In the 15th and 16th chapters of the Book of Exodus we find the Lord (later known as Jesus of Nazareth) explaining to Moses what He is about to do and why. Having heard the recently-freed Israelites’ complaints about His food and drink provisions, God saw the need to “prove” them (15:26;16:4). Instead of accepting His choice of foodstuffs and His timing relative to when they would receive them, the people He had chosen to take His Word to the Gentile world were complaining at every turn. He had to know if this was going to be a continuous problem. As had Adam and Eve, the 3-5,000,000 or so men, women and children had the freedom of choice. It appeared that Adam and Eve’s descendants were taking a page out of their playbook–God’s Way was not meeting their standards. Beginning at that point the Lord would test Israel as to whether they would obey His commands (Word/”voice”-Exo. 19:5). He would use food in the testing process, I assume because it is the most immediate of human needs. In these postings I will bring out the fact that the Lord’s concept of “food” takes on more than one form, and that man’s reaction to one of those forms tells Him all He needs to know about man’s character. As will be seen, the consumption of “food” can have a deeper meaning than simply meeting the needs of the flesh. And just as there is good and bad physical food available for man to meet his physical needs, there is good and bad spiritual food by which he meets his spiritual needs. In both cases, man has the power to choose which food type he prefers, therefore determining for himself what will be his life’s outcome.

In chapter 16 we find the Lord being very specific about physical food–what to eat, when to gather it, how to prepare it, when to eat it, etc. Notice that throughout the Scriptures whenever people gathered together socially, and at times spiritually, the partaking of food often played an important role in the festivities. Today, among both the churched and unchurched masses, food plays an important part in many gatherings. Eating seems to be the natural thing to do when people gather together.

In the early part of the Book of Exodus we find that God has brought the Israelites out of Egypt through a series of miracles and has them on their way to Mt. Sinai in preparation for entering into the Promised (Holy) Land. En route He has provided them with food and water, but not in the way they wanted. The irony of this situation is that, though they had been freed from centuries of slavery, they were now complaining about food and water and making demands on the One Who had freed them. This thoroughly irritated God, who decided to find out what they were made of spiritually. But first He would give them a finger-etched, stone copy of His moral Law. Even while He was making it available to Moses the ingrates were making plans to return to the fleshpots of Egypt. They reasoned that, though they had been forced to work seven days a week at back-breaking labor and to be treated as less than human, THEY COULD FILL THEIR STOMACHS, which was the most important consideration. Because of their lack of appreciation and faith, for the next 40 years the Lord tested/proved them by forcing them to eat what He provided and to gather it and prepare it according to His strict rules. Considering how demanding He was concerning His people’s handling of physical food, it is no wonder that He is even more of a stickler when it comes to the spiritual food He has made available for those who call themselves by His name. As will be proven Scripturally, God’s spiritual food is His written Word, which is Himself and His Son in written form. The Bible is Their expressed will for mankind. How we approach His Holy Bible in this life determines whether we will be placed among the sheep or among the goats on the Day of Judgment (Mat. 25:32). Notice that until that time they had been together (in “the church”). It is at that time that He will SEPARATE the two groups of “Christians.” Notice also His method of identifying which is which: “I am the Good Shepherd, and “KNOW” (ONLY) MY SHEEP, and am known by them …. My sheep hear (only) My voice (Words) and follow (obey) Me (only), and I give (only) them eternal life ….” Notice that His sheep hear, believe and obey His Words, causing Him to “know” them as He and His Father “know” each other. Note also that those who do not believe Him are not His sheep, and that only His sheep will inherit eternal life (Jn. 10:14,26-28). We will now examine His spiritual food (the Holy Bible) and the manner in which He requires us to approach it. To be continued. L.J.