BREAD Exodus 16

Bread is basic food; a staple or basic dietary item. Bread is everyday stuff. If you live in the Pacific coconut is your bread; in Asia it is rice. For the Israelites in the wilderness, manna was the staple food provided miraculously by God. The miracle of the manna is about God’s everyday provision for the lives of his people. Jesus made the connection between himself and everyday food. He said that HE was the bread of life. At its most obvious, this metaphor means that Jesus is the source of everyday spiritual life for his people. Staple food is eaten daily and is the basic nourishment that provides energy for a people. Jesus puts himself forward as the ‘food’ that provides spiritual energy for his people; everyday sustenance – not fancy food eaten only on special occasions!

In studying the miracle of the manna in the wilderness, we will learn how God used blessing as a test. We will observe the grace and generosity of God. We will notice the disobedience, waywardness and hardness of human hearts. And finally, we will make helpful connections between the manna and the new kind of life that Jesus brings from heaven to those who put faith in him.

The manna came as God’s response to the evil in Israel. That evil was manifested by complaining. Complaining is close to the root of all sin. We complain because we don’t understand, like or accept what God has dished out to us in life. Israel was complaining that the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land was too hard; in particular, they were on a very thin diet. They evilly suggested that they would have preferred to have died under God’s judgement in Egypt with full stomachs, rather than be delivered by him into a life of hungry travelling. What a shocking thing to say. They were saying that they would rather resign a future with God for the sake of some short-term gluttony; a short, fat life rather than a long, thin one. They had no vision for working with God.

Paul spoke of people like this a couple of times when he was writing to the churches. He said that there were some people who gave away Christian living for the sake of greed. He said that they god was their belly. They were so unspiritually-minded that the thought of their favourite food was enough to satisfy them. Unlike Paul and genuine Christians who loved to spend themselves in Christ’s service, such people can’t tear themselves away from eating. We must examine how self-indulgence might be ruling our lives.

Now God’s response to Israel’s complaining about the loss of their favourite meat dishes of Egypt was to bless them with easily gathered staple food. Rather like the test in the Garden of Eden, their obedience would be tested as to how they followed the instructions about what and when to gather.

Have you ever thought that the abundance that you enjoy daily is actually God’s test of your willingness to walk in God’s way or not? The test is whether you will gather all that is needed for the short-term, or whether you will gather more ‘stuff’ than you need and try to build your own security system based on material things, rather than keep your focus on the tasks God has for you to achieve and in his ability to both provide what you need and to sustain you to the completion of your life’s work. We act unfaithfully when we wallow in the ‘stuff’ of life without working out what God is blessing us for; what work is our energy is supposed to be directed towards?

Moses and Aaron announced what God was about to do: to provide quail (small birds) in the evening and manna (like fine flakes of dried coconut) in the morning. This was both a blessing and a rebuke. They had complained about hunger but God would show them just how unjustified their grumbling was by providing them with food without work and without price. Why would God do that? Isn’t punishment the appropriate response to disobedience? Why does God continue to bless you, even when you complain and act hatefully towards him?

Moses told the people that God did this so that

- they would know that it was the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt (6), and

- they would see the glory of the Lord acting graciously to them even though they were grumbling against him (7).

God was rendering Israel totally responsible for their disobedience. He was making sure that neither they nor anyone could ever say that it was not clear that God had delivered them and was providing for them. Verse 12: “Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” The blessing of food evening and morning would either bring deep thankfulness and renewed commitment to the Lord from some, or it would bring culpability (blame and guilt) on those who enjoyed the blessings but still refused to humble themselves and admit God’s ownership of their lives. (Jesus spoke parables for the same reason; so that those who were believing would have their faith fed and those who were rejecting him would hear without hearing and see without seeing.)

God’s blessing is a serious business. It is not a sprinkling of happy circumstances like colourful hundreds and thousands on the plain bread and butter of our lives! Blessings are the evidences of God’s power and grace worked into our lives. How we respond to those blessings will determine whether they will ultimately bless us or actually become our strongest accusers. Those who are blessed and yet harden their hearts against God’s commands will be accounted guilty not only for their original bent towards disobedience, but for the added disgrace of using God’s blessings to support a life that dishonours him. The quail and manna would be the means of confirming some Israelites as truly God’s people and the majority as his enemies.

When the manna came the people were given clear instructions to collect enough for their household (16). There was to be no rich or poor when it came to manna collection. There was always just enough, whether they had a big family or a small one. They were also instructed to collect only enough for the day, except on the 6^th day of the week (Friday) when they were to collect enough to last for the 7^th day (the Sabbath, when everyone was to rest from any kind of work). Any extra manna that the people tried to keep during the week – presumably so they could ‘sleep in’ and take days off from the early gathering – that leftover manna would always turn putrid during the day. But on the Sabbath, that manna would remain perfectly fresh.

This miracle was meant to teach the people about the kind of rest they were supposed to take. In their disobedience, some wanted to take time out from the collection whenever they felt like it or when they couldn’t be bothered rising early. This was further evidence of their reluctance to follow God’s instructions. If they were going to reach the Promised Land and go in to displace its enemies successfully, they would have to learn how to depend on God for everything. They would need self-discipline and complete trust in the Lord. This is what the Sabbath teaching was all about. It was a lesson that they should depend on God to provide for them for everything and to rest in God’s promise to supply all their needs. The preservation of the fresh manna confirmed this; they did no work on the Sabbath, but God did not rest from providing for them and keeping them going. It was a lesson that God was behind all their survival. The majority of Israelites, though, were always looking for ‘time off’ from God and his purpose. They dreamed of the meat in Egypt and they complained when God disciplined them.

Jesus Christ fulfils all the lessons to be derived from the provision of the manna.

John 6 is the parallel New Testament passage to Exodus 16. In John 6, we read how the Israelites in Jesus time flocked around him because he had provided bread by miracle. They wanted to make him their leader by force because they imagined he would give them food without work (6.15). They wanted blessings without responsibility; they expected God to provide for them without the expectation that they should work for God. They pestered Jesus for more free bread (6.26,27). Jesus was offended by their lazy, greedy ignorance. They wanted the free bread to fill their stomachs and give them more time to do what they wanted; but they did not want him. They did not want the quality of life that he was displaying. They did not want to be holy. They did not want to serve God. They wanted to avoid work at all costs. Jesus told them they needed to do the ‘work’ of resting in God – that is, believing in and committing to follow Jesus (6.27-29).

This highlights the core of evil in human nature. We want our load lightened and our stomachs filled so we can do whatever we find enjoyable. We expect God’s blessing to follow our plans. But we were made to work with and for God. He strengthens us so that we can serve his good purposes and enjoy the incomparable and brilliant outcomes of his plan. Like Esau, we are willing to sell our future blessings for plateful of stew! (Genesis 25.29-34). This is an evil that attracts God’s judgement.

The greedy people following Jesus demanded that Jesus provide free food like Moses did. But Jesus tells them that they won’t be getting blessings from God separate from him. He told them that if they wanted God’s blessings from heaven, then they would need to eat him! He is the bread come down from heaven. Jesus is the true manna. He is the ultimate blessing and sustenance from the spiritual world. Unless we eat him we will rot in the desert; but if we feed on him we will survive this life and live forever (6.57,58).

Jesus is both rest and food. The Israelites under Moses wanted God to feed them and leave them alone. But God feeds us so we have the capacity to take part in his work. He supports our work by feeding us. Faith in Jesus is like collecting daily manna. We know that this world (the desert) is not our destination, but we know that God is with us to lead us through it and strengthen us to defeat our enemies and occupy the territory marked out for each of us (not waging war like the world, but using spiritual weapons to demolish strongholds of evil in the minds and hearts of people). We are ready and willing to live disciplined lives devoted to working hard in Christ’s service; we don’t expect to waste our lives on leisure or on playing with blessings like toys. We are up and ready to do real, lasting work. But we know that what sustains us in this is not our own effort or the strength of our wills – it is the Bread of Life – Jesus Christ. Daily we feed on him through the Bible and by watching and praying about the circumstances he unfolds to us daily. We put the effort into ‘gathering up’ this food daily, but we know that it is not our searching or collecting but his giving that is the secret of our success. We rest daily in Jesus Christ, knowing that he is our Sabbath-rest. We actually rest while we work, because he is carrying us and feeding us deep within our spirits.

Gather your manna – do it daily and freshly – give thanks to the Lord for his strengthening – use the energy he mightily inspires within you to do his work – keep resting in his will, his providences and his Spirit to sustain you – glorify Christ, your True Bread.