In the hands of Jehovah Jireh
“I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” (Exodus 16:4)
Warm greetings to you in the Name of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord!
Abraham celebrated the Lord’s provision of a ram for sacrifice in the place of his son Isaac, Moses and all Israel celebrated the Lord’s provision of manna in the wilderness and water from a rock. In each of these cases, imminent death was averted; some dying soul was saved; what would be tears of great grief became tears of resounding rejoicing. Abraham doesn’t want to forget this miracle, so he named gave a new name to the mountain where all this happened: Jehovah Jireh - "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." (Gen 22:14)
But the salvation overtones in the two cases above find their culmination in the true Lamb of God and the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ our Saviour. This is God’s greatest provision for eternal salvation. We celebrate this by our continual worship, obedience and service to the Lord. However, the story in Exodus 16 is not just a story of divine provision and celebration; in includes harsh grumbling, testing, failure and warnings that we must call to mind today. They are temptations that still beset today’s generations.
Grumbling! This seems to be light and mundane, yet it is a grave sin that shows lack of faith and the fear of the Lord. Hear how harsh the Israelites were to their leaders: after all the suffering in Egypt, crying so hard that God heard their cries from heaven, they now turn up and say, “If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (v.3) – and many such complaints are recorded in the Torah. Moses’ revelation is what enables us to see how bad grumbling is: “You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.” (v.8) Beware of grumbling, for when the Lord hears this bad attitude and language, his response may be most undesirable. Challenging circumstances are not for grumbling about but for learning from. Trust in the Lord, even when enduring hardships.
Divine Provision: This came with testing as well. Will they will follow my instructions? And indeed after they saw the food, some failed the test by selfishly gathering more than enough for the day. As we receive God’s gifts, we should pay even more attention to His instructions. Obedience is a prime virtue in worship. Even as we celebrate the Saviour Jesus Christ, the instruction to go into all the world and be witnesses is vital. We will not grumble or give excuses during unfavourable seasons like this lock down. As Paul puts it, be prepared as witnesses in season and out of season – in the hands of Jehovah Jireh.
God bless you all.