“Then the Egyptians who had come with them began to long for the good things of Egypt. This added to the discontent of the people of Israel and they wept, “Oh, for a few bites of meat! Oh, that we had some of the delicious fish we enjoyed so much in Egypt, and the wonderful cucumbers and melons, leeks, onions, and garlic! 6 But now our strength is gone, and day after day we have to face this manna!” Numbers 11:5-6
In this passage of scripture we read of how God had miraculously provided bread from heaven for the Children of Israel as they passed through the wilderness. It appeared on the ground every morning as small flakes or wafers and melted away when the sun rose.
This supernatural food had everything in it and more to feed the people and keep them strong. The only trouble was it got a bit boring after a while, in that it was the same old thing day after day. It wasn’t long before the people wanted to have the food they had when in Egypt for that was more colourful and tastier with lots of different textures. This desire was displeasing to the Lord.
I feel there is a lesson to be learnt here for us, especially in the days in which we live.
God’s plan is for us to be fed on the bread of heaven that comes down to us through His word. We as Christians are advised to read His word day and night.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3
To look at outwardly the bible isn’t that interesting, yet it holds within it the words of eternal life. It is a supernatural book. We are told it is quick and powerful and can give us life and health. Jesus says that we are to live by the word of God always.
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4
The word of God is meant to be our real food source that feeds our souls every day. When we were in the world, we fed on everything but the words of the bible. We fed on things that were more graphic. It could be glossy magazines, comics, movies, thrilling books, fantasy, picture books or even pornography just to name a few. We didn’t read the bible back then as it wasn’t interesting enough.
But when we became new creatures in Christ and we were told that it’s the bible that we are to feed on and it will cause us to grow spiritually.
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:2-3
We are changed as it were from caterpillars into butterflies and are to now eat butterfly food. Unfortunately we can often stay on a diet of caterpillar or Egyptian food. The Devil knows that the word can make us strong and tries to tempt us back into our old ways, and in these days its getting harder to resist the pull. We are living in such a graphic age and the temptation to look at all the interesting and funny stuff on Facebook and Tiktok is increasing every day. Our televisions are getting bigger and brighter, with more programs than we can ever hope to digest. It’s a very subtle temptation, and we don’t realise how much time we are feeding on the stuff of the world and neglecting the word of God. We may get a buzz from the world but it doesn’t feed our souls.
To give you an example. If you sat in a doctor’s waiting room and there was a table laden with glossy magazines with stories about scandals in the Royal Family with lots of pictures and also a Gideon’s bible, what would you choose to read? Because we have such an intense diet of the world the bible can become tasteless after a while. It’s like the manna that fell in the wilderness, we don’t want that, we want something more tasty. It’s like preferring junk food instead of healthy food.
I believe that we can become so full of ‘junk food’ that we don't have any room left for the word of God anymore. I remember when we lived in Zimbabwe and our sons Adrian and Sean were small. They didn't want to have the good food that we put before them in the evening and we wondered why. We soon found out they were going across the road in the afternoons to a ladies’ house who was a very good cook. She filled them up with sweet foods so that they had no room or appetite left for good healthy food anymore. As Christians we can do the same, we can fill our lives up with so much junk that there's no room left for the word. Yet it’s the word that causes us to live and can give us health.
An early American writer once said that when the Settlers opened up the Midwest every home had a Bible in a prominent place in their house along with the works of Shakespeare. If you were to go into the average American home today you’d have a hard time finding Shakespeare let alone a Bible, for most homes are filled with Televisions, Play Stations, gadgets and countless other worldly magazines and books. We wonder why we are so defeated and sick. If we are to live by God’s word then many of us are dying daily.
The word of God should be our main source of spiritual food and it should be something we meditate on every day. Unfortunately, we have become lazy and can substitute Christian messages from other ministers that we find on the internet instead of getting a personal word from God for ourselves. This is OK, its better than nothing, but its not the best. You can end up following conspiracies instead of asking God what you should do in any given situation for yourself as you read the word. I saw this during the Covid Pandemic. So many Christians were living by what others had to say instead of finding out what God was saying to them personally.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16
In the light of the opening verses, I can see that we need to be careful in our intake of the glossy graphic food of this world. We need to examine ourselves and check if we are getting a good diet of the word. This doesn’t mean that we need to read chapter after chapter of the bible every day as much as meditating on scriptures often.
“My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.” Proverbs 4:20-22
It’s the word that can give us real life and health and not just entertain us for a moment like the world does.