Exodus 16:12-15 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹² “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.’”

¹³ In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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.”

Here it is Christmas morning and I only covered the issue of the quail yesterday. Today we shall endeavor to take meaning from the manna, the bread of life. Since it is Christmas day let us acknowledge that the Christ child is the bread of life. Like the manna we stare at Him in wonder and have to ask ourselves how this baby can fulfill the promise of life eternal. We lack understanding and must inquire and receive instruction.

Since we do not live in the Exodus and Moses is not present to hear God and tell us the meaning, where should we turn? As babes in Christ we had pastors and teachers and through discipleship we came to understand that we can hear the Holy Spirit who is given as our companion in the Word. We went from milk to meat over time. This has taken some of us a lifetime. For all of us it has taken us from morning until evening or as God said to us the evening and the morning became the first day.

We wake up each morning and receive the bread of life, Jesus, the Word. We are awed by His appearance, new every morning. We inquire as to meaning, and how to eat of it today. As we partake of our daily bread all day long by evening it has been transformed into meat fit to sustain us all through the night.

In the morning, we begin again.

Exodus 16:12-15 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹² “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.’”

¹³ In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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.”

Here it is Christmas Eve and I have not provided any devotional in support of this seasonal celebration. Eve and its uses and meaning filled my mind as I first woke up yesterday. I was not entirely sure which way to go with this devotional because the meaning of Eve is feminine and eve masculine in language usage.

Eve in the feminine usage means life and giver of life. Eve in the masculine usage means on the morrow.

I settled on these passages from Exodus only because of the inclusive phrase “Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” All things written should be in support of knowing the Lord our God. This is in support of coming to understand ourselves in this relationship.

In the evening the quail covered the camp. It was of nature, known to them and there was no surprise in seeing the quail. In the morning the manna appeared and they were perplexed by its appearance and had to inquire for understanding. They had to be told how to handle it, when to eat it and when not to eat it.

The quail was provided by God just as much as the manna but because it was natural in presentation there was no exclamation, exhilaration, or praise of God. It could be said that God’s work was taken for granted.