8:3
“He humbled you ...” There were times of no water nor food, what God was doing was showing them that He was the one who supplies everything. We all need to learn this lesson. The manna from heaven demonstrated that the Lord could provide in all circumstances. In John 6 we read that Jesus is the true manna from heaven. Jesus, of course, quoted this verse when He was tempted by the devil (Matt 4:4). Note that this is not saying that material needs don’t matter, but that it is the Lord who is the ultimate provider of all things. Most of the time we receive things by “natural” means, i.e. we work and receive the fruit of our labour, but when the natural means fail for some reason, that does not affect God’s ability to provide. The lesson is that we need to look to the Lord above all things, this does not come naturally to fallen mankind.
8:4,5
Moses then points to other ways in which the Lord provided. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. What would normally be expected to happen did not happen. Now all this, all this miraculous provision, happened to a sinful people. They are reminded that the Lord was disciplining them. Jesus said we can only enter the kingdom of God as a child (Mark 10:15). When we talk about this it tends to be in a sentimental way, but it also means that we are disciplined and we need to learn from the Lord’s discipline (Heb 12:4-11).
No comments:
Post a Comment