“On the evening of the fourteenth day
of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites
celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate
some of the produce of the land; unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna
stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any
manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.”
Joshua
5:10-12
For 40 years
God provided Israel with bread every day! Israel had never seen anything like
it. The people called it manna, which translated literally means “What is it?” According
to Exodus 16:13-14:
“That
evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer
of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the
ground appeared on the desert floor.”
Exodus 16:31 describes it as being white like
coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. They were to gather just
what they needed for each day and twice as much on the day before the Sabbath.
This bread from heaven was a perfect symbol of God’s grace. For throughout
Israel’s journey whether they were grumbling against God, rebelling against
Moses, worshipping idols or in willful disobedience…the manna was always there!
God brought plagues, opened the earth in judgment, consumed the disobedient
with fire, but never did He withhold the manna!
However
there did come a day when the manna stopped! The day after they ate food from
the land of Canaan the manna ceased. I wonder how many people went out looking
for it the next day. I wonder how many days they went out to see if it would be
there. There came a point in Israel’s journey that they had to start engaging
kingdom principles. For 40 years, Israel woke up to heaps of manna around the
camp. This means that an entire generation grew up who did not engage in sowing
and reaping.
It is true
that the desert was dry and barren. It would have been difficult, if not
impossible, to grow crops there, but let’s remember that they were there by
choice. They could have entered Canaan much sooner. Instead they willfully
chose to disregard God and His promises and refused to enter the Promised Land.
Still, by His grace, God provided manna to Israel.
Later, under
Joshua’s command, when they did finally enter the land flowing with milk and
honey, God expected them to re-employ kingdom principles. To live according to
His Word! God was still going to provide for them, but it was no longer going
to be heaps of food laid out at their doorsteps! God had to break them of their
manna mentality!
Pastor Scott
Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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