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. When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on
the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the
hoarfrost on the ground. 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.”
We may best remember this event in Exodus by thinking it was
raining quails and bread, as God said He would “rain bread from heaven”. And of course we quickly carry that concept over
to the quails as well. But in reality,
reading the text carefully, we come to realize that the quails “came up” (not
down) and the bread was in the form of dew, not rain.
According
to R. Alan Cole and David Guzik who quotes him, the quails mentioned here
"migrate regularly between south Europe and Arabia across the Sinai
Peninsula. They are small, bullet-headed birds, with a strong but low flight,
usually roosting on the ground or in the low bushes at nightfall. When
exhausted, they would be unable to … take off again. The birds are good eating,
and were a favorite delicacy of the Egyptians."
In
their exhaustion, they are easy to catch, appearing tame. Robert Jamieson adds, “They are found in
certain seasons in the places through which the Israelites passed, being
migratory birds, and they were probably brought to the camp by ‘a wind from the
Lord’ as on another occasion (as we can see in Numbers 11:31).”
In
the morning, the children of Israel found a lawyer of dew on the ground around
the camp. According to Wikipedia:
Dew is water in the form of
droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening due to
condensation. As the exposed surface
cools by radiating its heat, atmospheric moisture condenses at a rate greater
than that at which it can evaporate, resulting in the formation of water
droplets. When temperatures are low
enough, dew takes the form of ice; this form is called frost (frost is,
however, not frozen dew). Because dew is
related to the temperature of surfaces, in late summer it is formed most easily
on surfaces which are not warmed by conducted heat from deep ground, such as
grass, leaves, railings, car roofs, and bridges.
Water
vapour will condense into droplets depending on the temperature. The
temperature at which droplets can form is called the dew point. When surface temperature
drops, eventually reaching the dew point, atmospheric water vapor condenses to
form small droplets on the surface.
The
Bible says that when these droplets evaporated, what was left on the ground was
“fine flake-like thing”, fine as hoarfrost.
David Guzik suggests that because it was so fine, it was not easy to
gather and thus had to be “swept” up from the ground.
Chuck
Smith: Manna actually means, "What is it?" So they saw this little
round seed-like thing on the ground, and they said, "What is it?"
because they didn't know what it was. Later in this same chapter (verse 31), this flake-like
thing is described as being like a coriander seed (about the size of a sesame
seed), and sweet like honey.
We
must keep in mind that the purpose for giving the Israelites bread from heaven
and quails was not just to keep them alive.
Its primary reason was as Guzik says, “to teach them eternal lessons of
dependence on God.” The situation also
exemplifies God’s desire to cooperate with man.
Man could not provide the provision, and God would not gather it for
them. Both had to do their part.
When
the Israelites saw the “flake-like thing” they did not know what it was. So they remarked, “What is it?” Again, according to Strong’s Lexicon, the
translation of the Hebrew word for ‘what’ as in ‘what is it?’ is “man” or
“manna”. And thus this “flake-like
thing” became known as ‘manna from heaven’.
Commentator
Robert Jamieson indicates there is a “gum of the same name distilled in this
desert region from the tamarisk, which is much prized by the natives, and
preserved carefully by those who gather it. It is collected early in the
morning, melts under the heat of the sun, and is congealed by the cold of
night. In taste it is as sweet as honey, and has been supposed by distinguished
travellers, from its whitish color, time, and place of its appearance, to be
the manna on which the Israelites were fed: so that, according to the views of
some, it was a production indigenous to the desert; according to others, there
was a miracle, which consisted, however, only in the preternatural arrangements
regarding its supply. But more recent and accurate examination has proved this
gum of the tarfa-tree to be wanting in all the principal characteristics of the
Scripture manna. It exudes only in small quantities, and not every year; it
does not admit of being baked (Numbers 11:8) or boiled (Exodus 16:23). Though it may be exhaled by the heat and
afterwards fall with the dew, it is a medicine, not food--it is well known to
the natives of the desert, while the Israelites were strangers to theirs; and
in taste as well as in the appearance of double quantity on Friday, none on
Sabbath, and in not breeding worms, it is essentially different from the manna
furnished to the Israelites.”
On
a recent trip the mountains of North Carolina while out on walk, we noticed
some hoar-like structures on the ground – on the dirt road we were on and on
the leaves by the side. As soon as you
touched it, it melted away but in its untouched state it looked beautiful. Here is a picture of it.
So the Israelites asked, “What is it?”. Often we do not believe that what God told
us, He would do and that it actually came about. Or, we do not recognize it for what it is.
So many times we seek our own way to feed our
hunger and desires. Yet God is willing
to provide for us in miraculous ways – even in the desert.
So the Israelites asked, “What is it?”. Often we do not believe that what God told
us, He would do and that it actually came about. Or, we do not recognize it for what it is.
So many times we seek our own way to feed our
hunger and desires. Yet God is willing
to provide for us in miraculous ways – even in the desert.
_____________________________________________________________________
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