Daily Bread

Introduction

I have read this passage over and over this past week to dive into it as part of my daily bread scripture reading. Sometimes, we are too full from other foods, metaphorically speaking, to enjoy daily scripture reading as nourishing for our souls. In today’s passage, we see a need to return to God’s instructions in order to rely on God for our daily bread rather than the things that don’t nourish us but we crave them anyway. Listen to Exodus 16:2-15

Exodus 16:2–15 NRSV

2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the 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 complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ” 13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Trouble in the Text

First off, the Israelites were grumbling in the wilderness against Moses and Aaron. The claim was that these two had led them into the wilderness to die of starvation. Their looking back at Egypt had changed from a liberation from slavery to a place where they had plenty and everything was in full supply. Graves, food, water, everything that they needed was in plenty in the old land of Egypt.

For me personally, I always find it fascinating this transition from liberation from Egypt to a journey through the wilderness where they forgot their newly gained freedoms and had rose colored glasses in viewing their past lives as living in a land of plenty. From our standpoint it was a few chapters ago that God was drowning Pharaoh’s army as they pursued the Israelites in the Red Sea path. Why in the world would they complain given what God had just done for them?

Here they were in a strange land, a wilderness, where food was unknown, water was unknown, the way forward was unknown. They were in a place where they had no control and no way to predict or plan for how they could take care of their daily needs. In the wilderness, it was dry and waterless except for the occasional oasis. This was a desert where food was not in ample supply. Other than the occasional oasis where perhaps dates might be found, there was not large supply of food for this huge group of wondering people so people naturally wondered how their needs would be met in this wilderness.

In the end, this worrying grew into a grumbling, and the grumbling grew loud enough for Moses to hear directly. They accused him and his brother of convincing them to come to this wilderness where they would perish. Moses and Aaron could not provide for their needs in this place and it was them that made them come to this land. This of course was not the case because it was not Moses and Aaron but God who led them here but their complaint dare not go against God but the people in front of them.

Trouble in our world

When I think of our own wilderness experiences, do we also not complain in the same way? Why am I here? How am I going to get out? How can I take care of myself in this inhospitable place? We have lots of questions and at times can grumble too. Its so and so’s fault that I am in this position, this wilderness where things are not easy or comfortable.

At times we may blame others, maybe our friends or family. Maybe we blame the church or its leaders that got us into this mess or this place where we are lost and wondering around, trying to find our way forward. Often I look at my own grumblings and realize, I do not always embrace the wondering wilderness journeys but can get bitter or hostile towards them.

I will share a brief story but leave names out beyond saying my family and friends. In many times in my life, I often felt very comfortable and that life was balanced and everything was running smoothly. I often noticed others whose lives were rocky and it just seems they could not seem to catch much of a break. They struggled financially but we always had enough no matter what came up. Their dream lives were crumbling down, and this was not due to poor choices or anything along those lines, it just seemed like bad luck and a dark cloud followed them around. Yet, my life continued in this golden season. That changed slowly over time where, while my life did not end up in a deep valley like theirs did, I did see an end to that golden period and I entered a long stretch of a season of wilderness where I was not certain about where I am going or how I am getting there.

While I have my fair share of positive events and luck if you want to call it that, I have also experienced challenges like I have not before. What I learned is that seasons like a golden season can make you complacent in that you sometimes take for granted, those periods in your life where everything is clear and simple. Wondering in the wilderness does not mean God has abandoned you but you can easily find yourself grumbling like these Israelites and wondering how this is going to possibly work out in the end.

Grace in the text

God had an answer to their worries and concerns. God provided manna and quail. Now if you read the fully passage, you realize the grumbling for meat and the provision of meat was different than the heavenly bread, manna. However, Moses clarified that their complaining, their issue was with God, not Moses or Aaron. God in response, by grace and love, instead provided daily manna from heaven. Each day God would provide enough manna so that they had food for the day. They were not to gather more except in preparation for the Sabbath where they would gather twice as much. In other words, each day, God provided them daily bread. God provided their sustenance for that day, each day and every day in the wilderness.

God never failed to provide this manna for them in their 40 years of wondering the wilderness. Roughly God provided for more than 14,600 days worth of food for them, roughly them being over 600,000 in number. It roughly translates to 8,760,000,000 meals. That is billions of meals provide by God for these people. Never once did God neglect their needs. Never did God withhold this daily bread substance because they were complaining or disobedient. Never once did God tell them to fend for themselves. God was faithful each day of the 6 days a week in which he told them to gather this bread from heaven. Each daily God provided for their daily bread and sustained them. They were given just enough every day to meet their daily bread needs.

Grace in the world

Often I look at this story and I wonder about my own self in that type of situation. How much trust do I have in God to provide for my daily needs, to provide my daily bread. If we look at the Lord’s prayer, remember what we ask for, our daily bread. Yet we are not comfortable with having just today’s bread, yet today’s bread is all we need today. Yet each day you and I are sustained. Each day, whether from our own pantries or another, we received our daily bread, enough to get us through today.

This is God’s grace at work in providing for our needs. Often we get caught up in the worries of tomorrow and we lose sight of God’s provision for today. We often loose sight because we are accustomed to always having our daily bread, that we sometimes forget that God has placed it there. God’s loving grace knew our needs this day and provided the means for those needs to be met. This is not the promise of riches or feasts, but instead daily bread.

If I am honest, I have more than just today’s bread. God in his loving grace has showered me with blessings each day. God’s provision has always taken care of me and I thank God each day for this daily bread in which I partake. Each time you eat a meal, we say a blessing, right? Or maybe you don’t always. This kind of prayer sometimes is just a routine because we want God’s blessing on the meal. Truth be told, it is more important to thank God for your meal than it is to ask God to blessing on the food. The food itself is God’s blessing in your life. The fact that you have a meal before you is evidence of God’s loving grace providing for your needs. Before you eat any meal, remember to thank God for providing that meal, remember each time that God is providing for your daily bread needs.