Day 5 – Joshua 5:11, 12

¹¹ The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹² The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. ^[1]

The entire time the Israelites were in the desert God took care of them. Their clothes and their sandals did not wear out and they did not want for food. God provided them substance so unusual that they called it manna, meaning, “What is it?” This wafer-like substance, which covered the ground every morning and was to be collected in amounts that would last that day only, satisfied the tastes of the Israelites regardless of their individual desire. Whatever food a person craved the manna satiated that craving. The care God gave was so complete that when they tired of the manna He provided them with quail.

The manna continued to sustain the Israelites throughout their sojourn until they entered the land of promise and celebrated the Passover. From the moment they finished celebrating the remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt the manna ceased. God’s provision for their sustenance was now at an end because they had now entered into the promise of Abraham. What were they to do? They were now to enjoy the abundance of what was provided in this new land. They were told to eat the produce of the land that was flowing with milk and honey. Doing so “spoke of their new beginning, of their new life as the people of God delivered from judgment and rock solid in the place of blessing.”

God has made promises to each of us. While we wandered and floundered at times, God still took care of us until . . . He brought us to that place of blessing He had promised and He continues to do the same for us now. Once He has brought us out of the wilderness to that place of blessing the manna ceases to be provided because now we are expected to sustain ourselves from the produce of the land. The Israelites did not have to seek out God’s provision. It was automatically provided new every morning, but now in this new land the produce was available but it had to cultivated and harvested. As a part of our season of consecration let us open our eyes to see the produce in our land and develop the motivation, energy and imagination to eat of it and be sustained by it. God has brought us to the place of blessing but it is now our responsibility to take advantage of it because the manna has ceased.

Dear Lord, forgive me for expecting you to continue providing me with manna. Deliver me from a lackadaisical spirit that causes me to the opportunities You continue to provide me for increase. Remind me, again, that You have given me everything I need in order to prosper, and then quicken my imagination with ideas and concepts that will enable me to eat of the produce of the land into which You have brought me. Amen.