Much and Little

"And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack." An omer was the measure God had set for each person. The verse before tells us the gathering was uneven: they "gathered, some more, some less." Then they measured it, and the amounts came out even. The text does not explain how, and it does not seem to think it needs to.

Two people stand in that verse, and it speaks to both of them. The first is up early while the dew is still on the ground. He works fast and fills his basket, and at the measuring he finds that all his effort got him nothing extra. That is a harder word than it sounds, and it is why capable people are often the last to be glad about this passage. The second gathered little. Maybe it was a bad night, or poor health, or old age, or a child who would not settle. He is braced for the shortfall he has dreaded since he woke, and instead he "had no lack." Both were fed, and neither could say the day proved anything about him.

Paul takes this verse out of Exodus and puts it in a letter about money. He is writing to Corinth about a collection for poorer believers in Jerusalem, and he asks for "an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want." Then he quotes Exodus: "As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack." In the wilderness the evening out happened in the measuring, quietly, before anybody could take credit for it. In Corinth it happens by hand, as believers share what they have. Either way the truth underneath is the same. The God who fed Israel every morning sees that His people have enough, and He often does it through the hands of those who have more.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 275 is Strength When Heart Fails (Psalm 73:26).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna, Year Two