Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. (Numbers 11:7-8)
When I read this, particularly the last line about the taste of the manna (funny, how this devotional fell right on the heels of the last one about the blessing of flavorless food!), I was struck by how yummy it actually sounded: the taste of pastry prepared with oil. There is no doubt I am a donut/pastry/any-type-of-bread-and-I'll-eat-it type of woman, but I don't think that was the core of why this morsel sounded so delectable...or should I say...heavenly. I think the answer is found in another scripture from God's Living Word:
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)
But before explaining the connection between these two scriptures (and maybe some of you can see it already), let's take a look at the reaction of the Israelites to having to consume this food sent to them directly from God:
Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 11:4-6)
Wow. God Himself was giving them this manna (John 6:30-32), yet His people protested. In fact, not only did they complain, but they also essentially compared the care of God to the treatment they had received from their slave drivers in Egypt...with God being found deficient...defective...the One who didn't know what He was doing! Ouch.
When I read this, particularly the last line about the taste of the manna (funny, how this devotional fell right on the heels of the last one about the blessing of flavorless food!), I was struck by how yummy it actually sounded: the taste of pastry prepared with oil. There is no doubt I am a donut/pastry/any-type-of-bread-and-I'll-eat-it type of woman, but I don't think that was the core of why this morsel sounded so delectable...or should I say...heavenly. I think the answer is found in another scripture from God's Living Word:
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)
But before explaining the connection between these two scriptures (and maybe some of you can see it already), let's take a look at the reaction of the Israelites to having to consume this food sent to them directly from God:
Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 11:4-6)
Wow. God Himself was giving them this manna (John 6:30-32), yet His people protested. In fact, not only did they complain, but they also essentially compared the care of God to the treatment they had received from their slave drivers in Egypt...with God being found deficient...defective...the One who didn't know what He was doing! Ouch.
But God ALWAYS knows EXACTLY what He is doing...and although it may hurt sometimes....He ALWAYS wants to use it for our good. If we can remain in a place of contentment (Philippians 4:11-12), and continue to trust Him, somehow the blessings will flow. BUT if we yield to our own cravings...and trust their reality more than God...this will almost always lead to discontent...
Which brings us to two critical, life-giving (or taking, as the case may be) principles:
1. If we can be lured, whether by the world (television ads, movies, songs...), our flesh's cravings (like those of the Israelites above, 1 John 2:15-17), or satan himself (he enticed the first humans to question God's Plan) into being DISCONTENT in our circumstances, we can then be pulled onto a path that can potentially (most likely) lead to mistrusting God. Now there is a discontent that God can actually use to encourage or prod a person to make a change, but that transformation is always so that the person will become aligned with or remain in His Will...come closer in relationship with Him. The discontent about which I am speaking is that itchy, gnawing, uncomfortable, at times overwhelming sense that life just isn't right (according to our perception or how we think it should be)...that there is "something (or someone) better" for us out there...and that we have to find "it"...we must find it...or we can't possibly be at peace...can't rest. And what usually follows? Well, in order to relieve ourselves from that "discomfort of discontent," we will almost inevitably attempt to come up with a "more perfect" (more perfect?) plan than what God is providing at the time. It may work for a while...but if we're blessed...it won't work, or at least not for very long:
1. If we can be lured, whether by the world (television ads, movies, songs...), our flesh's cravings (like those of the Israelites above, 1 John 2:15-17), or satan himself (he enticed the first humans to question God's Plan) into being DISCONTENT in our circumstances, we can then be pulled onto a path that can potentially (most likely) lead to mistrusting God. Now there is a discontent that God can actually use to encourage or prod a person to make a change, but that transformation is always so that the person will become aligned with or remain in His Will...come closer in relationship with Him. The discontent about which I am speaking is that itchy, gnawing, uncomfortable, at times overwhelming sense that life just isn't right (according to our perception or how we think it should be)...that there is "something (or someone) better" for us out there...and that we have to find "it"...we must find it...or we can't possibly be at peace...can't rest. And what usually follows? Well, in order to relieve ourselves from that "discomfort of discontent," we will almost inevitably attempt to come up with a "more perfect" (more perfect?) plan than what God is providing at the time. It may work for a while...but if we're blessed...it won't work, or at least not for very long:
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside...anything from God to us, including what might seem like a plain piece of bread, will always supremely surpass anything that we may perceive to look, sound, smell, taste, or feel better to our senses, our thoughts, or our emotions. Discontent will try to convince us otherwise, which will only lead to further discontent. And the second point:
2. Like the last devotional about lack of taste related, If we place pleasing our senses (and add to that the often misplaced cravings of our hearts: Jeremiah 17:9) above seeking after and following God, then here too we will most likely end up in that rotten state of discontent. Why? Because sensual indulgence and self-gratification were never, ever, EVER meant to satisfy us more than or replace the filling up that comes from knowing and being united with God-through-His-Son-Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:18). Never. But when we fall or are dragged into the belief that the former can satisfy us more completely than the latter; once again, discontent will inevitably result quite simply because nothing or no one can delight us more than God Himself!
So what were a few of the results for the Israelites when they tried to create a "more perfect" plan than God's? See for yourself:
(So you want meat...? Numbers 11:16-20): "...But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah (Graves of Craving), because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving." (Numbers 11:33-34)
(God's manna plan - communicated through Moses - versus man's manna plan): "And Moses said, 'Let no one leave any of it (the manna) until morning.' Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank..." (Exodus 16:19-20; parentheses mine)
Worms...stench...plague...death...Adam and Eve were at perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3) in the Garden of Eden...until satan lured Eve into fixing her gaze on the ONE THING that God would not allow them to have (and this for their own good: Genesis 3:1-6) = discontent. The Israelites were absolutely thrilled with and in awe of God as He broke them free from bondage (Exodus 14:29-15:13)...until their stomachs got the best of them (Exodus 16:2-3; 1 Corinthians 6:13; Philippians 3:18-19) and they started focusing on them more than on Him = discontent. We are dragged every day by our flesh's cravings, the world's messages, and satan's deceptions (2 Corinthians 11:14) into thinking that everyone but God knows best, and so constantly end up in that terrible state = discontent. Which almost always leads us into even greater upheaval when we try to find that contentment in any person, place, or thing other than an ever-intensifying relationship with the One, True God...
Therefore say to the children of Israel: "I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians (I will bring you out from your burden of trying to find contentment and peace), I will rescue you from their (that) bondage, and I will redeem you (I will bring you back to Me, Who will fill you to the full) with an outstretched arm and with great judgments." (Exodus 6:6; parentheses mine)
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)
This is eternal - and completely fulfilling - life...
In His Love,
Terri 
* This idea of discontent was inspired by a study from "Today in the Word" (September 2014), a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
** PLEASE read the scriptures included in the text. It will be so much more gratifying(!), and will reveal that much more the Truth of God and His Word.
*** For those of you who are really hardy (or who have some time later to do this), I have attached a devotional from way back in 2009 I was inspired to write that addresses and supports this same topic. I pray you will take a read. God bless you!
*******************************************************************************
From 7/19/09
"They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert...
...And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul." (Psalm 106:13-15)
Wow. This verse from the Psalms I believe alludes to when the Israelites had been set free from their bondage in Egypt (often paralleled with our bondage to Sin. Numbers 11:16-20, 31-34; Romans 6:5-7), but commenced to complaining about their conditions in the wilderness. "Where's the meat?!" (and leeks and onions), they demanded of Moses (and God): "We want meat! And by the way, why did you free us, anyway?! Stuff was much better back in Egypt....!" Their bodies had been freed, but their hearts were still craving what their flesh desired: meat; the "old wine" (Luke 5:39); "Egypt," where (didn't they remember?!) they had been slaves....and badly mistreated ones at that.
But guess what? God gave them their desires, even though what He had to offer them was so, so, so much better. BUT...being the gracious and wonderful God that He is, along with satisfying the desires of their flesh, He also gave them leanness of soul...made sure that even though the quail (meat) was so profuse, and certainly filled their bellies (even said it would overflow out of their nostrils! - Numbers 11:20), that it would not satisfy the emptiness that resided in their hearts and souls.
So why in the world is that gracious? Because God, I AM, our Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Lamb of God and Lion of Judah was and is the only One Who is supposed to bring to us the fulfillment that now we consistently seek from other things; and even though those things may seem to bring temporary gratification, when all is said and done (when the lights go out at night, as they say - or something like that), they do not, and were never meant to, truly FILL us with Life:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men..." (John 1:1-4)
Only the Living Word, Jesus Himself, now risen to bring that Life, can fill us like we are meant to be. Even when our flesh craves the things of this world (the list is exhaustive: recognition, approval from men, wealth, sexual immorality, revenge, misplaced sympathy, material items, relationships, etc., etc., etc.), if we lust after and pursue those things, then God will be gracious if He sends with it a leanness of soul. Because then maybe, we'll recognize and feel the pain of that emptiness, continue searching, and end up in the arms (or BACK in the arms) of our First Love and filler of our souls and spirits.
"...Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity..." (Jeremiah 29:12-14)
"...I have come that they may have life (Zoe), and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
*"Zoe" and the two other types of "life" mentioned in the New Testament ("psuche" and "bios"/"biotikos") are very different from one another. In sum, "psuche" is the life consistently mentioned that we should lay down (as Yeshua did) (e.g., Mark 8:35; Matthew 20:28); "bios" (or "biotikos") was that "life" that involves just our daily affairs, and which actually causes worries and is burdensome (e.g., Luke 8:14, 21:34). Yeshua obviously did not come to give us abundance in those. He even said about the "bios" (life):
"Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does life consist of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)
The "life" of which Jesus came to give us abundantly was essentially His Life. Here is how it is described in one resource:
...And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul." (Psalm 106:13-15)
Wow. This verse from the Psalms I believe alludes to when the Israelites had been set free from their bondage in Egypt (often paralleled with our bondage to Sin. Numbers 11:16-20, 31-34; Romans 6:5-7), but commenced to complaining about their conditions in the wilderness. "Where's the meat?!" (and leeks and onions), they demanded of Moses (and God): "We want meat! And by the way, why did you free us, anyway?! Stuff was much better back in Egypt....!" Their bodies had been freed, but their hearts were still craving what their flesh desired: meat; the "old wine" (Luke 5:39); "Egypt," where (didn't they remember?!) they had been slaves....and badly mistreated ones at that.
But guess what? God gave them their desires, even though what He had to offer them was so, so, so much better. BUT...being the gracious and wonderful God that He is, along with satisfying the desires of their flesh, He also gave them leanness of soul...made sure that even though the quail (meat) was so profuse, and certainly filled their bellies (even said it would overflow out of their nostrils! - Numbers 11:20), that it would not satisfy the emptiness that resided in their hearts and souls.
So why in the world is that gracious? Because God, I AM, our Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Lamb of God and Lion of Judah was and is the only One Who is supposed to bring to us the fulfillment that now we consistently seek from other things; and even though those things may seem to bring temporary gratification, when all is said and done (when the lights go out at night, as they say - or something like that), they do not, and were never meant to, truly FILL us with Life:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men..." (John 1:1-4)
Only the Living Word, Jesus Himself, now risen to bring that Life, can fill us like we are meant to be. Even when our flesh craves the things of this world (the list is exhaustive: recognition, approval from men, wealth, sexual immorality, revenge, misplaced sympathy, material items, relationships, etc., etc., etc.), if we lust after and pursue those things, then God will be gracious if He sends with it a leanness of soul. Because then maybe, we'll recognize and feel the pain of that emptiness, continue searching, and end up in the arms (or BACK in the arms) of our First Love and filler of our souls and spirits.
"...Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity..." (Jeremiah 29:12-14)
"...I have come that they may have life (Zoe), and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
*"Zoe" and the two other types of "life" mentioned in the New Testament ("psuche" and "bios"/"biotikos") are very different from one another. In sum, "psuche" is the life consistently mentioned that we should lay down (as Yeshua did) (e.g., Mark 8:35; Matthew 20:28); "bios" (or "biotikos") was that "life" that involves just our daily affairs, and which actually causes worries and is burdensome (e.g., Luke 8:14, 21:34). Yeshua obviously did not come to give us abundance in those. He even said about the "bios" (life):
"Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does life consist of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)
The "life" of which Jesus came to give us abundantly was essentially His Life. Here is how it is described in one resource:
- of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic "logos" and to Christ in whom the "logos" put on human nature.
- life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever. (www.studylight.org; Interlinear Bible section)
THIS is that Life which satisfies completely (even to overflowing! - John 7:38). And thank God He will allow leanness of soul...an emptiness...when we pursue anything else to attempt to have take the place that only He was meant to fill.
"In Your Presence is FULNESS of joy..." (Psalm 16:11)
Praise His Wonderful and Glorious Name.
In HIS Love,
Terri
"In Your Presence is FULNESS of joy..." (Psalm 16:11)
Praise His Wonderful and Glorious Name.
In HIS Love,
Terri
