Our Daily Bread
Introduction: A young woman brought her fiancé home to meet her parents for thanksgiving dinner. After dinner, her mother told her father to find out about the young man. The father invited the fiancé to his study for a talk.
"So what are your plans?" the father asked the young man. "I am a biblical scholar," he replied.
"A Biblical scholar. Hmmm," the father said. "Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in?"
"I will study," the young man replied, "and God will provide for us."
"And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?" asked the father.
"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replied, "God will provide for us."
"And children?" asked the father. "How will you support children?"
"Don’t worry, sir, God will provide," replied the fiancé.
The conversation proceeded like this, and each time the father questioned, the young idealist insisted that God would provide.
Later, the mother asked, "How did it go, Honey?" The father answered, "He has no job and no plans, and he thinks I’m God!" (Andrew Chan: Sermon central)
We don't have to worry about an earthly father providing for us, we have a Heavenly Father who does that.
We read that when the Israelites were in the desert grumbling for food, God provided for them (Exodus 16). It must have been a strange sight to see what appeared to be frost on the desert ground, and realize it wasn't frost at all but bread. Exodus 16:31 describes it as being white like coriander seed and sweet like honey wafers and we know that it was called 'Manna' this was angel food. It was Heavens Bread! in this sweet bread we see God's perfect provision.
Pastor Brian Bill shared a familiar story that you may have heard a time or two yourself: He spoke about a fictional man who fell from a cliff and was able to grab hold of a limb that was growing out from the face of the rock and as he clung to life reviewing his options he cried out “Is there anyone up there?” He was surprised when he heard a voice say “Yes. This is God!” He was greatly relieved and said “God can you please save me?” Then God said “Of course I can?” The man said “That's great! What should I do?” God then said “just let go of the limb” after a long pause the man scream “Is there anyone else up there?”
Transition: We are like that man hanging from the cliff sometimes, we often SAY that we want to please God, we just don't want to DO the things that please him. We want help, we just don't want to obey. In Exodus 16 the desert wandering Israelites discovered three things about God's provision. First ...
I. God's Provision teaches us Obedience
“This is what the LORD commanded: Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for every person you have in your tent. The Israelites did as they were told.” - Ex. 16:16,17
Notice the first part of verse 16 "This is what the LORD commanded..." and notice verse 17 "The Israelites did as they were told."
We must do as we are told if we want God's provision. We must obey God if we want his blessings. The Israelites were told what to do and they were told how to do it. They were told to take an omer (half a gallon) for every person in their tent, and each was to gather as much as they needed.
God provided the manna from heaven but God would not have his children do nothing for it. The people had to go out every morning and gather it, and later we read they beat it into mortars, they ground it in mills, and baked it in pans and made it into cakes. We know God does not endorse idleness. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 we read “If any man shall not work, neither shall he eat.” If they wouldn't do as they were told, they would starve.
As we learned from the man hanging from the cliff: Obedience is difficult when sacrifice is required. Abraham had to take his son up the mountain to sacrifice him in obedience to God's command. And his faith was tested, and Abraham was blessed for it and his son was spared. Obedience was difficult but it was rewarded.
Obedience however, is much easier when there is hope of something good at the end of it. Naaman had to dip himself 7 times in the Jordan river if he wanted to be healed of leprosy. The blind man had to go wash his eyes at the pool of Siloam if He wanted to see again, The Israelites had to march around Jericho seven times and then blow trumpets and shout, if they wanted to conquer their enemy. Here the Israelites had to go out daily and gather bread. You see while victory and healing and food is provided there is something on our part that must be done in order to have them.
Ill. How many of you remember the childhood story of the little red hen? I admit I hadn't heard of this one until my mother reminded me of it about a month ago. But it's about A Little Red Hen that lived on a farm with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat, and a noisy yellow duck. One day she found some seeds, and had the idea to make some bread but first she must plant the seeds so she asked for help. “Who will help me plant the seeds?” “Not I” barked the lazy dog, “Not I” purred the sleepy cat, “Not I” quacked the noisy duck. “Then I will” said the little red hen. So the hen planted the seeds all by herself. And when the seeds had grown she asked “who will help me cut the wheat? “Not I” barked the dog, “Not I” purred the cat, “Not I” quacked the duck. “then I will” said the little red hen and she cut the wheat all by herself. After she couldn't get any of her friends to help her grind the wheat or carry the heavy sack of flour back to the barn. The little red hen asked her friends, “who will help me bake the bread? And again, all of them said “Not I”, “Then I will” said the hen and she baked the bread all by herself.
When the bread was made she asked “who will help me EAT the bread?” And all of the sudden, her friends said “I will! I will!” And then the little red hen said “No! I will” and she ate the bread all by herself.
We can learn something from that story - we all want the fruit of labor, its just the labor part that we seem to have such difficulty with. There is no reward for idleness or laziness. The Israelites were required to gather the bread themselves, it wasn't delivered to the tent door every day like the morning paper. But once they gathered it they could do with it whatever seems best to them. You can't use the wheat until you sow it, grow it, and mow it. They may not have had a lot to do but they still had to do what God commanded: collect an omers worth of manna for each person in the tent.
“If you are good and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.” - Isaiah 1:19
Isaiah is saying that doing good and being obedient to God's word will bring all the happiness and comfort that could be desired. A blessing is promised to all those who are obedient to God. Jesus said “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” -Mt. 7:24 and James said “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” And we read in verse 17 that “the Israelites did as they were told; . .”
The blessing of being a doer of the word and not a hearer only is that even if famine or an enemy comes for your crops, God will not let you go hungry. When the storm rages against your house, God will still provide you shelter. Obedience to God is the best insurance. If you obey his condition for provision God will make sure that nothing or no one will kill steal or destroy what he gives you. James sums up disobedience this way: “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.” -James 4:17 We must do our part knowing that God will do his.
Transition: The Israelites now learn that what God provides will always meet their needs. What God gives is good enough, which brings us to our second point..
II. God's Provision teaches us Sufficience
“And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.” - Ex. 16:18
God always provides the right measure. Those that gathered a lot had nothing left over. The manna seem to shrink or swell to the quantity of everyone's appetite! Amazing! God will always give us what we need. Some gathered a lot and some gathered a little, but what they had was sufficient for their needs.
What God gives is good enough.
The apostle Paul said “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” -Phil. 4:12
Paul knew what it was like to be dead broke and he knew what it was like to prosper richly, he knew what it was like to be hungry and what it was like to be well fed, but He mentions that he learned the secret of being content in every situation is knowing that God will not abandon his children to fend for themselves, especially when they live in a world that is opposed to them. He said that I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me. Paul knew what it was like to get beat up, insulted, abused, whipped, stoned, and imprisoned, and yet he learned never to get too down about it and he knew what it was like to be appreciated, applauded, and live in a life of affluence and excel in plenty and yet he learned never to get to high on himself, not to be proud or haughty. To always in every situation trust that God's grace is always sufficient.
What God gives is good enough.
Ill. In the fifth century, a man named Arenius determined to live a holy life. So he abandoned the comforts of Egyptian society to follow an austere lifestyle in the desert. Yet whenever he visited the great city of Alexandria, he spent time wandering through all of the bazaars. When asked why he spent so much time there? He explained that his heart rejoiced at all the things he didn't need.
Those of us who live in a society flooded with goods and gadgets need to ponder the example of the desert dweller. A typical U.S. Supermarket in 1976 had about 9,000 items. Today it carries around 30,000. How many of those are absolutely essential and how many are not?
It's just 'stuff'.
Just as the manna melted away so does the treasures of the earth – rust destroys them, moths eat them, or thieves steal them. (-Mt.6:19)
Paul said “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” - I Timothy 6:6
The godly man is rich because He only wants what God gives him. If he has a lot he is content with a lot, if he has a little he is content with a little.
And what God gives is good enough.
Those Israelites who gathered much never had too much and those who gathered little never had too little. We all receive different graces from God, but we all share the same God and belong to the same Heaven.
The richest man had his omer filled, for free. And a poor man had his omer filled at the same price.
Some commentaries make the point that Paul uses this lesson in verse 18 here to teach the wealthy Corinthian church that it was their duty to reduce themselves so that others would increase. The situation may be reversed where they were in need and some other prospering church could help them out. (2 Cor. 8:14)
God's provision teaches us sufficience. If you've been blessed with much it is your duty to give to those who haven't been so fortunate. "To whom much is given much is required..." Lk 12:48 Let me clarify sonething, There is no sin in having much, but there is a sin in having much and (because of the love of money) wanting more and giving little.
Ill. There was a scene from the movie 'The Count of Monte Cristo' where Mercedes, the love interest of the poor fisherman Edmond Dantes, reminded Fernon, Edmond's wealthy rival, (who was pursuing Mercedes behind his back) of a time when they were all children and how Edmond got a whistle and Fernon got a pony and Fernon was jealous because Edmond was more content with his whistle than Fernon was with his pony.
It reminds me of something Benjamin Franklin said “Contentment makes poor men rich and discontentment makes rich men poor.”
Transition: No one had less than they needed and no one had more than they needed, but if they tried to get more than they needed we read what happens in the next verse and brings us to our final point
III. God's Provision teaches us Dependence
“Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning. 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. Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.” -Ex. 16:19-21
Although they had no more manna in their tent to eat the next day – They could still go to bed knowing manna would be there for them in the morning. We must depend on God. We depend on God's provision the same way a baby depends on it's mother's milk. Newborns can't feed themselves, they rely on someone to feed them. Not just once but whenever they are hungry. God provided what they needed every day. The more we trust God, the more we discover his generosity.
And while they didn't need to keep more than they needed it didn't stop some from trying, which angered Moses. “..However some paid no attention to Moses and kept part of it till morning..”
Here We see the folly of hoarding. Some thought they could outsmart God and keep more than they needed; perhaps to get out of gathering it the next day or week etc. but that wasnt Gids plan. Gids plan was for them to depend on him every day fir provision. Some may have thought "we will keep extra just in case there is no manna tomorrow. . That is NOT DEPENDING on God: To hoard away food or things or money like a packrat in the basement is not trusting God. But the joke was on the hoarders because by morning, Gods judgment came and the once honey sweet bread was now filled with maggots and their tents had the stench of doubt and disobedience. Imagine the shame as the stench of rotten hoarded manna drifted downwind to other tents. Someday the goats in the church will be humiliated by their lack of faith!
Charles Spurgeon said that true independence only comes once you depend on God.
Ill. There was a sign seen in a textile mill, “when your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman.” A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, “I'll just straighten this out myself.” She tried, but the situation only got worse. Finally she called the foreman. “I did the best I could,” she said. “No you didn't. To do the best, you should have called me.” (source unknown: sermonillustrations.com)
If we really want to do our best, We MUST depend on God!
And why shouldn't we? Jesus said the birds of the air '.. do not sow or reap or store in barns - but God still provides for them, and are you not worth more than them?' Why do we doubt and stress and worry so much when We read here that God WILL PROVIDE for us!!?
Conclusion: What a perfect foreshadowing of the plan of salvation, we see in the Israelites dwelling in the desert: they were set free from slavery in Egypt from the deliverer Moses. Just as we are set from from the bondage of sin from our savior Jesus. Their journey through the wilderness was not accommodating, and neither is our journey through our short life on earth. We depend on Jesus our advocate to the father, just as they relied on Moses their intercessor to God. They eventually made it to the promised land, and soon (I believe really soon) we shall make it also. And just as the Israelites in the desert, we must depend on God's provision until we get there.
Jesus said “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” -Jn. 6:35
He gives life and gives life more abundantly. What bread is to the body Jesus is to our soul. Bread sustains the body but Jesus sustains the soul: He satisfies and nourishes our spiritual lives. He is the bread that came down from heaven. Those who take much can never take too much of him and those who have little will not go home with too little. Spurgeon also pointed out "But don't think that you have all the grace you need because you don't, you have enough for today and will need more tomorrow".
All our provision is found on the cross. Remember He is our Daily Bread
{Communion}
