Trusting God for Daily Provision

Intro

[Thank worship team]

Good morning Bethel Church, and good morning to our network of rural churches that are joining us live on YouTube. And if you are new here, I want to extend a special welcome to you. If you would, there are “Connect” cards in the seat in front of you. If you would fill that out there or at the Welcome Center outside of the sanctuary. We even have a free gift for you if you are new to Bethel. We would love to get in touch with you and discuss how to get connected to our church family.

Announcements:

Pastor Richard - Congregational Meeting, May 3

Nick Kligmann - Care Team Training (Room 101) last 2 Sundays of April

PRAYER

This time of year, people get “antsy.” Antsy because…

The school year is on the last leg (this one is for parents and teachers as much as the kids)

Spring hasn’t come entirely yet (and we’re all ready for that)

Farmers need to get the seed into the ground but the ground doesn’t always cooperate

Our passage actually speaks to these needs today. So let us lift up our hearts to Him and receive His grace today.

Opening Hook

There’s a reason why sayings become sayings. They don’t come from nowhere.

The Needy and Picky Woman

There was a woman who came to a local church who was in need. She wore old clothes, had walked to the church, and needed money. The pastor, starting to get the full story, was cautious about giving her money because he suspected she was going to use it for junk food and cigarettes. He suspected this because she said she wanted the money to buy junk food and cigarettes.

But the pastor wanted to help. He offered to get her some food. But rather than appreciation, the woman’s demeanor changed and she began asking questions.

“Well, what kind of food?

I only like certain kinds of chips.

I don’t think I want you to get me food I just want money so I can get what I want…”

The pastor paused, and asked, “are you saying you don’t want to receive help in the way I’m able to help you?”

She looked at the pastor, completely serious, and said, “yes.”

Perhaps situations like this is where sayings like, “beggars can’t be choosers” comes from.

But if we’re honest, we all do this. We might recognize that we have various needs, but we also have a prescription for how those needs are met. We want to be both the patient and the doctor, the one who needs the prescription and the prescriber.

Why? Because we love to be in control. This kind of reaction can be described as a “fleshly” thing. By “fleshly,” I do not mean to refer to our physical body or to our skin. (Galatians 5:16-17, Romans 7:18-25, 1 Peter 2:11) Rather, I mean it how the Bible talks about the flesh. The flesh is the inclination to sin. We have, even as followers of Jesus, leftover habits that are oriented toward pride, control, selfishness, etc.

This inclination happens behind the scenes, subtly, perhaps in a way we are not aware of…

Our Fleshly “Automatic”

We seek to meet our needs on our terms.

This was the problem the Israelites had, and we are like them. Today we continue to journey with them as God led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the wilderness. But now they had nothing, and they were going to start getting hungry and needy.

TRANS: Today we will be continuing our study of the book of Exodus called, “Forward, Trusting God in the Unknown.” If you are reading out of the Bibles in front of you, our passage can be found on page 57. If you do not have a Bible, please stop by the Welcome Center and take one. It is our gift to you.

Exodus 16:1–10 ESV

1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 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.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’ ” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

Provision In Wandering

The hungry people romanticize the past.

Exodus 16:1-10

A succinct and humorous summary of this section of text by John Durham,

Israel has settled into a routine. The newness of freedom has worn off, and the hardship of wilderness life has set in, and so the people complain against their leaders.1

1 John I. Durham, Exodus, vol. 3, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1987), 219.

The Hungry People

16:3. pots of meat. In their exaggerated recollection of the situation in Egypt they refer to large pots filled with meat—we might say “meat by the bucketload.”1

1 Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Ex 16:1–3.

There is a similar complaint in Numbers 11,

Cf. Numbers 11:4–6

Numbers 11:4–6 ESV

4b and the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

Romanticizing the past is rarely about accurate memory; it is usually about present distrust. One commentary said, “it was a crisis of faith masquerading as a practical concern.” They had expectations that God would provide for them better than the Egyptians did. Well, God was. Freedom while hungry is better than slavery while full. But that was not in the mind of the Israelites. They forgot their suffering and only remembered the “benefits.”

TRANS: But God had plans to provide for His people, only, it was in His way, not theirs.

Exodus 16:11–21 ESV

11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ” 13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people 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, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’ ” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

God provides daily bread.

Exodus 16:11-21

The Lord provided on His terms, not theirs. Remember how the people were grumbling about having no food? Here’s what they thought of the food as recorded in Numbers 21:

Numbers 21:5 ESV

5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

Contentment in God draws me to Him; complaining against God pulls me away from Him.

There is something about receiving God’s blessings that requires us to let go of our expectations. God knows our needs better than we do, and he meets them exactly. Cf. Matthew 6:11

Matthew 6:11 ESV

11 Give us this day our daily bread,

Beware of complaining, because it prevents us from receiving from God:

The complaints we direct at people cloak a deeper dissatisfaction with God’s provision

Nature: Anyone who has tried to get rid of crabgrass knows how irritating it can be. Once it takes root, it seems impossible to remove. Part of the problem is that crabgrass can grow together, forming a mat of interconnected leaves and roots. Its seeds survive the winter and emerge again in the spring. Taking out one plant does not take out the entire organism. Each plant, in fact, is part of something much bigger, a survival system perfectly adapted to destroy a nice, green lawn.

In the same way, we may know someone (or be someone) who is prone to complaining. It happens in various situations and at various times; the instances might not all seem connected. But very often, this kind of constant critique and complaining is really part of a deeper, more sinister system: dissatisfaction with God. We are unhappy with him. We resent his way of handling us, the circumstances he ordains, and the position he gives. A spirit of complaining has deep, dangerous roots. Only a work of the Holy Spirit can bring true transformation—revealing, removing, and replacing dissatisfaction with gratitude.

TRANS: But God wasn’t done. He had one more gift for the Israelites, but it would require even more trust on their part:

Exodus 16:22–30 ESV

22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’ ” 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

God institutes Sabbath.

Exodus 16:22-30

A complaint that some have about the laws in the Torah is that many of them are similar to the neighboring nations. Do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, etc. I find that complaint easily dismissed, because God has put the law on all of our hearts. Of course every nation has laws against unjust killing, they all derive their morality from the same source.

But, there is a law that is 100% unique to Israel, and that should be a clue as to its importance.

Exodus The Fourth Commandment (20:8–11)

As far as all the available evidence shows, the Sabbath was a unique Israelite institution, unknown in any of the surrounding cultures of the ancient world. As such, the seven-day week is indeed nothing less than one of Israel’s gifts to the world.15

Why rest from work? Because work can become the thing we trust in, not God. We treat work as a Source rather than a conduit. If we get that mixed up, we end up trusting in the wrong thing.

Exodus The Fourth Commandment (20:8–11)

Work can come to dominate the whole of life and to define our very being (“you are what you do”). Work takes the place of God. A “good thing” becomes a “god-thing”—the essence of idolatry.

Sabbath doesn’t come naturally

A farmer friend of mine from Nebraska was telling me about his father, and what it was like to work for Him on the farm. His dad said he followed God, but there was very little evidence to suggest that. His actions didn’t seem to be shaped by God’s priorities.

One such priority was sabbath. My friend rarely went to church during busy seasons on the farm, because they chose to work on Sundays too. The thought was, “we can get ahead.” But there were a few problems:

1. Rarely did they have the energy. They did not have a resting rhythm, so they were constantly on “E.” As a result, the “extra work” they had planned to do just made them more tired the rest of the week… so they were less efficient all the time.

2. Being on low energy meant short tempers. The work environment was rough, to say the least. The father pushed people around, always demanding more. Ultimately, the son went into a different career to get away from it.

3. Not resting put all the pressure on the father, and he had a difficult time trusting others (let alone God). The farmer gained a reputation of doing everything himself and being overly competitive. He burned a lot of bridges.

4. Most significantly, this man never made time for God. This was the top of the waterfall issue that had cascading effects everywhere else downstream.

Here’s the truth about work: there’s always more to do. I confess it is difficult for me to stop working at times, because there is always more to do. But here’s the core about Sabbath: Sabbath is about trusting that God is still working even when I am not. God does not *need* me, He wants me. And I have limitations. Those limitations are a gift so I trust Him when I am resting and enjoying Him.

Sabbath is not reaffirmed in the New Testament as a command, but I believe that Sabbath is a matter of wisdom. The principle of resting from work, delighting in God, trusting in Him alone for your provision… this is what Sabbath is for. It is not a rule for us to follow to earn God’s favor, it is a gift from God to us so we can be healthy. Of course it had to be a law at first, because if it were a suggestion no one would have done it.

God was training His people to copy His creation week: 6 days of work, 1 day of rest. God’s people were to imitate Him.

TRANS: In spite of the grumbling God still cared for His people, and He gave them two important gifts: daily bread and Sabbath. As we think about the gifts that God gives us, we must make an important observation as we close.

Application

Receiving God’s gifts requires humility.

Deuteronomy 8:2–3

Why did God have the people wander in the wilderness? What was He doing? To teach them humility.

Deuteronomy 8:2–3 ESV

2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 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 that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Illustration from Paul’s Emergency Fund

Every time it gets above a certain number, something happens that drains the account back down. A broken down vehicle, a home repair, etc.

Paul said, “God keeps having to teach me that my security isn’t found in that emergency fund, but in Him.”

It is not wrong to have an emergency fund, but it is sin to trust in it more than trusting in God.

James 4:6 ESV

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Israel needed bread, but they also needed to learn dependence, obedience, and rest. The same is true for us. God often uses ordinary needs and daily pressures to teach extraordinary lessons about trust.

If God takes everything away, if he removes what you think you need, if your needs are met but you are barely hanging on.. but you have God — is that enough?

Conclusion : Are you trusting in the Lord today? Beware of grumbling, pride, discontentment and the like preventing you from receiving God’s gifts today. He knows what you need.

Pray

Talk About It/Think About It

In what ways do people try to meet their needs, but only on their terms? How might that be different from how God wants to meet our needs?

Why do you think Israel began to speak about Egypt as if it had been better than it really was?

How can hardship tempt us to look back at old patterns, old sins, or old seasons as though they were safer than walking with God?

What do we learn about God’s character from the way He provided manna each day?

What does Sabbath teach us about trust, beyond simply getting physical rest?

In what ways do people struggle to stop, slow down, or rest because they feel everything depends on them?

Where is God calling you to trust Him instead of trying to secure life on your own terms?