Lydia and I were reading the Bible together before bedtime the other night and I ran across a sweeping reality–namely God was and is sovereign over the condition of bread. Let me explain.

In Exodus 16 (go and get your Bible and read this text), the Israelites (who were just brought out of Egypt) are grumbling about their eating arrangements. As we all would do by nature, they had rather been in slavery eating all the meat and bread they desired than be satisfied with God. However, the LORD heard their grumbling and communicated to Moses that He planned to rain bread down from heaven (that will preach). So, God did send bread with some instructions. He told the people, through Moses, to gather only a certain amount each day according to each one in his tent. Also, they were warned that if they gathered too much and the bread was left until morning it would “breed (bred) worms and become foul”(Ex. 16:20).

Now with that context set, let us move on in the story. Instructions concerning the Sabbath follow the above. Within the teaching on the Sabbath, the people are instructed to gather twice as much bread the day before the Sabbath. Two reasons why: (1) the Sabbath was a day of rest and (2) there would be no bread in the field to gather on the Sabbath. So, why did the bread that was left over from the day before not “breed (bred) worms and become foul?” Answer: God is sovereign. He determines whether bread is foul or fresh. Praise be to God!