Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Daily Spiritual Bread
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Exodus 16:4-5
When God blessed, sanctified, and hallowed the seventh day (Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20:11), it was after He had formed from the dust of the earth the very pinnacle of His physical creation. The physical creation was finished, but God's sanctification of the next day shows that physical man was not complete. The spiritual dimension was missing. God set apart the seventh day to show that His spiritual creation is now taking place. The Sabbath day is so central to God's purpose that He gave extra instructions to help us fully receive and benefit from this weekly gift. We say that "time is money," but the fact is that time is even more precious than money. If we really have to, we can almost always make more money. However, every person is limited in the amount of time he has, whether in a day, a week, or his life. Because of how precious time is, God wants us to make the most of the Sabbath, that time that is transcendently better than the rest of the week. Thus, in His providence, He gave us the Preparation Day, which sets the stage so that we can properly receive the gift of the Sabbath. The first mention of the Preparation Day occurs at the same time that the Sabbath was re-taught to the children of Israel in Exodus 16. God commands the Israelites to gather their food for the Sabbath on the sixth day, so there would be as few distractions on the seventh day as possible. The Preparation Day, then, is the day to complete all our cleaning, cooking, business transactions, etc., so that the ordinary and the mundane activities of life do not detract from this time that God has set apart. With Israel, God was dealing with a carnal people, so His instructions deal primarily with the physical aspects of preparation. Physical preparation for the Sabbath helps us to receive and make proper use of this holy time. Note that God gave this principle to Israel even before the fourth commandment was actually spoken at Mount Sinai. However, there is spiritual preparation to be done as well, a fact that Israel did not have a heart to understand. They did well just to obey the letter of the law, even nominally. We, though, are called to look at the spirit—the essence—of the principle in addition to applying it physically. Jesus, in John 6, tells us what the manna actually represents: Therefore [the people] said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. . . . I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." (John 6:30-35, 48-51) These verses define the real spiritual manna about which we need to be concerned. It is not only the Bible; it is Christ Himself. True Christians should desire Jesus to dwell within them, not just His words. For us, then, the essence of the instruction in Exodus 16 is to ingest, invite in, or assimilate the Person of Jesus Christ daily. He is the "daily bread" we are told to ask for in the Model Prayer (Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3). Thus, manna, the "bread from heaven," is linked to ingesting Jesus Christ to gain spiritual nourishment and sustenance. This is done, not only through Bible study, but also through continual prayer and seeking His involvement throughout the day. In short, eating manna symbolizes strengthening our relationship with God so we can receive His attributes. God fully intended the Israelites to eat the manna every day, as it was their only staple. But the unique instruction in Exodus 16 deals with gathering twice as much on the Preparation Day. They did not eat twice as much then, but they had to expend twice the effort on that day to ensure that they had enough to eat the next day. If we look at this spiritually, we, too, have to ingest Jesus Christ every day through prayer, Bible study, and experiencing life with Him. On the sixth day, however, we need to "gather" twice as much, expending twice the effort to ensure that we have enough of the bread from heaven to eat on the Sabbath.
David C. Grabbe
Manna and the Preparation Day (Part One)
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Exodus 16:16-18
The recommended daily amount per person was an omer (about a large bowlful or two quarts). In the same way, ministers often recommend a certain amount of daily Bible study as a guideline. This guideline serves as a motivator to help a person study God's Word, which in the end is the important thing. Of the Israelites the Bible says that those who gathered little did not lack, and those who gathered much did not have any wasted. In the same way, some days even just a verse or two carefully pondered is adequate to sustain us for that day. It could be exactly the thought we need. On the other hand, an intensive three-hour Bible study session does not leave us feeling we have overfed. You cannot overindulge on God's Word. Nor does a long session today eliminate the absolute need for fresh Bible study tomorrow! The Israelites could not store the manna over from day to day, as it would breed worms (verses 19-20). God made sure they went out every day for their manna to teach us we need to study the Bible fresh every day. No wonder Jesus teaches us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). The same is true physically: We can gorge ourselves one day and still need to eat the next. God wants us to learn from the physical here: A hearty feeding on God's Word over the Sabbath, for example, is simply not enough to last the whole week. The very next day, and each day thereafter, we must gather fresh manna and eat it. The only exception is the Sabbath (Exodus 16:22-26). We are not to earn or work for our physical bread on the Sabbath, and even considering this spiritually, it is often true that we have less time to do intensive personal study on the Sabbath. Yet God still feeds us His Word, does He not? We are fed by the sermonette, sermon, songs, and fellowship at church!
Staff
Have You Had Your Manna Today?
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Matthew 6:11
In His sample prayer, Jesus teaches us to ask, "Give us this day our daily bread." Though Jesus was no doubt including physical bread and physical needs, more often than not He was thinking spiritually. We also need to pray that God provide us our daily spiritual bread, the kind that leads to life, not the kind that perishes. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
Staff
Have You Had Your Manna Today?
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Matthew 6:11
In Deuteronomy 8:3, God draws a straight line between the Israelites eating bread He supplied from heaven and consuming and using His Word. The miracle of the manna was a daily lesson to impress on them that real living requires the individual to conduct his life in obedience to God's instructions. He urges them in Deuteronomy 30:15-20 to “choose life,” which He defines as “to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you . . .” (verse 16). Jesus' response to the Devil's temptation in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4, where He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, strikes the same chord. He was famished, having fasted for forty days, and Satan suggested that He could save Himself the weakness and pain by turning stones into physical bread, something the Creator God could easily do. But Jesus understood the Adversary's temptation: to put His physical life before His spiritual life. He would never do this, knowing that, as the apostle Paul would later put it in Romans 14:17, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Our requests for daily bread, then, also cover instruction from God through His Word to enhance our walk on the path to His Kingdom. As Peter advises in II Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Paul concurs, writing, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16), “increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10), and “rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). Scripture commends the Bereans of Acts 17:11 for “receiv[ing] the word with all readiness, and search[ing] the Scriptures daily,” just as the Model Prayer suggests. But bread has an even higher antitype. In John 6:32-40, 48-58, Jesus Christ titles Himself “the Bread of Life”: “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33). Our Savior not only gave His life in sacrifice for the remission of sins, but He also says He gives His flesh and blood to those who believe in Him so they can have eternal life. The metaphor Jesus uses in this chapter—which the Jews considered to be horrific and macabre—parallels others found in Scripture like “putting on Christ,” “putting on the new man,” and “walking in His steps.” Notice John 6:56: “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” The verbs “eats” and “drinks” are active case present participles, suggesting ongoing activity. Those who continue to feed on or ingest Christ—symbolic of learning about Him, obeying Him, imitating His example, and growing spiritually—remain in an active relationship with Him. When we ask God to give us our daily bread, we ask for far more than food for our stomachs. We request complete nourishment for our bodies, our minds, and our spiritual lives, for the only sure, life-giving sustenance comes from God Himself.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Model Prayer (Part Six): Our Daily Bread
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