The Provision of Manna

Today's Reading: Exodus 16

Exodus 16:15 (ESV) "When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it? ' For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. '"

Last year, when I moved for the 10th time in 10 years, I had a meltdown in my U-Haul. I don't like change, so I was a combination of sad, angry and disappointed. I didn't want to start over. While I was throwing an epic "pity party," I realized it wasn't about the move; it was about what the move represented. It represented my desire for control, and my lack of trust that God was going to provide what I needed in this new season, even though He had previously provided every time.

It seems easier to trust God when we can cling to the comfort of the familiar instead of trusting Him in navigating something new. Which is why I relate to the Israelites' struggle to trust God as they wandered in the wilderness.

When God took Israel out of Egypt, He committed to take them to the promised land. But in the change and the unfamiliar, they started to complain. They wanted to go back to Egypt because at least they had food there. (Exodus 16:3) In the pain of the unknown, they forgot God's promises and doubted His provision.

But God met them in their complaining. (Exodus 16:12) He told them He would provide bread from heaven just for them. (Exodus 16:4) But even when God gave them what they asked for, they didn't trust Him. They gathered more manna than they needed because they feared He wouldn't send more the next day. Instead of letting God's past provision point them to what He promised for the future, they tried to protect and provide for themselves.

God provides in unexpected ways. It's not about the manna; it's about what the manna represents. God sent manna from heaven to represent the Bread of Life He would send from heaven: Jesus.

The manna didn't look like the provision the Israelites wanted.

Jesus didn't look like the Messiah King they were promised.

And if we are honest, God's definition of provision doesn't always look the way we want it to or the way we hope it will. But God's perfect provision for us is promised in Jesus. (John 14:6)

Just like God saved Israel from Egypt, and they still did not trust Him, Jesus saves us from sin, and we, too, struggle to trust Him.

On the flip side, we can also be tempted to point our gaze solely to God's past versions of provision. And when we do, we can miss what He is doing right in front of us. God's past provisions are meant to point us to His promised provision in Jesus.

We can practice trusting God by looking to Him to provide what we need through the Bread of Life. The Israelites would be hungry again, but Jesus says in Him we will never hunger again. (John 6:35) He did not leave Israel physically hungry, and He will not leave us spiritually hungry either. Manna and Jesus are both proof that God will supply all our needs.

Prayer: God, thank You for the perfect provision You provide in Jesus. Thank You that in Jesus we will never spiritually hunger again. We repent for our lack of trust in Your provision. When we are tempted to look solely at past versions of Your provision, help us point our gaze to what You have promised in our future. In Jesus' name, amen.

More Moments About Exodus 16

God called Israel to be His people - holy and set apart in the land of Canaan, where He promised to make them a great nation. (Genesis 12) But when we find the Israelites in Exodus 1:7, they are in Egypt, not Canaan. While Egypt was a place of refuge during the famine, it was never supposed to be their home. Yet long after the famine ended, they chose to stay in the place that provided comfort instead of going back to Canaan.

It wasn't until they were living as slaves in Egypt that they cried out to God to deliver them, and in Exodus 6:2-8 we see God's response. God reminded them of who He was, what He promised them and who He called them to be. But it took them becoming slaves before they wanted to leave Egypt and go to the land they were promised.

The familiar felt more comforting than freedom.

Our reading today picks up after the Israelites left Egypt. In the wilderness, they had to learn to trust God's provision for manna, but eventually they got tired of waiting to get to the promised land. When they decided to take control of their circumstances, they made idols to worship. Later on, because of a lack of faith, a whole generation missed out on the promised land.

Eventually Israel made it to the promised land. But the problem was that the promised land was never supposed to be the goal; the promised land was meant to point them to the Promised One, Jesus.

When we are tempted to try to take control, let's look to the Promised One as our perfect provision.

Major Moment: The manna of the Old Testament was an intentional symbol for intermediate provision until the Manna from heaven came: the Bread of Life, Jesus Himself.

This was originally published as a teaching from Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament: He’s Never Absent, We’re Never Alone in the First 5 app.