Leadership, Learning, Manna, Meat, and the First Sabbath Rest: In Exodus 16, Israel begins learning to walk in the Lord’s way (vv. 4b, 28b). The survival of the people depended on the transformation of their culture. The text presents a jumble of themes around this purpose, some for the first time in Exodus: the grumbling and lessons of the newly redeemed slaves; the status of Moses and Aaron’s leadership; the Lord’s visible presence with the people; and the Lord’s provision of bread, quail, and rest. The chapter ends with instructions for the first Sabbath rest and a manna memorial for the generations after the manna ceases. The people were successful in learning to follow the Lord’s instructions for their daily bread and weekly rest.

16:1–12 The presenting issue was food, as the people we…