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The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 21 February 2023 – God The Provider
TOPIC: God The Provider
READ: Exodus 16:12-36 (NKJV)
- “I have heard the complaints of the children of israel.
- Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I [am] the LORD your God.’ “
- So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.
- And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, [as] fine as frost on the ground.
- So when the children of Israel saw [it,] they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it [was.] And Moses said to them, “This [is] the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
- “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, [according to the] number of persons; let every man take for [those] who [are] in his tent.’ “
- Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.
- So when they measured [it] by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.
- And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.”
- Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.
- So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
- And so it was, on the sixth day, [that] they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
- Then he said to them, “This [is what] the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow [is] a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake [today,] and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ “
- So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.
- Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today [is] a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.
- “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, [which is] the Sabbath, there will be none.”
- Now it happened [that some] of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.
- And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
- “See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
- So the people rested on the seventh day.
- And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it [was] like white coriander seed, and the taste of it [was] like wafers [made] with honey.
- Then Moses said, “This [is] the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ “
- And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.”
- As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
- And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
- Now an omer [is] one-tenth of an ephah.
THE MESSAGE:
Despite the murmuring of the children of Israel, God mercifully provided them with meat and bread (Manna). This manna lasted throughout their journeys in the wilderness. They were given strict instructions on how to handle this new food – take as much as will last for a day. They were allowed to collect for two days in the day preceding the Sabbath Day, to ensure they did not come out on that Day in search of it as it was a day of rest. Some greedy ones took more than they could finish in a day. It got spoilt and wasted.
God still provides manna for His people. Many good things we enjoy in life are free manna. Do we pay for air except in the hospital under emergency? Complaints are not the best way to get God’s attention. God gives daily bread if you ask Him (Matthew 7:7). Sometime ago, we were to have an accreditation team visit our department, but we had nothing to present as equipment. God in the course of our prayers provided a helper who gave us the bulk of the items needed at a reasonable cost. This was manna from heaven. Nothing is impossible with God.
PRAYER: Our Father in heaven, give us today our daily bread from Your throne above. Amen.
