The Coolidge examiner., 1937-08-05
Lesson for August 8
GOD FEEDS A PEOPLE.

JUNIOR ToPIC-God Feeding His
People
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR
TOPIC-How God Provides for Our
Needs
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT
TOPIC-God's Supply Adequate for a
Nations Need.
Israel. led by God. is on a jour
ney to the promised land. But tc
reach their goal they must pass
through the wilderness. Not only
are there weary miles to travel
but there are privations to be en-
dured Life is like that.
People may be strong and hope
full at the beginning of a project,
and most effusively and devoutly
thankful at its close, but the diff
Guilty is to go manfully through the
process. Israel was in the desert,
and never were spoiled children
more peevish. suspicious, and al
together ill-behaved. II they could
have stepped out Of Egypt into Ca
naan at once, probably they would
have been as pious as most Of us; :;
but there was the weary interval.
the inhospitable wildernessi SO il
is in our life. Accept it as a solemn
and instructive fact that life is a
process more than a beginning
and an ending (Joseph Parker)
Note how elemental are mans
needs in the final analysis-bread
and water The very things we take
almost for granted as we concern
ourselves with life's weighty inter
ests and profound problems become.
if lacking. the only things that have
any real meaning And who is il
that can provide them? No one but
God Himself.
1. Bread from Heaven. (Exod.
16:l1-20).
Observe first of all that this was
a divine provision. There are re-
sponsibilities in life which we may
bear-and must bear, but in the
ultimate meeting of our real needs
we must look to God.
Secondly, we note that il was a
daily provision. What forehanded
folk many Of us are, and no doubt
rightly so. for God puts no premium
on improvidence. But once again
we must recognize, as did Israel in
receiving the daily mamma in the
wilderness that ours is indeed a
moment by moment existence. We
plan bravely for the next decade or
the next generation, but as matter
of fact it can only come to pass
eff the Lord will" Read James
5:l3-l7.
Finally, it was a limited pro-
vision-enough for the day and no
more. except for a double portion
on the sixth day. and none at all
on the Sabbath. These provisions
were made clear to Israel. and yet
there were those who attempted to
lay up for the morrow, and some
even went out to seek mamma on the
Sabbath day.
We marvel at their stubborn OBJ
tuseness, but are we not often just
like them. Some there are who are
always expecting that the laws OF
both God and man should be set
aside for them, but. mark it well,
they ultimately come to grief. The
spiritual application is obvious. and
most serious. God has provided a
way of redemption, and has made
clear how man should and must
relate himself to it. Folly it is to
ignore Gods plan. and vaguely and
wishfully think that there is some
other way.
ii. A Rock in the Wilderness
(Exod. 1880.
And the people thirsted'-for the
daily mama was not enough-they
must have water Needy, yes. con-
stantly needy are Gods children.
Every life knows the bite Of ne
cessity every soul cries out
in pain because there is wanting
some completing favor, some cul-
minating and all-contenting bene-
diction. Here it is bread; there it is
water; but everywhere famine
in many case a famine OF
soul, a spiritual destitution. con-
seriousness of a void which time
cannot satisfy or space content. !"
God always provides. There is
a rock in the wilderness. But what
pleasure does murmuring people
find in a rock when they famish for
water? 1t is Gods delightful custom
to meet our needs in unexpected
ways and by means which we do
not understand. Even our physical
necessities come from unthought Of
sources.
III. The Bread and the Water of
Life.
Let US make certain that we do
not miss the spiritual truth OF our
lesson which is revealed by Scrip
ture itself. Paul speaks in l Corinth-
ians l0:1-4 of this very incident in
the experience of Israel, and says
that they did all eat the same
spiritual meat and did all drink
the same spiritual drink; for they
drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them: and that Rock was
Christ" See also John Ala.
Hungry and thirsty soul, you who
are still unsatisfed after tasting all
that life apart from Christ has to
Lii rrr,,, iilct nn11, talkn