Unconventional Comfort Food
Opening Prayer
Father, quiet my heart before You today as I seek You in Your Word.
Read Exodus 16:1–16
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 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.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “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.’”
13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 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: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Complaining tells God that you don’t trust his choices.Difficult, testing times are an opportunity to see God’s glory—his amazing deliverance and rescue. But how often do we resort to grumbling rather than relying on God to keep his promises?
God uses the desert experiences in our lives to shape our character and to teach us to trust him for each step of life’s journey. The Israelites were slow to learn.
The desert lesson was to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3)—a verse Jesus quoted when tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matt. 4:4).
Jesus also referred back to this miracle when he was responding to grumbling synagogue-goers in Capernaum. He used the story to point to his own role as the bread of life: “Whoever eats this bread will live forever”(John 6:51).
The daily sustenance of manna in the wilderness provides a picture for us of Jesus sustaining us. Don’t live on leftovers. Come to him daily to meet your needs.
Apply
How are you allowing God to lead and sustain you in your life and work? Is God trying to speak to you through your situation?
Closing prayer
Take time now to humbly ask God what he wants to teach you in this life season.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.