Reflecting the Image

Scripture:

Exodus 16:4–5; 17–21

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”

17 The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed. 19And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it became wormy and rotten. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. (NRSVUE)

Observation:

The children of Israel had just left the twelve springs and seventy palms, and they were already complaining that they were going to die in the wilderness. They lamented the food they had left behind in Egypt. Their complaints had not only reached Moses, but the Lord as well.

God had a plan to provide their daily bread. This was to be the “manna from heaven” — something they had never seen or eaten before. They weren’t going to have to carry all their supplies with them, because God would provide for them every single day. Every morning they would go out and gather what they needed — needed, not wanted. Some gathered more and some gathered less, but when it was measured, those who gathered much had nothing left over, and those who gathered little had no shortage. There was enough.

On the sixth day they were to gather twice as much so that they would not have to gather on the Sabbath. This is important, because the lesson wasn’t simply that they were never to store anything up. Sometimes God told them to prepare for tomorrow. The lesson was to receive God’s provision according to His instruction and to trust that He would provide what they needed.

But some of them struggled with that kind of dependence. They kept manna overnight when they had been told not to, and by morning it had become wormy and rotten. They were trying to hold onto today’s provision for tomorrow instead of trusting that God would provide again.

And He did.

Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed.

God provided the bread, just as He had promised.

Application:

I learned a lot about daily bread while living in Russia. There were government bakeries, and every day they produced the same three basic kinds of bread. There were two kinds of white bread — we knew them by the cuts across the top — and black bread. That was pretty much it. None of it had preservatives, so you didn’t buy a week’s worth of bread and put it in the pantry. Within a couple of days, green mold would begin to grow.

Bread was part of the daily routine. You went out, waited in line, and bought what you needed. Tomorrow you would go back again.

I don’t think that kind of dependence was accidental. The Soviet system had been designed so that people depended upon the government for the basic necessities of life. Living there gave new meaning to a line I had prayed for years: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Every day.

The Israelites were learning something similar in the wilderness, but their dependence was not to be upon Pharaoh or Egypt. In fact, they were longing for the food they remembered from Egypt. God was forming them into His people, and part of that formation was learning an entirely different kind of dependence. Their bread would come from Him.

Later, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, the enemy tempted Him to turn stones into bread. Jesus responded with words from Deuteronomy that looked back to Israel’s experience with manna: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Israel had been taught this lesson in the wilderness, and now Jesus, in the wilderness, was living in complete dependence upon the Father.

There is a spiritual danger in having too much. The rich young ruler discovered that. His possessions had become something he could not relinquish when Jesus called him to follow. The problem isn’t preparing for tomorrow. God Himself told the Israelites to gather extra in preparation for the Sabbath. The danger comes when what we have accumulated begins to convince us that we are self-sufficient.

Maybe that’s why the prayer Jesus taught us remains so important:

Give us this day our daily bread.

Not because all of us are wondering whether we will have something to eat today, but because all of us need to remember where our dependence lies.

Have I accumulated enough that I have begun to believe I don’t need daily bread? Have I surrounded myself with enough resources that I can make it through most days without consciously depending upon God? Am I trusting the Provider, or have I begun to trust what He has provided?

Throughout Scripture we are continually invited into a life of entire dependence upon God. That doesn’t mean becoming passive. The Israelites still had to get up every morning, go outside, gather the manna, and prepare it. They couldn’t make the manna fall, but they did have to gather what God provided.

God provides. We participate.

Maybe that’s another way of understanding what it means to live in the stream of God’s provision. We don’t create the River, and we don’t determine its course. We step in. As we go deeper, we gradually surrender the illusion that we can stand entirely on our own. We faithfully participate in what God is doing while depending upon Him for what only He can provide.

Tomorrow’s bread wasn’t sitting in the pantry for the Israelites. Tomorrow morning, they would need God again.

And maybe that’s not a bad picture of the life of holiness.

Entire sanctification isn’t arriving at a place where we finally have enough spiritual resources stored up that we no longer need God. It is learning to live in entire dependence upon Him. Morning by morning, we receive what He gives. We faithfully gather what He provides. And tomorrow morning, we come to Him again.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Prayer:

Lord, may I trust in You this day for my daily bread. I need You physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Thank You for all that You have provided. Keep me from allowing Your gifts to become substitutes for dependence upon You. Teach me to receive what You provide, to participate faithfully in what You are doing, and to come to You again tomorrow. My heart soars when I let go and trust in You. Amen.