I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Exodus 16-18.

The story of manna and quail gives us a perfect example of how God provides for us.  For five days the people collected enough manna each morning for their needs for the day.  Any of the manna collected on those five days which was kept overnight went bad by morning.  On the sixth day, they collected twice as much, and what they collected was still good on the morning of the seventh day, when there was no manna to collect.  This teaches us the same lesson as what happened in Egypt in Joseph’s time.  In Joseph’s time there were seven years of plenty which provided enough surplus to see the people of Egypt through seven years of famine (with enough left over to help some people from elsewhere).  God provides for our needs, when He provides us extra it is because a lean time is coming, or so that we can aid those who have fallen on hard times.  We should keep this in mind when we experience a “windfall”.

Again today I noticed a verse which I had never noticed before, Exodus 18:11.   Here Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, tells Moses that the account Moses gave of their departure from Egypt caused him to know that God was greater than all other gods.  Previously we had been told that Jethro was a priest of Midian, and later in this passage he offers sacrifices which Aaron and the elders of Israel join.  What we learn from this statement from Jethro is that previous to this, while he had honored and worshiped God, he had also honored, and perhaps worshiped, other gods.  This reminds us of the importance of sharing what God has done in our lives with others so that their faith may be strengthened.