The day the manna ceased!

The God who provided manna in the wilderness is the same God who provides corn in Canaan. The difference is this: in the wilderness we pick manna, but in Canaan we plant the corn. Yet in both seasons, God remains the Provider.

Manna for forty long years

God gave the children of Israel manna for forty long years. But at Gilgal, after they crossed the Jordan River and celebrated Passover in the Promised Land, the manna stopped. They began to eat the produce of Canaan. This moment marked the end of the wilderness journey and the beginning of a new life, where God’s provision would now flow from the land itself rather than the sky.

Wilderness seasons

Manna represents God’s desire and ability to sustain His people in wilderness seasons through miraculous, daily provision. He gave fresh bread from heaven each morning, and at times supplemented it with quail when the people grew weary of manna.

God’s faithfulness never failed, even when their gratitude did. Throughout their journey from Egypt to Canaan, Israel passed through several transitional seasons. They had to adjust from the cucumbers and garlic of Egypt to the manna and quail of the wilderness. Then, upon entering the promised land, they transitioned again, from manna to the grain of Canaan. Interestingly, this was the one transition during which they did not murmur against their leader.

Transition is rarely easy

But transition is rarely easy. It stretches our ability to release what we’ve grown used to and to embrace a life we have not yet fully seen. We wonder whether the new environment will be friendly to us. We wonder whether new relationships will be as supportive as the communities we once knew. Our minds swirl with many questions, and that is natural.

Transition seasons invite us to trust God afresh, especially when waiting is the only thing we seem able to do. They call us to believe that the same God who sustained us with manna will sustain us with the “corn of Canaan” when the time comes. Nothing about our journey surprises Him; every change is a chapter in His faithful leading.