Chapter 9b: JESUS is the Bread of Life 2

And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is it? For they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, It is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat (Exo 16:14-15).

They had been on the road for about a month and a half.  The food supply they brought with them out of Egypt was running out, and the people had started complaining.  The euphoria associated with the miraculous deliverance from Pharaoh and the wonder of wonders that they experienced in the Red Sea had worn off, and they were beginning to have second thoughts.  

They had soon forgotten that just a few weeks before, when they landed on this side of the Red Sea, they were jubilantly celebrating their great deliverance from Pharaoh and singing the song of Moses. 

I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.  The LORD is my strength

and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 

Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation (Ex 15: 1,2,11,13).

These are a few verses of the celebrative and prophetic song of Moses which they sang. Not only did they sing this song, but  Miriam the prophetess and all the women celebrated with timbrels and with dances. However, this euphoria was short-lived. 

The people of God were moving on now. They had a wonderful praise-worship, and were beginning their new life as the redeemed of the Lord. They, and probably you and me, supposed that from then on, these redeemed people would have a smooth life.  They probably also expected that it would be a bed of roses and their roads would be smoothly paved, with not a single thorn along their way.  But they soon met a rude awakening when they traveled from the place of celebration for three days in the wilderness looking for water and found none. 

Then they remembered that they had come out of Egypt.  The land they came out of was a land with an abundant water supply, streams and rivers and cisterns full of water. But now they were in this wilderness without even a drop of water to drink. They began to long for the cisterns of Egypt and desire to return, for they had yet to know the Fountain of Living Waters.  They, like us, failed this first test, but an even greater test was ahead of them, as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus.

And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger (Exo 16:1 -3). 

They had been traveling for about six weeks and their supply of food was running out, and after their bitter experience of thirst for three days, they’d about had it with Moses and Aaron.  They were ready to return to the land of their captivity. The people began to complain: We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt, where we had plenty to eat. You brought us out to the wilderness to die of hunger. The Israelites tended to concentrate on their current troubles rather than look at God’s faithfulness for encouragement. Instead of remembering the great things God had done for them—freeing them from slavery, opening the Red Sea for them—they complained bitterly about their hunger. Did they think that the God who parted the Red Sea before them could not provide for them in the wilderness?  Before you look down on them, turn the mirror toward yourself, for we are just like them.  

What about you and me?  When we find ourselves in trouble or serious need, what do we do? When the subsequent need or problem seems to be more serious than the previous ones, what kind of reaction and demeanor do we exhibit?  Do we usually remember at such times to sing, “He’s got the whole world in His hands”?  Ponder these things.  

As always, discontent tends to magnify what is past and vilify what is present without regard to truth or reason. The impatience and ingratitude of murmurers and complainers know no bounds. You see, they were so consumed by these fears that they forgot all the miraculous favors they received from God. They were blind to those convincing proofs that God could and would help them in the time of need.  They forgot his works, and provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea (Psa_106:7-13). 

The Bread of Heaven

After they had murmured and complained long and hard about the scarcity of food, Jehovah promised to rain bread from heaven upon them and even promised to send them quail for meat in the evening. 

Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no (Exo 16:4 ). 

God responded to Israel’s grumbling and accusations that they were only brought out of Egypt to die in the desert. Of course, God wasn’t going to let them die; it was only a test of their trust. After all, He made a promise to their fathers that He would surely keep. Even the food He rained down from heaven upon them was to prove them, as in the passage above.

 And it came to pass at even, that the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the camp. 

And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar-frost on the ground. 

And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is it? For they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, It is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat (Exo 16:13 -15).

They looked and saw the field covered with a white substance after the dew lifted at the break of the day.  They asked each other, “What is that?”  Some of them picked handfuls, while others asked, “What is it?” Since they could not describe the nature of the white substance, that inexplicable whatness became its name.  Indeed, the word manna means “What is it?”

Then, Moses told them it was the food that Jehovah had prepared for them: the corn of heaven, the food of the angels, cooked in heaven and sent down with the dew for them to gather and eat. This was the bread of the mighty, prepared by God to meet their every need.  “Get up,” Moses said to them; “Go, all of you and gather as much as you need for the day.”

”What is that?” “What is it?” This is the same question we are asking today. We, the people of God, are full of questions. It’s good to ask questions, but when God speaks, the best reaction from us should be to trust and obey, even if we do not understand what He’s doing. You cannot define the bread of life; you cannot even give it a name.  So stop trying to figure it out.  It is not given to us to examine or describe in the laboratory.  We are to take it, eat it, digest it, and it will perform in us what the great Designer has programmed into it.

So manna was the name the Israelites gave to the food miraculously supplied to them during their wilderness journey. He also gave them quails, but this bread that He rained down was like nothing they’d ever seen. The name they gave this bread is commonly understood as an expression of surprise: ”What is it?”, but is also said to have been derived from “manna,” meaning ”to allot,” and hence denoting an ”allotment“ or a portion from God. It is described as ”a small round thing,” like the ”hoar-frost on the ground,” and ”like coriander seed,” with “the color of bdellium” and a sweet taste ”like wafers made with honey.” They baked cakes with it, boiled it, ground it in mills as flour, and pounded it in mortars. It was a very versatile foodstuff.

Manna was an altogether miraculous food, specially prepared for the people of God. It was constituted by Jehovah to contain all that His children would need for forty years.  Everything they needed for their health, provision, and sustenance, including nutrition, vitamins, and immunization, was in the manna.  God gave them angel’s food, as the Psalmist described it in Chapter 78 of his book.

However, manna is meant to symbolize utter dependence upon God. It was prepared in heaven without any help or suggestion from man. Man had no say in its preparation or content.  It was prepared at night while man was fast asleep. This wonderful Bread of God would settle on the dew in the darkness of the night, unaided, untouched, uncontaminated by the hand of man. 

Beloved, we must know that there is nothing we can do to produce the life-giving bread of heaven. But in the night, while we are fast asleep, resting helplessly in His arms, God prepares our provision for the

After they had murmured and complained long and hard about the scarcity of food, Jehovah promised to rain bread from heaven upon them and even promised to send them quail for meat in the evening. 

Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no (Exo 16:4 ). 

God responded to Israel’s grumbling and accusations that they were only brought out of Egypt to die in the desert. Of course, God wasn’t going to let them die; it was only a test of their trust. After all, He made a promise to their fathers that He would surely keep. Even the food He rained down from heaven upon them was to prove them, as in the passage above.

 And it came to pass at even, that the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the camp. 

And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar-frost on the ground. 

And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is it? For they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, It is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat (Exo 16:13 -15).

They looked and saw the field covered with a white substance after the dew lifted at the break of the day.  They asked each other, “What is that?”  Some of them picked handfuls, while others asked, “What is it?” Since they could not describe the nature of the white substance, that inexplicable whatness became its name.  Indeed, the word manna means “What is it?”

Then, Moses told them it was the food that Jehovah had prepared for them: the corn of heaven, the food of the angels, cooked in heaven and sent down with the dew for them to gather and eat. This was the bread of the mighty, prepared by God to meet their every need.  “Get up,” Moses said to them; “Go, all of you and gather as much as you need for the day.”

”What is that?” “What is it?” This is the same question we are asking today. We, the people of God, are full of questions. It’s good to ask questions, but when God speaks, the best reaction from us should be to trust and obey, even if we do not understand what He’s doing. You cannot define the bread of life; you cannot even give it a name.  So stop trying to figure it out.  It is not given to us to examine or describe in the laboratory.  We are to take it, eat it, digest it, and it will perform in us what the great Designer has programmed into it.

So manna was the name the Israelites gave to the food miraculously supplied to them during their wilderness journey. He also gave them quails, but this bread that He rained down was like nothing they’d ever seen. The name they gave this bread is commonly understood as an expression of surprise: ”What is it?”, but is also said to have been derived from “manna,” meaning ”to allot,” and hence denoting an ”allotment“ or a portion from God. It is described as ”a small round thing,” like the ”hoar-frost on the ground,” and ”like coriander seed,” with “the color of bdellium” and a sweet taste ”like wafers made with honey.” They baked cakes with it, boiled it, ground it in mills as flour, and pounded it in mortars. It was a very versatile foodstuff.

Manna was an altogether miraculous food, specially prepared for the people of God. It was constituted by Jehovah to contain all that His children would need for forty years.  Everything they needed for their health, provision, and sustenance, including nutrition, vitamins, and immunization, was in the manna.  God gave them angel’s food, as the Psalmist described it in Chapter 78 of his book.

However, manna is meant to symbolize utter dependence upon God. It was prepared in heaven without any help or suggestion from man. Man had no say in its preparation or content.  It was prepared at night while man was fast asleep. This wonderful Bread of God would settle on the dew in the darkness of the night, unaided, untouched, uncontaminated by the hand of man. 

Beloved, we must know that there is nothing we can do to produce the life-giving bread of heaven. But in the night, while we are fast asleep, resting helplessly in His arms, God prepares our provision for the coming day.  He caused them to sleep, and while they were asleep, He prepared the Bread of Life for them. God knows it, and we know it too: it is necessary for us to be asleep while He prepares the manna for us, otherwise we would put our hands on it and contaminate it.  Blessed be God, for the manna was prepared in God’s heavens, and sent down while man was sleeping.

Manna, though no one among them could describe what it was, was so much like the One it represented. It was small (that is, humble), but pure, white, and clean. They spoke of it as being like a seed or like the hoarfrost. This definitely reminds us of the “seed,” the grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died, and afterward germinated and brought forth a multitude of fruits. 

Dear Saint, The Lord our God has prepared the Bread of Life for us in heaven.  He has even sent Him down to us. But for it to benefit us, we must humble ourselves, stoop down, gather it, and eat. We must digest and assimilate this into our systems, and when we do, there will be no feeble person among our tribes.  Understand this: there is a gathering of the manna that we must do, for this is a test of our obedience to the El-Shaddai One who has prepared and rained down the manna from heaven upon us.

When God began to rain down the manna from heaven, He instructed the people, through Moses, to gather only as much as they needed for that day. If they gathered more, so that they would have enough for the next day, the excess became unfit to eat. God faithfully provided the people with manna, one day at a time, for forty years, to teach them the lesson that God is a faithful, dependable Provider who can be trusted.   This is the basic lesson of faith that God is still trying to teach us, His children, in this wilderness journey. The same loving Jehovah God who watched over and provided for the Israelites of old is watching over us in our spiritual journeys today.  

Therefore, let’s not question Him as to what He is doing.  Let’s trust and obey Him, for He knows what He will do beforehand.  Even when He seems to allow us to get into a fix, He knows what He’s going to do to get us out.  Let’s not doubt His power, nor speak against Him, as they did. Let’s learn not to murmur or complain, for this is not pleasing to Him.

And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking food for their desire. Yes, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people?  Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation (Psa 78:17 -22).

 The lessons of the miraculous provision of manna are largely related to faith and trust in Jehovah Jireh, for He is the God that prepares and supplies our daily needs. We must live one day at a time in complete trust and dependence on Him.  We must trust the El-Shaddai daily for a fresh supply of the manna from heaven.