The Day the Manna Stopped!

From Blessing to Promise! – The open door has always suggested some kind of opportunity. It symbolizes the leaving behind of one thing or way of life and laying hold of something different or a different way of life. For the people of Israel, it symbolized a leaving behind of a blessing but taking hold of a promise – not just a promise, not just any promise, THE promise. It was the promise of the land, a land of their very own. A land that would give them protection and symbolize that God had indeed chosen them as His special and unique people.

The difficult part is giving up that blessing. I mean, really, the Israelites had it made! Breakfast was right outside the tent door each and every morning, well, except the Sabbath morning. But, that only meant that the blessing had been doubled the day before. The blessings were fresh each time. Even in times of thirst God had provided His people with water bringing it forth from the very rocks of the desert if the need arose. In times when they had become distant, He sought them and longed to bring them back to Himself, even as the father longed for the Prodigal Son to return home.

Yahweh God provided a sign of His physical presence with His people, the  cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night. These too stopped when the people began the journey into the land.

Blessings are miracles that take place right in our presence. For the people of Israel, they happened every day while they wandered in the wilderness. These blessings had a catch though. They only lasted on the way to the Promised Land, not once the people were in it.

What if you had an opportunity to choose? You could turn down the Promised Land by not entering. In doing so, you would continue to receive all those blessings that had been yours in the wilderness. One does not always HAVE to go through the open door!

The door of opportunity can lead to tremendous changes in your lives. You walked through that door when you decided to be a person who would live out their faith rather than just talk about it. You may go places you never dreamed possible. You may achieve things that were never dreamt of before. BUT, you leave behind what you had in hope of attaining the promise of something better. The Israelites left behind what some may call a life of ease in order to obtain the promise that had been made to their patriarch centuries before.

The cessation of manna was not a sign that God’s presence had stopped. It was only a sign that a temporary provision had come to an end because God was about to provide something much greater! May the same be true in your life!

Pastor Craig