OT Sermon 39 Where Manna Ceases Abundant Provision Begins
Exodus 16:3-4 (GW)
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The Israelites said to them, “If only the Lord had let us die in Egypt! There we sat by our
pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted! You brought us out into this desert to let us all
starve to death!”
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The Lord said to Moses, “I'm going to send you food from heaven like rain. Each day the
people should go out and gather only what they need for that day. In this way I will test them
to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.
Exodus 16:31 (GW)
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The Israelites called the food manna. It was like coriander seeds. It was white and tasted
like wafers made with honey.
The Children of Israel as usual were complaining about not being able to eat the delicious
meats they ate in Egypt. God, being the loving provider that He is gave them manna. He
sent them food from heaven each day. They were to only gather what they needed for each
day. This is one level of provision in the kingdom of God. There may be a stage in our
Christian lives when we need to pray “Give us this day our daily bread” Matthew 6:11 or
Give us today our daily bread (NIV). This is like the provision of manna. It is not an
abundance which overflows. When the Children of Israel collected too much manna it went
off. It was just made to be sufficient and effective for each day. It was not to be stored up
like they would’ve done in Egypt.
It is definitely a blessing to be provided for by God on a daily basis. It is a privilege to know
that we don’t need to worry about tomorrow because there will always be fresh supply.
Manna was supernatural provision from the Lord.
Exodus 16:18-20 (GW)
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They measured it into two-quart containers. Those who had gathered more didn't have too
much. Those who had gathered less didn't have too little. They gathered as much as they
could eat.
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Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”
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But some of them didn't listen to Moses. They kept part of it until morning, and it was full
of worms and smelled bad. So Moses was angry with them.
Manna provision was just right. It was just enough. God was using manna style provision to
test the obedience of the Israelites. This provision came with instructions, one of which was
not to keep it until morning. That which they tried to keep hold of was devoured by worms.
Satan is the devourer and one way we keep him at bay is by doing what God tells us to do
with our money. It is by following God’s instructions about our provision that it is preserved.
It was only on the sixth day of the week that they were supposed to gather more manna so
that they had enough for the Sabbath.
Exodus 16:23-24 (GW)
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He said to them, “This is what the Lord said: Tomorrow is a day of worship, a holy day of
worship dedicated to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil.
Save all that's left over, and keep it until tomorrow morning.”
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So they saved it until the next morning as Moses had commanded, but it didn't smell or
have worms in it.
When the Israelites followed God’s instructions about the manna with regards the Sabbath,
the food was preserved. It was not devoured up because God preserved it for them because
He knew that on the day of rest they should not be out gathering manna. Instead they should
be worshipping Him.
Let this pattern be a lesson to us that when we are in a phase of needing our daily needs met,
we should obey God’s instructions to the letter. If He says that we need to sow rather than eat
a particular seed then we should do it. Otherwise we eat that seed and find ourselves in need
very quickly. When we sow that seed or especially tithe, the devourer is rebuked for our
sakes.
Malachi 3:10-11 (GW)
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“Bring one-tenth of your income into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house.
Test me in this way,” says the Lord of Armies. “See if I won't open the windows of heaven
for you and flood you with blessings.
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Then, for your sake, I will stop insects from eating {your crops}. They will not destroy the
produce of your land. The vines in your fields will not lose their unripened grapes,” says the
Lord of Armies.
KJV says “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes”. It is not a case of us rebuking and
rebuking the devil. He is rebuked by God when God sees that we have followed His
instructions regarding our tithe.
Exodus 16:35 (GW)
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The Israelites ate manna for 40 years until they came to a place to settle. They ate manna
until they came to the border of Canaan.
Throughout the whole wilderness experience the Israelites ate manna. They lived on a daily
basis, only storing up on the sixth day for the seventh day. In a way I see this as pay cheque
to pay cheque living with nothing left over at the end of the month. It was just enough.
What it did do was train the Israelites to depend on God. It made them the kind of children
who knew that God would provide for them. They had a forefather who knew God would
provide.
Genesis 22:8 (KJV)
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And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they
went both of them together.
Genesis 22:14 (KJV)
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And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the
mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
When Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, he knew that God had made provision. His
whole life God had made provision and he had been promised a great nation through Isaac.
The name of the place Jehovahjireh-The Lord will provide was a place where Abraham came
to know experientially that provision will be seen in the mount of the Lord. That place to
which God has called us is where our provision will be seen. As we follow the call of God
and are ready to make sacrifices our provision is seen. The Israelites saw their provision each
day that they had a need for it. This still was not God’s best for them as learn from Joshua.
Joshua 5:10-11 (GW)
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The people of Israel camped at Gilgal in the Jericho plain. There they celebrated the
Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month.
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On the day after the Passover, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened bread
and roasted grain.
Joshua 5:12 (GW)
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The day after that, the manna stopped. The people of Israel never had manna again. That
year they began to eat the crops that grew in Canaan.
So there came a time when manna ceased. It was when they entered Canaan. The Kings that
had heard how Jordan dried up to let the Israelites pass were afraid of them and had no
courage to face them. It was when the Israelites possessed the land God had laid aside for
them that they got to eat the good of that land and stop going out to collect manna everyday.
In Canaan all the tribes were given their own land to work and could eat freely from that land
without restrictions or impositions from God. We know from the spies visit that Canaan was
blessed. Huge grapes that needed two people to carry a branch, milk and honey flowed there.
It was not barely get by or just enough land. It was the land of abundance.
Can we say that the Israelites had to stop depending on God? No because it was God that
gave them the land in the first place. It was also God that would bless their harvests as they
followed His patterns about farming and offering sacrifices.
However, they were now more in control of what they had and they could work the land
when they wanted. They didn’t have to be out at dawn looking for manna on the ground.
They could store food and leave it for another day. If we’re asked what we prefer most of us
would prefer Canaan style provision to manna provision. Manna takes the pressure off
because we know it will be there every day but Canaan releases us to prosper at an entirely
different level.
There was no more living from pay cheque to pay cheque. The Israelites were able to have
food left over and invite friends around. They could also offer God their offerings such as
first fruit which meant more when it was food they could so easily have enjoyed as a result of
their farming.
Isaiah 1:19 (GW)
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If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.
In order to keep enjoying the best of the land, the Israelites had to be willing and obedient.
They had to stick to what God had said and follow His farming laws and the laws involving
sacrifice. Just because they were in Canaan didn’t mean they could live anyhow. God’s best
is reserved for those who obey Him. This still takes us back to God and means that even in
Canaan we know that our blessings are from Him, not because we have a bigger salary or
own land to farm.
In times of financial difficulty we need to expect provision. We need to expect miraculous
provision that can be administered by angels or by those God sends on our path. Our job is
not to ask how it will be done or how we can expect to have enough with the predicament
we’re in. We are to follow God’s instructions and do what He says with our provision.
Remember that the enemy’s job is to get you to eat your seed. In desperation we eat our seed
and say we need the money for something else other than giving to God. Once we get into
this habit we remain in a cycle of defeat and are closing the door to God’s abundance
entering our lives. If the Israelites had not complied over the manna they would not have
been alive to enter Canaan! If they hadn’t gone through that time of testing and learnt
dependency on God and obedience to His instructions, they wouldn’t have developed the
trust needed to be able to cope in Canaan. In Canaan there were giants ready to come back
and steal what they had when there was an opportunity. They had to fight wars in Canaan.
But in Canaan they had financial freedom. This is the place God wants all of us to operate in.
Not every Christian has a multi-billion bank account on earth but every Christian has access
to all that the Father has for them. Many of us don’t access it because of our disobedience or
because we fail to believe we can.
The truth is that every Christian should have their needs met whether that be the need to have
millions because of ministry commitments or charitable works or not as much as that but
enough to pay school fees or buy a house cash.
Ask yourself these questions:
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Do you tithe and give offerings?
Do you release seed when God tells you to?
Do you give to others when there is need?
Have you obeyed God’s promptings to let go of some things or cut back?
Do you obey God’s instructions when it comes to finances?
If you do these things you will always find that provision that is needed locates you. If it
doesn’t locate you, you need to spend time with God and ask Him why it hasn’t. He can
show you directly what the problem is or where the blockage is. He designed us to be
financially free. Those who give out what they have are not crazy. They are free! Be a giver
who obeys God’s instructions and watch Him take you into overflow.