Has Your Manna Become Stale?

“Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again, and said, ‘Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.” (Numbers 11:4-6)

Isn’t it amazing that when we are having a “pity-party” how we always seem to remember the pleasures of our old lives back in the world? We never seem to remember how horrible it was to live under the bondage of sin, how our souls ached to be set free and how we longed for the peace and love that only God can give. We tend to miss the material possessions of “the good ol’ days”, the so-called friends, the short-lived pleasures of sin. Well, that’s exactly what was happening to our Hebrew friends in this scripture. God had delivered them from four hundred years of harsh slavery to their Egyptian taskmasters, yet in their hearts, they longed to go back to Egypt. They had forgotten that back in Egypt they had been unmercifully beaten and forced to work as slaves continuously, but all they could think about once they were in the wilderness was the wonderful food they ate back in Egypt.

Listen to how God miraculously supplied every need for this whole nation while in the wilderness, “The people went about and gathered it (manna), ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil.” (Numbers 11:8)

And they also complained about the lack of water in the wilderness, and God provided for them water from a rock, so that none in the camp went thirsty. “Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.” (Numbers 20:11) God had provided everything they needed in the wilderness, yet it wasn’t enough. And now they complained that their souls had dried up and the manna had become tasteless. The bread and water that God had so abundantly supplied was no longer sufficient, and they longed for their old life and the influence of the world where they had once been slaves.

I want to share with you 3 mistakes that the Israelites made in their time of wilderness which caused them to forget about God, and how you can avoid the same pitfalls in your own life:

1. You see, their first mistake was that they gave in to the peer pressure around them. Notice how verse 4 begins, “Now the mixed multitude who were among them…” They had allowed outsiders who had joined with them to set the standard for their lives rather than God. God had given specific instructions that any sojourners with them were to become like them, and one law was to prevail for all the people. (Exodus 12:48-49). The Israelites were compromising with the world’s standards rather than staying completely faithful to God’s Word. And how often do we too look at the things of the world and compare our lives to the lifestyles of the rich and famous? We see the advertisements on T.V. and think we just can’t live without every gadget and luxury item they tell us we must have. When we start seeing our situation according to the world’s standards, we have lost the battle already. God has given us an accurate record of who we are in Christ Jesus, and what inheritance He has stored up for us. No circumstance can change that, and no material possession can match it. God’s Word stands for all eternity. If we start viewing our worthiness according to the world’s value system, we will surely lose. That’s why we must base our thoughts and self-image on the Word of God. He tells us in His Word who we are and what we should be thinking about. The world has nothing to offer to the faithful child of God.
2. The second mistake they made was that they lost sight of the very reason they left Egypt in the first place. Exodus 1:11-14, “Therefore they (the Egyptians) set taskmasters over them (the Israelites) to afflict them with their burdens…And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage – in mortar, in brick and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.” The bondage of slavery was full of pain and misery. The Egyptians had tried to kill every new-born male in an effort to destroy the nation. The men were physically beaten and abused. “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of their bondage.” (Exodus 2:23) Surely this was not the lifestyle they were longing for when they desired something to eat besides manna! Often times, after God has delivered us from a life of sin, our memories begin to fade about how bad sin was and how it separated us from God and kept us from receiving the good things of the Kingdom. But if we will stay in God’s Word and stay in His presence through prayer…we will remember how good and how loving and how forgiving our God really is. We cannot allow ourselves to get distracted.
3. And the third mistake the Israelites made was that they forgot Who it was who promised to be their Provider. “And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3) You see Jesus promised that He will always be with us and that He will never forsake us, neither will He leave us. He has promised that He will provide for all our needs and we would never be without the necessities of life, if we will keep our eyes and our hearts directed toward Him and His Kingdom. And God has NEVER failed to keep His promises in all of history. He has always been faithful! But too often, we look at the circumstances around us and we forget who our Source is. We forget that God is with us…we forget that He owns everything…we forget that He is the One who spoke the worlds into being…and He is more than able to provide everything we need in our lives. We just need to learn to trust Him and know in our hearts that He will do everything He said He will do.

In another time and another place, Jesus proclaimed, “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) And to a woman who drew water at Jacob’s well, He also said, “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

Jesus is our Bread of Life, and He is the Rock from which the Living Waters flow. He is our Sustenance, and because of Him we have received eternal life, abundant life and victorious life. He came to set us free from the bondage to sin and slavery to Satan’s domain. He sent His Spirit to dwell in us and to flow from us, giving life to all who will dare to taste and see that the Lord is good. My Friend, your manna has become tasteless and stale, or if the Living Water has stopped flowing from your life to those around you, then maybe you need to check up on your own spiritual health. Is there unforgiveness in your heart that you need to take before the Father and confess to Him? Have you been dwelling on the things of the past and refuse to move forward in your life and relationship with the Lord? Has He been anything other than first priority in your life? Or have you been following the crowd, allowing pressure from your friends, family or co-workers to influence your faithful walk with the Lord? If you see that any of these symptoms are present in your own life, then it may be time to take another trip to Mount Calvary. Confess your apathy and lukewarmness to God, and make a new commitment right now that you will eat of the bread of Life and you will drink of the springs of Living Water. I am not talking about religion, I am talking about a relationship with the Son of God. I am talking about a daily walk with Him that takes first priority in your life. He wants that relationship with you now, and He is waiting for you to come and partake freely of all that He has to offer. Won’t you come?