Weights and measures in the Bible sometimes do not mean much to us. So spare a thought here for "an omer" Exo 16:18,36. The omer was sufficient food for the average person each day. Think of a good portion of potato or rice. 10 omers made an ephah. In Ruth 2:17  Ruth went home after her first day’s gleaning with an ephah of barley. That would be 10 day’s food. But she was providing for her mother in law as well, so each would have 5 day’s food. 5 is the number of grace, and by grace are we saved. So God is telling us that grace will save us, Jews (Naomi) and Gentiles (Ruth).

The Israelites were a fickle group.  They oscillated between contentment and peevishness depending on whether they directly experienced the outpouring of Yahweh or not.  Their faith was governed by sight only. 

We should learn from their mistakes (Rom 15:4).  We know that Yahweh always cares for us (Heb 13:5).  Therefore we must continue to have faith under all circumstances, sight unseen.

To extend Moses' point about murmuring (v.8), it can be said that all grumbling is against Yahweh.  The faithful person will endeavor to be content and enthusiastic, even though circumstances might be painful (Phil 4:11, Col 3:23).

If we allow Yahweh to guide our lives (Prov 3:5,6) then we shall be all right.  But, If we insist on setting the agenda, and expect the LORD to comply, we are on shaky ground.   That's what the Israelites did when they cried for flesh (v.8). The Lord answered them to their detriment (Prov 26:5). The fuller account of this incident in Num. 11, will show just how devastating this was.

V.2 It is less than a month into the wilderness and the peoples are complaining. The murmuring was against Moses; but in fact it was against God. We see His patience and how graciously He promised to redress the grievance V.4-5.

16:5 - is this an encouragement to faithful believers to be actively preaching in the last days?

16:15,22,23,31; John 6:51,58 - we note the mention of the 7th day of rest which reminds us of the millenial day of rest and Christ being the manna/bread that can sustain forever.

16:4      The way in which the provision of manna was organised was to prove Israel. It was the people who needed to know what sort of people they were. God knew already.  That God proves His people for their benefit is seen throughout Scripture.

16:7  We probably think of the glory of God as a majestic show. However in this instance the glory of God was seen in the provision of food.

Vs.18-20 The provision for the one day reminds us of Jesus' words in Matt 6:34.

16:23 Notice that the seventh day is called the ‘sabbath’ but this is before the giving of the law. So we should be clear in our minds that when the law spoke about the sabbath - Exo 20:9-11 - it was laying out a law which was already in existence.

71:20 The Psalmist recognises that he will attain to everlasting life through tribulation - that is he recognises the chastening hand of God in his life.

70:1, 5 Whilst God may take a long time to bring judgement on the enemies of His servants those servants still ask Him to 'make haste'. The fact that we know that God will eventually deliver does not in any way minimise the trauma of the events.

71:12 Following on last year's comments even though David believed that God would give him everlasting life his is concerned - as in Psalm 70 - for speedy deliverance.

70 - In saying in the title that the Psalm was to ‘bring to remembrance’ we learn an important lesson. The things of the past are fundamental to our appreciation of how God will work in our lives in the future.

71:20 ‘bring me up again’ shows that David believed in the resurrection.

Psalm 70  A prayer for the speedy overthrow of David's ( and God's ) enemies.

Psalm 71  The Sepuagint attributes this Psalm to David. It appears to be a prayer of an older man.

David (presumably) talks of Yahweh's righteousness (71:2,15,16,19,24) and deliverance from the unrighteous (71:4).  He seeks Yahweh's righteousness so therefore he is a righteous man (righteous does not mean perfect).

Yet this righteous man calls for retribution on his enemies (70:2,3, 71:13).
It is true that the enemies of David were the enemies of God, just as ours are.  Yet we are asked to love our enemies and to pray for them (Matt 5:44).  This is what Jesus did.

70:4      I presume we are among those who ‘love (God’s) salvation’. Does this love we have for the salvation offered cause us also to seek the glorification of God? This is how the Psalmist sees the relationship between the two concepts.

71:1-3  The first three verses of this Psalm are very similar to Psa 31:1-3. A contrast is that in this Psalm David (:3) prays God to be his habitation and deliverance whereas in Psa 31:3 the Psalmist already sees God as his deliverer so maybe the two Psalms were written about the same event but Psa 71 was written before the Psalmist had seen deliverance from the matter which troubled him.

David was grey haired and ready to retire from being King. However, his chosen heir Solomon was too young to succeed him. This period of waiting was a difficult time for David and his wife Bathsheba, especially as there were many older sons of David who wanted the throne. This is the context of 71:18 :

"I am old and and grey headed. O God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation.."

David wanted Solomon to have the same faith in God he had himself, and was asking God to give him time to finish the task of teaching him. The next Psalm confirms the context of the heir, Solomon, and we can find much of the advice David gave to him in the book of Proverbs (Psa 72:1).

70:2,4 Notice the contrast. David speaks of those that ‘seek’ his life and those that ‘seek God.

71:10-11 This language is so similar to that found in Psa 41:5-8 which is written about the time of Absalom’s uprising. The repeated mention of old age in this Psalm is consistent with this time as Absalom’s uprising was near to the end of David’s life so maybe this Psalm also was written as a consequence of the way David’s advisors, even Ahithophel, turned against him at that time.

Just as it was in Isaiah's day God was witnessing against those who were self righteous. The message spoken had one of two outcomes. Either it was spurned by the audience or produced a desire to ask further. The parables, therefore, were not the main message. They were the vehicle to stimulate the hearers to enquire more fully of the words of Jesus - :10 tells us that the disciples actually did ask 'when they were alone' so we see that the disciples were the ones eager to understand.

4:24-25  It seems unfair to think that the one who has will be given more. However Jesus is not speaking of material things. He is speaking of understanding his message. It truly is the case that the more we understand of that message the easier it is to learn more. So it really is beneficial to just read and absorb the details of his life.

Mark 4:1  The use of a boat as a means of being able to teach the people seems to have been a recogonized practice of the Lord. Mark 3:9; Luke 5:3 It would keep Him free of the thronging of the crowd, and with a suitably chosen site could have provided an effective auditorium with the hills behind helping the acoustics.

When we read the parable of the sower, who do we relate to? What are we? Well, I suppose we are the good seed - and we pray that we are, but there is more to be learnt from the parables if we make the effort not always to relate to where we would like to be. Consider, for example the rich man and Lazarus.  Which are you?  Rich and faring sumptuously every day? or a beggar that sits outside and the dogs lick his sores?  I know which I am.

So we must take heed that we do behave like the good seed of the parable - not being taken in by the pressures which caused the other seed to fail, but also bringing forth fruit to our God - growing, as we need to do - towards the greatest harvest of all time.

4:8,20  That the good ground brought forth to differing degrees teaches us that we should not have the same expectation of all our brethren. The lord did not. It is sufficient to bring forth fruit according to ability.

4:3  ‘Hearken’ catches the appeal of God manifest throughout Scripture – for example Deut 18:19 where there is a judgement upon those who did not listen.

4:2-3 Whilst Jesus has performed miracles already in Marks’ account of the gospel this is the beginning of the record of the things he said. Notice the first recorded thing is the parable of the sower. Understanding this parable is the key to understanding all the parables – Mark 4:13 – hence Mark records it first as the pattern for all the rest.

Just to recap: In the previous three chapters of Mark we have seen that the people were split between those who drew near to hear, and those who held back. In ch.3 we saw that Jesus even rebuked his own family for being outside when they should have been listening to him (3:31-35).

In this chapter hearing is mentioned in 9 verses, beginning with his cry in v9 "he who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  In v11 he explains that only those who are inside (i.e. listening to Jesus) will understand the parables. In v24 he explains that the more they listen to him, the more they will receive. And in v25 that those who don't draw near to hear will not understand at all: "even what he has will be taken away from him."

So the strong theme in Mark so far is that the Kingdom of God will only be given to those who draw near to hear Jesus. And this has to be a habitual thing. Jesus was only interested in those who made the effort to come out to him in deserted places. Those who served him food or opened their homes in order to be nearer him. Those who pushed through the crowds to touch him. Those who broke through roofs, shouted above the crowds, or even climbed trees to see him. Let's not trust in hear-say when we listen to the Gospel - but open the Bible daily for ourselves, prayerfully and carefully listening to what he has to tell us.

4:34 In saying ‘when they were alone’ we see the ideas of 4:10 echoed. The parables were designed for those who wanted to spend time with Jesus. Not for those who could not be bothered to follow up what they had heard Jesus say.