Page 46 - SABBATH

to eat... And they gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should
eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt... And the house of Israel named it
manna, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with
honey.

It seems a most remarkable thing that a people that had spent 430 years in a foreign
land, most of the time serving as slaves, should find themselves suddenly delivered in a
most spectacular fashion, and yet they should grumble continuously against the One who
delivered them. Not only did the Israelites witness the miraculous and terrifying plagues
that came against Egypt, but they were protected from the same plagues. Not only were they
released from captivity, but they spoiled the Egyptians when they left, taking great wealth
from them. Not only were they freed from their cruel taskmasters, but they saw the mighty
Egyptian army perish in the Red Sea as Yahweh sent confusion upon them and then covered
them with the waves of the sea.
Despite all of these miraculous events and a tremendous change in their fortunes, they
grumbled at every inconvenience and they murmured against the good intent of Yahweh,
accusing Him of not caring for them. Having barely left Egypt, they began to complain that
they did not have all of the appealing things to eat that they had while they were slaves in
Egypt. Clearly, knowing the will of Yahweh for their nation and performing His will was not
the greatest of concerns to them. Their great concern was to satisfy their own fleshly
cravings. Like the majority of Christians, they were concerned for what they could get out
of their relationship with God.
In a most spectacular manner, Yahweh provided bread from heaven to meet the
physical needs of the Israelites. The bread is even described as having a pleasing taste like
unto wafers with honey. The manna that the Father provided had everything in it necessary
to sustain life and to cause the bodies of the Israelites to be strong and healthy, but the flesh
is not so easily satisfied. The flesh lusts after many things to satisfy its desires. It wants a
rich variety of meats and delicacies. It not only wants to live, it wants to live in great
pleasure. It wasn’t long before the manna was no longer pleasing to the Israelites.

Numbers 11:1-10
Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of
Yahweh; and when Yahweh heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of Yahweh
burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people
therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire died out. So
the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of Yahweh burned among
them. And the rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons
of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish
which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and
the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look
at except this manna..." Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their
families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of Yahweh was kindled
greatly, and Moses was displeased.

How far removed were these people from the attitude displayed in Yahshua’s life.
When Yahshua was in the wilderness for forty days without any food we are told that He
became hungry. Yet even in His hunger He was content to wait for the Father’s provision