Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. Exodus 16:4
Knowing that God does everything on purpose and with a purpose we can glean, as it were, some important truths from the bread from heaven. First, God’s response in this verse is to Israel’s complaint against the Lord that He brought them into the wilderness just to starve them. They had some false recollection of their time in Egypt, imagining that they had pots of meat and just sat around eating it. Actually, they were slaves in Egypt and were exceptionally ill-treated; they certainly did not sit around feasting. But, that is a common tactic of the enemy — providing you with a false recollection of your time without the Lord as being great and your time with the Lord in a negative light.
So, here are God’s children in the Wilderness of Sin (yes, that’s really its name!) and it’s only the fifteenth day of the second month since God delivered them from Egypt and they are complaining against the Lord. One thing they seemed to have forgotten and that you can be assured of, is that God has not brought you out of your life of sin just to forsake you in the wilderness — He will provide everything you need to make it through to the Promise Land. He already has a plan for your provision!
Notice that God’s provision is supernatural; it is not taken from the land around them but is rather rained down upon them daily (six days a week — the Lord provided enough on Fridays for Friday and Saturday) for forty years. This bread, which tasted like wafers of honey, sustained God’s children throughout their time in the wilderness. But the bread was not just for tasting; it was also for testing and teaching.
The test, God says, was to see if they would obey Him and they failed that test a few times. And the teaching? That was to remind them every day that our life does not come from bread, but from every word that God speaks to us. He is our life and Jesus is the real Bread from Heaven.
It’s easy to lose sight of the manna and begin to wonder and maybe even worry about life. There are, after all, certain things you need to make it from day to day. One of those basics of life is bread (representing food in general) but remember the manna — even if there is no provision in sight, your Provider is always with you and He will never forsake you. He can send provisions for you from heaven.
When you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, there will always be plenty of manna and meat and water and anything else you need as you pass through a land that does not seem to have any of the above-mentioned items readily available. The forty years in the wilderness teaches us about God’s faithfulness and patience and provision.
Seek the Maker and not the manna. The Lord says ask and you shall receive, whatever your need. You can be sure He will provide, even if He has to send bread from heaven!
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