Amen. Please remain standing and open the pages of the scripture in your hand to Exodus chapter 16. beginning from verse nine to 21. Tonight, as we make our way through the book of Exodus, we come to chapter 16, verse nine to 21. I will read it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and for the glory of our Heavenly Father. Then 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. And 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. And the Lord said to Moses, 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. In the evening, Quail came up and covered the camp. And in the morning dew lay around the camp. And 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. When 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. This is what the Lord has commanded. Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent. And the people of Israel did so. They gathered some more, some less, but when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over. And whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, let no one leave any of it over till the morning. But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning. and its bread worms and stung, and Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat. But when the sun grew, had it melted." Amen. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, Tonight, the desires of our hearts. Lord is to be fed on Christ, the bread of life. So we ask you once again to come among us in a special way, even as we sang together to break the bread, the bread of your word, for as your people feed us, by Christ, the bread of life. In His name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. One of the doctrines of the Scripture that is very precious and glorious is the doctrine of providence. The doctrine of providence teaches God's people that God is gracious, God is loving, God is faithful to provide the needs of his people every time his people are in need. And tonight we come to the portion of the Old Testament, the book of Exodus, chapter 16, where we see God providing to the people of Israel bread from heaven. The portion of the book of Exodus that we are considering together tonight is known as the miracle of the manna. It was a great event in the history of God's people, the Israelites, where the Lord provided them with bread from heaven in the wilderness. What makes this gift of God, what makes this provision of God so special, so timely, is God provided this bread to His people from above, from heaven in the wilderness. When His people were hopeless, when His people were in desperation, God came for His people. God came to His people to provide their needs. They were hungry. They were grumbling. They were in despair, and God came and provided bread to them from heaven, unlike the bread that they had in Egypt. Unlike the bread that they ate before in their life, so special, so glorious, from above, from heaven, bread came down from heaven as rain would come down to the earth. Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you really want to understand the doctrine of providence, this is the portion where you need to come and grasp and understand and appreciate the doctrine of providence. Not only the providence of physical bread, but also spiritual bread from heaven. That bread that satisfies our souls forever. The theme of wilderness in the Bible is such an important aspect and experience of God's people. When God wants to shape the spiritual life of his people. When he wants to sanctify his children, we see him bringing his people to the wilderness. The experience of the wilderness in the Old Testament in the Bible has a significant theme. You remember, that it was the experience of the people of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years. God kept his people in the wilderness for those 40 years to shape them, to sanctify them, to conform them after his own will. There are times you see in life, in our life, as God's people, even as individual believers, we'll find ourselves in some kind of wilderness. We might not understand it. We might not understand the why completely, but God will bring us to some kind of wilderness in our life to shape us, to mold us, to sanctify us, so that we would trust Him more and more in the Christian life. We would hate sin more and more in the Christian life. would love our God more and more, would love his worship more and more. When you become a Christian, my friend, you are immediately in the hand of this God, the God of providence, who has an interest in your soul. And that's what God is doing here. The Israelites in the wilderness. Moses himself was in the wilderness for 80 years. He was the leader of God's people, but he needed to be sanctified. He needed to be conformed to the likeness of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Our Savior himself was in the wilderness. The Holy Spirit drove him to the wilderness in order to be tested, in order to be tempted by the devil, to the extent that Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone. but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. It is written Jesus said in the wilderness when he defeated all the temptation of Satan in the wilderness. You see, the wilderness, the theme of wilderness in the Bible is so important, so vital for us as believers. So every time we see people, the people of God, being brought into some kind of wilderness, we need to pay our full attention. Because it means there is an important spiritual lesson that we need to learn. Listen to the Apostle Paul in Romans 15, 4. Thinking about the experience of God's people in the wilderness, in the Old Testament, in this journey in Romans 15, 4, Paul said, For whatever was written in the former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scripture we might have hope, Hope is what we need as Christians all the time, is hope. When we are in sorrow, we need hope. When we are in loss, we need hope. When we are tempted by the world, the flesh, and the devil, we need hope. And these things are written for our instruction. So that, as Paul said, through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scripture, we might have hope. So what is the instruction here? On the surface you see God providing the manna, this miraculous bread from heaven to His people. On the surface, outwardly, the lesson is to trust in God's daily provision and dependence on Him for our daily needs. So the immediate lesson on the surface is trust God for your daily provision in this life. Trust God for today. Tomorrow is in His hand. What you need tomorrow, He will provide. But you need to trust Him about today. You need to trust Him about your needs for today. Isn't that what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6? Do not be worried about tomorrow. Tomorrow has its own trouble. Trust God for today, about today. So the lesson outwardly, of course, is for us to trust and depend on God for every need that we have. But then the primary and hidden lesson is to teach the Israelites and all of us that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out from the mouth of God. This letter, you see, provision is eternal provision. It is about eternal life. It is a constant, permanent. bread that we need in our life as Christians. And by God's grace, I would like to unfold that for you all in three ways, under three considerations. First, I want us to consider the nature of the provision, the nature of the provision. I want us to understand the manna itself, its nature, how this provision was unique, how it was different from all other breads that we see in life. And then the purpose for the provision, and then the significance of the provision itself. So first, the nature of the provision. In verse 9 to 12, Moses tells the people of Israel, Then Moses said to Aaron, saying to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your grumbling. This is what always amazes me. The more they grumble, the more they murmur, the more He provides, the more He loves. That's grace. That's what grace means. It's undeserving, unmerited favor of God. God is the God of grace. God is the God of mercy. Not as a license for sin. Not so that you and I would go outside and live our life the way we want to live it, but to experience His grace. And His grace, this free grace, brings us to to the love of God. Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, that love relationship, by grace, through grace. And 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 clouds, not to destroy them, not to punish them, not to make them feel ashamed because of their grumbling. God would have done that, and He had every right to do that. These are stiff-necked people. But He appeared, His glory appeared on the cloud for mercy, for provision, for love, for grace. And the Lord said to Moses, I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Wouldn't you love to hear God saying, I have heard the cry of my people. I have heard the prayers of my people, the grumbling of my people. Moses, they don't trust me. They are grumbling about me. They have already forgotten what I have done for them in Egypt. They are grumbling. But I come to bless them. I come to continue working in them in the wilderness. That's why I brought them to the wilderness. They are in the wilderness for a purpose. 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." Compare with what they said in verse 3, where they say to Moses, why did you bring us out of Egypt? To kill us in the wilderness? What we had in Egypt was a better food. A better bread, but you brought us to the wilderness to kill us. Compare with what they said, and now what God is saying. I know what they said. I know what they are thinking. But I'm not going to give them what they deserve. I'm going to give them what they don't deserve. I'm going to give them grace, because I'm the God of grace. I brought them to the wilderness for this very purpose, to show them that I am the God of grace. And my grace will produce fruit. righteousness, sanctification in the life of my people. That's why they are in the wilderness. Are you in the wilderness tonight? Do you feel that you are in the wilderness? Rejoice. It means God is at work in you. You are in this wilderness for divine purpose. Don't give up hope. Instead, rejoice. God loves you. He brought you to this wilderness. to shape you. So God was saying, that's why they are here. They said, we will die here in the wilderness from hunger. And God promised them bread, meat in the morning, bread, meat in the evening, and bread in the morning to satisfy their life, to preserve their life. What a God, the God of providence. Remember when they were in Egypt, they ate, but not with joy, not a better food. Even though in their foolishness and pride, they said what we had in Egypt was better. They were lying. They ate in Egypt, but they never ate bread with joy. and satisfaction. Sometimes, as they were eating, the Egyptians would come, the master would come and interrupt them and put them to work. Everything they were saying about Egypt was not true. They were just grumbling, disobeying, misrepresenting God's kindness. But now what God gave them was a better bread. I want you to understand two things about this bread. It was from heaven. It was miraculous. They didn't work for it. They have never seen anything like that before. Think about that. They know bread. They know what bread is. But they had never such bread in their life ever before. And then it was enough for their daily need. They would go outside, gather, you know, some they gather small, some gather more. And what really surprises me, and it should surprise you, when they go home, it's enough. You know, the measurement for some of them is more, some of them less, but they are satisfied. They had what they needed for the day. It was enough. It was, Bread of great quality and of great quantity. Both of them were amazing. The quality and the quantity. Everyone can eat until they are filled with bread. In fact, our text tells us the whole camp was filled with bread. God was providing. Psalm 145, 16, you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. God opens his hand and satisfies his people. Philippians 4, 19, Paul said, and my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He's the God of providence. Trust him, love him, rely on him. Don't grumble about this God. We have no reason to grumble. I mean, think what he has provided to you in the past, even yesterday. He was with you. He was for you. He provided. You're here. You're here. Breathing, singing, worshiping because of his providence. Many are gone. Many are not with us. We are here. We're here. Providence is speaking loudly to us tonight. The God of Providence is speaking to us, saying, trust me. Trust me about your own spiritual life. Trust me about your church, your journey as a church. the God of providence, the purpose for the provision. What was the purpose? Verse 12, listen to what the Lord told them. So first thing comes knowledge. I brought you to the wilderness. Now I'm feeding you with manna so that you would know me. That you would know I am the Lord. I am Jehovah. I'm the God of Exodus 3.14. The great I am. I am that God, self-sufficient, self-existent. The God who loves unconditionally. I am that God. I want you to know me for who I am, the great I am, so that you shall know me, knowing their God, knowing our God. You know, John Calvin, in his Institute, he writes these two important things in the Christian life, knowing ourselves and knowing God. We need to know ourselves. We need to know that we are helpless sinners, unable to save ourselves. We need to come to that realization that we are totally and completely dead in our sins and transgressions. Knowledge of self. Then the knowledge of God. Only God can help us. Only God can rescue us. Do you know yourself? How many of you tonight sometimes entertains an idea, you know, I can do this. I can contribute toward my salvation. I can please God. I can do that. I'm better than so-and-so. Look at me. Or you don't know yourself. You don't know yourself. You need to know yourself. I need to know myself. But we also need to know our God, the God of provision, the God of salvation, the God of righteousness, the God of mercy, the God of grace, the Almighty God who is in control over all things. even over all the things that our brother, you know, our elder prayed tonight in the pastoral prayer. Our God is sovereign over all those prayer needs. God, to know God as the God of covenant, covenant keeping God, faithful to His promises, You know, God said, I'll bring manna, I'll bring bread from heaven, and He did it. He kept His promise. He was faithful to His promise. Why? For His people to trust in His providence. In Deuteronomy 8, 1 to 6, God told His people why He brought them to the wilderness. Listen to what He told them. Then the whole commandment that I command you today, you shall be careful to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you, and let you hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." That's why I brought you to this wilderness, to test you, to humble you, to teach you, but especially to teach you that you need more than physical bread. But for now, let's think about the manna. It is to trust in him. for their daily provision. Jesus, in Matthew 6, 11, taught his disciples and all of us, when he pray, pray, saying, give us today our daily bread. Give us today our daily bread. Jesus never taught his disciples, when he pray, pray, give us Bread for today, for tomorrow, for this number of years. Now give us our daily bread. Give us today our daily bread. Proverbs 38, give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Would you agree with the wise king who would want poverty? But we want riches, don't we? But the wise king said, I don't want both of them. I just want my daily bread. And he's speaking from experience. He had everything. He had wives, multiple wives. He had riches. But then one day he was sitting and considering everything he had, and he said, under the sun, all is vain. I just need God, and I need his provision just for today, just for today. And in Matthew 6, Jesus said, do not worry about tomorrow. Look at the birds and observe how your Heavenly Father feeds them, how He tends and takes care of them. You are more valuable than the birds of heaven. He will take care of you. Trust Him. He provided for you today and you trust that He will provide for you tomorrow. And as the indication of that trust, you're only allowed to gather for today. You know, some of the Israelites, they went outside and they gathered more than what Moses instructed them to gather. And he was angry at them. And lastly, the significance of the provision. Well, in Deuteronomy 8, we already read it. I'm not going to read it again. Where Moses, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, reminded the people of Israel, listen, man shall not live by bread alone. What Moses was reminding the people of Israel, what Jesus was reminding us in Matthew chapter 4 when he was in the wilderness was physical bread is a temporal provision and it will never satisfy our soul. Physical bread will not take us to heaven. It will not bring us into communion with God. We need it. The Lord will provide it to us. But we need more. We need more than the physical bread. You know, all the Israelites who were fed by God in the wilderness, many of them, they died in the wilderness. What they ate from heaven, that physical bread didn't sustain their life. You see, that bread was only pointing them to the greater bread, the bread of life, Jesus, the Son of God, who claimed to be the bread of life. Listen to Jesus in Matthew 16, 26. For what will profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Oh, what shall a man give in return to his soul? Nothing. Nothing. What we need, brothers and sisters in Christ, as God's children, is this bread, the true bread. The bread that became flesh, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1, 14. We need that bread. Brother Rich read the Gospel of John chapter 6 for us. Jesus had a dialogue, a conversation with the Jewish people. When they asked them, who are you? Can you actually give us what Moses gave us? The manna from heaven? Can you do that? Can you even outsmart Moses and give us that bread? And Jesus told them, let me remind you. It was not Moses who gave you the manna. It was my Father. Only to point you to me, the bread of life. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever believes in me, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life. I am the bread of life. If you believe in me, you will not be hungry and you will not be thirsty. I will satisfy your soul forever. Like what we heard this morning, he can satisfy us fully because he's the true vine and we are the branches. And here Jesus is saying in John chapter six, I am the bread of life. To believe in him, to be fed on him is what we need as his people. And how do we, how do we fed ourselves on Christ through his word? the Word of God. That's exactly what you're doing tonight. You're sitting under the feeding of the manna, the bread of life. This is not temporal manna. This is the eternal Word of God, the living Word of God, Jesus himself, the bread of life. You are being fed on Christ. Colossians 3.16, Paul said, let the Word of God dwell in you richly. You know, not poorly. Richly. Not just dwell in you, but dwell in you richly. What it means is, let the Word has effect in your life. Let the Word impact your life. Change your life. Rule your life. Don't rule your own life. Let the world rule you richly. Richly. Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, in Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. if we only were at the hymn singing prior to the evening worship service. We all together were singing, and I was sitting over there, and I was reading the words of the hymns that we were singing. It was the Word of God. It was the Word of God. We were not only singing, but through singing the Word of God was dwelling in us richly. That's why Paul is mentioning here Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We preach the Word, we pray the Word, we sing the Word, we are about the Word of God. That's what Paul is saying here. And that's what Moses told the people of Israel in the wilderness. Jesus, in John 6, he is the bread of life. Do you love this bread? Do you sometimes neglect this bread? Do you sometimes say, I had enough today. I don't want it today. It's the bread of life. It satisfies our soul, and we will never have enough of it. So let us come to the Word every time we have the opportunity. that has come to the Word of God, reading it, meditating on it, and sitting under its preaching. It has been provided to us by our God, the bread of life. Amen. Let's pray. Gracious and heavenly Father, thank you for this provision. the bread of life, Jesus Christ your Son. Help us to continue being fed on Christ, the bread of life. Help us to know Him as the true vine and all of us as branches. Help us to read it, meditate on it, and let this world to dwell in us richly by loving its reading and the meditation over it, and also sitting under its preaching. Help us as your children, as your people. to be the people of the Word, the bread of life. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.