Deuteronomy 8:3
3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word[a] that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Sometimes, answered prayer comes in a way that is so overwhelming and abundant that it brings immediate joy and worship. God did the thing and we sit back in awe and wonder. It’s the answer we never even knew we could hope for. Sometimes, more often it seems, it is not like that. We pray knowing that only the Lord can help, move, fix our situations and His response is slow or seems so much less than what we hoped for.
When the Israelites were led out of Egypt, under circumstances like no other, they were headed to The Promised Land. A land flowing with milk and honey. Provision and protection. A land God had promised their ancestor Abraham centuries ago (Genesis 12:1). 430 years later, the promise of the Lord was coming to pass. He delivered them from slavery and set out on what would be the longest 11day trip in history.
On the 10th day of Abib (Aviv) they were slaves on the 11th day they were packing up and moving out. Sweet freedom. They had witnessed God’s mighty had, 10 plagues of mass destruction and plundered their captors to better secure their futures. God led them gently with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. There was no doubt who was in charge, who was leading.
They passed through the parted red sea, watched their enslavers be destroyed and stepped out on the other side baptized in the Lord’s goodness and mercy. They were a convoy of the covenant. 34 days later, Exodus 16 says the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
Exodus 16:3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Exodus 12:38 said they left Egypt with very much livestock, both flocks and herds. So we know they had meat. They needed to preserve their livestock but they were not in dire straights here. What they didn’t have was bread. The unleavened bread they had when they left Egypt was long gone. They missed bread. They missed bread so much that they were willing to sin against The Lord and accuse Him of tricking them and bringing them out into the desert to kill them. They had protein but no carbs. They had what they needed to survive but they wanted comfort. A warm crusty loaf of bread to sop up the juices of the meat. Sitting around the fire, the smells of roasting meat and fresh baked bread, the smell of home. Even if that home was a prison. It was what they knew. They were willing to trade freedom for carbs. I have never understood anyone more.
Then the Lord told Moses, you let them know, I’m about to rain bread from heaven (EX 16:4). He would wake them up the next morning with answered prayer. While they slept, He brought manna. No one had ever seen it before. The Lord was doing a new thing. Manna in Hebrew means What is it? It was a fine, flake like thing, fine as frost on the ground. They had to gather the What is it, grind it in hand mills or beat it in mortars, boil it in pots and make cakes of it (Numbers 11:8). I’m pretty sure that’s not what they had in mind. Gathering flakes off of the ground? They wanted sympathy for their struggles, comfort for their confinement, they wanted bread and God sent them an ingredient. He sent them “What is it”? How long does it take to go from What is it to Is that it? They cried out to the Lord for deliverance and He did then they wanted to return to captivity. He sent them supernatural bread and quail to eat and they complained it wasn’t enough. Such a human response. They wanted freedom at no cost, comfort with no effort and deliverance with no pain. They were fragile and hungry. God was trying to write a multi-generational story that would mirror His Son redeeming us and our journey to heaven but of course they didn’t know that. They could only see their hurt and pain and trauma. The pain of right now. The scars of suffering were fresh, still aching in their hearts. Grief and trauma can make us viciously selfish. Myopic in our own pain. They met God in a way no one had ever known Him but chose to look at the Pillar of Fire and ask for a sandwich. 40 years later Moses was preparing them to go into the promise land without him and he said in Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word[a] that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Does that sound familiar?
When Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days and 40 nights Matthew 4:2-4 says:
2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Redemption.
35 DAYS into the wilderness they cried out for bread. 35 GENERATIONS later they got it. Jesus redeemed the sin from their wilderness, in His wilderness, even before He began His ministry. He knew it wasn’t just about bread because He knew He WAS the Bread (John 6:35). He was the answer to their souls cry so long ago. They were hungry, we are hungry today. We long for bread but sometimes, we get manna. We want the -Here you go but more often get the -What is it. It is so important to know and remember that God is working, doing and redeeming every step of our way. We can’t see the future, we only know we want the comfort now. We also know the one thing they didn’t, praising Him for the manna in our wilderness. To keep our What is it from becoming Is that it? Oh, that is so hard! The Lord provided manna for them until the day they reached The Promise Land. He does it for us too. Look around. Look at what The Lord has done for you your whole life. Don’t despise the ingredient. God gave you that because He knew you could make something beautiful and life sustaining from it.
©Bobbi Adams 2023
An Imperfect Christian 