Bible Notes

Ex. 16:18 In Paul's Plea For Generosity

2 Cor. 8:1-15 is the introduction to Paul's collection memo for the Corinthians which begins in 8:1 and ends in 9:15. In this memo he informs the Corinthians that Titus and some other designated assistants (8:18.23) will be making the rounds and collecting the donations of the Christian communities for the mother Church in Jerusalem. In 8:9-15, Paul makes a plea for generosity. Drawing from the example of the Lord Himself (v. 9) and reminding the Corinthians how they were the first to decide that a collection be made for the mother Church (v. 10), Paul encourages them to continue what they've begun. Then he writes something that is valid even today for individuals or groups who are asked for donations:

As long as readiness is there, a man is acceptable with whatever he can afford; never mind what is beyond his means. This does not mean that to give relief to others you ought to make things difficult for yourselves: it is a question of balancing what happens to be your surplus now against their present need, and one day they may have something to spare that will supply your own need. That is how we strike a balance: as scripture says: The man who gathered much had none too much, the man who gathered little did not go short.

The quotation from Scriptures is actually from Exodus 16:18, an episode from the "manna" incident. There the Israelites were instructed to collect manna that will be sufficient for a day. Some of the Israelites, motivated by greed, gathered more than was necessary; some others were sparing in the amount of manna they gathered. At the end of the day, however, everyone discovered that each had gathered what was sufficient. In short, whether one gathered more or less, there was enough manna for each one to satisfy the day's hunger.

This miracle of the ever sufficient food from heaven is interpreted in the Book of Deuteronomy as a lesson about the Word of God:

He fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but that man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of Yahweh. (Deut. 8:3)

God provides what is sufficient; and He provides according to His Word, human greed (getting more than is sufficient) and laziness (getting less than is sufficient) notwithstanding. This would be one of the meanings of the manna incident in Ex. 16:18 if understood from within the Mosaic discourse in Deut. 8:3. But Paul seems to draw a social implication from Ex. 16:18, an implication that is suggested by the whole of verses 17-18:

The sons of Israel did this (cf. verse 16). They gathered it some more, some less. When they measured in an omer what they had gathered, the man who had gathered more had not too much, the man who had gathered less had not too little. Each found he had gathered what he needed.

The omer that is mentioned here is a measuring device that can contain one-tenth of an ephah (16:36). I would suggest that since everyone was required to keep only the manna that can be contained in an omer, those who had gathered more than an omer gave the extra manna to those who had less than an omer. Thus, in the end, each Israelite had manna that was equivalent to one omer. It is the "balance" that Paul mentions in 2 Cor. 8:9-15: one's lack now will be filled up by the abundance of the other so that no one will be in need.

We are daily faced by inequalities in our society. If we look hard at the things we have, we may find out that we have more than we need. We may even find out that we have in abundance is precisely what another lacks in his/her need. Perhaps it is time we give up what we have in abundance to fill up the need we find in others so that we can contribute to the betterment of our society.