Exodus 16:31: “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.”

November 20th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

During the first 2 weeks of the Israelites escape from Egypt, they had seen the Lord go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. They had seen God miraculously deliver them from Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea and supernaturally supply them with water. But still after just 2 short weeks, they were already complaining again that it was better for them in Egypt where they had meat and bread. So God supplied them with meat, quail, in the evening; and then gave them something they’d never had before in the morning, Manna. Its name came from the question they asked, “What is it?” In Psalm 78, the psalmist referred to manna as the “bread of heaven” and “angels’ food”, which poured down after God opened the windows of heaven. It became a regular, reoccurring miracle as God provided this manna, or bread, to meet the physical needs of His people, 6 days a week, for 4 decades.

This bread that came down from heaven to sustain the Israelites in the desert was a preview of Jesus. When the people asked Jesus what kind of miracle He would perform to prove who He was, saying that their fathers in the desert received manna, Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Of course Jesus did not mean that the manna had no nutritional value but that physical bread is not capable of sustaining spiritual life. Jesus Himself satisfies the ultimate needs of all people in the only true, genuine way possible—eternally.

As physical food is necessary for physical life, so spiritual food is necessary for spiritual life. Every person has an over-riding spiritual need for redemption and an eternal relationship with God. Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). We all need the word of God working every day in our lives, because “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3). Jesus is the only genuine source of spiritual nourishment.

“LORD, as we take in Your word, let it nourish our spiritual needs today. Thank You that relationship with You is our greatest need today and You have gifted it to us.”