WHEN MANNA STOPS IN YOUR LIFE, IT IS A SIGN THAT YOU ARE CLOSER TO YOUR DESTINY
By Ezekiel Kimosop
Someone in a social media group brought this statement to my attention seeking my interpretation. How should this statement be interpreted? What can we learn from its content in line with the revelation and authority of Scripture?
Here's my attempt...
If I got the writer correctly, I presume that his statement is anchored on two key words: manna and destiny. I will sequentially interact with the two words under this reflection article.
WHEN DOES MANNA STOP?
The mention of the cessation of manna takes us to the circumstances described in Joshua 5:10-12 which says:
"Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year." (NKJV).
The biblical manna [also known as bread of heaven] was first provided to Israel in Exodus 16 after they bitterly complained of hunger in the Wilderness of Sin which lies between Elim and Sinai (Exodus 16:1). This was on the 15th day of the second month following their departure from Egypt. This translates to roughly six weeks. It is possible that they had run out of provisions that they had brought from Egypt.
When the people murmured against Moses and Aaron, God graciously provided manna for them because of the circumstances relating to the 40 years wilderness journey. It was a provisional intervention during the transit period because the children of Israel had no means of sustenance in the desert.
Bible scholars say that the wilderness journey should have taken no more than two weeks! Instead, it took 40 years because of the stubbornness and rebellion of the Jewish people. All but two people - Caleb and Joshua - who left Egypt perished in the wilderness.
God provided manna to keep them from starving in the wilderness and to help them focus on their long journey.
Exodus 16:35 says "And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan."
The fact that they finally ate the produce of the promised land at Jericho and that manna suddenly ceased implies that they were self sufficient at this point. They had harvested their produce in Canaan. They could fend for themselves. A self sufficient person does not require freebies!
Now turning to the statement:
Manna was a transitional provision with a set timeline in God's calendar. Once its purposes are served, it will be withdrawn by God. My view is that God may use some difficult circumstances in our lives to drive us from our comforts zones and into a new level of divine influence. He however never abandons His people.
Again, it is important to note that God eternally provides for us even where the approaches and means of provision may vary from time to time. At one point, God provided for Elijah through an angel (1 Kings 19:5-8). Earlier in 1 Kings 17, Elijah was compelled to live on God's supply through ravens as he hid from Ahab in a cave (1 Kings 17:2-7) but this again was a temporary measure. God changed the means of provision without disconnecting its divine flow for His servant. He even provided for Elijah at one point through the hands of a poor widow! (1 kings 17:8-16).
In Israel's context, God graciously sustained the people through the long wilderness journey by providing manna in the evening and in the morning. There was however no reason for this provision to continue beyond the Jordan. Once the people landed into the promised land that "flowed with milk and honey" (Numbers 13:27, 14:8), the divine provision ceased forthwith. The people could herd their animals, grow crops and set up beehives, among other activities. They also drove away the heathen from sections of the land and occupied it.
This did not however imply that God had forsaken them at this point. He still watched over them under His covenant love for them. He does the same for us in Christ.
The above statement also serves to remind us that God expects us to make the best of the skills, talents and opportunities at our disposal to raise a living for ourselves and to support others. We should also invest our resources in supporting the gospel ministry.
There are people who relish begging from others when they can meaningfully engage their skills and talents to make a living. This is a disgraceful conduct for an able bodied believer to engage in. Paul condemned some busybodies among the Thessalonians who never worked for a living but went from house to house living on others in the name of God (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). He said that those who do not work should not eat.
Do you earn your keep?
Laziness is by any standards ungodly! It is elsewhere condemned in Scripture. Proverbs 10:4-5 says "He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son;
He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame." (NKJV).
Every able bodied believer should diligently work for a living and support himself and his family. Paul himself was a tentmaker who lived on his family trade even as he served as a missionary and an apostle of Jesus Christ. He chose to deny himself some of the apostolic benefits and privileges that his contemporaries such Peter enjoyed. This modesty was for the advancement of gospel ministry and for God's glory. Notice Paul's lament and apostolic defense in 1 Corinthians 9:1-18.
There is a cheap and popular religion in town today that debases diligence and hard work in exchange for empty miracle promises that only serve to enrich the merchants of this counterfeit religion. This false doctrine is founded on what I would consider as "manna philosophy". It falsely depicts God is an ATM machine that dolls out cash at the click of the button! This is the prosperity gospel or health and wealth gospel propagated by a section of the charismatic movement.
The truth is that God expects us to earn a living through the skills, talents and opportunities that He has graciously supplied to us. In this way, we can provide for ourselves and our families and serve God faithfully by our giving.
Of course there are people who live in disadvantage and who deserve our collective and individual support in our societies of context. These are the people contemplated in the exhortation of James 1:27 and in other relevant passages of Scripture.
WHERE IS OUR DESTINY?
There is a second trajectory that can be distilled from the above statement which I consider relevant for our purposes as God's covenant people. This concerns our divine destiny in Christ.
For as long as we live under the sun, God lovingly provides for us even as obey and serve Him. The silver and the gold at our disposal are primarily from Him (Psalm 50:10; Haggai 2:8). We learn from the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-15 that God is the ultimate source of our daily provision. His providence therefore ceases when our appointed time on earth comes to a close and we are ushered into a new world where material provision is no longer required.
Scripture teaches that we are pilgrims and sojourners on earth. We long for our eternal abode in heaven (Hebrews 11:13-16). Our appointment with divine destiny comes either when we die and await the sounding of the last trumpet or if we are found alive at the appearing of Christ and are transformed at the twinkling of an eye, whichever be the earlier (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58).
CONCLUSION
I believe that the two contexts that I have outlined above serve to underscore the gist of the article topic statement. The Bible proclaims that there is a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). There is a a time that we must live off manna. This is the time that God expects us to fend for ourselves.
While we may depend on others for a season, including our own parents or guardians, we should bear in mind that the time comes when we come of age. At this point in time, we ought to move on and fend for ourselves with the skills that we have acquired. The manna period is therefore temporary and will come to pass at God's appointed time.
God had to withdraw the manna to compel the people of Israel to toil and raise resources for themselves in the promised land. If this provision continued, many would have become lazy and dependent on God's daily free supply rather than work for a living! Manna must come to a natural end.
As a parent of grown up kids, I occasionally remind my boys that the time is approaching when they will depart from my roof and "start life" for themselves. This is not to suggest that I long for their departure! The grim reality is that grown up men cannot continue to depend on their mother's cooking when they can earn a living, settle into family life and fend for themselves.
Manna is for a reason and a season.
On a separate note, and as we serve God and look to the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to appreciate that our destiny is anchored in our covenant relationship with Him. When God's appointed time for us comes to a close in this passing world, those who have committed their lives to Jesus Christ should rest assured of the hope of glory that awaits us (Titus 2:11-14).
Are you among this community of God's people?
Shalom
© Ezekiel Kimosop 2023
