Worms in my Manna

When hurricane Katrina hit I was a bit thrown off-guard and filled with fear. The hurricane was bad enough but the aftermath was brutal. The media painted a picture of horror; where the lawlessness of people was only matched by the failure of government. The whole situation made me anxious and I began at that time to read up on survival and started making a store of food and supplies. I even called up my family and frantically suggested they do the same. After the turmoil of the disaster I continued to add to our food stock, though less zealously.

On a later occasion my daughter had run out of ramen noodles and we raided our survival store for a package for her. Upon opening and cooking it we discovered worms. We thought it may have just been an accident, but another package revealed the very same thing. Our food store was contaminated with larvae! In this I believe that God was teaching me an important lesson I would like to share.

Recently I've begun to get a deeper appreciation of the Biblical account of Israel's exodus from Egypt and trek through the wilderness toward the promised land. Throughout this, God was bringing the nation to himself as a collective son and preparing their hearts to receive him as Father and enter into his rest. With the ten plagues he brought against Pharoah he was proving his power and superiority over all the false gods of the Egyptians. He then brought his chosen people to a place of weakness in order to prove himself as a savior and provider. At the Red Sea he proved that he could save them from Pharoah's army. In their journey through the wilderness he was proving that he could provide their needs for food, water, and clothing. The wilderness was designed to bring the people into complete dependence and trust in Jehovah.

Reading the book of Numbers, it describes the nation of Israel's absolute failure to learn these lessons and believe in God. At each leg of their travel we are faced with their hardened hearts and incessant complaining. This culminates in a total failure as they reached the promised land of Canaan. Of twelve spies that were sent across the Jordan river to scope out the land, only two, Joshua and Caleb, expressed confidence that the Lord would give them the land. The others expressed fear that couldn't take the land from the inhabitants. The nation of Israel sided with the ten spies that brought an unfavorable report and refused to trust in God's promises. As a result that entire generation, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, had to wander the wilderness until they perished. Their failure is rooted in the sin of disbelief.

The New Testament book of Hebrews contains an encouragement for Christians not to be like that unbelieving generation. The author writes, "Take care, brethren, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ... Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobediance as theirs." (Hebrews 3:12) In our lives today we need to learn from that group's failure and believe and trust in the Lord.

The Word of God prophecies to a time of great turmoil and tribulation; a time when the people of God will not even be able to buy and sell. (Matt 24:21; Rev 13:17) In looking ahead at the potential of great global upheaval it is the natural reaction of the flesh to become axious and want to make physical preperations for salvation. I have found this to be particularly true in some Christian circles that focus on the "end times". For instance some ministries have been sponsored by companies that sell survival gear and foods. Some Christians are even laying up weapons for protection. Personally though, I'm increasingly of the opinion that laying up and putting our trust in such supplies can run contrary to the Word of God.

When I was faced with worms in my ramen I was reminded of what happened to Israelites in the wilderness. Having run out of food they complained to Moses saying, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this desert to kill this whole assembly with hunger!” (Exodus 16:3) God heard their complaint and told Moses that he would bring bread down from heaven, which the people called "manna".

In providing manna, God stipulated that each person was to gather only what their family could each that day; nothing was to be left over until the next morning. They were not to store up but had to manifest faith that God would continue to provide manna each and every morning for them. The people, being hard in heart, did not listen. The Scriptures describe what happened saying, "But they did not listen to Moses; some kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them." (Exodus 16:20) In much the same way, my stock of ramen was full of worms and virtually inedible.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, gives us these similar life lessons. He teaches us to be content with what we have each day and not to worry about storing for the future. He tells us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11) He says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34) Jesus says, “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal." (Matt 6:19,20)

We may reason that this advice is well and good for everyday living; but, that desperate times call for desperate measures. With this in mind, it is important than to look at what Jesus said regarding the coming destruction of Jerusalem which was the worst tribulation ever to befall the nation.

"So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one on the roof must not come down to take anything out of his house, and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak." (Matt 24:17,18)

It is noteworthy that Jesus did not encourage his disciples to store up emergency rations in order to last through the time of trial. Such supplies would have been short lived when the Romans barricaded the city. At that time, a famine set in and things got so desperate that children were being eaten by parents. But even if they had stocked up supplies, they would have done no good, because Jesus commanded the people to instantly flee to the mountains without regard to any such provisions. According to Jesus, if a man was outside of his house he shouldn't run back inside for anything, including food and clothing. Similarly the man in the field shouldn't go back to get his cloak. This is an important detail because In Jesus' day the cloak was essential, minimal survival gear for travelers. It kept them warm in the elements and was also used as bedding. Thus, following Jesus' command during that day of disaster would have required total depedance on God and belief that he would provide and take care of their needs.

The Scriptures time and again call for us to trust in God and not in the arm of the flesh. Though some measure of provision may be practical it would be a mistake for us to put our faith and trust in such. Jesus tells us to store up treasures in heaven. When we believe and allow our Heavenly Father to provide for us now it is like storing up everlasting provisions for the future. If we build trust in reliance in Him today we will be prepared for any trial that can come upon us, great and small. We need to manifest faith that if necessary in times of trial our Father can even miraculously feed us by raining bread from heaven or by having ravens bring us food. (1 Kings 17:6) In Revelation when the "woman" flees to the wilderness it is to a place prepared by God where she is taken care of by him - not by her own devices. (Rev 12:6, 14)

Again God is ready to bring to ruin all the false gods of the world, represented by Egypt. Anything that man has put his trust in such as money, insurance, government, banks, medicine, and secular employment will be brought to nothing. And again God will bring his people into a wilderness where they will have to rely on him. At that time we will have no choice but to believe in God or perish. Those that have faith will be lead into the promised land and enter into God's rest.