Exodus 16:13-21 comments: having enough and sharing what you have

16:13 ¶  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 hoar frost 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. 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.

God provided quails in the evening. The Bible says also that He provides the prey for the predator and food for the hungry fowls which goes against our wildlife video mentality of the drama of lions taking down cape buffalo. The lion makes the effort but there would be no success in the hunt without God’s hand in it. Here, God is talking to Job;

Job 38:39  Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, 40  When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? 41  Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

Psalm 104:21  The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

Luke 12:24  Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

The small, round piece of food that is left after the dew is called Manna, which Strong’s says means, “What is it?” which is also evident from the passage.

It is later called angel’s food.

Psalm 78:24  And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25  Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.

But is also a reference to some event in the realm of the spirit that we can hardly understand.

Psalm 74:12 ¶  For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Some of the Hebrews disobeyed in not consuming all that was given and trying to save it until the next day, incurring Moses anger, but the point here is that there was enough. The concept of having enough is very important in Christianity and very much in opposition to the American ideal of never having enough, of always wanting more. We see the Christian doctrine further illuminated in the New Testament requiring equality in the community of believers.

2Corinthians 8:7 ¶  Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 8  I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. 9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 10  And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. 11  Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. 12  For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. 13  For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: 14  But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: 15  As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

This is how the earliest form of the church was physically nourished although this was short-term and fell short of Christ’s commandment to go out to the world.

Acts 2:45  And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

Acts 4:35  And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

God sent persecution to them to disperse them as Christ had said;

Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 8:1 ¶  And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

So, while Marx and Engels stole this from the Bible;

…every man according as he had need…

…it does not mean that it is not a Christian ideal. However, it is not a required method of coercion excusing governments like Lenin’s Soviet Union or America’s welfare state for their extortions on the working class in order to create not just equal opportunity but equal outcomes at the point of a gun but it is a voluntary principle commanded in the community of Christians. Still, as it is in conflict with American ideals it is pretty much a non-starter. The church is lacking in spiritual power and force as much by its acceptance of inequality in the community of believers as it is by Christians refusing to love each other as an example to the world and a symbol of their belonging to Christ.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

I can almost hear the teeth grinding as American Christians will be thinking that the Bible’s clear statements must be wrong because what’s mine is mine and you need to go get your own. It is said that the most repeated sermon in the late 1800’s in America was titled “Acres of Diamonds” about the virtue of obtaining wealth and how rich people were usually the best people. But, God’s word says what it says in the context in which it is said. Here in Exodus and in Acts one might argue that doctrinally it is not applicable to us but you can’t argue with Paul’s statement in 2Corinthians or in the next verse.

1Timothy 6:6 ¶  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11  But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.