him in a most impious manner, wishing that he had involved them in the judgments which had desolated Egypt, rather than that he should have brought them into their present difficulties a. And though their complaints were directed professedly only against Moses and Aaron, they were, in fact, against God himself, by whose direction alone any step had been taken1'. How astonishing was it that God should take occasion from such a grievous act of impiety to give them such tokens of his love and mercy ! Might we not have expected rather that he should execute upon them his severest judgments ? But thus he has done in all ages, in order to display the sovereignty and the riches of his grace c ]
Next, let us notice the directions he gave respect- ing it —
[They were to gather the manna from day to day, reserving none of it for the morrow6-. This was to teach them their entire dependence upon God, and impress them with a sense of God's continued care of them. And though we are not for- bidden, yea rather are commanded, to make suitable provision for our families, yet in the habit of our minds we are to be continually dependent on God, and free from all anxious care or distrust
They were not to gather any on the Sabbath, but to provide a double portion on the day preceding it e. How early was the observance of the Sabbath inculcated ! The law was not yet given ; therefore the observance of the Sabbath was not a mere ceremonial commandment. Nor was the injunction relative to it either given by Moses, or received by Israel, as a neiv thing : it doubtless had been enforced from the beginning of the world : and consequently ive, no less than the Jews, are bound to lay aside all temporal concerns, as much as possible, on that day, and to consecrate it wholly to the service of our God
They were to preserve some of it in a pot, and lay it up before the Lord as a memorial for future generations*. They were not to forget the mercies vouchsafed to them ; but rather to transmit to their latest posterity the remembrance of them ; in order that they also might be led to serve and trust in the living God. And have not we also memorials of the love of God to us? Search the records of our national history, or let every one consult his own personal experience ; and we shall find abundant reason to adore that God, who has interposed
a ver. 3. b ver. 8.
c To Adam, Gen. hi. 6, 12, 15. To Saul, Acts xxvi. 10—16. To ourselves in unnumbered instances, making our sins the occasion of deeper humiliation.
11 ver. 4, 19. e ver. 29. f ver. 32, 33.