Reflecting the Image

Scripture:

Exodus 16:31–36

31 The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, in order that they may see the food with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant, for safekeeping. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 An omer is a tenth of an ephah. (NRSVUE)

Observation:

The LORD miraculously cared for the Israelites throughout their time of wandering in the wilderness. Food was provided every day by way of manna. We don’t even know exactly what it was, but it sustained the people for forty years.

An omer was the portion gathered for each person every day. Now God told Moses to take one of those portions and preserve it. An omer of manna was to be placed in a jar and kept throughout the generations so that those who came later could see the food with which God had fed His people in the wilderness.

That’s interesting because the Israelites had just been told not to keep manna overnight. When they tried to preserve it because they were afraid they might need it tomorrow, it became wormy and rotten. But now God told them to preserve a portion for an entirely different reason.

They weren’t to preserve it because they were afraid God wouldn’t provide tomorrow.

They were to preserve it so that future generations would remember that God had provided yesterday.

One portion. Kept in a jar. A visible testimony to the faithfulness of God.

Application:

Many years ago, we were helping to train pastors in the former Soviet Union. We had many mouths to feed, and so the ladies in the kitchen would plate the food. I remember one student coming out with his plate and grumbling, “A Leningrad portion!”

I knew exactly what he meant because I’d been to St. Petersburg, previously known as Leningrad. I’d heard about the terrible conditions there during the Second World War, especially during the siege of the city.

I had taken many visitors to see the museum honoring those who endured and fought during what Russians call the Great Patriotic War. There, in the museum, was a Leningrad portion. I can still see it: a tiny piece of black bread. During the worst period of the siege, the daily ration for children and many other civilians had fallen to just 125 grams of bread. It was not enough, and mass starvation followed. 

That little piece of bread has always stayed in my mind. And, by the way, our ministerial students certainly weren’t starving! They were just grumbling.

But today, as I read about the portion of manna placed in the jar, I thought about that little piece of bread again.

Both were portions preserved so that future generations would remember.

One bore witness to terrible human suffering and scarcity.

The other bore witness to God’s provision in the wilderness.

I wish I could see that jar of manna today. I wonder what it looked like. These days we’d probably want to analyze it and figure out exactly what was in it and how it sustained the Israelites for forty years. But that wasn’t why God told them to preserve it. He wanted future generations to see and remember.

This is what I fed you in the wilderness.

Yesterday’s manna wasn’t meant to become today’s security. They had to trust God again every morning. But one portion was preserved as testimony.

Maybe we need some portions like that in our lives—not objects that we worship, but memories that we preserve. Stories we tell. Moments we mark. Reminders of the times when we wondered whether there would be enough and discovered that God was faithful.

We don’t preserve them so that we can live in the past. We preserve them so that when we move into the future, we remember the One who sustained us along the way.

There was enough. Remember what God did here.

God offers us His portion. Receive His gifts with thanksgiving. And when you discover His faithfulness in the wilderness, don’t forget to tell the next generation.

Prayer:

Lord, grumbling seems to sometimes go with the territory. We live in a world that loves to complain, but You remind us time and again that in our times of deepest need, You have been there to sustain us. Help us to remember Your provision and to preserve the testimony of Your faithfulness for those who come after us. Thank You for Your steadfast and enduring love. Amen.