September 21

Exodus xvi.—9. And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel. Come near before the Lord; for he hath heard your murmurings.

10. And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness; and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

12. I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.

13. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

14. And, when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground:

15. And, when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna; for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.

16. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating: an omer for every man according to the number of your persons, take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

There is no reason to suppose that these quails were created for the occasion. Enormous flocks of them are sometimes seen along the coasts of Africa and Arabia; and these were probably blown over upon the camp by a stormy wind. The manna, however, can hardly be identified with the gum of the tamarisk, a natural product of the desert. This gum resembles the manna, in dropping like dew in the night, in having a sweetish taste, and in melting in the sun: but it is limited as to season, quantity, and locality; whereas the food of the Israelites was supplied continuously, every day, in abundant measure, and was distributed over the whole area, and the whole period of their wanderings. Moreover, this

17. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.

18. And, when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack: they gathered every man according to his eating.

19. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.

20. Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.

21. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating; and, when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

22. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omer for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

23. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

24. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.

25. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye shall not find it in the field.

came in double quantity on the sixth day. Clearly this was a direct supply from the hand of God: "He gave them bread from heaven to eat;" and, as Moses said afterwards, it was designed to teach the people their dependence upon God for daily bread, and also "that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord." In this respect the manna was also a type of Christ, who, in his life, doctrine, and person, was the bread which came down from heaven. To guard the sanctity of the sabbath, the manna was withheld on that day; but we are privileged on the Lord's day to cry even the more earnestly, "Give us this bread."

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 29, 56, 88.

O Lord! we thank thee that we have the means of satisfying our daily wants. The earth is thine, and the fulness thereof; the beasts of the forest, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. It is thou who hast ordained seed-time and harvest, summer and winter: thou dost crown the year with plenty, and dost give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. Fulfil this day, we beseech thee, the promise that thy Word shall be even as the rain, and as good seed in good ground. Oh! feed our souls with the bread of life. May thy goodness lead us to devote all our energies to thy service! may what God has given be consecrated to him! and to-day may we go forth as stewards of thy

grace, to succor the needy and comfort the sorrowing!

[Lord, look upon us as a family. May the children obey their parents in the Lord, and love one another! Teach them this day thy holy Word; may they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent!]

Prosper thy servants who are employed in the instruction of the young, in the visitation of the poor, the afflicted, the distressed; and pour out thy Spirit, thou great Head of the Church, and fill thy Church with thy praise. Oh, may our worship go up before thee as a sacrifice of sweet savor, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.