God Provides (Exodus 16:1-17:7)

Bible Passage: Exodus 16:1-17:7

Despite God bringing the people out of slavery, things are not well with the Israelites in the desert. They have quickly forgotten the kindness the Lord has shown to them and instead have got caught up in their short-term needs. There isn’t any food in the wilderness. Instead of bringing the need to God, the people complain – and actually suggest they would have been better off if God hadn’t saved them in the first place. In his kindness and patience, God miraculously provides bread and meat from heaven, and water from a rock in order to sustain the people.

The Grumbling of the People: The perspective of the people is not focussed on what God has done for them, but on what they don’t have. This leads to grumbling. It seems ridiculous that after such a powerful work of God to set them free, they so quickly waver in their faith and even long to go back to the place of their captivity because they had full bellies there. However, what they are doing is more common than we realise. Many of us today have testimonies of how the Lord has saved us, and yet we can long for life outside God and be drawn back by the temptations of sin. Sometimes we might even complain or grumble against God when circumstances do not go the way we want them to. 1 Corinthians 10 picks up this story as a warning to us, as the ingratitude of the people is a stepping stone in them getting led astray from God. Cultivating gratitude is important, and leaves us with a posture of faith that not only has God worked for our salvation in the past, but he will go on working for our provision in the present.

The Provision of God: Despite the complaints and grumbling, God had no intention of letting his people starve in the desert. He supplied for their need by raining down bread from heaven each morning and quail each evening, with the instruction to collect up whatever they needed each day. If they tried to collect extra the bread would spoil, and so there was a call to live by faith that God would give them what they need each day. Jesus instructed him disciples to pray ‘give us this day our daily bread’ and to trust that God would answer that prayer. In Matthew 6:32 he told us not to be anxious about our material needs because our heavenly father knows what we need and is generous in provision. This does not mean that God always gives us whatever we want, but it does mean we can trust him for the provision of the things we need. Ultimately, this provision came in sending Jesus himself, and Jesus made the link between the bread supplied by God in the wilderness and a true bread of life that is his body broken for us (see John 6:30-33).

Sabbath Rest: An interesting feature of God’s provision is that special accommodation was made for the Sabbath day. Most of the time, if a person attempted to collect more than one day’s worth of manna at once it wouldn’t work and the manna would spoil, but on the day before the Sabbath they could collect enough to last them through the Sabbath and it would not spoil. This is the first time the Sabbath is introduced in the Bible as something for people to observe. The idea is to take a break from working one day in seven to rest in God. Though our lives are not shaped the same as the Israelites in the wilderness, the principle is still a good one. They were to work six days and rest one and this is a rhythm that shows we trust in God to provide for us and know that it doesn’t all depend on us. The principle of Sabbath is fulfilled ultimately in Christ and the coming new creation rest (see Hebrews 4), but in the mean time building Sabbath into our schedule is a way to experience blessing from God.

Potential Applications:

• This passage challenges our attitudes. Perhaps some people will be convicted to repent of grumbling and complaining when they do not have what they want.
• There may be some people present with particular provision needs. You could offer prayer for provision for any in such situation (and perhaps signpost to a church hardship fund if you have one).
• You could encourage people to think about their weekly rhythms and consider how they are building Sabbath into their schedule.