Provision

DEVOTION

EXODUS

PROVISION

Ex 16:1-10

16:1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." 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.

NIV

A nation of grumblers seems to be a more fitting title than a nation of God’s people. If it isn’t one thing it’s another that they feel the need to grumble about. First it was water, now it is food. Always looking back to their better times in slavery then be free following the presence of God. Who do they think is providing the pillar of smoke during the day and the pillar of fire during the night? Are they not content to know God will not only lead them to the right place, but will also make sure they survive to get there? Why are they always wanting to have died in Egypt than be where they are? Grumble, grumble and more grumbling. This time Moses tells them they are not grumbling at him, but at God, and still that doesn’t seem to matter to them. Nevertheless, even in the midst of their discontentment, the LORD provides them with bread in the morning and quail in the evening. We will get to all of that as we continue in this narrative, but for now it is only the bread that we are told he tells them about. Each day they were to gather just enough for what they needed, except on the day before the Sabbath, that day they should gather enough for two days. We are also told the LORD was going to test them to see if they were going to follow his instructions, if they were going to be obedient to his command. Looking ahead, we know they some fail the test, but for now we should know he provides. Just to make a point God does something very special. As Aaron was giving the instructions to the whole assembly, God displays his glory out in the desert. We are not sure what the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud looked like, but we can be sure it was something extremely spectacular. We would think the whole of the assembly would be overwhelmed. It would have been one of those “Wow” experiences, but even more than that, indescribable, for all we are told is it was the glory of the LORD. His splendor must have been immense, shining so brightly that he covered his splendor within a cloud. What must they have thought, our Holy God is showing his glory to us, we are undone, he is too great for us to even see, and all we can see is a glimpse of his glory. Yet we know that was not enough to convince some of them to be totally obedient. Nevertheless, God continues to provide. We are not much different. We have seen the provision of the LORD in so many ways in our lives and yet there are times when we become like disobedient children, discontent with what we have and always wanting more. Unlike the Israelites, we never look back on our times before experiencing the salvation of God. We never think it would have been better for us to die in our disbelief then to follow God, even when our following takes us on a desert trip. The idea of being in the desert rather than in Egypt must have been a culture shock for them. They forefathers lived a Bedouin lifestyle in tents, but this whole generation had been raised in a civilized urban environment, even though they were employed as slaves. Sometimes in our journey with the LORD we might experience some desert time. The point of it is to show us our need to rely on God for all aspects of our lives. If we always have the comfort of everything our hearts desire, maybe we would not look to God for our provisions. It is a trap that we can fall into, looking to our own abilities, our own efforts to provide not only for today’s needs, but those of tomorrows as well. We might think it is appropriate to make provisions for our future, but God tells us to live depending on his provisions, his leading, his ways. We may not ever see his glory being shown to us just to prove himself to us, but we certainly can see we have seen his hand at work in our lives. We know he is GOD, and he has done mighty things on our behalf. Whether we ever see his glory appearing to us in a cloud, he has indeed given us bread in the morning and meat at night. Jesus is the bread of life. He is the Lamb of God.

John 6:35

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

NIV

What more do we need? This manna from heaven, this quail, this bread and meat were showing them Jesus, but they could not see him yet, but in the grand plan of God the truth is always about Jesus, about his plan for the salvation of his creation. Just as the bread and meat came down from heaven, so did Jesus. As they started their day gather the bread and finished their day gathering the meat, we start our day with Jesus and we should end our day with Jesus. We travel by his guidance all throughout our day. God is before us, around us, behind us, and yes, within us. His glory is all around us, in fact we might even say we are his glory,

Isa 62:3

3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

NIV

We are his crowning achievement of creation, all he created, he did to place the man and woman he created in his own image, within it. Nevertheless we should know he will continue to provide, let us always be looking to him, trusting in his provision.