God is …
The Father is a Provider
February 27, 2022
This is the most famous camping trip in the history of the world!
Genesis 22:9-14 NIV
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
The Father provides a way.
Exodus 13:21-22 NIV
By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
The Father provides for our needs.
Exodus 16:14-18 NIV
“When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. 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, 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.
They had to go and gather the bread.
The bread was from God.
The bread only lasted one day.
Matthew 6:9-11 NIV
This, then, is how you should pray:' Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread.
I’ve always felt this verse was redundant – “Give us TODAY our DAILY bread.”
Why not – “Give us bread today.”
TODAY refers to “when” and DAILY refers to an amount.
God knows when we need things and how much we need.
The Father wants to be our only source.
Exodus 20:3 NIV
"You shall have no other gods before me.”
They were living in a polytheistic world. There was a god for everything!
God doesn’t tempt us, but he does test us.
Gods for food, health, and fertility. Examples: Baal, Asherah
Some believe God "REQUIRES" a sacrifice.
God BECOMES the sacrifice!
Jesus gave us a meal to remember him.
Why not a secret handshake, a dance, or a poem to recite?
John 6:48-51a NIV
I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
This meal reminds us that Jesus is our provider and the provision!
