![]() Once the tribes of Israel were in a position to provide for themselves, they were required to do so. In that way He could never be too far from their minds and hearts. In essence, the children of Israel had to walk with Him each day and trust that He would grant a sufficient amount of food for the next day on the next day and so on. Again, however, some could not believe without seeing, and they went looking to gather manna on the Sabbath, but “they found none” (see Exodus 16:27–29).īy providing daily sustenance one day at a time, Jehovah was trying to teach faith to a nation that over a period of 400 years had lost much of the faith of their fathers. “Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank” ( Exodus 16:19–20).Īs promised, however, when they gathered twice the normal daily quantity of manna on the sixth day, it did not spoil (see Exodus 16:24–26). “And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Through Moses, the Lord instructed the people to gather enough manna each day for that day, except on the day before the Sabbath, when they were to gather enough for two days.ĭespite Moses’s specific instructions, some tried to gather more than enough for one day and store the balance: ![]() Jehovah solved the challenge by miraculously providing their daily bread from heaven-manna. Certainly that number in one location could not subsist long on hunting game, and their seminomadic lifestyle at the time was not conducive to raising crops or livestock in any sufficient quantity. This massive host of well over a million people had to be fed. Looking to God DailyĪfter their great exodus from Egypt, the tribes of Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness before entering the promised land. As we seek and receive divine bread daily, our faith and trust in God and His Son grow. ![]() That is, of course, tremendously reassuring, but there is something at work here that is more significant than just help in getting by day to day. He is saying that we can ask in faith of that Being “that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not and it shall be given” ( James 1:5). The Lord’s invitation to seek our daily bread at our Heavenly Father’s hand speaks of a loving God, aware of even the small, daily needs of His children and eager to assist them, one by one. Jesus teaches us, His disciples, that we should look to God each day for the bread-the help and sustenance-we require that particular day. In other cases it may be a less tangible need, such as something related to one’s obligations or activities that day-teaching a lesson or taking a test, for example. It could also be spiritual and physical strength to deal with one more day of chronic illness or a painfully slow rehabilitation. For some, it is quite literally bread-that is, the food needed to sustain life that day. We all have needs each day for which we turn to our Heavenly Father. ![]() Included in the Lord’s Prayer is the petition “Give us this day our daily bread” ( Matthew 6:11 see also Luke 11:3). Jesus then gave a pattern for prayer that has become known as the Lord’s Prayer (see Luke 11:2–4 see also Matthew 6:9–13). Luke records that one of the Lord’s disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” ( Luke 11:1).
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