Fourth Sunday in Lent (2024)
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Exodus 16:2-21
Exodus 16:2-21
In our Old Testament Lesson today, the people of God have entered into the wilderness and found it a bit harder than they had anticipated. They were upset and frustrated by the lack of food, the lack of water, and there were many things that they grumbled about in the wilderness. In our passage today, the Lord reveals His good and gracious will as He provides for His people giving to them Manna from heaven.
Bread from Heaven
The Israelites witnessed God’s power.
They had been traveling in the wilderness at this point for about 2.5 months, and they began to complain about what they had in the wilderness. They had come through the Red Sea, witnessed the plagues and the power of God, but now that they weren’t dealing with the whips, and pains they remember only the good that the egyptians did to them.
Freed from their slavery, they fell to grumbling.
How often this is the case with people, who lament their hardships in this life and once they are freed from that hardship, move on to other tragedies and continue to complain and grumble. These folks wear down even the most generous of souls, until they are not welcome at anyone’s door. They will try the Lord in the 40 years that follow, but here the Lord answers their prayers.
The Lord is the one who provides for His people.
It is because of passages like these, that we confess that God gives to us clothing and shoes, food, drink, house home wife children land animals and all I have. For the Lord watches over the creation. He is not an absent God who started everything up and then walked away. The Lord is active in the creation and makes sure that the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field are tended to, and so God provides for his people, and
The Lord fed about two million people.
So when you talk about this manna appearing like a fine frost on the ground and people are gathering up an omer, which is about half a gallon, that’s a lot of manna! It taught the people to rely upon the Lord.
The Lord Provides What We Need
The Lord gave them what they need for the day.
In our minds, we like to have a little extra and people tried, but that part bred worms and stank. Why would they seek to gather a little more? What were they worried about? Sure God did this today, but what about tomorrow?
This is how they learned to trust God’s promise.
That the Lord would provide for them in the Wilderness and this is how faith works. You trust God’s promises and cling to them. When people lack faith in God’s promises, that means they think God to be a liar. But God is faithful to their word, and this is what the people fail to understand and that’s why
It’s why Moses was angry with them.
For everything that God had done for them, and brought them out of egypt showing his great and mighty power, now they get to the wilderness and they begin to fall into unbelief. Not trusting God’s promise or abiding by His Word. To ignore God’s Word, is to lack faith.
God gave extra one day so they might observe the sabbath.
You can imagine the ones that knew it grew worms and smelled awful, they might be a bit hesitant, but if you trusted God’s WOrd, then you gathered extra. For God would give them enough that they didn’t need to do any labor or business for one whole day, but have a sabbath rest. Observing the sabbath was an act of faith, trusting in God’s providence, in what he provides for His people.
How God Provides
When it is a miracle, it’s easy to see.
That manna and quail show up daily for the people of God and nourish them is a miracluous and wonderful thing! There is no question that this is the Work of God, but this is not how God typically works through Creation.
Did God put food in their bellies?
No, but he did put it outside their tents. They would gather it, prepare it, bake it, and eat it. God did not remove from them the need to eat or drink, but provided for them what they needed.
They had faith, but they also worked.
It would be a mistake to think that God had removed from them the need to do labor. Even for the Sabbath day, they were to do no work on that day, which meant that they had to prepare for it the day before. They would cook up all the food on that day, and set some aside, but they trusted that God would sustain them, even though they took a full day off from work.
God works through the creation.
Our World has largely removed God’s activity from our labors. We don’t think or consider all that God does and sustains that we might have food, drink, house, and home. We instead give glory to farmers, truckers, soldiers, police officers, etc. and neglect the fact that God is the one working through them to accomplish good. Man wants to take all the credit for themselves, but who gives us life, breath, reason, senses, and even strength? Those all come from God, and He does not have to give them to us. It is good for us to pause and consider
What has God provided in your life?
Has he given you family, friends, food, drink, money, a body and mind, your health, doctors, nurses, etc. God works through all of these things and sets them in their proper place for His people, and works it all to good for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose.
Spiritual Blessings
God gave you His son.
Jesus Christ our Lord, who came into this world to be our savior, and rescue us from the powers of sin, death, and hell. What more precious gift is there then that the father out of love sent His son into the world not to condemn us, but so that we might be His children, and be saved from sins?
Jesus won for you forgiveness, citizenship in heaven, and eternal life.
He did this not with Gold or silver, but joining us in our sufferings, that we might have someone that we can draw near to in our sorrows and who understands all of our weaknesses. What it is to feel hunger, thirst, the sharp pain of sorrow, and to promise to bring us that He will bring us through it to paradise. He gave to His own body and blood to feed and nourish us.
God gave you His Spirit and called you His child.
You have the Holy Spirit, that spirit of sonship by which we are the children of God. The Spirit has revealed to us not only our sins, but also created faith in our hearts that clings to Jesus, and gives to us joy that despite the troubles of this life that its ruler, satan has been defeated.
Temporal Blessings
What did we learn in the catechism?
God blesses us abundantly and with far more than we deserve for our sins. For indeed we deserve all temporal and eternal punishment and yet God still food, and rain, home, and all the blessings that come to us in this life and for which we ought to give thanks to Him each and every day.
Is it everything we want?
No! Our wants are endless, but our needs are very few. St. Paul says that he has learned how to be content in every circumstance. WIth clothing and food, he shall be content. Our vision of ok, tends to be a bit bigger than that, but Paul understands that God didn’t have to give things to Him, but has blessed him in what He has.
God works through people.
When we came into this world, God worked through our parents to give us life, parents are doing God’s work as they care for their children. Bosses are doing God’s work, when they pay wages that a person might be able to continue living, and providing for their family, and rulers of nations as they make policies are doing it for the benefit of their citizens. God established all these things to provide for the people.
This is why we do good works.
We as Lutherans often get accused of not teaching about Good Works. We teach them, they just don’t save us. They are how God works through us to provide for our neighbors. Good works don’t save, but they do help your neighbor. Be it your neighbor at home, your neighbor at school, your neighbor at work, or your neighbor at church. God gives to us our purpose through these things.
So my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us look to God for everything good in this life, and call upon him in every need. May we not fall into grumbling which forgets all the good that God has worked for us in this life as He provides for the creation. Rather let us give thanks to Him for He continues to watch over all of creation, and may you also see the role that God has for you. It is an important one, and it is a godly task as we serve our neighbors. I know work at times can feel like drudgery and be unappreciated, but that should help us consider others, and thank them for their labors, and especially to look at Jesus, and give thanks for all He won for us at Calvary. In Jesus name. Amen