After the children of Israel left their slavery in Egypt, they were a massive crowd of over 600,000, wandering through the wilderness. Imagine having to feed that. Sure, they brought livestock and provisions with them, but still, feeding that many in the wilderness was not going to be easy. However, the same God who led them out of their bondage would also provide for them, for on a daily basis he would rain down manna, which “tasted like wafers made with honey.” Exodus 16:31 (CSB) We read in Exodus, that the Lord stated “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.” vv. 15-18

The Lord commanded that they go out on a daily basis and gather what was needed for that day.  We read:

Moses told them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’ ”

So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat. Exodus 16:15-18 (CSB)

Everyone had enough. The ones who gathered a bunch had just enough, and the one who gathered less still had sufficient to fill their stomachs. And what happened to those who didn’t consume all they had or those attempted to save some and stockpile it for the future? Well, it “it bred worms and stank.” v. 20 In fact, their failure to obey the command to get sufficient and not leave any overnight angered God and contradicted His commands.

So, the question that pops into my mind: Why did God want them to have just enough? 

What was the big deal about them not keeping enough for tomorrow? To answer that question, it may be helpful for us to look at what our Lord taught his disciples in Matthew 6 about how to pray. We read:

Therefore, you should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread…

Not monthly, not yearly… daily.

But it all comes from God anyway, right? So, what’s the problem with weekly, or even yearly? What’s the problem with me stockpiling what I get from God for the future? Well, to answer that, let me ask another question. What is the first of the ten commandments?

You shall have no other gods before me.

No idolatry.

God wants us to come to Him on a daily basis. God wants to provide for us, to be our Savior, to be our provider, to be, frankly, our hero. He wants our eyes on Him, on a daily basis. He doesn’t want us to forget Him. What happened to the children of Israel as soon as Moses went up into the mountain? They forgot God and started idol worshiping. Despite massive miracles that brought them to where they were, it is human nature to forget where you came from and what you should be doing given enough time, even just a little time unfortunately.

As soon as the people start stockpiling, where is their focus going? Where is there trust going? It’s turning from God to themselves, their own actions; they become, so to speak, their own idols. “God may not always be there, so I need to take care of myself.” They are trying to take control.

And how often do you and I do this?

When living paycheck to paycheck it’s easier to rely on God. If the slightest thing interrupts your life, you are going to need Him to get through it. But what about when you had a really good year? What about when the bills are paid and everything is going smoothly? The kids are healthy, plenty sitting in the bank, and no present issues to worry about. How does your prayer life go then? Are you still going to church on a weekly basis? “It’s broadcast on YouTube, maybe I’ll just watch it in my PJs.” How much time do you set aside for God when all is going well? Maybe you stop praying in the mornings. Maybe meal-time prayers fall to the wayside. Maybe even the bedtime prayers go away; you’re too tired anyway.

Conversely, when one of your kids becomes seriously ill, what happens?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying setting aside some food storage, or putting aside savings is idolatry, it’s not. But God, in this case, had specifically promised his children that He would provide for them; He was doing to give them what they needed on a daily basis, and they needed to trust in Him. Through Jesus’ prayer, we’re supposed to be banking on the same promises. We’re supposed to be going to our Father for our daily bread. And if we’re not, even if our temporal life is OK, what about our more important spiritual, eternal life?

Don’t forget. I’m going to try not to either.

In Samuel, we read of the prophet Samuel who judged Israel for most of his life. By judge, really it means to lead, hopefully according to the plan of God. Samuel did so for most of his life and he appointed his sons to judge after him. However, they did not follow according to the plan of God and were corrupt, taking bribes and chasing after their own worldly ambitions. See 1 Samuel 8. So, the people of Israel came to him and said, look your old and your kids suck, appoint a king to rule over us. More specifically, they said “appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” See v. 4-5 (CSB).

Samuel wasn’t super delighted by their request as God was their king and he seemed to feel personally rejected by their request. Offended, he went to the Lord in prayer and the Lord responded as follows:

Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods.

Ouch.

Not only were the people rejecting Samuel as their judge, but they were rejecting God as their king. They were asking Samuel as they asked Aaron, “come, make us gods who will go before us,” resulting in them worshiping a golden calf. (Exodus 32:1 CSB) God gave Samuel a warning to pass on to the people, that their king would result in their sons being used to harvest his fields, to run before his chariots, and to fight his battles; they would become enslaved by their king. 

Samuel relayed the warning to the people. How did they respond?

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” vv.19-20.

They didn’t trust that God would do what he’d done all along. It wasn’t the golden calf that split the red sea. It wasn’t a man who cursed Egypt with ferocious plagues to save the people. It was God who led the people of Israel out with a pilar of fire. But did they still trust in him? Nope, they wanted to “be like all the other nations.” They wanted a human being to fight their battles.

Where was their hope? Not in God.

I’d like to say we’ve learned more than them, but reality clearly shows the contrary.

The last election shows that we, as a nation, aren’t much better, and the current one isn’t looking any more promising either. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t participate in the electoral process, we absolutely must. We have a person in running this country who is a puppet for those who hate us and actively want to destroy the country. However, we have to also take a step back and ask, “where is my hope?” Is it in the next “king” who sits in the Oval office? Or is it in the coming King? Is it in the king who will rule for the next four years, or is it in the King who will rule for all eternity?

We are not guaranteed life even four more years, so where should our hope be? As for me and my house, our hope is in Jesus. Come soon Lord Jesus, come soon.