Bread from Heaven

On they went into the wilderness, and there was nothing out there to eat. The bread they had carried out of Egypt was gone, and the people were hungry, and they grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said, “Back in Egypt we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread until we were full. Now you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve!” And the Lord said to Moses, “Look — I am going to rain bread on you out of heaven. Every morning the people are to go out and gather just enough for that day. On the sixth day they will gather twice as much.” And Moses and Aaron said to all the people, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord — for he has heard you grumbling.”

That evening a great flock of quail came up and settled all over the camp, and there was meat for everybody. And in the morning, when the dew lifted, there it was, lying all over the ground: something small and fine and white, like frost, like little round seeds. The people came out of their tents and looked at it and said to each other, “What is it?” For nobody had ever seen anything like it. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. Gather it up — as much as each person needs, and no more.” So they went out with their baskets and gathered it. Some gathered a lot and some gathered a little, and when they measured it out at home, it was strange and lovely: the one who had gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who had gathered little had just enough. Every family had exactly what it needed. They called it manna. It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like a wafer made with honey.

Moses told them not to keep any of it overnight — but some people did anyway, and in the morning it was full of worms and it smelled bad. Every single morning God sent it fresh, and every morning they gathered it again; and when the sun grew hot, whatever was left on the ground melted away. But on the sixth day, when they gathered twice as much, Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: tomorrow is a Sabbath, a holy day of rest. Bake what you are going to bake today, and boil what you are going to boil, and keep what is left over until morning.” And they kept it until morning, and this time it did not go bad at all — not a worm in it. On the seventh day some people still went out to look for it, and there was none. And the people rested, just as God had said. And God gave them that bread every day, all the years they lived in the wilderness — forty years — until they came at last to a land where they could plant and reap for themselves.

Later they camped at a place called Rephidim, and there was no water there at all. The people were dry and frightened and angry, and they said to Moses, “Give us water to drink! Did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our animals with thirst?” And Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with this people? A little more, and they will throw stones at me.” And the Lord said to him, “Go on ahead of the people, and take the elders with you, and take in your hand the staff you struck the river with. Look — I will be standing there in front of you, on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and my people will drink.” So Moses went out with the elders watching, and he struck the rock with his staff — and water came pouring out of the hard stone, enough for every person and every animal in that whole enormous camp.

Then a people called the Amalekites came and made war on Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to a young man named Joshua, “Choose some men and go out and fight Amalek tomorrow. And look — I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua went out to fight, and Moses climbed the hill with Aaron and a man named Hur. And something strange happened: as long as Moses held his hands up, Israel was winning; but whenever his hands came down, Amalek began to win. And Moses’ arms grew tired — so tired he could not hold them up any longer. So they brought a stone for him to sit on, and Aaron stood on one side of him and Hur on the other, and they held his hands up for him, and his hands stayed steady until the sun went down. And Joshua won the battle that day. And Moses built an altar there, and he gave it a name: The Lord My Refuge.