Part 3 “The TEST”

From Exodus 16

THE WILDERNESS is GOD’S TRAINING GROUND.

📖  Exodus 16:4 (ESV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
TRUTH: You can’t just be TOLD to trust God… you have to EXPERIENCE His faithfulness in the wilderness.

In order to grow our TRUST in God – we have to experience the TESTS of life.

1. The REASON for God’s Test = Our GRUMBLING.

📖 Exodus 16:6-7 (ESV) So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?”
📖 Exodus 16:8 (ESV) And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.”
📖 Exodus 16:9 (ESV) Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.’ ”

2. The Administration of God’s Test = GOD’S PROVISION.

📖 Exodus 16:13 (ESV) In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.
📖 Exodus 16:14 (ESV) 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.
A. God wanted them to go OUT of their home to get the food.
📖 Exodus 16:16 (ESV) This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’ ” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.
B. God wanted them to do this DAILY.
📖 Exodus 16:21 (ESV) Morning by morning they gathered it,
C. God wanted them to PRIORITIZE this activity.
📖 Exodus 16:21b (ESV) each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.
D. God wanted them to SEE the BREAD He provided.
📖 Exodus 16:15 (ESV) When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
…FIRST: The BREAD was not RECOGNIZED
📖 Exodus 16:15 (ESV) they did not know what it was…

📖 John 1:10 (NLT) He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.
…SECOND: The BREAD was HUMBLE
…THIRD: The BREAD was PURE and SWEET
📖 Exodus 16:31 (ESV) Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

📖 Psalm 34:8 (ESV) Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
…FOURTH: The BREAD was fully SATISFYING
📖 Exodus 16:18 (ESV) Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

📖 John 6:32–34 (ESV) Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

📖 John 6:35 (ESV) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

3. The GOAL of God’s test = REST.

📖 Exodus 16:5 (ESV) On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”
📖 Exodus 16:22–23 (ESV) On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’ 
📖 Exodus 16:25–26 (ESV) Moses said, “Eat it 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, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”
📖 Exodus 16:27–29 (ESV) On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”
📖 Genesis 2:2 (ESV) And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

WE NEED to PREACH the GOSPEL to OURSELVES DAILY so that we DON’T DESPAIR in what WE are but in how GOOD and GRACIOUS God is.

💠 Jesus paid for your sins.
📖 Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
💠 You are blessed because your sins are forgiven.
📖  4:7–8 (ESV) “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
💠 You are alive in Christ.
📖 Romans 6:11 (ESV) you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
“When you set yourself to seriously pursue holiness, you will begin to realize what an awful sinner you are. And if you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself every day, you will soon become discouraged and will slack off in your pursuit of holiness.” – Jerry Bridges

God brings me to the wilderness to TRAIN me to TRUST HIM so that when I GRUMBLE or STUMBLE, I find my REST in His finished WORK that brings me back to Him.

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