he story of the Israelites' trip through the desert and how God took care of them along the way. (Written for Central Church's "Bethlehem Walk," 2002)

Bread From Heaven

by Eric Elder

Welcome to Bethlehem! I have a secret to tell you tonight about our little city. Do you like secrets?

Well, I would love to tell you what it is, but I can only tell you on one condition: you have to really want to hear the secret. Do you really want to hear it? If you really want to hear it then say, "What is it? What is it?"

(Crowd says "What is it? What is it?")

Ahhh, if it were that easy, I’d be telling everyone now, wouldn’t I? And then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore! I don’t want you to just say "What is it?" like that. To hear the secret, you have to say "What is it?" in the language of our people, in Hebrew.

Go on, ask me again "What is it? What is it?" but this time in Hebrew.

(Wait for an answer. If no one knows, continue below. If someone happens to know, use the alternate lead-in as shown at the end.)

What?!? You don’t know how to say, "What is it?" in Hebrew?

Oy, vay. I really did want to tell you this secret, but if you don’t know the right way to ask, I can’t now, can I? Let me see. (Tap fingers together.) I guess I could give you a clue, if you’d like. Would you like a clue?

(Crowd says, "Yes, Yes!")

All right. The clue comes from a story that happened a long, long time ago. But this is not a made-up story. This actually happened to our people, the Jews.

You see, there was a time when our people were slaves in Egypt. They were slaves for over 400 years and they were treated terribly. But God never forgot them. Our people cried out to God to rescue them and God heard their prayers. God sent Moses to set them free, and he did.

God told them He would bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. So they crossed the Red Sea and couldn’t wait to see their new land.

But do you know what they saw when they got to the other side of the sea? A desert.

That's right, a desert! The Red Sea had closed in behind them and all they could see in front of them was a desert!

You can imagine what began to happen after a few days in the desert. The people began to get hungry. And they began to get angry. There they were, about 600,000 men, not counting all the woman and children, in the middle of the desert, with nothing to eat!

I tell you, Moses was about to be in BIG trouble if God didn’t do something quick! The people started to grumble against Moses. They said, "If only we had died in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us into this desert to starve us to death!"

But Moses knew that God had a plan. He knew that God would never lie. He knew that God wouldn’t promise them a land flowing with milk and honey if He didn’t plan to bring them to it. So Moses trusted God. And God spoke to Moses.

God said, "Moses! I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day."

Bread from heaven! Who would have believed it?!?! They had never heard of such a thing in their life. But the next morning, it happened.

All around their camp the ground was covered with a layer of dew. And when the dew dried it left thin flakes on the ground that looked like frost. They were white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. We’re told it could be baked, boiled, ground, beaten, cooked in pans, and baked in cakes.

But before that day, the Israelites had never seen it before. So when they looked at it, they said to each other, "What is it? What is it?" And that’s how this special bread from heaven got its name. When they said, "What is it?" they said it in Hebrew. It’s only one word, and it starts in your language with the letter "M." Do you know what it was called?

(Crowd might say "Manna." If not, you can tell them!)

That’s right! Manna means "What is it?" in Hebrew, so the people called this unknown bread "manna" from that day forward.

God fed them this way for forty years. Eventually, He did bring them into the Promised Land and it did flow with milk and honey. But while they were going through the desert, God never left them alone. He provided for them every day.

Before I tell you my secret, I want you to remember this: God does hear your prayers. He is faithful to His promises. He does love you and cares about you more than you know. Have faith in Him, and He’ll be faithful to you, even if you’re in the middle of the desert. (The previous line is the most important moment of the whole story…give it extra emphasis and an extra long pause afterward to let it sink in).

Now, about that secret. Are you ready to hear it? Then ask me, "What is it?" "What is it?" in Hebrew.

(Crowd says, "Manna!" "Manna!")

Here’s the secret. It’s about the name of our little city: Bethlehem. Bethlehem means something special in Hebrew, too.

The secret is this: Bethlehem means "house of bread."

It’s been named that as long as anyone can remember. But why would our little city be called the "house of bread?" Maybe its because we were famous for our bread a long time ago, but I’ve often wondered…

What if God had a special purpose in mind for our little city. (Tap fingers together.) Something planned since the beginning of time. What if God wanted to rain down bread from heaven again on our little city of Bethlehem, the house of bread?

For so long, we’ve waited for a Messiah, someone who would come down from heaven and set us free. Someone who would give us bread not only for our stomachs, but bread for our souls. Bread that would nourish us deep in our hearts. Bread that would even let us live forever.

We could all use some of that kind of bread, couldn’t we? I wonder if maybe, just maybe, God might some bread from heaven again to our little city of Bethlehem, the "house of bread." And that’s my secret.

Thanks for listening to my story, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Bethlehem, the "house of bread."

[END]

Footnote: Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (John 6:48-51, NIV).

(Alternate lead-in if someone knows that "manna" means "What is it?")

Ahhh, you are quite clever. You must know the story about our word, "manna." That story leads into my little secret very well, so let me tell it to you now.

"Bread From Heaven" Copyright 2002 Eric Elder

Note from Eric:

I pray this story is encouraging to you that God does indeed have a plan for each of our lives. You can find a longer version of what Jesus said about himself, not only as the bread from heaven, but also as the Savior of the World, in John 6:35-51...

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”

(John 6:35-51).