Exodus 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Exodus 16:3 And the sons of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

3. Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt--How unreasonable and absurd the charge against Moses and Aaron! how ungrateful and impious against God! After all their experience of the divine wisdom, goodness, and power, we pause and wonder over the sacred narrative of their hardness and unbelief. But the expression of feeling is contagious in so vast a multitude, and there is a feeling of solitude and despondency in the desert which numbers cannot dispel; and besides, we must remember that they were men engrossed with the present--that the Comforter was not then given--and that they were destitute of all visible means of sustenance and cut off from every visible comfort, with only the promises of an unseen God to look to as the ground of their hope. And though we may lament they should tempt God in the wilderness and freely admit their sin in so doing, we can be at no loss for a reason why those who had all their lives been accustomed to walk by sight should, in circumstances of unparalleled difficulty and perplexity, find it hard to walk by faith. Do not even we find it difficult to walk by faith through the wilderness of this world, though in the light of a clearer revelation, and under a nobler leader than Moses? [FISK]. (See 1Co 10:11, 12).

JFB.

Exodus 16 Images and Notes

Brief Summary: The Israelites murmur because they want bread, and they begin lusting for the flesh pots back in Egypt, the Lord creates bread from heaven from the dew called Manna, the Lord also sends them quail for meat, the Manna is provided for Israel every day, but not on the Sabbath day, the Manna continued for 40 years.

Outline
1 The Israelites come to the Wilderness of Sin
2 They murmur for want at bread
4 God promises them bread from heaven
11 Quails are sent
14 Manna is provided
16 Directions concerning the manna
25 No manna is found on the Sabbath
32 An omer of manna is preserved

Painting of the Israelites Gathering Manna

Important Topics for Bible Study
The children of Israel journey through the wilderness of sin
the children of Israel murmured against Moses
God promises to provide bread from heaven
Moses rebukes the people for murmuring
Moses tells the people to come before the Lord
God's glory appears in the cloud
God sends Quail for meat
God also sends bread from heaven
each family of Israel gathers enough for their own
Moses commands Israel about how to keep the bread
Israel disobeys Moses commands
Moses gives him a command about the Sabbath
Israel disobeys again
God becomes angry at their disobedience
Moses gives them wise counsel
Israel rests
the name of the bread is called manna
Aaron stored an omer of manna with the unbroken tablets of stone
the manna will continue for 40 years