017 In the Wilderness - A Bible Story for Children

Exodus 15:22-16:35

After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they began a long and difficult journey through the wilderness to Canaan, the land that God had promised them. For the first three days they traveled without finding water, until finally they came to a place called Marah. Here they found water holes, but the water was so bitter they could not drink it.

"What will we drink now?" the people complained to Moses.

Moses turned to the Lord for help. God showed him a certain tree and told him to throw it into the water. Moses did what God told him, and the water became sweet.

At Marah the Lord laid down a rule, to test the children of Israel: "If you will obey me and do what I say is right and follow all my commands, I will never send to you any of the terrible things I sent to the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who protects you."

But the Israelites continued to complain. After their first month in the wilderness, they turned on Moses and Aaron again. "We would have been better off if the Lord had killed us in Egypt," they said. "There, at least, we had plenty of food to eat. You have led us into this wilderness to starve us to death."

Hearing this, God said to Moses, "The heavens will rain with bread, and every day the people will go out and gather as much as they need for that day. But on the sixth day, they should gather enough to last two days and save some of it for the seventh day. For the seventh day is the Sabbath, the day of rest, and on that day there will be no bread. These are my rules, and I will test the people to see whether they will follow them."

Moses and Aaron listened to God and told the Israelites, "This evening you will know it was the Lord who led our out of Egypt, for he has heard your complaints."

That evening, quails flew into the Israelites' camp, and the people ate them. The next morning, they were surprised to find the ground covered with something white.

"What is this?" asked the Israelites, when they ate the strange sweet food.

"This is the bread the Lord has given you," Moses answered. And the people said, "We will call it manna, because that means 'What is this thing?'"

Then Moses explained to the Israelites God's rules about how much manna to gather each day and how to save some for the Sabbath, the day of rest.

Most of the Israelites listened carefully to Moses' words, and gathered as much as they could eat in one day. But some gathered more and stored it overnight; the next day their manna was crawling with worms. And some did not gather their two portions on the sixth day, and when they went out on the seventh day, they found that no manna had fallen.

"How long will the people disobey my rules?" asked God. "I told them to rest on the seventh day." So the Israelites rested on the Sabbath.

In this way, the children of Israel learned to understand God's commands, and for forty years, while they lived in the wilderness, God sent manna to them.

Category: Children's Bible Stories