Famine

Genesis‬ ‭41:57‬ ‭- So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.

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The story of Joseph is one of my favorites. Joseph was one of twelve brothers. He was favored by his father Jacob. Jacob was a God-fearing man. The favoritism caused jealousy among the brothers and they sold him into slavery in Egypt and then lied to their father.

In a nutshell... Many years later Joseph had obtained Pharaoh's favor. He was given the responsibility of the storehouses in Egypt. A famine took place in the land of Joseph's family, Canaan in Israel. The brothers were sent to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph met his family but kept his identity a secret for a time. 

Eventually he let himself be known to them and he told them not to be grieved by what they had done (forgiveness) because: God sent me before you to preserve your life. God sent me before you ... to save your lives by a great deliverance. (Genesis 45:5,7) And later he said to his brothers: But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ‭‭(Genesis‬ ‭50:20‬)

This story, account, speaks to us today also. There is a spiritual famine in the land. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. ...(Hosea 4:6) Many live in a famine without recognizing it. They live without the knowledge of the God who created them. They live without the knowledge of truth. 

Sometimes, though, God will introduce a time or season or event in one's life where this famine is recognized. The bottom will seem to fall out. God might intervene and draw them to Him. Then, like we see above, all bad turns to good. This is what Jesus Christ does. He makes good out of the wreck we've made of our lives. He delivers us and makes us alive. He saves us.

I also know that not everything we see happen in our saved lives as bad is. It might be God's wake up call for us or He's in the process of working something in or out of our lives for the better. So we really shouldn't be complaining but rejoicing believing in a God who is no doubt up to something good. 

I cannot emphasize this enough...like Joseph saved his family through an act of evil upon him brought on by his own brothers, Jesus saves us from the evil one who only comes to steal, kill and destroy. We are all brothers and sisters with the devil until Jesus delivers us from all that. 

Later Joseph's father prophesies into the lives of all his sons. Here's what he says about Joseph. There is one small phrase that truly packs a wallop: 

The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)... (Genesis‬ ‭49:23-24‬)

I see the archers as his brothers. And later it is clearly in reference to Christ our Shepherd who delivers us and who is the Rock of our salvation. Hallelujah!

I find it interesting, while no coincidence at all, that it is the grain Joseph's family came to purchase. This is the basic staple of life. We need grain to feed livestock. Grain produces bread, a very wonderful staple in today's diets, although now we seem to even have developed health problems because of it. Is this because we aren't eating the same type of wheat as in the biblical days? The idea of God is not as popular nor important as it once was. Perhaps our treatment of wheat has changed also. Bread should not be bad for us; Jesus is not bad for us. 

I love God's Word, the richness of it, the admonition, promises, convictions and especially the examples. Examples for us to learn from, promises to recall and encourage, conviction to pierce our hearts into obedience and faithfulness to Jesus, our Deliverer. I pray that the famine in the many hearts and souls who do not know in this Jesus would be satisfied (and if a heart does not recognize a famine yet, that it be made known) by Him. He is the manna come down from heaven, the bread of life. He came that anyone who receives Him would have everlasting life. He came to deliver you from death to life. His hand is outstretched even now. Do not die for lack of knowledge. 

John‬ ‭6:49-51‬ ‭- Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

Bread Which Came Down

John 6:41-51

The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life."

"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes from down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."


Again Jesus is trying to explain who He is, what is His purpose. We are not much different from these Jews. How many times we sometimes need to hear something before we understand!

He used an example. As the Israelites were fed by bread which came down from heaven in an endless, substantial, satisfying way, Jesus also came down from heaven in the flesh to provide a way spiritually. While the Israelites physically ate, Jesus offers Himself as the bread of life for eternity.

There's a point made that causes confusion. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. It makes it sound like God has already chosen those who will follow Him and those who will not. It's one of those mysteries we may never understand. Salvation is definitely a spiritual thing. Only by the power of God will someone understand and receive Him. We don't just, on our own, make the decision. We may think we have, but God works behind the scenes of our lives to bring it about. He draws us. Not necessarily with miracles or signs, although that causes belief to rise up, but the final act of His power alone.

It doesn't mean that the word shouldn't be preached. It doesn't mean we stop praying for lives to be saved. There's the scripture that comes to mind to explain this: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. (1Corinthians 3:6). People still need to preach, teach and water, but the end result is God's. He gets the glory for it. God created all with a will and sometimes we will not to believe. It's that choice I so often mention.

So, if God has worked in someone's life and He knows the desire in any one person to receive Christ, He will impart His wisdom and ability to understand. And yet it's still a mystery. I have repeatedly shared how one moment (and it was literally a moment) I was pushing God away until someone said something that utterly caused me to become undone and pliable in His hand. I wasn't saved at that moment, but He had broken through something in my heart and opened it to receive Him the next day! Not my will to receive because I didn't initially want to. Someone had planted, another watered, and this day God gave His increase.

A moment in time where He steps in. I can't explain how. That's what makes God God and we mere humans. I can't ultimately say that by our own openness it happens. He's just always at work behind the scenes. And why some never choose is the biggest mystery of all, seeing how Jesus, the bread of life, the living water, has all we need over the things this world has to offer which can be removed in a heartbeat. But Jesus offers something eternal.

He and He alone is the bread from heaven. I repeat myself. Like the manna came down from heaven...so Jesus came down. Both for the sake of feeding and preserving life. What I did not say here is written in the following scripture...not just the bread but what God proclaims. He sent His Son, Jesus, the Word of God, in the flesh. Receive Him, the bread of life, the Word, receive eternal life. That simple.

Deuteronomy 8:3 - So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Manna

John 6:58 - This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.

Praise God. He provides. He has always provided, providing people respond!

In Exodus Israel had been freed from their captivity in Egypt. They knew God had delivered them. They saw the miracles. So off they went, saved from the enemy at the Red Sea. They praised God and worshiped Him for all He had done and they began their journey to the Promised Land. All went well for awhile, like three days! How soon we forget. Like any of us at times, the grumbling and complaining began. It sounded like this:
“What shall we drink?”
“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
“Give us water, that we may drink..."
“Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
"...but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
(Exodus 15:24, Exodus 16:3, Exodus 17:2-3, Numbers 11:6)

There is nothing at all except this manna?!? If only they knew. If only people today knew. What more could one want? They had what God knew would sustain them. It doesn't really say but I'm certain God knew they were about to complain. He knew they needed water and He would have supplied, but they grumbled before He could. How often do we wonder just how long it will be before God will provide for us? Doesn't He know our needs already? Isn't His timing perfect?

There's more than just physical food (and water) provision here in this account. We are being shown a spiritual provision analogy also. Jesus is our Bread from heaven. He is the Manna from heaven that Israel ate in the desert. What more could we want? 

When we get to a place in our lives when we are not satisfied with what we have, and it grieves us, or we find ourselves in need, Jesus is there to supply us with Himself...all that we need. For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. (Psalms 107:9) He is the Bread come down from Heaven.

Israel thought as men think. They wanted more. They wanted what they physically knew. They'd just gone through a life changing situation coming out of captivity, but they still wanted what was familiar to them. And so do we. We don't always want the faith in something unseen; we want what we are familiar with.  Every day God is working in someone's life hoping they will recognize Him and seek Him for the bread that will not leave them hungry.

Although they ate this bread for forty years, they didn't always acknowledge the hand feeding them. Jesus' hand is outstretched today wanting to be the Bread in people's lives. He might be offering you that Bread. He offered Himself 2000 years ago for you. He might get you to a place where that Bread, the Manna from heaven, will be just what keeps you alive. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3) He can do this!

He gave them bread from heaven to eat in the desert. What's your desert? Are you in one? He says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) Do you want eternal life? Humble yourself before He humbles you. Don't be counted as the stubborn and rebellious people of Israel who wandered 40 years in their disobedience...then died before entering their promised land. He wants you today. Don't miss what He has for you.

Psalm 78:24-25 - He...commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven, ...rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full. 

Protection, Provision, Prosperity

Matthew 6:31-33 - Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?” or "What shall we drink?” or "What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

To continue with Monday's blog on knowing we are protected, provided for and prospered (not necessarily with riches), came an article by David Wilkerson (May 19, 1931- April 27, 2011) that a friend had to show me since we had discussed this.

I truly know that He wants us to remember what He does for His people, Who He is for us, how He will provide...because His Word proclaims these things. Remember is the key word! Like Israel on a sort of different level, we forget, as I mentioned yesterday.

Wilkerson's message was called God is Going to See You Through Hard Times. It was written in the 1990's.

It may have answered the question about how He will do this. In a nutshell, the answer is, any way He needs to. Not quite the answer we would like to hear...no specifics. But it's His answer.

As Wilkerson pointed out, It's not always about food. It's about His words being ours by faith! He went on to say that when Israel began their journey in the wilderness (remember this is where my first answer all began!) all God had to do was speak, like He did to create the world, and the people were given manna from heaven. Manna was a form of sweet, coriander-like tasting seed that came down from the sky. It sustained them just fine. When questioned what it was, Moses told the people: This is the bread which the LORD has given you (Exodus 16:15).

Like the manna, Jesus is the Word of God come down from Heaven. He is to be our daily bread. His Word, within our hearts and souls, as we also discussed in Sunday school, is what will sustain us. That means Jesus must be in our lives, hearts and the depths of our souls. Jesus is the Bread which God has given us!

Wilkerson wrote: Do you want to know how God is going to preserve you in all your hard times? YES!! The answer, please! He will do it by speaking a new word, if necessary--by creating all you need by the power of His Word. All God had to do was speak the word "manna" and an entire generation of Israelites was preserved. So, whatever our need will be at the time, He will provide.

If He did it then, He will do it again. Jesus knew only to listen for His Father's voice and then obey. He did absolutely NOTHING on His own, under His own power. He waited on the LORD. If He didn't have to know until the just the right time, neither do we...or I! When He sees our need, He will provide. This is something some of us have not had to do in huge ways and probably why it's hard to comprehend.

God has known since the foundation of time what our needs would/will be. We are to seek Him first and all our needs are handled.

I had that moment of anxiety about how God would provide and would I have enough faith...and look at the words He has given me! Isn't that provision of sorts? They are the very manna from Heaven for this soul! As Wilkerson went on to write: It is to bestow on us an unshakable conviction that he is going to keep us from the power of the wicked one. It is His Word tucked away in our spirits and hearts that give us this consolation. That's why it is so important to have it engrained in our spirits. So that we will know...or we can be easily reminded.

It's still all about Jesus, the Word, our Manna, our Sustainer in all things. He is the Word we are to keep hidden within our heart.  Jesus, the Son of God, the Word that became flesh...His Word in our hearts and lives. Do you see? Know Him comes first...so you can keep Him in your heart and when you know Him, His Word comes alive and can also be planted deep within your heart. The same word that will keep us then (in heaven) is the word that is sustaining us now, Wilkerson wrote.

He went on to say The overcomers ... triumphed in the worst of times because the whole Word of God came alive...  The Word became flesh. Jesus, our Word made flesh, who saves us from all unrighteousness by the power of His Word when we receive Him.

Psalm 119:49-50 - Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This  is  my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.