The Bread of Life

Hebrews 9:1-12

The articles and artifacts of the old covenant.

They are all there to point to Jesus who is the minister of a far better covenant.

Jesus, the minister of the New and far better covenant.

v.4, there is the ark, the tablets of the covenant. Today the urn of manna.

Exodus 16:2-4

Exodus 16:2–4 ESV

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.

The people are wandering in the wilderness and are grumbling becasue of their hunger.

God tells Moses that He is going to rain bread from heaven on them.

One large reason for this is to see God’s provision.

God’s Provision

This was God’s way of providing for His people while they wandered in the desert for 40 years.

For 40 years they ate more than just the manna. However the manna was a main staple that they ate.

This was a gracious and loving act that God did for the people.

Nehemiah 9:17

Nehemiah 9:17 ESV

17 They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

We see that the people were stiffnecked, ungrateful, and even idol worshippers when given the chance.

Yet God is gracious and merciful.

Nehemiah 9:20

Nehemiah 9:20 ESV

20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.

His mercy is proved that He still gives them food, and water. They lacked nothing in the wilderness.

The point that God is making, is that He will be their provider. He will be their sustainer!

Do They Trust God?

Exodus 16:4

The term God uses is will they walk in my law.

This is a test to see if they trust God.

The command God gave was “only gather enough for a day!”

No hording or storing.

This was to see, do they trust God to be their provider, when He says that He will.

Deuteronomy 8:3

Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV

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.

The purpose of this was to show them that man doesn’t live by bread alone. But by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Do We Trust in God?

Are we so fixated on the things of this life, that we aren’t any earthly good?

Jesus says “don’t be anxious about tomorrow, sufficient for the day is it’s own trouble.

Matthew 6:34

Are we anxious over the things that we have no control over?

Do we trust God with them, knowing that as with the Israelites, He cares for us. He will bring us through whatever turmoil we find ourselves in.

God’s Mercy Is New Daily

We see in Exodus 16:4, God’s mercy in renewed daily.

It’s fresh ever morning.

Jeremiah, after facing all of the suffering he faced. After seeing Jerusalem destroyed and His people carried off in exile. He would later be dragged off by his people to Egypt. He writes:

Lamentations 3:22-24

Lamentations 3:22–24 ESV

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

The mercies of God never cease. Great is His faithfulness to those who love Him.

The hope of the Israelites wasn’t in going back to Egypt to find food. It wasn’t in the hope of finding some food in a barren and desolate place.

But God was teaching them, that their hope was in the Lord. He will provide their needs, and He did with the Manna.

Our hope isn’t in masks, or in a vaccine. It isn’t in the sway of the correct political powers. It isn’t in our economy.

Haven’t we learned from the people of old? OUR HOPE IS IN GOD, IN HIM ALONE!

For He is the provider of His people.

Daily Gather

Exodus 16:21

God provided, but they were commanded to go and get it.

They couldn’t be a sluggard. For it would melt when the sun got hot.

God provides, but He calls us to action.

Part of that action is realizing that God doesn’t call us to live by bread alone. Therefore our daily gathering shouldn’t be for just the physical things in this world.

Not By Bread Alone

This life, this world, it isn’t about living for only the physical things.

Matthew 4:2-4

Matthew 4:2–4 ESV

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.’ ”

We need to see that the temptations that Jesus faced were the same ones that Isreal faced in the wilderness.

The difference being where Israel had failed, Jesus would succeed.

IF! This calls into question the last thing that we saw Jesus do in Matthew. Just prior to this God audibly say “This is my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”

Now Satan is trying to get Him to question who He is.

Well surly if you were the son of God, He wouldn’t let you suffer this way!

You must not be the Son of God, or He doesn’t love you!

If you are, end you suffering, you have the power to turn these rocks into bread.

Jesus’ rebuttal.

I know what God has said. I know I am to trust Him, I know he brought me out here for a reason and He can and has provided food from heaven.

I’m not going to question God, I’m going to trust His word.

For it isn’t just the physical that we live for, but the very word of God that sustains us.

Are we sustained by the bread of this world alone?

How often do we eat?

How often do we take in spiritual food?

Through the bible, prayer, preaching, singing praises.

If Sunday is the only time your being fed, your starving, and don’t even realize it.

We must partake of the bread of life.

Bread Of Life

John 6:32-33

John 6:32–33 ESV

32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Ah, we see Jesus showing that He fulfilled what the the Manna foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

The manna came down:

Because God is merciful, and good.

To provide sustenance for the people.

To teach people to trust in God.

It was to be gathered daily, and not in a slack or sluggish manner.

The bread of life came down.

Because God is merciful and good.

To give us spiritual, sustenance

So that we might have the Holy Spirit, who works in our hearts and gives us strength to trust in God.

He is to be taken in daily, it should not be in a slack manner. Where we will spend time, if we have the time. For we never do, and the opportunity quickly melts away.