"He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack." What a practical and beautiful comment to the church in all ages, upon the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread;" upon the injunction, “ Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."* Happy that christian traveller, who is content thus to gather his daily manna, not too solicitous about the cares, or anxieties, or provision of the morrow. Thrice happy, if he experimentally know the comfort and truth of our Lord's own declaration, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven;" and knowing this, if he daily feeds upon the heavenly food thus offered him, “living by faith upon the Son of God," and realizing, in the end, our Lord's most gracious promise, "If any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever," " for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."+

* Matt. vi. 31-34.

↑ John vi. 51.

EXPOSITION XXXIX.

EXODUS xvi. 19-36.

19. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.

20. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank and Moses was wroth with them.

21. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

22. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man : and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

23. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

24. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.

25. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye shall not find it in

the field.

26. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

27. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.

28. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

29. See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

30. So the people rested on the seventh day.

31. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32. And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.

33. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.

34. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

35. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.

36. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

How wonderful was this perpetual miracle!

Day after day, year after year, did this supernatural food continue to fall, until the Israelites

came unto the borders of the land of Canaan." But in the verses we have just read, a second miracle is propounded to us. The manna, we are told, could not be kept for a single night, as an article of food, or it lost its savour. Therefore "Moses said, Let no man leave of it until the morning. Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stank." But now observe what happened upon the Sabbath day on the day preceding they gathered twice as much manna as usual, viz. two omers for each man, and this at the express command of God, in the former part of the chapter, (verse 5). Had they attempted to do so on any other day, they would have failed, because we are told expressly "that he who gathered much had nothing over," i. e. that he who gathered more than an omer, found himself supernaturally deprived of it, and could take no more than an omer to his tent. The gathering of this quantity, about three quarts, for each member of the family, would probably occupy a considerable portion of the day, especially as it is described in verse 14th: "Upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on

the ground." The manna was not, therefore, in heaps, but thinly spread upon the earth, perhaps on purpose to afford occupation to the people in a land where cultivation and tillage must have been unknown; but the gathering this upon the Sabbath would greatly have interfered with its religious services. On the day, therefore, preceding the Sabbath, every man gathered twice as much as usual, and was permitted to carry it away. The rulers of the congregation, astonished at this, came and told Moses, who at once unravelled the mystery, by declaring, “To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe that ye will seethe, and that which remaineth over, lay up for you, to be kept until the morning; and they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade, and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day, for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord, to-day ye shall not find it in the field."

Here, then, is a distinct reference to the existence of the Sabbath, previously to the establishment of the ceremonial law, and at the same time, a weekly miracle wrought to manifest the Almighty's esteem and respect for it. Sufficient evidence, that this most blessed and holy institution, appointed even in paradise itself, and