Manna - Just Enough to Eat

Have you ever been in a desert? A desert is hot and dry. Very hot and very dry. It is hard to find food or water in the desert. Miles and miles, with little water, and only some scrubby, prickly plants. This is where our story is today.

"We're hungry," said one person.

"Our stomachs are grumbling," said another.

"I feel like we'll never see food again, ever," said another.

This is from very famous Bible story. Moses and the people of Israel were traveling through the desert. They had been slaves in the land of Egypt. What happiness when they were finally free!

They crossed the sea and started travelling through the desert toward a land that God had promised them.

But now they had been travelling for a long time, and the desert was hot and they were very hungry.

"I almost wish we had never come here," said one.

"Oh, don't say that!" said another. "God will provide something for us to eat. We have to have faith."

Moses, the leader of the people prayed. "O Lord, please help us find something to eat."

And a miracle happened. In the morning, there was a covering of dew on the ground. When the sun came out and the dew evaporated, there was a strange food all over the ground. It was thin and crispy, like crispy flakes of frost.

"What is it?" the people asked.

"It is food that God has given us," Moses said. "God wants each family to gather up just enough for today and have a meal. Don't worry about tomorrow. He'll give us more food tomorrow."

So the people began gathering the mysterious food from the ground. "How much should we gather?" they asked among themselves. "I don't know," they all said. Some gathered a lot. Some gathered a little. But it turned out that they all had enough to eat and felt satisfied.

Moses said, "Remember that God said to gather just enough for today, and trust that there will be more tomorrow." Some people listened, but others didn't. "What if there's no food tomorrow. We'd better save some," they said, nervously.

The next morning there was plenty of food on the ground again. People gathered the food and enjoyed another meal.

Surprisingly, the people who saved food overnight found that the food they saved was no good. It had turned rotten, or just melted away. "I guess Moses was right about saving the food overnight," they said.

But on the day before the worship day, Moses said, "Tomorrow is worship day, the Sabbath, and we won't be gathering food tomorrow. So today, gather enough for two days." And they did and it worked out.

"This food is amazing," they all said. "And it comes from God."

"What should we call it," they wondered? They thought about a name, and decided to call it "manna" which, in their language, sounded like "What is it?"

The manna was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

They ate manna all the time that they lived and travelled in the desert. Years later, they still remembered it, and remembered the sweet taste. They even saved a little bit of the manna in a jar, to remember, and they saved it for many years.

Discussion/Craft: Bring a box of frosted flakes cereal and a cereal box decorated to look like "MANNA." Design "MANNA" cereal boxes to illustrate the story.

View as Word document (booklet form): Manna

J.M.L.
Summer 2015