The Story of Manna: More Than Just Bread

If you are not familiar with the story of God delivering the Israelites out of Egypt, I encourage you to stop reading this post and go read the book of Exodus. It wouldn't make much sense otherwise and you kind of need to know the whole story to pick up what I will attempt to put down here. Those of you who are familiar with that story, keep reading!

I was today years old when I realized something. When God provided the manna for the Israelites to feed them in the wilderness, He didn't exactly give them ready-to-eat bread. Perfectly baked loaves did not fall from the sky hot and ready. I always, for some reason, pictured fresh bread from heaven raining down on the Israelites in their camp, easy peasy, but that is not how the story goes. God provided them with food so that they would not starve, but not in the way I had previously thought. Instead of already-prepared bread, He gave them manna, or "what is it" in Hebrew.

Now, let's look at the name manna, or "What is it?" This suggests right off the bat that it was obviously not ready-to-eat bread because they initially didn't even know what it was. The Bible says that "its appearance was like that of bdellium" (Numbers 11:6-9). What is that? I had to look that one up. I encourage you to do the same for visual effect. Bdellium is a resin produced by a tree similar to myrrh. The Israelites would have to rise up early in the morning and gather this manna and grind it down into cakes and then bake it. They had to prepare the manna in order to eat it. We are told in Exodus chapter 16 that the manna tasted of "wafers made with honey". So not only was food provided for them, but it was tasty food!

Why is this significant? Why did this totally blow my mind? Why was the manna any different than God providing some no-prep food? God could do that, right? He could've just made food appear in their tents so that they wouldn't have to gather it or cook it. He could've dropped them an entire Hebrew buffet if He had wanted. Instead, He gave them the basics. He gave them ingredients.

He provided INGREDIENTS y'all!

The Israelites had to work to turn the ingredients into the bread to eat. They had to grind it and beat it (just as they would later do to Jesus' body on the cross), and then cook it in order to have food. They had to rise early in the morning and gather what they needed and then work to produce the food. God provided them with some temporary purpose in their waiting. He provided work.

God gave them the materials, but the Israelites had to do the gathering and the preparing to make the bread happen. My understanding is that this was just another way the Lord was caring for the Israelites without them even realizing it. He provided them with work.

Humans were made to work. It is ingrained in us to produce and to work at things. When God first put Adam in the garden, we are told that he was put there to "work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15). We are not meant to wait idly for God to give us everything and then lay back and enjoy it. We are made to work. Our bodies and our minds NEED to work. We want to produce. It gives us great joy to see the fruits of our labor. We find pleasure and a sense of meaning in being productive. When we do not work, when we get bored, when we sit idle, our minds and our bodies suffer.

"Idle hands are the devil's playthings".

Benjamin Franklin

In the wilderness, the Israelites wouldn't have had much to do if the Lord had not given them a task. They had no land to cultivate because they were constantly moving. They had no upkeep of homes because they were living in tents. They had no altars built for their religious ceremonies. But God! Not only did God provide for them food, shelter, water, and safety, but He also provided them with a way to remain productive and a way to worship and obey Him. He gave them a way to satisfy their need to work and produce.

He also provided them with a routine. Routines are important. Structure is important. Why? Because it is dependable, and dependable is safe, and humans want to feel safe.

Can you imagine how stir-crazy they must have been with nothing to do after being forced to work day-in and day-out for the previous 400 years? They were a hard-working people. Now they were free. What next? They still needed a routine. Every morning, they were told to gather the manna. They were only to collect enough for that day, except for the sixth day when they were to gather enough for that day and the next day which was the Sabbath when they were to rest. They could not sleep in and gather the manna whenever they very well pleased because by then it would be dried up with the dew. They could not gather more than they needed for the day for it would rot and be useless.

They had to stick to this early morning gathering routine in order to have what they needed, and only what they needed for that day. With this routine, God was also providing the Israelites with a way to prove they could trust Him. They had to follow the gathering instructions and trust that the Lord would continue to provide for them. God was establishing, yet again, that He could be trusted to care for them and that He keeps His promises.

Where has God done this for us today? I like to think of the manna as God's Word, Jesus. Jesus is referred to as the Word (John 1:1). The Word is Jesus and Jesus refers to Himself as the Bread of Life (John 6:35). In my experience, when I rise up early and read my Bible, when I gather the Word, I am collecting the raw materials (encouragement, truth, conviction, revelation, relationship with the Father) I will need for the day. What will I face that day? I never know, but the Word I gather that morning will keep my spirit fed throughout that day. I can lean on it when I face adversity that day. I can trust that God is making provision for me THAT DAY.

Matthew 6:34 tells us:

"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own".

Mathew 6:34

So, what are we to do? We are to gather our manna for the day (the Word) and use the ingredients for our bread (life) throughout that day. The bread is the result of the ingredients being utilized. How do we put truth, conviction, encouragement, relationship with the Father to use? By spreading the Good News of the Gospel to those around us! By being a disciple-making disciple.

If you have hung in there and read this far then we have come full circle back to our motto to "choose the good portion", which is the Bread of Life. As I have mentioned before, this is a choice.

As with the Israelites, the bread does not just fall into our lap. The ingredients must be gathered. The work must be put in. The effort must be made in order to reap the benefits of the bread. How can you put forth the effort today? Tomorrow? The next day? By consistently reading and studying the Word of God, by taking in the Bread of Life. In the wilderness of living, we have one food, one source of sustenance, one hope for the future promised land...the Word of God. In Matthew, Jesus tells us:

"It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God".

Matthew 4:4

Make a commitment today to rise early, if possible, and feast daily on the Bread of Life so that your spirit will be fed. We can trust that the Father will meet us there and that He will give us what we need that day to not only survive, but to thrive. No matter your situation, if you have the Father, you have all that you need!

Stay humble, stay hungry, and keep choosing the Good Portion.