WHY MANNA WAS PROVIDED FOR THE ISRAELITES
MANNA:
He fed them with bread from heaven; “man did eat angels' food. CDF
Why do we need to study the past life of Israelites?
Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 1 Corinthian 10:11
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Ecclesiastes1:9
Are we Modern Israelites?
For 40 years, unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed modern Israel from entering into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. Manuscript 4. 1883 (Ev. 696)
Why manna was provided for Israelites?
Despite the availability of milk, meat from their live stocks, manna was provided:
In Egypt their taste had become perverted. God designed to restore their appetite to a pure, healthy state, in order that they might enjoy the simple fruits that were given to Adam and Eve in Eden. He was about to establish them in a second Eden, a goodly land, where they might enjoy the fruits and grains that He would provide for them. He purposed to remove the feverish diet upon which they had subsisted in Egypt; for He wished them to be in perfect health and soundness when they entered the goodly land .... 1Bible Commentary 1102.3
How long was Manna provided?
And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited, they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. Exodus 16:35
What was their diets in Egypt?
3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Exodus 16:3
5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. Number 11:5-6
What was Israelites murmuring for?
6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. Number 11:4-6
For ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Number 11:18
How long were quails provided?
“At the giving of the manna, just before Israel reached Sinai, the Lord had granted them flesh in answer to their clamors; but it was furnished them for only one day.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 378.
And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord. Exodus 16:8
2nd time
19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; Number 11:19-20
20. But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome (you dislike) unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? Numbers 11:18-20
Who felt the lusting of flesh?
4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? Number 11:4
Is there a record of any negative results from eating flesh food at that time?
33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere (before) it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. Number 11:33
What teachings we can draw from Israelites?
When the God of Israel brought His people out of Egypt, He withheld flesh meats from them in a great measure, but gave them bread from heaven and water from the flinty rock. With this they were not satisfied. They loathed the food given them and wished themselves back in Egypt, where they could sit by the fleshpots. They preferred to endure slavery, and even death, rather than to be deprived of flesh. God granted their desire, giving them flesh, and leaving them to eat till their gluttony produced a plague, from which many of them died. CH 111.1
Effects of Appetite in Israel's Experience—Whenever their appetite was restricted, the Israelites were dissatisfied, and murmured and complained against Moses and Aaron, and against God.... But God was proving His people. In order to develop what was in their hearts, He allowed them to pass through severe trials. When they failed, He brought them around to the same point again, trying them a little more closely and severely.… 1BC 1102.2
Wilderness Diet Made Israel More Manageable: If the Israelites had been given the diet to which they had been accustomed while in Egypt, they would have exhibited the unmanageable spirit that the world is exhibiting today. In the diet of men and women in this age there are included many things that the Lord would not have permitted the children of Israel to eat. The human family as it is today is an illustration of what the children of Israel would have been if God had allowed them to eat the food and follow the habits and customs of the Egyptians.. Bible Commentary 1102.6.
Why God is trying to lead us?
Again and again I have been shown that God is trying to lead us back, step by step, to His original design—that man should subsist upon the natural products of the earth. Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat-eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to form a part of their diet. We should ever keep this end in view, and endeavor to work steadily toward it. Counsels on Health, 450.
The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan's temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome. 36 Counsels on Health, 574.
If Seventh-day Adventists practiced what they profess to believe, if they were sincere health reformers, they would indeed be a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. And they would show a far greater zeal for the salvation of those who are ignorant of the truth.
Greater reforms should be seen among the people who claim to be looking for the soon appearing of Christ. Health reform is to do among our people a work which it has not yet done. There are those who ought to be awake to the danger of meat-eating, who are still eating the flesh of animals, thus endangering the physical, mental, and spiritual health. Many who are now only half converted on the question of meat-eating will go from God's people, to walk no more with them. 35 Counsels on Health, 575.
What happened to Israelites?
- Lost sight of God
- Lost sight of their call, their mission/service
- Lost sight of the Promise Land
They focused too much on the here and now, and lost focus on the there and then
God did not design that His people, Israel, should wander 40 years in the wilderness. He promised to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and establish them there as holy, healthy, happy people. But those to whom it was first preached, went not in because of unbelief, Their hearts were filled with murmuring, rebellion, and hatred, and He could not fulfil His covenant with them ...
From Marah the people journeyed to Elim, where they found “twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees.” Here they remained several days before entering the wilderness of Sin. When they had been a month absent from Egypt, they made their first encampment in the wilderness. Their store of provisions had now begun to fail. There was scanty herbage in the wilderness, and their flocks were diminishing. How was food to be supplied for these vast multitudes? Doubts filled their hearts, and again they murmured. Even the rulers and elders of the people joined in complaining against the leaders of God's appointment: “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” PP 292.1
They had not as yet suffered from hunger; their present wants were supplied, but they feared for the future. They could not understand how these vast multitudes were to subsist in their travels through the wilderness, and in imagination they saw their children famishing (reduce to extreme hunger). The Lord permitted difficulties to surround them, and their supply of food to be cut short, that their hearts might turn to Him who had hitherto been their Deliverer. If in their want they would call upon Him, He would still grant them manifest tokens of His love and care. He had promised that if they would obey His commandments, no disease should come upon them, and it was sinful unbelief on their part to anticipate that they or their children might die of hunger. PP 292.2
God had promised to be their God, to take them to Himself as a people, and to lead them to a large and good land; but they were ready to faint at every obstacle encountered in the way to that land. In a marvelous manner He had brought them out from their bondage in Egypt, that He might elevate and ennoble them and make them a praise in the earth. But it was necessary for them to encounter difficulties and to endure privations (a state in which food and other essentials for well-being are lacking). God was bringing them from a state of degradation and fitting them to occupy an honorable place among the nations and to receive important and sacred trusts. Had they possessed faith in Him, in view of all that He had wrought for them, they would cheerfully have borne inconvenience, privation, and even real suffering; but they were unwilling to trust the Lord any further than they could witness the continual evidences of His power. They forgot their bitter service in Egypt. They forgot the goodness and power of God displayed in their behalf in their deliverance from bondage. They forgot how their children had been spared when the destroying angel slew all the first-born of Egypt. They forgot the grand exhibition of divine power at the Red Sea. They forgot that while they had crossed safely in the path that had been opened for them, the armies of their enemies, attempting to follow them, had been overwhelmed by the waters of the sea. They saw and felt only their present inconveniences and trials; and instead of saying, “God has done great things for us; whereas we were slaves, He is making of us a great nation,” they talked of the hardness of the way, and wondered when their weary pilgrimage would end. PP. 292.3
Israel's Failure and Spiritual Loss
The diet appointed man in the beginning did not include animal food. Not till after the flood, when every green thing on the earth had been destroyed, did man receive permission to eat flesh. CD 374.1
In choosing man's food in Eden, the Lord showed what was the best diet; in the choice made for Israel, He taught the same lesson. He brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and undertook their training, that they might be a people for His own possession. Through them He desired to bless and teach the world. He provided them with the food best adapted for this purpose, not flesh, but manna, “the bread of heaven.” It was only because of their discontent and their murmurings for the fleshpots of Egypt that animal food was granted them, and this only for a short time. Its use brought disease and death to thousands. Yet the restriction to a nonflesh diet was never heartily accepted. It continued to be the cause of discontent and murmuring, open or secret, and it was not made permanent. CD 374.2
Nonflesh Diet to Modify the Disposition
The Lord plainly told His people that every blessing would come to them if they would keep His commandments, and be a peculiar people. He warned them through Moses in the wilderness, specifying that health would be the reward of obedience. The state of the mind has largely to do with the health of the body, and especially with the health of the digestive organs. As a general thing, the Lord did not provide His people with flesh meat in the desert, because He knew that the use of this diet would create disease and insubordination. In order to modify the disposition, and bring the higher powers of the mind into active exercise, He removed from them the flesh of dead animals. He gave them angels’ food, manna from heaven.—Manuscript 38, 1898
Ellen White (1827-1915): “How can they take the life of God’s creatures that they may consume the flesh as luxury. Let them rather, return to the wholesome and delicious food given to man in the beginning and themselves practice, and teach their children to practice mercy toward the dumb creatures that God has made…”(MH, 205- 209, 1905).
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