In the first reading today, the Hebrews are heading to the Promised Land, the land promised to their ancestors. God tells them they have been led through the wilderness to humble them, by letting them hunger. It is interesting to note that in the New Testament, when Jesus is being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He uses the quote, "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord," when Satan suggests He make bread out of stones.
We still don't really know what manna was. There is a theory that the manna spoken of in Exodus and Deuteronomy is actually the secretion of a scale insect which formed at night and dried into flakes by morning. It sounds plausible, except this theory violates basic laws of biology and agriculture. The average American is fed by the harvest of seven acres of highly productive farmland and orchards, and even the poorest nations require at least two acres of irrigated farmland per person for survival. Desert scrubland is far lower in productivity. The long verified rule of thumb in biology, the trophic productivity pyramid, dictates that the biomass of insects feeding off the desert scrubland is far smaller than the biomass of the plants themselves. In simpler terms, if you were to weigh the insects, then weigh the plants, the plants would be heavier. The production of the secretions from those insects is much smaller still. For the hundreds of thousands of Hebrews wandering in the wilderness, the notion that such a crowd could harvest sufficient insect secretions to fulfill their needs for protein and calories is preposterous. Their collection efforts would use up far more calories than they collected. Either there really was something called manna--and it was a miracle; there is some unexplained natural phenomenon that has yet to be discovered; or the whole story was allegorical, which makes it no less important from a religious and historical viewpoint.
God tells the Hebrews that this was done in order to humble them, to test them, and in order to make them rely on God alone. God disciplines the Hebrews as a parent disciplines a child, rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior. God's promise is a land with olive trees, honey, wheat and barley, and all good things for those who obey.
It has been my experience that sometimes God sends us out into a spiritual desert so we can learn to rely on God and God alone. Relying on God is a tough lesson to learn, whether or not the forty years mentioned in Exodus was allegory or real. Without this lesson, though, we cannot grow. The Hebrews were being prepared to leave all the corruption they had picked up in Egypt: the false gods, possibly even drugs. The Egyptians may have been the people the Greeks later called "The Lotus Eaters." The Lotus Eaters ate a kind of lotus that was hallucinogenic. It is entirely possible that lotus and other drugs were given to the Hebrews to make them more dependent on their Egyptian masters. The Egyptians did brew beer, and may have had opiates as well.
Being slaves in Egypt also meant that the Hebrews did not know how to think for themselves. They had masters who told them what to do and how to live their lives. There were no codified laws. They obeyed the Pharoah--whatever he declared was law.
My father was a correctional officer at Soledad Correctional Facility, in Soledad, California. Soledad was not built as a regular prison, but as an attempt to stop the huge rate of convicts returning. Dad told us the high return rate of prisoners was most probably due to the fact that those prisoners who returned generally thought of the prison as home. They knew they would be out of the rain, they had a place to sleep, they would be fed, and they even had friends, exercise equipment, shop equipment, free high school or college classes, and free television. It took education and courage for the prisoners he worked with to try to make it on the "outside." Some actually committed crimes in order to get back in. One in particular smashed a store window and then sat there waiting for the police.
The unknown is always a bit scary, even if it is a much better place than where you are. There are people who follow the old adage, "better the devil you know."
If you have ever tried to have success with a diet, given up smoking, or tried to conquer any number of bad habits, you know how hard it is to break a pattern. The Hebrews probably felt like we would if we were kidnapped by aliens and set down on another world. Everything they had known was now wrong. They kept trying to return to the familiar practices they had known in Egypt, rebelling against God, because they were unable to cope with so much abrupt change. It was not until the next generation, the one God speaks to here in Deuteronomy, that the Hebrews are ready to enter the promised land. Even Moses, who was the closest man ever to God, so close his face glowed, did not make it to the promised land.
The Promised Land as a name is rather a touchy subject right now in the world. I have two Jewish friends who were born in Israel, both of whom live in this country. Another Jewish friend is adamantly against Israel's foreign policy, and very outspoken about America's stance in the Middle East. Parts of the Old Testament are not easy to read, especially given the current situation. It has been announced that a cease fire will begin on Monday. We hope and pray this will bring peace. In order to have a lasting peace, though, hatred must die, and the love of God, under whatever name, must reign.
As Christians, we center our hopes of heaven as our promised land. Even though some of us may think of Arcata as a little piece of heaven, we should not lose sight of our eventual goal. Numerous times God told the Israelites He did not need a temple, for the heavens are His throne, and the earth is His footstool. Perhaps it would all be easier if everyone thought of the whole earth as holy, a masterpiece made by God, and not a specific part of it.
Paul's letter to the Ephesians has some simple guidelines on practicing Christianity. Basically the message is to stop sinning. The Ephesians are told to tell the truth, curb their anger, love one another, not to steal, and, when speaking, only to build, never to tear down. He tells them to love one another and be kind.
If we look at one another with love in our hearts, as Jesus did, it is much easier to follow the commandments given to Moses. We should be imitators of Christ, as Paul says. Those bracelets, bumper stickers and other paraphernalia are not that far off when they ask, "What would Jesus do?" While I have never liked the commercialization of the Christian message and the way it often verges on making a show of religion, if we all asked ourselves whether Jesus would do something or not when we are making decisions, we might not sin as much.
The third reading begins just after Jesus fed five thousand people near Tiberius, on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, then walked across the water to reach the boat of the disciples, who then went to Capernaum, which is to the north on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. When the people following him noticed He was missing, and remembered that He did not get into the boat with His disciples, they took boats and went to Capernaum to find him.
The people following him were hoping for another free meal. They found Jesus at Capernaum, preaching in a synagogue. Jesus rebuked them, telling them that they were only following him because they were filled by the loaves of bread, and that they should be seeking spiritual food, which is much more important. He told them the flesh is "useless."
Prior to this reading, Jesus moved from His home town of Nazareth to nearby Capernaum, which is why they all seemed to know His parents. Jesus told the people He would never drive away any who come to him, then said some outrageous things that drove many people away. Jesus told them He is the bread come down from heaven. He compared Himself to the manna in the wilderness, calling Himself the bread of life. The Jews questioned this, as they knew His father and mother, and asked how they could possibly believe it when He said He came from heaven, when they knew His family.
Today's reading ends with Jesus telling the Jews ". . . the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." As the chapter continues, His fellow Jews are shocked by this, asking how He can give them His flesh to eat. Not content with this, Jesus answers:
"Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you."
All who listen must be terribly shocked by this. At least some of them must think He is suggesting cannibalism. If any comprehend, they would already be upset by His declaration that He is "bread from heaven." Jesus seems to be intentionally alienating a large part of His followers by couching ideas in metaphysical language they cannot comprehend.
Later in this chapter, Jesus will ask the twelve if they will leave, too. Peter will answer for them, saying, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God." The twelve will remain loyal, but even now Jesus is aware that Judas will betray him.
When Moses was leading the Hebrews in the wilderness, God gave them food and water to sustain them physically. Jesus offers spiritual food, which sustains the soul. Jesus has become for us manna from heaven, a spiritual food to sustain us, and bring us to everlasting life, for His "flesh is food indeed, and His blood is drink indeed."
Amen