Lechem Panim #19 "Our Daily Bread" (Matthew 6:11 & Exodus 16) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings. It is good to be with you today.

Prayers of The Passengers-- [After a preacher died and went to heaven, he noticed that a New York cab driver had been awarded a higher place than he. “I don’t understand,” he complained to Saint Peter. “I devoted my entire life to my congregation.” “Our policy here in Heaven is to reward results,” Saint Peter explained. “Now, was your congregation well attuned to you whenever you gave a sermon?” “Well,” the minister had to admit,” some in the congregation fell asleep from time to time.” “Exactly,” said Saint Peter. “And when people rode in this man’s taxi, they not only stayed awake, they even prayed.”]​

Today we will be taking a look at two passage of scripture, one from the Old Testament (Exodus 16) and one from the New Testament (Matthew 6), as Jesus connects (in a remarkable way) the people’s complaining, God’s provision of manna, and the gathering of that manna with one of the chief concepts that are to be associated with our coming to God in prayer. Jesus says in…

Matthew 6:9-11 (ESV)
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,

Exodus 16:4-7 (ESV)— 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?”

God’s Glory Appears-- Moses and Aaron are asking the congregation, "Why are you murmuring against us? We are only human. We cannot do anything. We cannot provide for you. God has heard your murmurings and you will see the glory of God.” Now it is interesting to note that every single time that Israel murmurs or grumbles, it says that the glory of God appeared. And what this shows us is that God does not like whining, grumbling, complaining, or fault-finding Christians. And Churches that grumble invite the wrath of God. So God responds. It says in…

Exodus 16:8-15 (ESV)— 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” {So Moses was commanding the Israelites to trust God to provide for their needs. And it says…} 
13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”[a] For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Manna-- So imagine this. The Israelites wake up in the morning and find this white stuff covering the ground outside. And they don’t know what it is. That is why they called it manna because [The word manna comes from the Hebrew phrase man-hu, which means, “What is it?” {So} All the people of Israel initially wondered what the manna was, and then they realized that it was their food.] 

Also Quail-- Now there was manna, but keep in mind that there was also quail. And what the Israelites would do was they would put that quail meat on their manna. I can imagine few things tastier than bread with meat. Now what they had been craving was meat, so not only was this manna and quail [God’s provision to sustain them], but it was also just what they had desired. Now with that provision came also stipulations. Moses says in…

Exodus 16:16-20a (ESV)— 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer,[b] according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. {(So they all got exactly what they needed.)} 19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank.

Corn Hole Gone Bad-- I remember sometime ago I was helping to prepare a special game night for some kids. And we were getting ready to set up the corn hole set. But when we opened the buckets the bean bags were in, we discovered that the buckets had gotten moisture in them; and the bean bags had become infested with hundreds of maggots. And an odor arose from those buckets like you wouldn’t believe. Well that is what happened to all these Israelites who thought they could get away with disobeying God. They suddenly found themselves with maggots in their tents and a foul odor.

Exodus 16:20b-21 (ESV)— And Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

Gathering Only For Today-- So we see that [The manna was to be gathered every morning. Each man was to gather it. This was to be a personal experience.] And in a similar way, are to come before God daily in prayer and in devotions in order that we might receive spiritual food for the day. Now that takes time and it takes effort. And what so often happens is that we will fill up on one day and try to have that carry on over into the others. Sometimes we view Church on Sunday to be exactly that. We fill up on Church to kind of carry us over for the rest of the week. But what we often discover on Monday is that the blessing of God doesn’t carry over. What happens is that it spoils. 

Getting It Fresh-- [Children’s Church teacher: “Why in your prayers do you only ask for your daily bread instead of asking enough for a week?” Boy: “I guess it’s so we can get it fresh every day.”] Now this, in sense is true. According to scripture (and here, the very words of Jesus Himself) we have to gather daily. We have to come before God afresh every day. And this is very applicable when it comes you how we think about Church. We don’t come to Church once a week to get charged up for the rest of the week; we come to Church to worship a God whom we are also seeking and gathering from the rest of the week. You see, Sabbath (in the Jewish mind) was the climax of the week, to which all the rest of the days built up to and around which all the other days focused. You might even say Sabbath was the harvest of the spiritual crop that was sown throughout the week; the fruit of our daily encounter with Christ. Because you see [The manna {here in our passage this morning} speaks of {and points to} the Lord Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life. The Gospel of John, chapter 6, confirms this:]

John 6:32-35 (ESV)-- 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Now Jesus is of course speaking about the cross and His sacrifice there that would bring life to the world to everyone who would believe in Him and follow Him. But it also means that if I am to have sustenance in my day to day life, I have to come to Jesus daily; I have to seek His face daily. If I want a close relationship with my wife, I have to speak to her daily. Once a week is not going to cut it. If I am a good husband, then she will be central to my focus every day (not just one day a week). The same is true of our relationship with Christ. He wants us to engage Him every day in prayer and devotions; to (like the Israelites) to take time to gather every day; to seek Him every day; to remember Him and His provision every day. There is nothing that can humble a grumbling heart more than a daily recognition of the provision of God and daily practice of seeking Him in worship. 

Manna in The Ark-- We have been talking in recent weeks about the Tabernacle and its furnishings. And our passages in recent weeks are no deviation. Because as we have come into the Holy of Holies, we now encounter this marvelous golden ark; the ark of the covenant. And I read a scholar not long ago who points to the fact that: [Inside the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place in the temple of Israel, there was a pot of manna. Every time the chief priest came in to meet with God, he stood not only in God’s presence, but also in the presence of the pot of manna that was placed there to remind him that God does provide for his people….One of the truths that each person must believe {(he says)} is illustrated by that pot of manna. The God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ is the Creator of the universe. Not only did he create all things, he also sustains all things. Even beyond that, this Creator and Sustainer is also the Provider, the one who sees our every need and takes care of those needs. He is in sovereign control, and we must recognize that he will provide for our needs in every situation, no matter how small or how desperate.] The question is, “Are we trusting Him to?” Let that be our challenge this week. Let us remember He who gave us more than just bread to sustain us; He gave His own life to redeem us and deliver us from the power of death. In light of that, let us live a life of gratitude, not looking back at the meat-pots of our old life, but embracing a new and better life; a life lived in a daily experience of His life.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (ESV)— {May}… Christ…dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

May you be filled today with that fullness, as you continue to walk with Him. Amen.