Manna

#234: What is it?

Exodus 16 gives us an account of the 15th day of the Israelites' second month out of Egypt as they arrived in the Desert of Sin. They started grumbling about not having enough to eat, to the point of saying that they would have preferred to have died in slavery in Egypt where pots of meat and food surrounded them than to be led to the desert where they were free to starve. Immediately, the Lord answers.

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days."

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, "In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?" 8 Moses also said, "You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD."

9 Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.' "

10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.

11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.' "

13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.' "

17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.

19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."

20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.' "

24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."

27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out." 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

The Lord reminded me of the word, "manna" the other day as I was thinking of the things I needed to bring before the Lord. There is the issue of the visa for residency in Australia; there is the need for clarity on my employment after my MBA; there is the desire to finally go home - wherever home may be, after close to 3 months of displacement; there is the need for certainty on where I'll be between the time I finish my studies and the time I get married. Will I be sent home to Manila? Will I be allowed to stay in Sydney so I can have a bit more negotiating power with prospective employers? Will I need to be unemployed for a long time while the papers are getting processed? Is it really four to six months of processing? Of course, when I start making a laundry list of things I lack or things I need, I easily get sucked into stressing about how to address them... which leads to anxiety - which the Lord warns us against in Matthew 6.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Just a few verses before that, in the same chapter, Jesus teaches us how to pray. One of the lines says:

11Give us today our daily bread.

For many days now, I've been praying, "What is it? What is it Lord, that you want me to do? It's surprising to discover (or at least re-discover) that "manna" in Hebrew is literally translated, "What is it?" Manna confused the Israelites. It was provision, but they could not comprehend what it was. It was bread from heaven, food from the hand of God. I didn't know that as I was asking the Lord for answers to my never-ending list of supplication, the Lord was in essence, bringing me face to face with the simple yet powerful truth that He is the giver of our daily bread. I was asking for my bread. I would say, in words borrowed from just a few verses down in Matthew 7,

9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

"Lord, you wouldn't give me stone, will you? If we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will you, My Father, give good gifts to your child who is asking from You now?"

The problem is, I was focusing too much on the bread. I overlooked the importance of the Person who promised to give it, the timing by which He gives it, and His intention for giving it on a daily basis rather than as a lump-sum.

Going back to Exodus, we see specific instructions from the Lord to gather manna that was just enough for the day. The Lord wanted them to obey as a manifestation of their trust in Him - trust that He will provide for them, that this provision will be enough, and that He will provide daily. Those who violated His instructions by finding ways around them were shown their foolishness in the form of maggots which literally spoiled their schemes. What He really wants is to drive home the point: He wanted them to trust Him and obey.

When I ask for my bread, here is His answer: Obey. Obey His command not to worry about my life. Obey His command to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness... and all these things will be added unto me. Obey to take one day at a time, daily trusting Him for my sweet manna.