This is a test. But, we have the book with the answers.

Exodus 15:19-16:7 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them, but the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea.

²⁰ Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing.²¹ Miriam answered them, “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted;
The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.”

²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. ²⁴ So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.

There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. ²⁶ And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

²⁷ Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.

16 Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. ² The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ 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.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will 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 or not they will walk in My instruction.⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; ⁷ and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and what are we, that you grumble against us?”

In today’s text it says:  He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”    It says God tested them. God also tests us. The thing is, it is an open book test. All the answers are given to us. The statutes and commandments we are to heed are recorded for us in scripture. Even beyond that, if we fail, we have redemption and forgiveness through Christ.   1 John 1:9 says: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.    All we need to do then, to walk in the promises of God, is to believe and receive Christ; to remain in Him. Jesus says:   “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) If we love Jesus we will heed His voice; we will do what is right in His sight; give ear to His commandments and keep His statutes, then He will be our Lord and healer.  

In the text, prior to God’s promise it says:  They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.    Water is an essential element for life. Like the Israelites we need water to live. There are times that we too come to Marah. Our lives seem to be bitter, unpotable. The tree the Lord showed Moses represented the cross of Christ. If we allow the cross to touch the bitterness of our lives, it will become sweet. We must choose, we can grumble and complain, or we can throw the redeeming and restoring cross into the bitterness of our lives. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy (to make life bitter); I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (to make life sweet)  In John 4:14 Jesus says: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”   When we drink of Christ and the waters of our lives are redeemed and restored, it is not only our own lives which are made sweet, but also that sweetness; the redemption and restoration of Christ and the cross, flows out of us, impacting everything around us.

The text says:  The second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 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.”  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will 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 or not they will walk in My instruction. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”  So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your grumblings against the Lord; and what are we, that you grumble against us?”   Look at what God says about the bread from heaven:  “Behold, I will 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 or not they will walk in My instruction.”   The mana God provided was part of the test of the obedience of the Israelites. They needed to learn to trust in and depend on God every day. They needed to follow His instruction in order to walk in His provision. We too need to seek the fresh mana of God every day. We need to recognize that what we may have received yesterday from Him is not what we need to susstain us today. We are supposed to: give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord our God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes.  We need to seek Him every day. I said before that the test we face from God in this life is an open book test. We need to study and meditate on what He says every day so that we can walk in His provision, His blessing and His promises for that day. We need daily to stir the waters of our lives with the redemption and the restoration of the cross.  Moses said: At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for bringing me out of captivity. Thank You for making the bitterness of life sweet through the redemption and restoration of the cross. I will seek You every morning so that I may give earnest heed to Your voice, and do what is right in Your sight, and give ear to Your commandments, and keep all Your  statutes; and so that I will see Your glory every morning.  May it indeed be that what You have done for me and in me will become a well of water springing up to eternal and abundant life.   Amen.