Sick of Manna

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? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

Numbers 11:4-9

Day in and day out the people of God were given manna to the point that they got sick of it.  It did not matter that the manna was all that they needed.  They wanted more.  Is this the reason for Psalm 106:15?  "And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul."  The taste was excellent--like olive oil honey wafers.  The color was beautiful--a shadow of holiness.  The source was heaven--it simply fell on them daily by grace.  The effect was curative--it had the necessary vitamins and minerals for life.  It truly was a gift of Heaven: grain like pointing to truth, oil like pointing to the presence of the Holy Spirit, and honey like pointing to the sweetness of Christ.  But God's people were tired of it.  They wanted more.

Their attitude towards the manna was loathsome.  They ground it, and beat it, and baked it, and boiled it.  They turned it into cakes and fritters while they sought to change it into what they lusted for it to be.  They could not accept it as it was--too boring.  "Let's add to it and make it our creation", they thought.  Did they even ever understand what they were corrupting?  Jesus!

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.  

John 6:51

It is so easy to point an accusatory finger at the Israelites in the wilderness forgetting that scripture teaches us that the things that befell them could also plague us.  "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come (1 Corinthians 10:11)."  Can you hear Paul's warning?  Don't change Jesus to make Him fit your concept of Him.  Fall on the Rock of Salvation and let Him break you in repentance and humility so that you become like Him and not He like you.  Did you also notice that last phrase?  "...upon whom the ends of the world are come."  It is the same message that Jesus pointed out to Laodicea.  There would be a time near the end when religious men would seek to make Christianity about self and not Christ.  Did not our Lord warn people so caught up with and preoccupied with self that they failed to let Him in their heart though all they did was in His name?

Don't turn Jesus into an idol of your own making like those following:

Jesus w/o commitment

Jesus of self esteem

Jesus the materialist

Jesus of compromise

Jesus of un-forgiveness

Un-correcting Jesus

Jesus of worldly affairs

Jesus of worship without sacrifice of self

Jesus just a man

Jesus of mercy without justice

Jesus of justice without mercy

The emergency Jesus 

Remember what happened to those who heard a message from Jesus that they didn't like when He revealed that He was the true Manna from Heaven.  "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him (John 6:66)."  Stay true to the One who loved you with a love unsearchable.  Remember, He is Soon 2 Come!!