Food is important. Essential, even. Without nourishment, we die. Yet, it’s surprising how easily food can come between us and God. Somehow, our spirits confuse our daily need for God and our daily need for food. Man lives by bread, it’s true; but not by bread alone. As Jesus knew, our true strength for living comes from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. It’s difficult to get our priorities right, I would guess, because our need for food is so very tangible, while, on any given day, we could not even notice not having heard a word from God.
There was a saying in Corinth: “Food for the body and the body for food.” I suppose a line can be crossed between eating to live and living to eat. In a sense, you might say that gluttony is food idolatry. “Gluttons” are people who are often given to gluttony. They are marked and identified by their besetting sin. We American followers of Christ should think long and hard about that one.
Jesus fed the crowds twice, and by then they were following Him for the food, not because they wanted to hear from God. Jesus said to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. The disciples were in the boat wondering why Jesus said they still didn’t understand about the feeding. But what WAS it Jesus was talking about? What was like leaven in their teachings? Why were the both the crowds and the disciples so slow to learn when Jesus was not being literal in talking about food?
Jesus went 40 days without eating. Went to the absolute limit of his flesh, to deny Himself and set up the great temptation of turning stones into bread. He was ready, at least partly because He had faced head on the greatest and most subtle of addictions, and had won. He won by taking to heart and quoting, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread.” Not to ask for a month’s supply, and not to simply do the work for ourselves without asking. But to request of the Lord to provide for us each day a one-day supply of bread.
Why do I go into all this? Because food is a trigger for many of us. And it was one of the top problems for Israel. They had already complained about water at Marah. Here are three more:
BREAD
Once again, all the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
"Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
And so the LORD told Moses that He would “rain bread” from heaven for them. And in the morning, after the dew was gone, there remained a flake-like substance, “fine as frost on the ground.” By afternoon, it had melted away, so every morning they needed to collect it. So every day, God wanted them to discover that His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.
When the people of Israel saw those white flakes, they named the substance “Whatchamacallit.” Manna, for short. It turned out to be a kind of flour that turned into bread that tasted of honey and coriander seed. It was healthy and delicious—as the fruit of the tree in the Garden had been. But, unlike that fruit, this food did not lead to pride and self-sufficiency, for it was not forbidden.
In fact, the LORD gave poignantly-detailed instructions on how much to gather, especially around the Sabbath. Each day they were to collect enough to feed themselves for just one day. Gather as much as each person can eat—which was an Omer each (an Omer is a tenth of an Ephah, in case you were wondering exactly how much this was.)
In practice, some of the people gathered more, and some less. “But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.” Paul quoted this verse to the Corinthians when talking about how the church should share other believers who are in need. God never intended some to overeat while others went without.
What’s more, no one was to leave any of it over till the morning. This was daily bread, an important lesson in daily dependence on the LORD, to keep us from hoarding while others go hungry. No one in Israel was to ever go hungry. If they tried storing some extra—you know, in case of a rainy day—it would go bad.
Of course, as was often the case, they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank.
On the sixth day—the day before the Sabbath—they were to take twice as much as they gather daily, and this is how the LORD tested the hearts of the Israelites.
The Sabbath had been introduced from the beginning of creation, but had not been explained up to this point. God wanted the Israelites to remember the seventh day, to keep it holy, set apart to the LORD as a day of solemn rest. The commandment had to do with self-control and food. On the sixth day, they were to gather twice as much bread, two omers each. They were to cook two days’ worth of food, and then eat half of that on the Sabbath. And—this is crucial—the manna bread left over from Friday did not go bad, as other day-old manna had done. It stayed fresh, because it was the bread of obedience and trust.
What’s more, there was no manna on the ground on the Sabbath. So if they neglected to prepare, they went hungry for a day. Of course, some of the people went out to gather on the seventh day, but they found none, and the LORD scolded them for refusing to keep his commandments. He said,
“See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."
So the people rested on the seventh day. What choice did they have, really?
Such lessons all come from the supply of bread from heaven. Equal amounts, daily dependence, prepare for Sabbath, rest on the Sabbath. But bread wasn’t the only food lesson in the wilderness.
MEAT
The people grumbled, as another murmuring arose. You know how a murmur works, don’t you? The word sounds like what it is: an indistinct complaint, repeated over and over, like a bad game of telephone, to shape and strengthen discontent among a people. They grumble. They complain.They gossip. They slander. Use what word you like, it is not a pretty practice.
God provided manna every morning. But there was no variety to the menu. So they grumbled against the Chief Chef.
“Why can’t we eat meat like we did in Egypt?
It’s like a road trip with ungrateful whiners. But clearly, God shows far more patience than the people ever do. God decides to over-fill them with the meat they longed for.
“Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.”
Yes! It is every worship leader’s dream come true—the LORD invites His people to come near before the LORD. No doubt, when we arrive, He will whisper about how precious each individual is to Him, and He will speak comforting words to our hearts. So, come, let’s draw near to the LORD, shall we? And let us behold His glory as it appears in the cloud. Yes! But.... read on:
On this miraculous trip He is leading us on, we have been grumbling against our leaders, which is tantamount to complaining about God Himself. So what shall the God of Israel say to His people in this intimate moment of seeing His glory?
“You want meat? I’ll give you meat! Then you’ll know that I am the LORD your God.”
In fact, what God did was to let Israel know why meat in the desert was a bad idea. In the first place, finding enough quail to serve more than two million mouths seems a bit of a challenge. In the second place, there in the desert heat, how long do you think a dead bird’s meat will remain edible without giving people food poisoning? For that matter, consider all the fuel needed to cook the meat and then burn the carcasses of millions of birds, without people getting really sick and dying? And on top of all that, there is supposed to be some motivation for Israel to move back into the “land flowing with milk and honey.” If they are already eating bread from heaven and home-delivered quail every day, who wants to go where you have to do your own farming and hunting? It is not a wise request. Not a healthy request. And God displays His sovereign will, even as He grants the people exactly what they are complaining to receive.
God sent a wind—He often uses wind, you know—and it brought quail. Lots of quail. And the people rejoiced, and gathered all the quail they could eat that day and all the next. And they spread them out, there in the desert, until they could cook the birds. And while they ate, they were struck with a terrible plague. Food poisoning? Or supernatural attack from God? Either way, the meat was a disciplinary action, not a reward for being whiney. Many of the cravers died. And the rest never complained about not having meat again. Not for 40 years did they complain about their diet.
Another time, after the Lord had been talking to the woman in Sychar, His disciples brought Him food, but Jesus replied, “I have meat you know not of.” That’s the old KJ version. In this case, “meat” is a more generic term for food, but the point is that Jesus’ food was to do the will of His Father in heaven.
WATER
Just as the body needs food as fuel, it needs water even more. We are made up mostly of water, after all. So water is bound to become a topic in the Bible. Water was also the first feature of planet earth, and water is what we must be born of, and born again of. Jesus offers what He called living water. There is a river that flows from the throne in heaven, and all the nations drink of it.
At Marah, the Lord had tested Israel, and they had failed. But they had not learned their lesson by it. And then comes the very next chapter.
They were all moving around the wilderness, when the very place that God led them was another place with no water. So in typical human fashion, the people quarreled with Moses, demanding water. Once again comes the old refrain, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"
So once again, Moses asked the LORD for a solution, and this time the LORD said to Moses, "strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, and the people drank. And they named this place Maribah, which means quarrel, just as Marah meant bitterness.
Silly people. When will they learn, right?
They seem to have come yet again to the same place later and had the same complaint. "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."
This time, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle."
And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him. So far, so good. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"
Did you notice the wording here? The people had sinned and distrusted God, to be sure. But Moses, in his anger, allowed his pride to win in the heat of the moment. WE. WE bring the water. And he struck the rock. Twice. And water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
So it worked for Moses to do as he had done before. The LORD honored Moses’ action, but condemned his casual approach to the clear details of God’s direction.
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."
Moses was never allowed to enter into the Promised Land. All because of one failure. Sort of reminds me of God’s overreaction to eating a piece of fruit, you know?
YOUR ENCOUNTER
On the other hand, the whole of human history leads to an eternal banquet. The table of the kingdom of heaven is the highest point of eating and fellowship. We were made to eat at the Father’s table, united in fellowship with Him and enjoying one another’s company. If we are not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, I wonder how I am doing at “hearing” that word each day.
David prayed, “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” Which makes me wonder, what would happen if suddenly the Holy Spirit would be removed from my life? How long would it be before I noticed?
I’d like to imagine that if the Spirit were removed from my life that I would be out of sorts right from the start of the day. Something was empty, as my prayer seemed to just be me talking to myself. I would read my Bible, and get nothing. I’d like to think I’d be in a panic, with no sense of direction, or peace or anointing. I would be frozen, unsure what to do next. I see someone and give counsel, but warn them not to trust me, for this is only wisdom based on experience.
But what I fear would happen would be more like business as usual. I read a perfunctory passage, say some self-talking hopes and call it prayer, teach my classes based on human wisdom and experience. I would lead worship as usual, following the flow of my song list and the formula worked out in practice. I fear that, since I have not been living by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” I wouldn’t even notice when I am hungry to the point of spiritually starving, for not having Him for a day.