What Can We Learn from the Israelites’ Experience?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Exodus 14-18 in a lesson titled “Stand Still, and See the Salvation of the Lord.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

The Israelites were trapped. The Red Sea was on one side, and the army of Pharaoh was advancing on the other. Their escape from Egypt, it seemed, would be short lived. But God had a message for the Israelites that He wanted them to remember for generations: “Fear ye not. … The Lord shall fight for you” (Exodus 14:13-14).

Since that time, when God’s people have needed faith and courage, they have told this story. When Nephi wanted to inspire his brothers, he said, “Let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground” (1 Nephi 4:2). When King Limhi wanted his captive people to “lift up [their] heads, and rejoice,” he reminded them of this same story (Mosiah 7:19). So did Alma, when he wanted to testify to his son of God’s power (see Alma 36:28). And when we feel trapped—when we need a little more faith to “see the salvation of the Lord”—we can remember how “the Lord saved Israel that day” (Exodus 14:13, 30).

The scripture block teaches several principles, including (1) The Lord can do a “great work” in my life (Exodus 14; 15:1-21); (2) The Lord can make bitter things sweet (Exodus 15:22-27; 16:1-15; 17:1-7); (3) The Lord offers me daily spiritual nourishment (Exodus 16); (4) Jesus Christ is my spiritual rock and living water (Exodus 17:1-7). This essay will discuss principle 3 concerning daily spiritual nourishment.

The Lord offers each of us daily spiritual nourishment. Just as we need daily food to nourish our bodies, we also need daily spiritual food to nourish our spirits. Yes, the Israelites needed food as they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and manna provided that nourishment. However, manna provided an important spiritual lesson.

The Lord provided manna every single day except on Sunday. To make sure that the Israelites had food on Sunday, He sent twice as much manna to them on Saturday and told them to gather for two days. The experience was given to teach the Israelites the importance of relying on God.

The Israelites’ experience with manna is a lesson for us also. There are things that he has given to us that we should “eat” every single day. Two of those things are personal prayer and scripture study. As we are obedient to offer daily prayers and to study scriptures daily, we can gather enough spiritual food to sustain during that day. As we live one day at a time by eating of the spiritual manna, we will grow closer to Christ and more like Him.

Some videos that help to teach this principle are: “Daily Bread: Pattern;” “Daily Bread: Experience;” "Daily Bread: Change;" "Daily Restoration.”