February 15, 2026 - Manna and the Sabbath To Be Kept Forever (Exodus 16:21-36)

Manna and the Sabbath, to Be Kept Forever (Exodus 16:21-36)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted. 22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.” 27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah. 

Introduction

There are many videos on Youtube regarding people who talk about their experiences in heaven. You are seeing many people leaving churches and not believing in God, and I think God is working in other ways to show that He is alive. What is absolute is that there is heaven and hell. When we die, our soul will come before God. Those who believe in God and those who don’t believe in God, which way you will go will be determined. What is absolute is that Jesus Christ resurrected and is alive now. We believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ who is alive. Today’s Biblical passage spoke about the works and miracles that will arise only when God is alive. Through today’s sermon, may we experience God who is alive. 

1. The Living God

(1) The Reason for Giving Manna

Verse 21 - God bought manna from heaven above and when manna comes down, it will start melting with sun shines on it. The manna will start melting when the sun comes up and starts shining throughout the day. Why did God make manna disappear and melt away by the end of the day? What is important is that it is all part of God’s grace of His daily bread. God wants His gift and grace to not be treated lightly. God gave manna to the Israelites that was enough for only daily portions day by day. What is food for us? Food is like the manna that we see in the scripture and like dew in the mornings. When we eat food, it gives us strength, sustains life, and allows us to grow. But what about food that is not edible? God makes it disappear or no longer edible. It is the same thing with our talent and skills. God gave us our talents and skills so that we can give glory to God. We need to use our talent and skills for God’s glory. But even though God gave us His talent and skills, and we don’t use it for His glory then it will all disappear. This is the same thing with our life. If we live our life for God’s glory then we can bear many fruits. But if we live our lives for our own desires and greed, and not for God’s glory then we will live a life in vain. 

James 4:14 “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” - We may think that life is great and grand but it can end tomorrow at any time. 

Deuteronomy 8:3 “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” - What is the reason why God gave the Israelites manna? It was so that the Israelites know that they must live by the word of God alone. God gave them manna so that they could live. Only when God gives us His word then can we live. Where is true life? It is within the word of God. What is the reason why God gave them Sabbath? 

(2) The Reason for Giving the Sabbath

Verses 22-28 - Usually when the manna is not thrown away by morning then the manna will rot and grow maggots. But on the Sabbath day, the manna would not rot even though you keep it till morning. But this was the same manna. Then why did the manna on the Sabbath not rot?

Verse 26 - God made sure that the manna on the Sabbath day would not rot. God allowed this miracle to show the meaning of the Sabbath day. What does God do on the Sabbath day to not make the manna rot? 

Exodus 31:13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” - The Sabbath was given so that we can restore our identity. Their identity is children of God not just slaves of Egypt. This was what God was telling the Israelites. Because God is holy, we are also holy. It is rightful that because God is holy, His children are holy too. We are holy because we are children of God. This is the blessing that we possess as children of God. 

Verse 27 - People went out on the day of the Sabbath. This was before Mount Sinai and God asked if the Israelites kept His commandments or not? But this was before God gave them the 10 commandments so what is God speaking about? 

Verse 26 - On the Sabbath day, there is no manna which means on the Sabbath day, do not go out to get manna. This was God’s command. What God relays to us is God’s command and His law. If God speaks His words to not go out to get manna, then the Israelites should go out with faith and obey God’s word. When we obey God’s word and have faith, then that will make us righteous and holy. 

Hold onto Exodus 31:13 - God is telling us to keep the Sabbath and take hold of His word. God is telling us that we must give worship to God then God will give us a sign. God will give us a sign to make us holy and righteous. What is the day of the Sabbath? God will give us His word to make us holy and righteous. In other words, on the day of the Sabbath we can receive the blessing and power of the heavenly throne. The day of the Sabbath was a blessed day of worship. 

2. What to Keep Forever

(1) Keep the Sabbath

The Sabbath started in Genesis 2:3, 3:17 “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.” - The day we give worship to God, He will pour down His blessings and make us holy. 

Genesis 3:17 - After Adam and Eve committed sin against God, they started to live a life of curses. After mankind committed sin, mankind had no choice but to live a life of curse and had to work in sweat. But God commanded them to keep the Sabbath day. God determined the day of the Sabbath to be freed from our sins and curses. The Sabbath day is the day where we are free from our sufferings and sin. 

Mark 2:27-28 “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.’ ” - God created the Sabbath day for mankind and for us. What does God do on the Sabbath day? God is working on the Sabbath day. 

John 5:17 “But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’ ” - God is not resting on the Sabbath day but He is working on the Sabbath day and continuously works. And Jesus is also working on the Sabbath day. 

Mark 2:28 - Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. That is why on the day of the Sabbath, Jesus healed many people on that day. He healed many people like the crippled and the blind. Why did Jesus do that? Because He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the main character of the Sabbath and He is the Lord who will give us peace. What kind of blessings do we receive on the Sabbath? We receive the blessing where all of our problems are solved and healing takes place. For children of God, God’s word will absolutely be fulfilled. If we truly enjoy and understand what the day of the Sabbath is then we can enjoy these blessings. But if you don’t understand and still go out to gather manna on the Sabbath day then problems will arise. Then we cannot enjoy God’s blessings. 

(2) Save the manna

Verses 32-34 - God was telling them to show what happened in the wilderness regarding the manna. God was showing the evidence of what came from heaven above. We must hold onto this. God gives us a lot of evidence. Hold onto no matter what. Let us hold onto at least one evidence that God gives us. Aaron placed the manna in a jar and left it as evidence and historical proof. The evidence that was left was the tablets of the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments were the commandments that God wrote Himself. In the inner sanctuary, there was the jar of manna, the tablet of the 10 commandments, and Aaron’s staff. What does the jar of manna represent? 

This jar of manna is represented as seen in John 6:51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” - God gave manna from above to show that bread represents the body of Jesus Christ. It represents the flesh of Jesus Christ which shows how Jesus will die on the cross for us. They placed the manna in a jar showing the life of Jesus Christ. We are remembering and preserving the body of Jesus Christ and what Jesus did for us. The three items in the inner sanctuary represent the Triune God, the trinity God. The living God wrote the word of God on the tablet and proclaimed that He is the living God. Through the jar of manna, Jesus Christ was showing that this is His flesh and that He will die for us. And then, there was Aaron's staff which represented the resurrection that took place through the power of the Holy Spirit. That through the power of the Holy Spirit, we possess the power of resurrection as well. It is the Holy Trinity God and the Triune God. The jar of manna was left behind to show the next generations. We are a vessel and inside of us, there is the jar of manna. In other words, inside of us, we possess Jesus Christ. We must show this to our remnants and the next generation. In order to show this, God left behind the jar of manna. We must show our next generation Jesus Christ who is inside of us. Jesus Christ who died on the cross and resurrected for us, we must show to our next generation. 

3. The Path of the Absolute Journey

(1) David's Life as a Shepherd

David was a shepherd and it was part of his journey to prepare for his future. Psalm 78:71-72 “From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. 72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.” - David prepared his skill, faith, and vessel. David wrote many songs to give praise and glory to God. While being a shepherd, he was preparing his skills and talents. He prepared his vessel and mission while shepherding. We need to prepare our lives before God. When we are ready, God will send us disciples and His mission. 

(2) David and Samuel's Encounter

1 Samuel 16:13 “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.” - Those who are ready and prepared, in God’s perfect time schedule, God will give you His mission. When you receive your mission, then you can head out to the field and you will face your Goliath. 

(3) David and Goliath's Encounter

For Israel, it was a national crisis but for God, it was David’s opportunity and time of blessing to go out to the field. Everyone was trembling in fear but David spoke out in boldness as seen in 1 Samuel 17:45 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ”. At this time, God was with David. With one stone, David completely destroyed Goliath. May this evidence come upon us. This will absolutely come upon us. May this blessing come upon you.

Conclusion

Verse 35 - When the Israelites ate manna, they didn’t just eat manna for a few days but they ate it for 40 years. They ate it only in the wilderness. This time in the wilderness represented their lives and journey. In your life, God will continue to protect you and take responsibility over you. There is nothing for us to worry about. God will take care of you. God is only asking that we show our faith and preserve our faith for our next generation. That is why the next generation was able to conquer the land of Canaan.