2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
The parochial school I attended at the parish my father served had a hot lunch program. An elderly woman in the congregation, her name was Flora, would come every day and make a hot meal for the scores of children who attended. After elementary school, I attended St Paul’s Lutheran High School, a boarding high school in Missouri. From there, college at Concordia, Seward. After college it was straight to St. Louis for the Seminary. By my estimation I ate Lutheran school cafeteria food for close to 20 consecutive years. I cannot count the number of times I beheld the portion which had been scooped onto my plate, turned to some fellow student, and asked, “What is it?”
In one of the great ironies of language and history, the Hebrew word “manna” means simply “What is it?” I have some empathy for the Israelites in their wandering. I also spent years eating “what is it?” Of course, it was a miracle in Moses’ day. But the same God who rained manna from heaven upon the Israelites of old also fed me through the loving hands of Flora and the other men and women who prepared my meals in those Lutheran schools. I too ate from the same hand of God. Perhaps we would not qualify it as the same sort of miracle, but it was his providential care all the same. I had cultivated my ability to complain about the food I ate in those cafeterias. We rather thought it our right and obligation as students. The Israelites complained too. They woke up to a miracle six days a week and found a reason to grouse about it. Am I really any better?
God loved the children of Israel. For forty years he tested their faith every day by asking them only to pick up enough manna for one day. They had to trust that he would provide the next day too. He is training us as well in the school of the faithful life, teaching us gratitude, love, faith, and so much more. Today I praise God for all those people who have fed me.