Did the Israelites hesitate to eat the bread from heaven?
“What is it,” they asked.
The question sounds reasonable, especially if the ‘it’ is supposed to be something edible. We’ve all asked this question about unfamiliar foods. Knowing what it is helps us to decide whether to eat it.
As hungry infants, we ate everything our parents shoved into our mouths.
Being hungry and having no other options were the key.
Is it not true that hungry people will eat anything?
Who wouldn’t eat bread from heaven without any question?
The Israelites’ mouths salivated, and they lusted for the luscious food of Egypt: fish, cucumbers, leeks, melons, onions, garlic, and other familiar foods.
But were they really hungry?
When God initially rained down manna for the supposedly hungry people of Israel, they asked, “What is it?”
Was this a proper response to God, their Father, about the food he provided for them?
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt into the desert and wilderness, freedom and safety were priority number one. In the desert and wilderness, the people would learn and know that God freed them from Egyptian bondage, and He would give them a land of milk and honey as promised. They would learn and understand God’s laws and love for them as His chosen people.
Instead of trusting God and Moses, His chosen leader, the people murmured and grumbled that they would die in the desert from hunger. They would have preferred dying in Egypt, a familiar land with plenty of food.
In Exodus 16:8, Moses says, “This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.”
God’s glory appeared in the cloud the first evening that quail covered the camp for them to eat. The meat was familiar flesh.
When the children of Israel saw the heavenly bread for the first time, it looked strange. The bread was round, “as small as a hoar frost,” and it covered the ground. A hoar frost is a an ice crystal.
Of course, they had never seen bread from heaven or anything that looked like it. Did they not believe Moses, who said it was bread from God to fill their stomachs?
The people said to one another, “It is manna.”
Manna is a Hebrew word that asks the question, what is it?
They all asked the same question because they didn’t know what it was.
Below are a few biblical passages that describe manna.
Psalms 78:2 — “corn of heaven.”
Exodus 16:31 – “It was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.”
Exodus 16:15 – “Bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.”
The children of Israel ate this miraculous bread for 40 years until they ate corn from the Promised Land.
This manna sustained their physical bodies and lives and signified God’s word, and promises were their source, supply, and security.
Just as God gave manna to the Israelites, He gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, as our bread and water for the body, soul, spirit, and eternal life.
John 6::35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
God fed the Israelites manna for 40 years and sent Jesus to feed the world.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is the bread of life and salvation for those who believe in Him.
Be well.