Read Exodus 16:1-34
The story…..
Having regrouped at the side of the Red sea, the Lord leads His people into the Wilderness of Sin. The name doesn’t mean sin in the sense that we know it in English, in the native tongue of the land it means thorn, the Israelites don’t need a named place in which to mistrust and complain against the Lord, they were however a thorn in the side of Moses as they journeyed through this desert.
It wasn’t long before they were hungry, a month in and the edible spoils from Egypt had run out, the days of knowing where their next meal was coming from seemed a long time ago and the appeal of some level of self sufficiency, some measure of control over their destiny loomed large, large enough to shadow over everything the Lord had done for them until now.
“Oh” they groaned “we had flesh pots in Egypt”, “Oh, wish we’d died with the Egyptians” Hangry Hebrews it seems get a little dramatic, Moses gets a little angry and impatient with them, after all He’s probably Hangry too and on top of it all he’s getting the blame for all this. The wilderness of thorns have choked the word of God! The Lord of course knows this needs to happen, that the Israelites have to identify their real needs before He provides it. He leads them to the question “what are you hungry for?”
The Manna covers the ground like frost and the quail sweep in, in plenty in the evening. The Israelites don’t even realise the gift “What is it?” They call it. A question still debated before the Eucharist in many Christian churches today. In the evening quail swoop in, an easy catch. Those fleshpots and the bread you asked me for… says the Lord….here it is.
There’s another formation opportunity here that the Lord provides for the Israelites. He tells them to collect only what they need for the day, no more, no less and it will be sufficient. Obviously some have to test out what happens if you gather a little more and find the Manna becomes smelly and maggoty. It’s a test in obedience and trust. The Israelites are also told that on the eve of the Sabbath to collect double and on that day it will last, ensuring there is a day where the rest and worship is not Interrupted by practical needs. Some gets reserved in a jar by Aaron at the Lords command as a reminder of just how the Lord provided for them in the desert.
What’s happening in Moses?
You have to feel for Moses, and later we see he starts to question if he wants this job at all. Moses would have been aware that the grains and supplies from Egypt would have been getting low, but he also would have known the Lord had provided every need, so like before he would have hoped but maybe not presumed, the same would be true here.
I wonder was there a tension in his gut as he could see no way in which the Lord could provide in such a stark place. Did Moses start to make a contingency plan in his head, we will start with the cattle with us, perhaps we will need to eat the forbidden reptiles found here. What if we were meant to have gathered more, in Egypt or at Elim or fish from the Read sea?
When we can’t see how the Lord could provide, it’s tempting to fall back onto our own strength, even if this gets no further than a thought process this can be the go to our own little self knitted safety net in case we missed an opportunity or that the Lord might just have seen our unworthiness a little clearer this time and changed his mind. He won’t, He is faithful, he teaches us what faithfulness looks like but I’m sure we have all found ourselves down that little rabbit hole of thought. Moses points all their grumbling back to the Lord, don’t come to me with it he says, I just follow orders ! Take it up with the Lord. An unconscious but maybe inspired suggestion to them all to start a personal relationship with Yahweh.
With everyone placated with the heavenly bread and quail, I can only imagine the frustration of Moses as some try to gather more than they needed for the day, against the rules the Lord had just given them, and again looking to gather Manna on the Sabbath. Here however the Lord groups Moses in with the wrong doing, “How long will YOU refuse to keep my commands and instructions?” I wonder if Moses, rather than being guilty of collecting Manna was managing and sorting issues out among his people. Perhaps this was the Lord calling Moses out to set an example and to understand that he too needed to rest and worship, even with this weighty responsibility he wasn’t above needing the benefits of the Sabbath.
What’s happening in the Israelites?
Grumbling is a contagious act, one small dissenting voice can cover a community like a wild fire, consuming hearts and tainting memories. Grumbling is an internal disposition and rarely has much to do with the external circumstances. We grumble when our expectations or appetites aren’t met. Our appetites aren’t always a guide of what we need in quantity and quality. Hunger is a good palate cleanser, and a limited but sufficient provision trains us in an understanding of what is enough, and importantly what is too much.
The Israelites would have gathered for each other, for the sick, for the elderly each would have had all they needed, each being fed with a miraculous provision that tasted of honey, a foretaste of the land of milk and honey that was the destination. The Lord was honing their appetites for the promised land. Each morning the Manna appeared, we are told that the Lord is testing their obedience to Him, but I also see that He is proving His trustworthiness to them. Each morning for forty years, the Lord would say through the manna, I am a God of my word, I am a God to be trusted and relied upon.
For the Israelites that chose to gather more, or to gather on the sabbath, I imagine there was a back story that we too can relate to. Did they gather more out of fear there would not be enough or any the next day? Did they gather more in the name of efficiency and practicality? Did they not really know how much they needed to be satiated? Did they not gather double on the day before the sabbath through Idleness, distraction, bad planning that meant they had to go out gathering when they should be resting and worshipping? I can certainly relate to most of these reasons, I wonder if you do too?
What are we learning about God?
I’m sure every chapter of this journey will demonstrate the faithfulness of God, the mercy of God and the incredible wisdom of God. I feel continually blown away in this story of how he knows his people so well, so much better than they know themselves. Here is a God that has created us so as to use the fleshy humanity of our being to draw us close. Our physical hunger serves Him, our feasting serves him, our failings form us for Him. He places a desire for eternity on our lips with only the slightest hint of what it could be like and our hearts ache for it. He also knows that the world has become a place that hinders our growth so much that we don’t even know to seek the promised land, that our appetites and tastes will never lead us to Him without His constant intervention. He is willing to risk our dissatisfaction and rejection in order to bring us into the fullness of all He created us to be because ultimately that longing for the promised land is carved into our core. The Lord works with our brokenness, our sinfulness, our fragility and lack of understanding, not because of who we are, but purely because of who He is.
What are we to learn from this?
Did it strike you at all how easy it was to catch the quail? Even in this the Lord has blessed us with (a youth ministry term) an object lesson. Quail flew over this desert land in vast numbers, flocks of thousands for miles and miles. After a long journey the quail would tire, they would fly lower and slower as they tired. This left them very vulnerable to becoming prey. Without rest the birds were weak and susceptible. There’s something in this for us, as the Lord underlines time and time again the importance of the Sabbath to Moses and to the Israelites I think that we too need to take note of the necessity of the commanded day of rest.
There is also a very clear lesson in appetite control for us to heed here. Not only what are we hungering for? But also what is enough and what will ultimately satisfy that hunger? Jesus tells us not to labour for the food that perishes but for the food that endures. The gathering of the physical needs is important but how much is too much? How attuned are we to what we really need and what is really just a gathering through greed, fear and lack of trust. Our destinies are determined largely by our appetites for things of God or for things of the world. Hunger cleanses our palate, we don’t like or enjoy hunger but it does bring huge gifts. Fasting of anything, brings an appreciation of what we have, a building of some self control, all of which creates a space for God to delight us with a taste and desire for the heavenly.
What does this tell us about the spiritual journey?
The connections with the Eucharist are very clear here, miraculous bread from heaven, freely available to all those who dwell in Gods family. Food that nourishes, is sweet to the taste and is all we need to sustain us on the journey. The Lord here has provided the bread, the flesh comes later and involves the shedding of blood and sacrifice. Later still God himself becomes the bread and the flesh and the sacrifice so that we can be nourished and sustained by His providence once more. Spiritually there is a time when we become aware of a hunger for the things of God, when the things of the world no longer satisfy yet we still crave them as we don’t yet know what the hunger is, or what its for. It’s a time of awakening in the sense that there isn’t satisfaction to be found in all that filled you before, yet you don’t yet seem to have enough of the spiritual food that does. I remember feeling grasping, so aware of a hunger that I couldn’t access enough of the Lord to satisfy, I wonder if those who went out on the Sabbath to collect, or those who gathered too much felt the same. A fear of the hunger, a desperate need to feel some measure of control over a situation that seemed to be filled with dependency on one who you barely knew, yet felt compelled to follow. One that allowed you to hunger before satiating you, one that allowed you to thirst before giving you water. Maybe the biggest fear was a desire for one who owed you nothing, one that couldn’t be won, coerced or bargained with. A desire that only the object of it could fulfil. This is a vulnerability that is at best uncomfortable and at worst terrifying when you don’t yet know the goodness of the heart of the one in control.
Questions
- What do you use to fill or quieten your hunger for God?
- What spiritual junk food is your go to when things feel unsure?
- Where have you seen Gods daily provision in your life?
- What does that hunger for God feel like for you, can you articulate your experience of it?
- How do you prepare your heart to receive the Eucharist?
- Do you know in your core the goodness of the Lord, or does some doubt dwell there?
- How do you feel when given unmerited gifts, not just from God but from anyone?
- How graciously do you receive them or is it awkward and difficult for you?
- Have you ever fasted? From what and for what purpose?
- What are the fruits of fasting you have found in your own life?
