Exodus
16:13 ¶ And it came to pass, that at
even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay
round about the host. 14 And when the
dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a
small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they
said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said
unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the LORD hath
commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every
man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which
are in his tents. 17 And the children of
Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he
that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack;
they gathered every man according to his eating. 19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till
the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they
hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it
bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 21 And they gathered it every morning, every man
according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
God
provided quails in the evening. The Bible says also that He provides the prey
for the predator and food for the hungry fowls which goes against our wildlife
video mentality of the drama of lions taking down Cape buffalo. The lion makes
the effort but there would be no success in the hunt without God’s hand in it.
Here, God is talking to Job;
Job
38:39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the
lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, 40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in
the covert to lie in wait? 41 Who
provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander
for lack of meat.
Psalm
104:21 The young lions roar after their
prey, and seek their meat from God.
Luke
12:24 Consider the ravens: for they
neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth
them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
The
small, round piece of food that is left after the dew is called Manna, which
Strong’s says means, “What is it?” which is also evident from the passage.
It is later called
angel’s food.
Psalm
78:24 And had rained down manna upon
them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat
to the full.
But
is also a reference to some event in the realm of the invisible world that we
can hardly understand.
Psalm
74:12 ¶ For God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the
dragons in the waters. 14 Thou brakest
the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people
inhabiting the wilderness.
Some
of the Hebrews disobeyed in not consuming all that was given and trying to save
it until the next day, incurring Moses anger, but the point here is that there
was enough. The concept of having enough is very important in Christianity and
very much in opposition to the American ideal of never having enough, of always
wanting more. We see the Christian doctrine further illuminated in the New
Testament requiring equality in the community of believers.
2Corinthians
8:7 ¶ Therefore, as ye abound in every
thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in
your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion
of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. 9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich. 10
And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have
begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. 11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that
as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of
that which ye have. 12 For if there be
first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not
according to that he hath not. 13 For I
mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: 14 But by an equality, that now
at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their
abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
15 As it is written, He that had
gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
This
is how the earliest form of the church was physically nourished although this
was short-term and fell short of Christ’s commandment to go out to the world.
Acts
2:45 And sold their possessions and
goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Acts
4:35 And laid them down at the apostles’
feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
God sent
persecution to them to disperse them as Christ had said;
Acts
1:8 But ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth.
Acts
8:1 ¶ And Saul was consenting unto his
death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which
was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of
Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
So, while Marx and
Engels stole this from the Bible;
…every
man according as he had need…
…it
does not mean that it is not a Christian ideal. However, it is not a required
method of coercion excusing governments like Lenin’s Soviet Union or America’s
welfare state for their extortions on the working class in order to create not
just equal opportunity but equal outcomes at the point of a gun but it is a
voluntary principle commanded in the community of Christians. Still, as it is
in conflict with American ideals it is pretty much a non-starter. The church is
lacking in spiritual power and force as much by its acceptance of inequality in
the community of believers as it is by Christians refusing to love each other
as an example to the world and a symbol of their belonging to Christ.
John
13:34 A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
I
can almost hear the teeth grinding as American Christians will be thinking that
the Bible’s clear statements must be wrong because what’s mine is mine and you
need to go get your own. It is said that the most repeated sermon in the late
1800’s in America was titled “Acres of Diamonds” about the virtue of obtaining
wealth and how rich people were usually the best people. But, God’s word says
what it says in the context in which it is said. Here in Exodus and in Acts one
might argue that doctrinally it is not applicable to us but you can’t argue
with Paul’s statement in 2Corinthians or in the next verse.
1Timothy
6:6 ¶ But godliness with contentment is
great gain. 7 For we brought nothing
into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be
therewith content. 9 But they that will
be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things;
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good
profession before many witnesses.
