Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”’”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, October 5, 2025
by Pr. Matthias Lorimor, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Giving is an act of relationship. What we give to shows what we truly care for.
Much like the widow’s mite, the Israelites’ bread from heaven is a story that is probably most often heard during stewardship month. In that context, the preacher usually focuses on the Israelites’ command to recognize what they “need” before exhorting us that if only we could all learn to live by what we need there would be enough for all. Yet, after the experience of having to continue to fund church ministries during a Covid shutdown, reading this passage today I tend to focus less on the Israelites and more on the reason why God gives to the people in the first place.
It's striking that although the people complain, God decides to give them what they need before Moses or Aaron (or anyone) actually asks God to give (16:4). And while it’s true there is an element of a test behind the bread, God also sends a wave of quail for the people to eat meat with no strings attached. Why? Perhaps because, as so many of us learned during Covid, we give to the things we care most for. Especially for humans with limited resources, what we do with our money—what we choose to spend it on, save for, give it to—shows in a clear way what things are truly a priority in our lives; our family, our entertainment, our retirement, our charities, or maybe just ourselves. Like God in the wilderness, we support the things and people we choose to care about. The miracle of the Israelites’ bread from heaven is that it proves our God chooses to care for us, complaints and all. The only question is, what or who will we choose to care for?
