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George H. Warnock: "A Way
through the Wilderness" |
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Chapter 3
THE WILDERNESS OF SIN
“Bread From Heaven”
“And all the
congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is
between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their
departing out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 16:1).
They had been on the
road one month. Their supply of food was running out. Once again the evil of
their hearts was revealed; and the faithfulness of their God during the past
month was forgotten. But God knew what He would do. “Behold, I will rain bread
from heaven for you... that I may prove them...” (Ex. 16:4). Notice this, that
in every way the Lord was leading them, He was “proving” them. He was testing
them to reveal the inherent corruption of their nature, and at the same time to
show them His way for them, and His own faithfulness. Marah was to prove them;
and now this strange bread from heaven was to prove them. To supply their need,
yes; but it was more. It was to test them, to try them, to prove them. It is not
difficult for us to get God’s blessings. God will continue to bless His people;
but He wants to test us and to prove us, whether or not we can qualify for the
Land of Canaan. There are many who experience the blessings of God who will
continue to reject any attempt of the Lord to try them and to prove them. Yet
this is required of the people who are going to qualify for the conquest of
Canaan. We will have much more to say about the Manna when we come to the
Wilderness of Paran. But right here we want to emphasize that this miraculous
bread from Heaven, this food that is called “The Corn of Heaven,” and “Angels’
Food,” was some thing that supplied their need in spirit, soul, and body; but it
fell short of satisfying every desire of their hearts. God designed it that way;
for God must deal with the undisciplined desire of His people to get... and
get... and get, if He is going to prepare them for the Life in the Spirit, which
is a life of..... giving ...giving....
This precious food could
not be stored up, and if they tried to do so, it bred worms and stank. Yet there
was always sufficient for every need, for God sent a fresh supply every morning.
They simply had to gather it, according as they had need; and if some happened
to gather more than they needed, then the surplus was shared with those who did
not gather enough. Incidentally, it is the “Manna principle” that has become the
New Testament principle of giving and sharing:
“But by an equality,
that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their
abundance also may be a supply for your want: THAT THERE MAY BE EQUALITY: as it
is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered
little had no lack” (2 Cor. 8:14-15).
God has much work to do in His people yet, to bring us to that kind of
“equality” that He desires in the New Covenant people; and here it is set forth
in the Manna principle. God will continue to discipline the Canaan-bound people
until they have learned to use what God has provided for their daily needs, and
to make the rest available to those who stand in need. The true disciples of the
Lord must be prepared to FORSAKE ALL in order to be His disciples. And they will
do it gladly... not because there is some apostle or prophet or ecclesiastical
structure requiring it, but because in their walk with the Lord, and in their
pursuit of the Land of Fruitfulness, they are going to discover that “It is more
blessed to give than to receive.
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