Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day.”
Genesis 16:4a

Question: “Who could ask for anything more?” Answer: “The Israelites!”

How quickly they had forgotten what their lives were like in Egypt. They groaned in misery from making bricks. They were beaten if they did not make their quota.

Now they complained of having been brought out to the wilderness to starve to death. They reminisced, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots and ate our fill of bread.”

They murmured against Moses and said, “You have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Did the Israelites really believe that God who had delivered them from bondage in Egypt had brought them out to the wilderness to kill them by starvation? Had not God rescued the Israelites form the Egyptians who the drowned in the Red Sea?

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day.” Except for the day before the Sabbath, the Israelites were to gather enough manna from heaven to satisfy their hunger. On Friday they could gather enough manna to feed them and their families for two days. If they gathered a double portion at any other time it would spoil and breed worms.

First, it is important to remember that our God is a great God and a Good God. The God who knows our needs will provide for them. Second, God’s goodness excels the disappointment God feels when we are disobedient.

God is great, and God is good.

Let us thank Him for our food.

By His hand we all are fed.

Give us Lord, our daily bread.

Prayer

Dear God, we thank You for providing us with our daily bread. We thank You for Your steadfast love, even when we disappoint and disobey You. Truly You are great, and You are good.” In Christ’ s name, we pray. Amen.