God Sends Manna to Israelites in the Wilderness Lesson 17 The Lord went before the Israelites by day in a pillar of cloud and by night a pillar of fire. In the desert they became very hungry and started grumbling to Moses and Aaron. ‘In Egypt we had plenty of food. You have brought us out into the desert to die of starvation.’ The Lord told Moses, ‘I am going to rain down bread from heaven for six days each week. On the sixth day people should gather twice as much. On the seventh day there will be no bread from heaven as it is a special day for them to rest.’ Moses and Aaron announced, ‘God has heard your grumbling and is sending meat this evening and all the bread you need in the morning. Then you will know that he is the Lord who provides. That evening a large flock of birds called quail landed near the camp. The hungry people caught them and ate the delicious meat. The next morning there was a layer of dew on the ground which dried up and became like thin flakes of frost on the ground. ‘What is it?’ they asked Moses. The Hebrew word for ‘what is it?’ is ‘manna’. Moses explained they were to gather just enough for five days. Only the sixth day they were to gather twice more than they needed as there would be no manna on the seventh day. God Sends Fiery Serpents!

Numbers 21:4-9 In spite of all God’s help and goodness these people would not trust their lives to God’s care. As they continued their journey they began to grumble. They complained how tired they were of travelling and searching for water. They even complained about the manna, the daily food God sent them. Not only did they say mean things about Moses but they spoke out against God. So God decided to teach them that rebellion is sin and must be punished. Suddenly fiery serpents swarmed in from the desert among the terrified Israelites. People tried to run away but the snakes were everywhere. There was no escape. Many Israelites were dying from the deadly snake bites. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have disobeyed God and spoken against Him. Please ask God to take the serpents away.’ So Moses prayed and the Lord told him what to do. ‘Make a fiery serpent of brass and put it on a pole. Everyone who has been bitten who looks at the brass serpent will live.’ It happened just as God said. Those who trusted God and looked at the brass serpent lived. Those who refused to look all died.