Exodus 16

There were hundreds of thousands of Israelites in the wilderness. God had rescued them out of Egypt. But how would they survive? The Lord would have to provide.

This was not a surprise to God. He had a plan to give bread from heaven. The Lord's decree for each of our lives is not heaven on earth, at least not yet. He is leading us into situations where we feel our need, we cry out to Him, and He grants us gifts according to His will. We are a journeying people, and the Lord is training us up along the way.

That training begins when we leave the place of comfort and provision, when the seventy palm trees and springs of water at Elim are fading on the horizon. Trust is not learned when you have everything that you want. Faith grows when you discover the dependance of asking and gratefully receiving according to the Lord's schedule.

It should not surprise us that the people of Israel did not begin this mission as those who were already perfect in their faith. They had struggled with the events that had taken place in the beginning of their deliverance from Egypt. Yes, they had seen the ability of the Lord to cast horse and rider into the sea. Yet even that devastating display of power could be easily forgotten when fear took hold of their souls.

The people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. They gave into strange and faulty thinking. They openly expressed their rebellion against God's representatives. They claimed that it would have been preferable to die like the firstborn of Egypt rather than to suffer this hunger and thirst in a place with virtually no food or water.

Where do we find our well-being? How do we live in faith. If we look to our circumstances, how can our life of obedience be stable? If we rely on who we are or what we have accomplished, how can we avoid both pride and discouragement? The only way to walk in faith is to find our joy in God and His great works. When all seems lost, remember that God is the great I-AM, and that He has won the battles that make all the difference to our eternal security.

God knew that His people would have to eat in the desert. He announced to Moses the coming provision of bread from heaven. This would be the Lord's miraculous sustenance of His nation throughout their time of travel. Each day God would rain bread for that day. Isn't this consistent with the Lord's good care for us? We want, sometimes even demand, a different level of provision. We look for insurance, not just sustenance, but that is not the way of faith. The Lord has never promised that He would give us all the inventory we could ever ask for. That is the way to feel safe in our own possessions, not the way for us to learn how to trust God.

The people of Israel needed to believe that God would give them their daily bread. Not only that, He asked them to hear His promise that on the sixth day He would provide enough food that they would be well fed on both the sixth and seventh day of every week. He wanted them to keep a day of rest, the seventh day, the Day of the Lord from the time of God's rest over all His works of creation. Observing this Sabbath rest was a special test of faith. Could God be trusted to provide in accord with His Word? Would they learn that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God?

To embrace a life of faith requires the rejection of those habits of the heart that yield a steady stream of grumbling. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The heart of faith speaks forth earnest petition to God. The soul that is gripped by fear expresses itself in grumbling to people about God and His disappointing representatives.

The Lord knows the difference between prayer and murmuring. God can supply meat for the people if that's what they insist on, but they may not like all that comes with that gift. That is a story for a later chapter in the Bible. In the meantime, the Lord's congregation should not consider the blessing of bread from heaven as a small provision.

Moses did not give the people bread from heaven. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ gave the Israelites bread from on high. Many centuries later, the true Bread from heaven came in person. The symbols of the Old Covenant were not always explained in former ages. They were to be received as good rituals and acts of mercy from God. Now that we know that the Son of God is the Bread of life, it seems especially insulting that the Lord's people in the wilderness did not think the daily provision of manna was a good enough miracle. Their Lord chose the menu. Who were they to reject it?

Manna was a very good provision, and if they were willing to care for each other, there was enough there for everyone to eat and live. Yet even with such an amazing blessing, the people could not receive it without both complaining and hoarding.

For forty years, until they came to the border of Canaan, God sent a daily gift of bread from heaven. Now the true Bread from heaven has been given to us forever. He is our life. When we remember His atoning death as an act of worship, we still eat bread together. We are united together as one body in the Son of God. He gave His life for us. He is our strength and our joy. He is training us for heaven.