The story starts with a grumble. "The entire congregation of the children of Israel complained" (Exodus 16:2). They were wandering in the desert, fresh out of Egypt, and their portable feast – the food they’d taken with them – was finally gone. According to Shemot Rabbah, that Egyptian "travel cake" sustained them for a whole 31 days, providing sixty-one meals! But then, the last crumbs were swept up.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. Instead of approaching Moses and Aaron respectfully, explaining their situation, they went straight to complaining. "For you have taken us out of Egypt to this wilderness to kill this entire assembly in famine!" (Exodus 16:3). They accused their leaders of leading them to their deaths by starvation. Talk about ungrateful! They even moaned about a "famine of food and famine of water."
Logically, you’d expect divine anger to strike, right? But that's not what happened.
Instead, Shemot Rabbah tells us that God, blessed be He, responded with surprising mercy. He says, in effect, "They acted characteristically…and I will act characteristically." In this case, their “characteristic” was complaining. God’s “characteristic” was merciful and forgiving. He tells Moses to announce that in the morning, manna – that miraculous bread from heaven – would fall. As the verse from Isaiah (65:1) says, "I responded to those who did not ask."
The text highlights that they should have approached God with humility and a request for mercy. Instead, they aired their grievances, pointing fingers towards heaven. As Shemot Rabbah points out, they acted like a nation that did not invoke God's name properly.
So why, then, did God provide? Why the unearned miracle?
The text then asks, "Why does it say 'behold Me' twice?" (Isaiah 65:1). The answer? It’s a double reminder. "Behold, it was Me at the spring," referring to the miracle where Moses struck the rock and water gushed forth (Exodus 17:6). "And behold, it was I [who provided] the manna," as it is stated: “Behold, I will rain down bread for you from the heavens." These are two pivotal moments of divine intervention, demonstrating God's consistent presence and willingness to provide, even in the face of human fallibility.
What can we learn from this ancient story? Maybe it's that even when we mess up our requests, even when we approach life with a complaining spirit, there's still a chance for grace. God's mercy, it seems, can sometimes override our own imperfections. It's a comforting, if somewhat challenging, thought. It reminds us that the divine presence isn't always contingent on our perfect behavior, but can also be a response to our deepest needs, even when those needs are expressed imperfectly.