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Week Seventeen, Day Three

In Exodus 16:4, God promises to rain bread from heaven, and the next morning they awaken to find manna on the ground. The word “manna” literally means “what is it?” They ate “what is it?” for the next 40 years.

Some say that manna was a kind of edible hoarfrost that today is very rare. Studies have shown that a pound of the stuff would provide sufficient carbohydrates for a person to live on for 24 hours. The miracle was not the manna, but the fact that there was enough of it each day to feed everyone.

There seems to be two objectives to this miracle. The first was to teach the Hebrews to walk by faith, not by sight. The manna was sent fresh every morning. You couldn’t store it up and then rely on your supply while letting others go hungry.

God fed them with a fresh supply every morning. Of course, Jesus tried to teach us the same lesson. “‘Consider the lilies,’ Jesus said, ‘they neither toil nor spin, yet god provides for them. Pray this way: ‘Give us this day our daily bread …’”

Jeremiah proclaimed that God’s faithfulness was great, morning by morning God’s mercies are new.

One Sunday in church I quoted the first verse of the 23rd Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.” Then I said, “That Psalm is among the best known and most widely memorized pieces of scripture. Everyone knows it, but no one believes it.” What I meant is that few of us are able to live without wants, longings, anxiety and fear, trusting God with each new day.

Blessings,

Michael
President, Hope for Peace & Justice

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