Hope From Ashes

Read: Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

The Manna Ceased, But God Did Not

By the time we get to Joshua 5, the wilderness had been the Israelites’ home for 40 years. God’s daily provision appeared with each sunrise and covered the ground with manna. It was a simple and sufficient sign that they were not forgotten. They lived in liminal space, no longer slaves but not yet home, sustained one day at a time. In the new place they toiled and planted, sustained by bread from heaven but expecting variety.

Then, one day, the crops they planted in the new land sprouted, and they ate from Creation’s bounty.

The manna ceased. No more gathering enough for the day, no more searching to find bread like dew upon the soil. Instead, they ate food grown from the land they walked. No more wilderness; the promise had arrived.

Before they took another step, they paused to keep the Passover. The meal that once marked their escape from Egypt was now a feast of fulfillment. The unleavened bread they had eaten in haste was now the bread of arrival. The God who led them out had also led them in.

What do you do when God’s provision changes? What happens when the way God sustained you in one season disappears in the next? The Israelites had known nothing but manna for a generation. It had fed them, shaped them, and given them security in an uncertain place. What would life look like now?

Perhaps you have walked through seasons of wilderness, where God’s provision came in just enough—just enough strength for the day, just enough hope to keep going. And now, perhaps, you stand on the edge of something new. The season has shifted, and what once sustained you is no longer there. Can you trust that the God who provided for you then will provide for you now?

The manna may cease, but God does not. The provision may change, but the Provider remains. When God told Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt,” it was more than a declaration of freedom; it was a promise of renewal. The shame of their past no longer defined them. The wilderness would not last forever. The weight of slavery was lifted, rolled away like a stone from a tomb.

Generations later, another stone would be rolled away. The long wilderness of sin and death would end. The hunger for redemption would be met. The manna of daily survival would give way to the feast of resurrection.

No longer just enough to get by. Now, life in abundance. No longer wandering. Now, a home in the Kingdom.

No more manna. The feast has begun. The wilderness is behind you. The promise is ahead. God has rolled away your disgrace.

Prayer:

God of manna and the harvest, give us this day life abundant that our very lives might bear witness to your generous love, through Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, amen.