Food Without Labor

Food Without Labor

Today 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” (Exodus 16:23).

There are parts of cities in the United States that the government considers “food deserts -areas that don’t have a well-stocked supermarket, where fresh produce is not widely available, and where many of the eating choices are far less than healthy. So-called “junk food” abounds in these places.

There have been efforts to change this picture, in part by offering large chains financial or tax incentives to open stores in these neighborhoods and by sponsoring “farmer’s markets” where produce is available. Some of those living in these neighborhoods no longer have to drive or take a series of bus rides to get fresh, wholesome food.

But did you know there was a time when God was directly responsible for feeding not just a community, but an entire nation? We read about this in Exodus, where the Israelites were promised a daily portion of manna.

How did the Israelites gather this manna morning by morning and still keep the Sabbath holy? On the sixth day of the week, which we know as Friday, the Israelites were commanded to gather a double portion. Do that any other day of the week and the leftovers would quickly spoil. Do that every day-before-the-Sabbath, and their food would stay fresh.

For forty years and for more than two thousand weekly Sabbaths, the plan worked. Perhaps Jesus was alluding to this level of divine care when He said, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26).

This miracle of the manna points toward a promise in Psalm 37:25: “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.”

Apply It:

Approach God in prayer with confidence, knowing that if He took care of the Israelites in the desert, He will look after you too.

Dig Deeper:

Exodus 15:26; Exodus 16:4, 16-19; Exodus 20:8-10

Exodus 15:26 KJV
And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Exodus 16:4 KJV
Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Exodus 16:16-20 KJV
This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. [17] And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. [18] And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. [19] And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. [20] Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.

Exodus 20:8-10 KJV
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: [10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: