Biblical Storyline: Bread from Heaven

I'm still continuing to read slowly through the whole bible noting the the overarching story of the Bible. I'm currently in Exodus 18. The following few posts will be some reflections on what God has revealed to me this far through Scripture.

----------------------------------------------

Soon after God rescued his people from Egypt out of slavery, the Israelites began to grumble against Moses, Aaron, and, ultimately, God. They had little food to eat while traveling in the wilderness. "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full!" (Ex 16:3). Now remember... God had delivered his people out of the hands of the Egyptians. Would he not also provide food for their long journey to the Promised Land? Sadly, the Israelites had already forgotten all that God had done for them.

But God is merciful even when we sin against him. He replies, "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you" (16:4). Every morning, God will rain down manna from heaven for his people to eat, and they are to gather only what they can eat for the day. By doing this and not gathering as much as possible for as long as possible, they are showing that they trust God to continue to provide food for them. And so it happened. God sent manna from heaven to his people so that they would not die as they traveled through the wilderness.

So what does this have to do with the overarching message of the bible? Skip ahead to John 6. The day after Jesus fed the 5000, he is stopped by the same crowd. After a short discourse, the crowd asks Jesus what sign he could give to prove he was sent by God. "What sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus replied,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

To steal the phrase of Pastor Tim Keller, Jesus is the greater and better bread from heaven. The story of the manna from heaven during Israel's journey in the wilderness not only serves as a story of God's provision for and preservation of his people, but it also serves as a pointer to Christ. I believe God is saying, "Israel, I will rain down manna from heaven every morning for you eat so that you will not die of hunger. But there is a a greater and better manna coming. I will send him once, and if you take just one bite of this bread, you will never hunger again."

As I was reading through these passages, I created a comparison table of the manna in the Exodus and the true manna. Praise God for satisfying our hunger by giving us the true manna from heaven.