What Have You Done for Me Lately?

The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” (Exodus 16:11–12, NIV 1984).

My Musings – “Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” Then they will know? One would think that parting the Red Sea and having the entire Egyptian army wiped out before their very eyes would have removed all doubt from their minds. Apparently not.

So, what caused the Israelites to grumble once more? “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 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.'” (Exodus 16:1–3, NIV 1984). Grumbling against God by proxy through Moses and Aaron.

Moses’ reply? “[God] has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.” (Exodus 16:8, NIV 1984). The “fear” of the Lord that they learned at the Red Sea, must have worn off a bit.

Nevertheless, the Lord was patient and gracious to them. “That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 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.’ The people of Israel called the bread manna. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.” (Exodus 16:13-15, 31, NIV 1984).

My Advice – We are really no different than the Israelites. We tend to focus on our immediate concerns, forgetting how He has provided for us in the past and how He has provided for our future – eternal life. “I [Jesus] tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven [immediate concerns], but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven [eternal life]. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.” (John 6:32–33, 35, NIV 1984).