Mahn from Heaven

Rabbi Ken Alpren
Sermon Notes by Teresa Bennett, Pharm.D.
January 15, 2011

Exodus 16:1-4, “They traveled on from Eilim, and the whole community of the people of Isra'el arrived at the Seen Desert, between Eilim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving the land of Egypt. 2 There in the desert the whole community of the people of Isra'el grumbled against Moshe and Aharon. 3 The people of Isra'el said to them, "We wish ADONAI had used his own hand to kill us off in Egypt! There we used to sit around the pots with the meat boiling, and we had as much food as we wanted. But you have taken us out into this desert to let this whole assembly starve to death!" 4 ADONAI said to Moshe, "Here, I will cause bread to rain down from heaven for you. The people are to go out and gather a day's ration every day. By this I will test whether they will observe my Torah or not.”

The Israelites arrived at the Seen Desert hungry and began to grumble. It was just three days after they had experienced the astounding and sensational miracle of the parting of the Sea. But they forgot and now they were hungry. It is said that the flashy and sensational miracles don’t change us or make for a solid foundation of faith. What changes us is the normal patient and seemingly ordinary work G-d does inside of us; that is what lasts.

Mahn (also known as Manna) rained down from heaven for forty years or approximately 12,520 days! This Mahn from heaven fed 2,000,000 people daily! Yeshua said for us to pray “give us this day our daily bread”. On Shabbat we have Lechem Mishnei which is a double loaf harkening back to the Mahn when a double portion was provided so they didn’t need to gather it on the sabbath. We get our bread now from the earth but it is still from G-d.

Proverbs 30:8-9, “provide just the food I need today; 9 for if I have too much, I might deny you and say, "Who is ADONAI?"And if I am poor, I might steal and thus profane the name of my God.”

Realize that He provides all our needs and we don’t truly “have” anything. Everything is the L-rd’s. When we realize this we know that we can’t loose anything. Interestingly, the word “have” does not exist in the Hebrew language.

“Mahn it is.” The Israelites had no idea what it was and Moshe said, “It is the bread the L-rd gives to you as food.” G-d was faithful to provide!

What are the lessons for us through the Mahn from Heaven?

Dependence - G-d graciously provides and this provision teaches us to depend upon Him and that He is the source of our provision and we are not provided for through our own efforts.
Obedience - be grateful in obedience and gather the Mahn just as G-d said according to need. This principle can be applied in how we each are given different gifts. Use what we are given now. If the Mahn wasn’t used it would rot or spoil. And if we wait to use what we are given we can loose it. (James 4:14) We all have been given different gifts as it pleases Him (1 Corinthians 12). Notably, this double provision of Mahn was before the Law was given; before Shabbat was commanded. The principle is to stop and rest and renew in Him and recognize He is our L-rd and Creator.
Messiah is our Lechem Hachaim or Bread of Life. Daily “bread” meets our needs. He provides for us daily through His Word and provision. To combat daily challenges and needs He provides Himself and His Word daily. We need to “eat” the bread of the Bible daily!

Further Reading: Exodus 16:1-36, Psalm 78:12-25, Matthew 25:14-29, John 6:30-35, Phil 4:19, Psalm 23:1, 1Peter 4:10, Psalm 68:19, Psalm 56:1, Psalm 52:10, Psalm 12:2, Numbers 11:7-8