August 5, 2026
Wednesday, August 5
There’s a detail in the story of God’s provision of manna that I only recently noticed. In Exodus 16, verse 4, God says He is feeding them supernaturally for an unexpected reason: “That I may test them.” You might wonder, if God knows everything, why does He need to test us? The answer is that, for God, “testing” isn’t a way for Him to learn more about us; it’s a way for us to learn more about Him. It’s helpful if you look at that word “test” and substitute the word “train.” The Israelites have been slaves for four hundred years. Generation after generation has never had to make decisions; they just obeyed their masters. But soon, they will be an independent nation. God knows they need some training before that happens. That’s what this time in the wilderness is for. So what specific qualities is God trying to teach Israel? The instructions He gives for the manna tell us.
First, He says, just collect what you need for the day. Don’t hoard any, not even an extra day’s worth. Trust God enough to see that, just as He provided for you today, He will provide tomorrow. So the first quality God is teaching them is daily dependence upon Him.
Imagine you’re in a new city and need to get somewhere, and a friend who lives there says, “I know exactly where that is. Let me come with you. It’ll give us a great chance to catch up.” Now imagine you say, “No, don’t bother. Just give me directions, and I’ll find it myself.” That’s how we treat God. He says, “I created you with a destination in mind. Take me along, and I’ll make sure you get there. I’ll also see that you have everything you need along the way. Best of all, you’ll get to know me as we go.” But we say, “Nah, just tell me how to get where I want to go.” There is a stubborn streak in us that wants to do our own thing and use God as a consultant. He doesn’t work that way.
Another rule God gave them was to gather twice what they needed on the sixth day of the week, because there wouldn’t be any manna on the ground on the seventh day. Why? Because that was the Sabbath. In the first chapter of Scripture, God Himself rested after six days of creation. He didn’t do this because He was tired. He was trying to set a pattern for us: Take a break once every seven days. Give that day to me, and your mind, body, and soul will thank you for it. So the second thing He was trying to teach them was conscious imitation of Him. Not just in the Sabbath, but in all things.
This is one of the unique things about the God of the Bible. No ancient Greek ever said “I want to be like Zeus.” No Egyptian said, “I want to become like Ra, the god of the sun!” Today, no Muslim says, “I want to be just like Allah.” The very idea would be blasphemy to them. But God says, “Spend enough time with me, and you’ll start to be like me. You’ll have wisdom, so you make good decisions. You’ll have righteousness, so you’ll always be on the right side of things. And you’ll love others. You will make the world a better place, and have true joy in the process, because that’s how I am.”
“Father, thank you for training me. Teach me daily dependence upon you, so that my faith will increase, and conscious imitation of you, so the world will see your greatness. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
