Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
Joshua 5:12
(We have begun the Book of Joshua on our Wed. evening Thru-the-Bible Study, some reflections from our recent study of Joshua 5… the Israelites are just camped outside of the formidable fortress city of Jericho. They also have eaten their last meal of manna, and now will begin to feast off the produce of Canaan. Following is insight from Alan Redpath.)
“In front of them lies Jericho and hundreds of other places like it have to be captured. War is about to begin, for blessings & battles always go together in the Christian life. The greater the blessing, the greater the battle with the powers of darkness, and only the Christian who presses right in to God will secure His best. But, before they engage in warfare the Israelites are commanded to wait. Waiting to receive instructions from God is what many a Christian find to be the hardest thing in life to do. But we must realize that God’s delays are always much more profitable than our haste. We are always in fever to do something for God and have forgotten that the first thing God wants is that we should be something for Him.
For always remember, my fellow Christians, that you are far more important than the work you do for Him, and that every piece of work He entrusts to you is but the means in His hands causing you to grow in full conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. Therefore, God is always seeking to lead His children along, to prepare them for change, and to make them ready for new experiences of His grace and power.
Don’t be dependent on emotional excitement, spiritual thrills, spectacular meetings and results of your ideas or your efforts… nor disappointed when your plans fail to produce and be embraced. All these are evidences of Christian immaturity. Do you long to be strong for God; to see the forces of darkness diminished? Then eat of the produce of the land, Jesus fills the hungry with good things. He satisfies the longing of the soul, and He is yours for guidance, for discernment, for the discernment of spiritual strategy in attack of the forces of evil in His name. Let your Christian life reach its fruitage through the Cross and draw its power from the throne. Leave the elementary diet– the manna. Manna was the food for those who wandered, the meal of those who lacked faith. Those who entered the land of Promise were to eat the produce of the land. Those who were willing to take territory and grow in the maturity, faith and power of the Christian faith gain such through feasting on the Risen Christ.”
The Psalmist writes: Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him (34:8).
Maranatha!