Lesson By: Tam Walls

Quails & Manna Are SentA Lesson on the 4th Commandment

Fourth Commandment

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20: 8 - 11)

When Does the Sabbath Begin?

The sabbath day begins Friday night at sundown until Saturday at sundown. This day is special and different from any other day of the week. We do not participate in any common activities such as watching TV., attending birthday parties, or other social events. We even prepare our meals for the Sabbath the day before. The Sabbath is the Lord’s day. A day in which we worship him and thank him for all his bountiful blessings.

From the Beginning

God established the Sabbath from the very beginning. He rested on the Sabbath day or seventh day during the creation (Genesis 2:1-3). We will even keep the Sabbath in heaven! In our story “Quails and Manna Are Sent,” (Exodus 16) we will see how Moses taught the children of Israel about the Sabbath day and how to prepare for it. Let’s see whether or not they were obedient.

Quails & Manna Are SentOn the second month after departing from the land of Egypt, the children of Israel traveled on a long journey from the land of Elim until they reached the wilderness of Sin. The people began to murmur against Moses and Aaron, accusing them of bringing them into the wilderness to kill them with hunger. The Lord told Moses that he would rain bread from heaven and that the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day.

Quails & Manna Are Sent

God was going to do this in order to prove whether or not the people would walk in his law. God instructed Moses to tell the people that on the sixth day of the week the people were to gather in twice as much food and prepare it for eating. Later, Moses told all the people that the Lord heard all of their murmurings and that as soon as the evening hour approached they would understand that the Lord brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Quails & Manna Are SentMoses continued by stating that in the morning, the glory of the Lord would appear unto the children of Israel. Moses warned the children of Israel that their murmurings or complaints weren’t against him or Aaron but against God. Moses told Aaron to have the people come near before the Lord. As Aaron was talking to the people, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

Quails & Manna Are SentThe Lord spoke to Moses and said, “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.” Just as the Lord said, quails came up at even, and covered the camp.

Quail

Quails & Manna Are Sent

In the morning, the dew lay round about and when the dew was gone up, there lay a small round thing, as small as frost on the ground. When the children of Israel saw this, they didn’t know what it was, therefore they named it manna. But Moses told them that it was bread which the Lord gave them to eat. The people were to gather an omer for every person that lived in each tent. Some gathered much and some gathered less.

Quails & Manna Are Sent

Everyone had exactly what they needed. Those who had more had nothing over and those who gathered little had no lack. Moses told the people not to leave any of the food until morning however, some of the people did not follow directions but left some of the food until morning. The food bred worms and began to stink! Moses was very angry with the people.

Quails & Manna Are Sent

The children of Israel continued to gather the manna every morning according to everyone’s needs. The manna melted when the sun waxed hot. On the sixth day of the week, some of the people began to gather twice as much food. Instead of one omer per person they gathered two omers per person. The rules reported this to Moses however, Moses reminded them that the people were obeying God’s commandment.

Quails & Manna Are Sent

Moses told the rulers that the people were preparing for the Sabbath by gathering food and cooking it because the Sabbath is a day of rest and no servile work is to be done. Unlike other times when the manna smelled if it remained until the morning; from the sixth day until the Sabbath the manna remained fresh and was able to be consumed by the people.

Quails & Manna Are Sent

However, there were some who did not gather double manna in preparation for the Sabbath. Instead, they went out on the Sabbath in search of manna but found none. God asked Moses how long will the people refuse to keep his commandments. Moses told the people that the Lord gave them the Sabbath therefore, on the sixth day they must gather enough bread for two days. Moses told the people that everyone should abide in his place on the Sabbath day. So the people rested on the seventh day.

The End!

Questions?

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