You have entered the promised land, but the supernatural provision of God has ceased. No more manna (Joshua 5:12). But why has the manna ceased? God provided manna for His people during their 40-year journal through the desert. Let’s break that down. In today’s calculations, the people supernaturally received 9 million pounds each day and 18 million pounds on Friday (double). They received supernatural provision for 40 years, 14,600 days, and 2080 weeks. Can you even fathom such a thing? They got up each of those 14,600 days and went outside to find their ‘angel food‘ waiting; all they had to do was collect it and eat it.
God does nothing without purpose. Just as the people left the desert and moved into the Promised land; they had to leave the supernatural provision of God and start working the land. Remember, this was a land flowing with milk, honey, and abundance. God provided for them in the desert because there was typically nothing else for them to eat; however, now the people must learn to trust God by working the land and sowing and reaping.
The concept of sowing and reaping is a law of the natural world and was instituted at creation. On the third day of creation, God commanded the earth to bring forth living plants “bearing seed” and fruit “with seed in it” (Genesis 1:11-13). Man was given these plants to use as food (Genesis 1:29). Therefore, this concept of working the land for food was not new to them.
God also wanted to give them a chance to use their faith. They had to refocus their faith from receiving manna each morning to trusting God to provide by working the land. The manna ceased on the day they ate produce from the land (Joshua 5:11-12).
So what does this mean for you and me? When we go in to possess our promise land and we notice that we are no longer receiving the supernatural provision we once were, we have two choices. We can sit down, complain, and cry or we can use our faith to reap the good of the land. Sowing and reaping not only applies to farming; it also applies to the way we live our lives:
- Consequences: Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” There are natural consequences to each of our actions. The world operates using the laws of cause and effect. There is no way around it: every time we choose an action, we also choose the consequences of that action.
- Flesh vs Spirit: Galatians 6:8, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. By sowing into your flesh you will reap corruption. In other words, nothing good.
- Reaping requires faith and faith requires patience: Galatians 6:9, “ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” The good of the land will come to us by faithfully working the land and waiting for the seeds to produce a harvest.
So yes, the manna ceased. Supernatural provision stopped, but we are stronger than we were when we entered the desert. We have learned how to fight and to win. We have learned to face giants head on with God by our side. We have learned that we are more than conquerors through Christ. We have learned to put on the whole armor, not just the Sword of the Spirit. We have learned that nothing is impossible with God.
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