One of the natural laws we must continually fight against is entropy, of letting down, of leaving our primary love. And so, God, in His wisdom, instituted memorials to help us to remember Him and His work. And if we are reflecting on God’s work with us internally, it will come out, because “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” What we communicate gives evidence of what our minds and hearts are turned toward.
The other meaning of the mouth is as a symbol of eating. It indicates that taking in God’s word should be a significant part of this Feast, even more than usual. We can tie the eating aspect to what it says in Deuteronomy 8:3—that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Thus, what we eat is a symbol for what we take in and which then feeds our minds and fuels our lives. And to come full circle, if God’s word is what we feed on, it is also what will be what is on our minds, and thus, what we speak about.
So, let’s apply these symbols. Even as we physically eat unleavened bread this week, and avoid leavening, so also we should give more attention to God’s word during these seven days while leaving out material that is leavened. We have tended to focus on the physical aspect, the letter of the law, but we need to relate this to spiritual or mental food as well. This is an application that we may not have given much thought to. So, we will pick up a couple of principles, beginning with the words of our Creator:
In the same way, if our approach to leavening and unleavened bread only focuses on finding every last crumb, but we overlook the larger spiritual principles, we miss the mark. Both weightier things and little things matter.
Paul took a statute from God’s law regarding beasts of burden, and he applied it to people who labor for God. So, let’s borrow this page from Paul’s playbook and similarly ask ourselves, “Is it physical leavening or unleavened bread that God is concerned about?” And we will hasten to answer, YES, God is concerned about that, even as He is concerned about the animals. But Paul shows that God is concerned with things in the same category, and not just the words on the page. His laws contain principles that apply in more ways than just the literal one, and often in ways that are more important spiritually. So, our task is to pursue the weightier matters even as we don’t leave the smaller matters undone.
We are skilled at scanning the list of ingredients on food packages for leavening, but what we feed our minds with during this appointed time is even more important. That can be a real challenge in this Information Age because of the appetites for various media we have developed. But I believe it is a necessary challenge to take up because what goes into our minds has far more bearing on our connection with God, our spiritual health and vitality, and our course of life than what does or does not go into our stomachs. Is it physical food or mental/spiritual food God is concerned with? Well, both. Which is more important?
To bring it back around, if we struggle with having our mental diets disrupted for one week, there may be some addiction, some slavery that we are not aware of. It’s something to evaluate—whether we are truly free, or whether we have allowed ourselves to be brought under the power of something that we cannot let go of.
Even though we have been delivered from this world, we can still easily go back to following its course and imbibing its spirit through what we take in. This feast is a memorial of God’s deliverance, but within that, it is also an opportunity to evaluate how free we have remained. It is a time to think about the ways we may still be conformed to this world and whether the world is squeezing us into its mold, as J.B. Phillips put it.
Physical Israel was given freedom, and they appreciated it to a degree, but their freedom meant less to them than their comfort. They were unwilling to sacrifice to remain free. After their … . . .
Because of this, we can understand that when God promised Israel that He would lead them to a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity (Deuteronomy 8:9), He was talking about more than loaves of wheat and barley products. He meant that He would provide all they needed to sustain life, even to have an abundant physical life. When David says that he has not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread (Psalm 37:25), he refers to their entire food needs. Bread stands for more than just a baked product made from grain, but for abundant sustenance and the fuel for a good life.
Now, we will turn just slightly. God tells us in that even though bread sustains life, it cannot truly satisfy, and this is where we start to differentiate between physical and spiritual bread. In Deuteronomy 8:3, God tells Israel that His working with them in the wilderness, including the provision of manna, was to teach them that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Jesus quoted this in His answer to Satan when Satan tried to tempt Him with something that was necessary for life and even good, but which was far less important than spiritual truth.
In Isaiah 55, God chides His people, asking, Why do you spend money for what is not bread. . . ? (Isaiah 55:2). Then He continues with a parallelism: . . . and your wages for what does not satisfy? The bread He is talking about that they should have pursued is not made from wheat or barley. One cannot purchase from a store, nor make from scratch, the bread that truly satisfies. Instead, the chapter talks about seeking God, calling upon God, and returning to God. The true bread comes from God, sustains life spiritually, and satisfies in a way physical bread cannot.
Those without spiritual bread have a gaping hole in their lives. There is a void, longing to be filled, and they try to stuff it in various ways. They become adept at living for the moment, and staying busy and distracted so they don't have to feel that emptiness. Being still is uncomfortable. They are restless because they do not have God's peace.
However, nothing physical - no matter how thrilling or stimulating - can ever truly fill the void or satisfy spiritual hunger. And yet the natural man sets his mind on things that seem like they will satisfy because they are exciting. Physical things register with the natural mind as more exhilarating than what the Savior offers.
We know what our priority should be, our lives show what is truly most important to us. We should consider whether we can truthfully proclaim with the psalmist, O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1). If we are honest with ourselves - which we should be, as much as possible - we will acknowledge that we often long for material things, experiences, circumstances, entertainments, achievements, and status, more than we do for spiritual bread. If so, it is because we don't yet really trust that it can satisfy and sustain us, because we are still fleshly. It is something to evaluate.
This passage contains the themes of both eating bread from God and the rigors of the wilderness journey. Though the booths are unmentioned here, this fills in some of the details of that time. Notice that it was God who caused a measure of hardship, and denied them some things to see what was in their hearts.
He does this with us as well, not just during these two feasts, but throughout our lives. He withholds things when withholding is better. That's what we must accept, and then begin to explore why it could be better this way, with something lacking, rather than our way, with everything already perfect.
