Bread from Heaven
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Introduction
We live in a consumer society - there’s no denying that. And what that means is that society is trying to entice us to buy the next best thing, to try the latest model, to lust after the latest fashion or the latest trend.
It’s all over advertising. Advertising companies do their best work when they can convince you that the product that you currently own is out-dated and ‘redundant’.
You see this prevalence in the mobile phone industry…mobile phone companies want you to believe that the phone you have isn’t good compared to the new, latest, fastest model. It’s called perceived obsolescence.
And what that means it this - they want you to THINK that your phone is obsolete - that it’s useless, when in fact it isn’t…but because they get into your head, people THINK that their phone is useless and so they need to upgrade to the latest model.
Gone are the days when people owned something until it broke. Now we upgrade and buy the next model as soon as it comes out because we live in a consumer society.
It’s the same with fashion. That outfit is SO LAST YEAR… and so people MUST buy another pair of shoes or another outfit in order to keep up with the current trend.
Now, I’m not telling you anything new here, but have you thought about how that is brainwashing culture?
Because the result of all of this clever advertising is that people are never satisfied. They are striving and striving and WORKING HARD to keep up with the trend.
And people THINK they are satisfied when they get the latest item, only to find out that they actually aren’t satisfied because a better version comes out within a few months…and the cycle continues and continues…and NOBODY is satisfied…and it’s draining; it’s tiring; it makes people weary.
What people NEED is something that can satisfy once and for all so that they can STOP WORKING to gain a level of satisfaction that they will never be able to achieve.
Pause
Our passage today speaks into this very issue, believe it or not.
Because our passage today is about God’s provision for the Israelites when they are in the wilderness - the provision of manna and quail in the wilderness.
Let’s look at the passage...
Pause
The Israelites are in a barren place - hence the name, wilderness…and they have no regular supply of food. And of course, they grumble to Moses...
3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
And as a result of their grumbling, God provides manna for them - bread from heaven, as it is also known. And God does this miraculously for the whole time they are in the wilderness until they reach the promised land - a land flowing with milk and honey which means there is abundance of food there, which is why the manna stops.
But what I’d like to draw out of this passage are two things.
First of all what I want you to noice is that when the Israelites gather the manna, they have sufficient manna for each person...
16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ ”
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little.
18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
In other words, they had sufficient manna.
So notice what happened here - every morning they went out to gather the manna, and they gathered as much as they needed. And when they did that, some people gathered a whole load of it, others didn’t gather that much...
…but no matter how much was collected, everybody had enough - nobody had too much and nobody had too little…they had sufficient manna to do them for each day.
In fact, if anyone who kept some of it over until the next day in order to have more the following day, found out the hard way that that wouldn’t work, because by the following day it had gone off and maggots were in it...
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
This was to teach them to rely DAILY on God for his provision…don’t be stockpiling…and God didn’t let them stockpile because if they stockpiled then they would be relying on their extra manna to get them through the next day, rather than God.
This was a daily walking by faith - one day at a time. That’s what God was teaching them....
‘I will provide for you, bread from heaven, daily - I will give you enough each and every day, but you’ve got to trust me on this - don’t be trying to fend for yourselves…rely on ME.’
It’s also the thought behind the same phrase in the Lord’s prayer when we pray, ‘give us this day our daily bread.’
We’re praying, ‘God, may you be sufficient for me each and every day - giving me exactly what I need, letting me rely on YOU each and every day and not my own resources.’
Pause
Now, that’s the first thing I want you to notice. The second thing I want to draw out is that on the sixth day, they collected twice as much so that they didn’t have to collect any on the seventh day, which was a sabbath - a day to rest from the work of collecting manna. In fact, God didn’t PROVIDE any manna on the seventh day.
And the maggots that were there during the week for anyone who kept some over for the next day, WEREN’T present on the Sabbath day...
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today.
So when they kept the Sabbath, they STILL had enough to do them.
But the point of this was that they were to rest from their work, from collecting their manna. They were to rest from striving to get their supplies, and God honoured that by providing EXTRA for them.
Now, of course, the people didn’t trust in that and they went out to find manna on the Sabbath, which really annoyed God...
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?
And the reason why is because the people just don’t seem to believe that God will provide the extra that they need if they take that Sabbath rest.
Incidentally, I remember growing up and there was an electrical shop at the top of our street called Gilmore’s electrical. Maybe you remember that. Stanley Gilmore went to my mum and dad’s church…in fact, I thin he’s still alive and still attends.
When shops were allowed to open on a Sunday, Gilmore’s electrical stayed shut.
And over time, when other electrical shops closed down, Gilmore’s stayed open and still making money.
I believe God was honouring the fact that Stanley kept the Sabbath. And rather than taking the hit by not opening, God actually provided the extra that he needed to keep going.
Now, I don’t know that for sure, but that’s the principle at work here in our passage - don’t be trying to ‘make more’ by collecting on the Sabbath, because you won’t be successful - instead, trust in God and he will provide the extra that you need.
And the point of the Sabbath was to REST from this work - to rest from the striving to collect Manna. And that day was a gift from God.
Look at the next verse…
29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.”
I have GIVEN you the Sabbath - this is a gift for you. It’s not a burden, it’s the OPPOSITE. Enjoy it, rest in it.
Pause
Now, those are the two points that I want to draw out.
Firstly, God gave each person sufficient manna to keep them going each and every day, but not too much that they would rely on their own resources.
And secondly, God gave them a day off, but provided extra for them on that day off, which was a gift for them to enjoy and rest in.
Pause
Now…let’s go to the New Testament and into John’s gospel, chapter 6....
49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Now, let’s connect the dots here… What is Jesus saying?
He’s saying that the bread from heaven that God gave in the wilderness, ONCE AGAIN, is pointing forward to Jesus - the bread of life.
Jesus is the bread of life, sent from the Father…sent from heaven.
Jesus is the bread that is sufficient for us each and every day.
And Jesus is the bread that is JUST enough for us so we don’t need to rely on our own resources. We don’t need to be relying on anything EXTRA other than Jesus.
You see, for some people, they rely on Jesus, but they also rely on their finances - they take some comfort in that…and I can understand why.
And there are others who have Jesus, but they are also relying on their business - they take comfort in the fact that they have a career.
Some people have Jesus, but they also rely on their relationship with others - husband, wife, friends and family…they take comfort from that.
But what we need to realise is that Jesus is sufficient....all we need is Jesus. Jesus should be enough for us and we don’t need to strive and work for acceptance or success or money or whatever - we don’t need to work for any of that because Jesus is enough for us.
In fact, you can STOP working, and rest…because Jesus is enough.
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But if we don’t need to work for that....if Jesus is enough for us then that also means that Jesus is our Sabbath rest. Because the Sabbath was the REST from all that work…when we realise that Jesus is sufficient, we can STOP striving and working and simply find rest in Jesus.
Paul says as much in Colossians 2...
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
The reality of Sabbath rest is found in Jesus.
Jesus is our Sabbath rest.
All our strivings cease in Jesus. All our work ceases in Jesus. All our trying to keep the law and the commandments and trying to be good and do the right thing so that we can be made right with God - all of that ceases in Jesus because HE IS sufficient, and therefore we can STOP all that work to be made right with God - we can REST because Jesus IS our righteousness.
And we don’t need ANYTHING ELSE…he is SUFFICIENT!
Pause
So in our consumer society, where everyone is striving for the next best thing, never satisfied, never happy - always longing for more, we need to remember that Jesus IS everything we need.
He is sufficient for us and when we realise that, we can STOP striving for the next best thing and rest in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ....
We can stop reaching for that ‘thing’ that will never bring satisfaction or contentment…and let’s face it, striving for that is tiresome, it is hard work…and when we stop WORKING and find sufficiency in Jesus, we will find rest for our souls.
Cos, let’s face it - all that other stuff that we, as consumers, are striving for is worth nothing…it spoils, like Manna...
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
There it is in black and white.... Jesus is saying, ‘STOP striving for food that spoils, thinking that it will satisfy you, because it won’t. I AM the one who satisfies. Feed OFF ME.
And incidentally, Jesus said this just after he fed 5000 people from practically nothing, showing that Jesus can satisfy and THEN SOME.
And the point is that striving for all that stuff that spoils and won’t satisfy, is hard work…it’s tiresome…it’s draining and it will make you weary…
And all this striving to be good and to do good in order that you HOPE you have done enough to get into heaven is tiring, it’s draining it makes you weary and it’s not necessary, because Jesus is enough.
Jesus satisfies, and instead of being weary with Jesus, it’s the opposite.
Because Jesus said...
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Pause
Jesus is our daily bread…sent from heaven. He satisfies AND THEN SOME....and he is our Sabbath rest.
And while the Israelites ate the manna and died, Jesus, the bread of heaven gives life…he satisfies, he sustains, and he gives us rest from our striving and our working our way into heaven. He gives us rest from wondering whether or not we’ve don enough in this life…because when we have Jesus, that IS enough.
So... our Father, which art in heaven...give us this day our daily bread.
Let’s pray