Bread of life

DEVOTION

EXODUS

BREAD OF LIFE

Ex 16:21-36

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. 32 Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the desert when I brought you out of Egypt.'" 33 So Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to be kept for the generations to come." 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna in front of the Testimony, that it might be kept. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. 36(An omer is one tenth of an ephah.)

NIV

Certainly there is the establishment of the Sabbath within this passage. There is also the proof the God provided this manna for the entire time the Israelites wandered in the desert, forty years. If we haven’t made the connection yet, we certainly should take the time to ponder on this bread from heaven. We have spent time on the daily bread, the consist provision of God, not storing up for the next day, week, month year, or later years, but this bread from heaven also has another significance. The Israelites certainly would have perished if God had not provided bread from heaven. We would also perish if God had not sent the bread of heaven to provide salvation for us.

John 6:47-51

47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life . 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." 

NIV

Although they were provided with this manna so they would not perish, Jesus tells the people, they stilled died. But he, being the bread of life, gives us eternal life. We cannot be sure if they experienced eternal life, being the children of Israel, God’s chosen people. We know the whole of the assembly did not believe God when they reached the Promised Land, and so he turned them around and lead them around in circles until all died, except their children, a whole new generation that believed him and took possession of the Promised Land. So did they die in there disbelief and if so, would they not have gained eternal life? Here we have the same situation. If people die in their disbelief about Jesus being the bread of life, being the only true provision from God saving people from perishing in the wilderness, they will in fact perish. We need the bread of life in order to have eternal life. There is also the point the Jesus is our  daily bread. That is we have to have a daily walk with him, we have to eat this bread each and every day. Perhaps we need a double portion the day before our Sabbath. That might be a stretch. But the fact does remain we need Jesus each and every day of our life. If we do not experience Jesus, if we are not in the word everyday of our life, we may well begin the process of starving to death.  They could not save any of the manna for the next day, they had to gather it each day, for that day. We cannot just accept Jesus and think we have enough to eat for the rest of our lives. We need to gather Jesus each day, we need to gather truth in the word in each. We need to have our roots deep within the spring of living water. We need to have Jesus for this day, and then more of Jesus on the next day for that day, and on and on each day the same. How can we go on living if we do not have our daily bread? The people called the bread manna, we call the bread, Jesus. The Bread of life.