? They are the leaders with responsibilities. They therefore carry responsibility as leaders.

 

       All leaders are responsible for what they do. Yehovah holds all leaders responsible. Many desire to be leaders, thinking that this gives them power. Few consider the responsibilities they carry, however. Some do think of the responsibilities, but some of them like to take advantage of those under their leadership in ways that are wrong. Yehovah will judge them with much greater condemnation for doing this, since all leaders have always been promoted by Yehovah to the leadership position. There is no leader in any place at any time who wasn’t put there by Yehovah. Yehovah always puts leaders into the leadership position in order to benefit those whom they lead. Many leaders don’t desire to benefit others except for their own friends, and they become cruel to others who aren’t their friends. Yehovah will judge them with great condemnation for mistreating others without justice. Yehovah even raises up leaders in idolatrous religions in order for them to benefit those whom they rule; Yehovah will hold them responsible for what they do and teach.

 

4.    Why did the carriers consider telling Moshe about the doubling of the measurements as if this were so important? They didn’t want trouble over this, and it was different.

 

5.    What is this cessation? A cessation is a time of stopping something; it is related to the word cease. This cessation is the Hebrew word Shabbat from which the word Sabbath comes. Every Shabbat is a cessation—a cessation of labour. This will be explained later in the text.

 

6.    Why is this called “a ceasing of the Holy One”? Who is this Holy One, and from what will he cease? This Holy One, known more fully as the Holy One of Israel, is the Messiah of Israel. His name is Yeshua, and His name means Salvation. While some call Him Jesus, most don’t know who Yeshua is, what He wants, what He does and will do, what He has done, what His personality is, and what He character is.

 

       Yeshua, the Holy One, will cease from His labour—from His work—for a short time. This is called “a ceasing of the Holy One to Yehovah,” telling me that this belongs to Yehovah and will be a time when Yehovah does the work so that Yeshua will cease. The food—the Bread of the Lives that has already been provided—will be available to those who have already obeyed and acquired it; there will be no bread waiting on the soil the next day.

 

7.    What ways could this strange bread be fixed, according to verse 23? It could be baked and it could be boiled, though it didn’t have to be cooked at all. The Israelis figured out different ways to fix this bread.

 

8.    What does “And ye shall rest to you all the surplus to tomorrow unto the morning” mean? This means that the Israelis must put aside the remainder of the food that will certainly be there. They will keep it unto the next morning; it will be fine.

 

 

 

XI. Ceasing (verses 25-26)

 

Moshe told Israel (as if Israel were one person), “Eat-thou him today,” referring to the strange ‘bread’ (food) that the Israelis had picked from the ground the previous day. He explained, “For today is a ceasing to Yehovah. Ye shall not find him today in the field.” Moshe continued, “Thou shalt glean him six days. And cease-thou in the seventh day! He will not be in him!”

 

 

Questions

1.    On what day did Moshe say, “Eat-thou him today”? He said this on Shabbat; he also said, “For today is a ceasing to Yehovah.”

 

2.    Who is him whom they won’t find in the field? This refers to the special Bread that will later be known as manna.

 

3.    Who owns this ceasing, and what does owning it mean? Yehovah owns this ceasing—this Shabbat (Sabbath). If Moshe had said, “For today is a ceasing to you,” that would have shown that the Israelis own it. Since it is a ceasing to Yehovah, however, the Israelis cannot treat the Sabbath as their own property. They must treat it as Yehovah’s property, and they must do what Yehovah says when the Sabbath arrives. The Israelis cannot make their own rules, and they cannot define it; Yehovah must make the rules, and He must define it. (I say this because in forms of Judaism that care about the Sabbaths of Yehovah, the Israelis (Jewish folks) have decided what can and cannot be done on the Sabbaths, and therefore they haven’t understood this text showing that the Sabbaths belong to Yehovah and not to them.)

 

4.    Why won’t the Israelis find ‘him’ in the field on this day? Yehovah won’t send the special food from the heavens on this day. This teaches the Israelis that this special food must be gathered while it is available; there will be times when it isn’t available for gathering, and only those who have already gathered it will have what they need when it isn’t available for gathering. Had Yehovah sent that bread all seven days of the week, that would have taught that it is always available; but it isn’t!

 

5.    Will there be a future event that will include these six days when this Bread can be gathered, after which it won’t be available? I propose that there will be a time of six days during the last part of the Tribulation when Israelis who haven’t yet come to faith will know Truth, and will be able to obtain the Bread of Everlasting Lives. All who truly believe and therefore turn to Yeshua, the Bread of the Lives in person, during those six days, will live. The rest of the Israelis who wait until the seventh day will be destroyed from among the rest of the Israelis; they will not obtain everlasting lives.

 

 

 

XII. Refusal to Guard (verses 27-31)

 

The next event occurred on Day Seventh—that is, on Saturday in the way we reckon days. Some of the Israelis exited to glean the strange food from the ground. They didn’t find it, of course. Yehovah responded to their actions by stating to Moshe, “Until when are ye refusing to guard my commandments and my teachings? See-ye that Yehovah gave the Ceasing to you! Therefore He, He gave bread of two days to you in Day Seventh!” Yehovah referred to Himself in the third person!

 

Yehovah continued, “Return-ye a man under himself!” (What did He mean?) He then commanded, “A man shall not exit from his place in the Day Seventh!” This was the most restrictive command Yehovah gave regarding the Sabbath.

 

The Israelis ceased; the entire people did this in Day the Seventh.

 

They needed a name for this edible item picked from the desert floor. They called it, “What?” which in Hebrew is män (the ä is pronounced like “ma” in the shortened form for mother).

 

Its size was the size of white coriander seed—that is, about an eighth of an inch. The taste was like a pancake in honey!

 

 

Questions

1.    Who was in the Day Seventh? The next event described was in the Day Seventh.

 

2.    What is the difference between “the Day Seventh” and “the seventh Day”? The Hebrew days of the week are like this:

 

• Day First
• Day Second
• Day Third
• Day Revolution (that is, the day of revolving or turning over; the end of the week is now becoming close)
• Day Fifth
• Day Sixth
• Day Seventh/Day Ceasing

       While the seventh day can be the seventh in any series of days (for example, he arose on the seventh day from his bed), Day Seventh refers to the day of the week (similar to what we call Saturday, but starting as the sun sets rather than at midnight).

 

3.    Who exited from the people to glean? Israelis who disobeyed the simple and direct command of Yehovah exited from the Israeli people to glean!

 

4.    Did Moshe also go out to glean on Day Seventh? No; Moshe obeyed Yehovah.

 

5.    If the above answer is correct, why did Yehovah say unto Moshe, “Until when are ye refusing to guard my commandments and my teachings,” as if Moshe is one of the violators? If even one of the Israelis does wrong, all Israel has done wrong. Yehovah looks at the group and holds the group responsible for every member of the group. Since Moshe was part of the group, Yehovah spoke to him as part of the ‘ye’ (the ‘you,’ plural). Moshe understood this.

 

6.    Were the Israelis refusing to guard Yehovah’s commandments and His teachings by just looking for the special Bread on the Sabbath? Yes! They were disobeying Yehovah’s commandments, since disobeying just one commandment is breaking them all, and they were not guarding His teachings since the Teaching of the Sabbath included no special Bread on the ground. (They had to consider why this was one of His Teachings; few have thought this through.)

 

7.    To whom did Yehovah give the Ceasing, according to verse 29, and what does this mean? Yehovah gave the Ceasing to the Israelis. Thus, He entrusted them with both the command and the Teaching so that they can consider it, obey it, and live! Yehovah never gave the Ceasing to any other group. Thus, the Israelis are responsible to cease from their labours on this day. (Yehovah will give them exceptions so that they can take care of their cattle, for example; the exceptions do not harm the Teaching that is life-saving.)

 

8.    What does “Return ye a man under himself” mean? The word under in Hebrew is used in this way: “Then he reigned under him” when we in English would understand, “Then he reigned in his stead,” meaning in his place. With this in mind, look at “Return ye a man under himself.” This means, “Return ye a man in his own place,” a Hebrew way of saying, “Every person is to return back to his own place and stay there!” Hebrew has a way of saying things that is much shorter.

 

9.    When Moshe commanded, “A man shall not exit from his place in the Day Seventh,” what did he mean? Moshe was telling the Israelis to remain in their tents and not to exit to go look for the special Bread (the manna). They could go out of their tents to tend their cattle, their children, to urinate, to get water, to visit their neighbours, etc., but they must not go look for manna during the Day Seventh!

 

10. The text states, “And they ceased—the people—in Day the Seventh.” From what did they cease? They ceased from looking for the manna. They also ceased from doing their daily occupations of work, doing only what was necessary for their children, cattle, etc.

 

11. What does manna mean, according to verse 31? It means, “What?” Another verse states that it means, “What is he?” The pronunciation, män, is given.

 

12. In what way is manna like white coriander, and what does that look like? Manna appeared very much like coriander seed (that is, the seed of the cilantro plant—you can obtain it where garden seeds are sold), except that manna was white in color. It looked like this, but white:

 

 

(Picture by Sanjay Acharya posted on http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sa-cilantro_seeds.jpg)

 

13. Like what did manna taste? It tasted like a pancake in honey!

 

14. Did everyone like the taste of manna? Yehovah made sure that everyone liked the taste of manna, and that all the sheep, goats, cattle, dogs and cats that the Israelis had also liked the taste!

 

 

 

XIII. The Guarding (verse 32)

 

The measurement, an omer, is a baler—that is, it is a container that was used when baling hay and grains. Yehovah commanded the Israelis to gather a baler of the män to guard it for the generations of Israelis so that they will see this food that Yehovah caused the Israelis to eat in the desert during His exiting them from the land of Egypt.

 

 

Questions

1.    What did Yehovah command to do with some of the manna in verse 32, and why did He command this? Yehovah commanded Israel (singular) to fill one measuring container of the manna to keep for generations to come in order for them to see this special Bread that He caused Israel to eat in the desert at this time of exiting from Egypt.

 

2.    Did Israel do this? Yes.

 

3.    Where is this manna now, so that we can see it? I have two ideas about this:

 

• One day in the future, the container with the manna inside will be found; or,
• Yehovah will again provide manna, and this time a container of it will be preserved for the entire Millennium (thousand years during which time Yeshua, the King of Israel reigns over all kings and lords of the earth)

 

 

       I don’t know which of these will occur, but I am certain that one of the two will occur. Yehovah desires for the Israelis to be able to see this manna!

 

 

 

XIV. The Basket of Mahn (verses 33-36)

 

Moshe told Aharon to take one double-concave container, and give a fullness of a baler of ‘What?’ This included filling it with the män. Aharon must rest the container to the faces of Yehovah for a guarding to the generations of the Israelis; that is what Yehovah had commanded Moshe. Aharon did so in front of the Witness—in front of Israel—so that Israel will guard it.

 

The children of Israel ate the ‘What?’ (män) forty years right up to the time that they came unto a land already being dwelt. They ate this ‘What?’ (män) right up to the point of their coming to the very edge of the land of Canaan.

 

What volume size is the baler (an omer)? It is a tenth of a baker’s measure (an ephah).

 

 

Questions

1.    What is a concave-concave? Look at these pictures:

 

 

       This first picture shows a bowl. It is concave, meaning that it has an area that goes inward. The opposite is convex, meaning that it has an area that goes outward. (If you turn it upside down, the bottom that is then up is convex!)

 

       Now, put two together with the concave parts facing each other:

 

 

       Next, close them together:

 

 

       Now, flatten one of the points so that it will stand on one end, and open the opposite side so that it will be a container:

 

 

       This is a ‘concave-concave’! It is a jar!

 

2.    What does “And give a fullness of a baler of ‘What?’” mean? This means to put into the jar a full measure of the manna from the measuring bowl. This will be kept for later use.

 

3.    Where did Israel put this jar, and for what purpose did Israel put it there? Moshe told Aharon to rest the jar “to the faces of Yehovah”—that is, right in front of where Yehovah’s faces will see it all of the time. This location will later be described; the jar will be placed in a special box inside of a special chamber of a special tent. That chamber is where the faces of Yehovah will be, since Yehovah will place His faces there.

 

       The purpose of placing it there is so that it will be “for a guarding to your [the Israelis’] generations.”

 

4.    Why is faces plural (more than one)? Everyone, including Yehovah, has more than one face! The Hebrew word for face describes turns, and our faces have many turns in two ways: the curves of our cheeks and chins, foreheads and ears, and the various looks that we can give. We can turn from a smile to frowning, for example. The same is true with Yehovah’s faces. He also has one other ability that we don’t have: His faces can be in many different locations around the world at the same time!

 

5.    In what way will this manna be “for a guarding to your generations”? This will occur in two ways:

 

• The Israelis must guard the manna—that is, make certain that they don’t lose it, and make certain that it isn’t changed in any way, but is kept safe
• The manna will guard the Israelis and their generations!

       This manna pictures the Bread of the lives—that is, the food that gives everlasting lives to the Israelis; it is the only source of this life. It is a picture of Yeshua Himself:

 

       John 6:35 And Yeshua said unto them, “I am the Bread of life! He who comes to me shall never hunger!”

 

       In the meantime, the Israelis have lost the manna; they don’t have Yeshua (because they don’t believe in Yeshua—with a very few individual exceptions), and the rabbis of Israel have changed the manna for teachings that won’t provide everlasting life for anyone.

 

       The manna, in the form of Yehovah, is what (Who) guards Israel! Though Israel has temporarily lost the manna, Yeshua is still the guard of Israel.

 

6.    Where did Aharon place the manna? He rested it (“him”) “to the faces of the Witness for a guarding.” Thus, the Witness of Israel—that is, the entirety Israel as one single witness of events is where Yehovah is located! He is in the camp of the Israelis!

 

7.    How long did the Israelis eat the manna? They ate it for forty years! That means that Yehovah provided it for forty years, six days a week for all those weeks!

 

8.    What land is the dwelt land? It is the land of Canaan (Merchant), a land inhabited by the Canaanites, the Perizites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, etc. Since they dwell in that land, it is a dwelt land.

 

9.    What is a baker? It is a measurement used by bakers (since they deal in larger amounts of things). According to this text, a baker measure is ten times the size of a baler measure.