Passover and manna

I read a cool thing this morning in Joshua 5:10-12 “On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 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 the produce of Canaan.”

The Israelites, after decades of being fed in the desert by God, finally get across the river and into the fertile, productive land of Canaan. As soon as they get there, two things happen.

First, they celebrate the Passover. I’m sure you remember that Passover was first celebrated in Egypt, at the point that God set them free from Pharaoh. Now, they complete their long journey to their own place by commemorating that event once more.

Second, they get to eat from the crops of this new land, and the very next day, there is no manna. Think for a minute what a powerful message this must have been. Most of the Israelites had live their whole lives eating manna, knowing from this visible sign that God met their daily needs. Now, suddenly this gift from God stops. It isn’t needed any longer. God will fulfill his promises in another way.

These two events, taken together, bring home to me once again God’s remarkable faithfulness, his complete commitment to the covenant. I’m grateful once again to be an inheritor of this covenant.

That’s why I love reading the Old Testament. There is no clearer picture of our God than his revelation of himself to the Israelites, and there is no greater reassurance than seeing God clearly.