Scriptural Foundation:
Exodus 16:15-31 New King James Version (NKJV)
So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”
Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So, when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.” Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So, they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ” So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.
And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Reflection:
The world is in a perpetual state of decay. There are very few things that one can “set it and forget it”. Maybe that is why I think I like working in information technology field. For the most part once you set a configuration to run, it runs until that piece of hardware fails or is replaced. Sure, at times there may be a power outage, but once the power is back on, that piece of hardware is restored. The Lord set the world in motion with His words. He breathed life into us for a specific purpose at a specific point in time and we will run (if you submit to Him) until we expire.
In our foundational scriptures, the children of Israel had left Egypt traveled for thirty days into the Wilderness of Sin before they encountered manna. One would think after their first pity party on the other side of the Red Sea, this group of former slaves would rejoice at the road ahead (Exodus 15:24-27). Instead, God had to revisit very quickly His lesson on provision.
After the Red sea, His people rested in Elim. Elim was a lovely place to visit after escaping Egypt, but it was not the promise land for the Israelites. They had to continue moving forward towards their inheritance. Unfortunately for them, in order to receive this inheritance, they all had to go through the Wilderness of Sin and receive a mindset adjustment.
The Lord orchestrated their escape, but the Israelites had to walk out their freedom. Strongholds of slavery in the mind does not go away overnight. It must be a purposeful and diligent process in the right direction to get ourselves to our ultimate destination. The Lord provided the water first (Exodus 15:24) to His people and then He provided the bread (Exodus 16:15). The latter required His people to DO something.
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. – James 2:23-24
Our Father is a loving provider, but He will only give us what we have prepared our hearts and minds for in Him to receive. He gave Israelites manna, which means ‘what is it?’ – I think they questioned it, because they were not used to the idea of gathering something for themselves.
We all work in some form or fashion, there is a big difference as to the purpose behind that work. A person working for another may have a different work ethic, then someone working for himself/herself. The Bible says that shouldn’t be the case.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)
For the first time in their lives/generation, the Israelites were gathering for their own households. Manna appeared every morning for six days. There were clear instructions as to when and how much to gather. The Bible cites specifically that ‘some of the people’ failed to follow these instructions. This learning process wasn’t without some hiccups, we see later only a few from this generation made it to the promise land.
In our generation, the Lord gives us revelation for the purpose of application. We can’t wait until we feel comfortable to share the Word with others. If we try to store it up in our hearts what we have read/heard in our personal devotional time, it will decay like the manna in the wilderness. Instead we should be seeking the Lords face daily to receive our manna from Heaven using this three-step process:
- Logos – Written Word of God – Read your Bible every day
- Mana – What is this? – Meditate on scriptures – seek the Lord for revelation
- Rhema – Utterance of the Word of God – Read the Bible out loud and create confessions from scripture for the things that you are believing the Lord for.
I heard a great quote the other day – “Manna makes greed impossible, it is distributed specifically, and it cannot be hoarded.” Lord gives you specific instructions daily to live out. You will be tested to see if the Word that you have heard is in fact applied to your life. The evidence will be in your words and actions and your fruit will be wonders and miracles radiating God’s glory from your life. If these things are not currently happening in your life, look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, what are you doing with your manna?
Seeking Revelation:
Grab your notebook:
- What was the last thing that the Lord put on your heart to do?
- Did you obey, immediately?
- If not, why?
- Meditate on the following scripture: His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ – Matthew 25:21
- This should be the heartbeat of your heart to hear the words above from our Heavenly Father.