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Follow the Directions, March 9
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them
bread from heaven to eat.
John 6:31
.
The education of the Israelites included all their habits of life. Everything
that concerned their well-being was the subject of divine solicitude, and came
within the province of divine law. It was because the Lord desired to make
them His representatives that He provided them with a special bill of fare.
They were placed under careful restrictions in regard to their diet. The use
of flesh food was almost entirely prohibited. The people were to be holy,
and the Lord knew that the use of flesh meat would be a hindrance to their
advancement in spiritual life. By a miracle of mercy He fed them with the
bread of heaven. The food provided for them was of a nature to promote
physical, mental, and moral strength, and ...the wisdom of God’s choice for
them was vindicated in a manner that they could not gainsay. Notwithstanding
the hardships of their wilderness life, there was not a feeble one in all their
tribes.
If the Israelites had been given the diet to which they had been accustomed
while in Egypt, they would have exhibited the unmanageable spirit that the
world is exhibiting today. In the diet of men and women in this age there are
included many things that the Lord would not have permitted the children of
Israel to eat. The human family as it is today is an illustration of what the
children of Israel would have been if God had allowed them to eat the food
and follow the habits and customs of the Egyptians.
The history of the wilderness life of Israel was chronicled for the benefit
of the Israel of God till the close of time. The record of God’s dealing with
the wanderers in all their marchings to and fro, in their exposure to hunger,
thirst, and weariness, and in the striking manifestations of His power for
their relief, is fraught with warning and instruction for His people in this age.
The varied experiences of the Hebrews was a school of preparation for their
promised home in Canaan. God would have His people review in these days,
with a humble heart and a teachable spirit, the trials through which ancient
Israel passed, that they may be instructed in their preparation for the heavenly
Canaan.—
Letter 44, March 9, 1903
, to Elder J. A. Burden, manager, Sydney
Sanitarium
[78]
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