What's For Dinner?A Devotional
© 2001 Steve Lattier and Men's Help MinistriesHave you ever walked into the kitchen, smelling something good and asked that question? That makes your mouth water, just thinking about good food all prepared and laid out for you to eat, doesn't it? Think about this for a second, you didn't always cook for yourself did you? As a matter of fact you probably started out life nursing, getting your sustenance directly from your mother. Sometime during you life you switched to bottles then to solid food that one of your parents hand delivered to your mouth. Then you learned to feed yourself, you could suddenly cut your own meat and make your own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Pretty soon you were actually in the kitchen without supervision and cooking on your own but mom and dad were still responsible for the groceries. Then the big day came and you were out on your own and at the grocery store of your choice. Chances are that you will have chosen the same grocer that your parents did. But it was you that picked out and took home the food, preparing it for yourself now. In our walk with God we go through growing processes that often parallel our human experience. Have you ever thought that learning about God's Word might just be similar to the process of you learning to feed yourself as your parents taught you. I am getting ready to take you on a journey and show you how our growing with God was foreshadowed by the nation of Israel some three thousand plus years ago! Lets go back in history. Here, God flat out tells Abram what is going to happen in the future.
The Word:Genesis 15:12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. [13] Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. [14] But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.That sets the stage for the future events. There was no war where the Egyptians gained the upper hand over the Israelites and marched them off as slaves. You remember Joseph and his coat? Well it was his family that populated Egypt until Pharaoh grew afraid and enslaved them. Now Israel has been held captive for four hundred years by the nation of Egypt. Literally slaves to their Egyptian masters. The Israelites built most of the structures that are still standing today! They really were not even a nation at that point. They were just Hebrews, slaves, much like you were a slave to the whims and rules and ravages of the world before you got saved. They suffered and were abused in much the same manner that you were held down and had pain brought on by not having accepted your salvation. After all the plagues against Egypt the Israelites were able to leave their old place of dwelling. Watch this, just like God sent someone to minister to you and point you to Him, God sent them a guide, one for them to follow out of bondage!
The Word:Exodus 13:20 After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. [21] By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. [22] Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.God's guide never moved or left them! Still they had not been given the word yet. All they had, like us, was a promise to pull them forward. They were not yet delivered because there was an obstacle to their deliverance yet to come. The Red Sea loomed in the distance. What was your “Red Sea” that thing you were only able to cross if God parted the water for you? Pharaoh realized that they were about to get away and tried to get them back with his army. Christian it is the exact same for a person who is contemplating accepting their salvation, the enemy doesn't want them to and is hot on the trail.
The Word:Exodus 14:6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. [7] He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. [8] The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. [9] The Egyptians--all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen* and troops--pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.It is no coincidence that Pharaoh caught up with them right at the place where they were going to gain their permanent freedom. Many times the enemy catches up to those that are at the moment of accepting their salvation as well! God still hadn't exposed Israel to his word yet and at this point a new convert has often not had much exposure either! Their deliverance was not yet complete there had to be an act of faith first!
The Word:Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. [14] The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." [15] Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. [16] Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.God removed the obstacle that the nation of Israel faced in spite of the fact that the enemy did not want them to get delivered! God performed the most witnessed miracle in the Bible that day and led His people out of their old lives and into their new lives as His covenant nation! Christian do you remember your transition?
The Word:Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, [22] and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.Did you see? God did the impossible! God took the very thing that the Israelites thought would stop them from getting free and brought them right through it on dry ground! What is/was your obstacle? Alcoholism? Sexual sin? Anger? God can part your Red Sea too! God didn't just leave that sea parted though did He? God closed that up behind the Israelites so that the enemy could not get them back or kill them. When you accept your salvation God writes your name in His book and it closes the door to the enemy just like that sea closing in on the heads of the Egyptians!
The Word:Exodus 14:26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen." [27] Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward* it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. [28] The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen--the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.Now that they had been saved it was time to get them God's word! Jesus told us in Matthew 4:4 that we do not live on bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God. Moses led the Israelites into the desert and much like a new Christian they got hungry, but could not feed themselves. God sent them food daily for their sustenance.
The Word:Exodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.The Nation of Israel was not able to forage for themselves at this point. A new Christian is also not able to “rightly divide” (2Timothy 2:15) God's word and needs instruction. At this point Israel was given the Ten Commandments, that was their instruction as to God's will for them, of course, we live under the New Covenant. Israel then wandered in the desert for forty years, God told them that they would stay out there until every last one of them that left Egypt was dead, save two, Joshua and Caleb. On our walk with God we often must walk in circles until we have completely died to our past enslavement as well, before we can enter our promised land! Israel has matured and died to their past and is on the verge of entering their promised land, watch what happens!
The Word:Joshua 5:10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. [11] The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. [12] The manna stopped the day after* they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan. As soon as they were ready God stopped bottle feeding them, at some point we have or will mature to a point that God will no longer provide for our biblical sustenance and expect us to open His book and with prayer, to study and learn His word. Our life is a journey that was shadowed thousands of years ago by the whole nation of Israel. Even more is there that I don't have space to explore, but just think, after they started feeding themselves, that is when they became a conquering nation! It goes on and on! It is summed up in the New Testament this way:
The Word:Hebrews 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. [14] But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,* and of faith in God, [2] instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [3] And God permitting, we will do so.We must stop and prayerfully examine our walk. Have you been too dependent on God to bottle feed you? Have you cracked open His word and studied for yourself? Or is your walk on of those that you are satisfied with being spoon fed by your pastor every week? Have you made progress, crossing your own personal Jordan or are you wandering in circles in your wilderness, repeating the same mistakes over and over again because the part of you that was enslaved has not yet died off, still whining about how you were better off in Egypt! As for me, and my prayer for you is “hand me a fork I am fixing my own dinner!”
Pray with me: Lord, I am not where you would have me be. I can see my own walk foretold by the Israelites so many years ago. Father help me to die to my own past and move into my promised land of maturity where I can feed myself. Israel became victorious when they fed themselves, I need those victories too. Give me the courage and strength to open your book and learn. I am sorry for all my sin and I ask your forgiveness. Don't ever let me stay the same and I ask this in Jesus name. Amen!If you are not saved and would like more information please email me, see me, or visit us at
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