Joshua 5:12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
I have a book someone gave me many years ago of angel stories, stories from modern times of people who had supposedly met angels from Heaven. Now I am not here to discuss the veracity of those stories. I think there is no doubt that there are angels, and I think it very well may be that more of us have seen angels than we know. But it is interesting how caught up we can be with things that are “supernatural,” and totally take for granted the everyday guidance and blessings that God gives us. I think it is important that we take note of supernatural provision, but we also need to take note that things we think of as natural provision are just as certainly from the hand of God. That is important to see.
Joshua 5:12 says, “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” Manna was an amazing thing. It was straight from God and Heaven. It had a unique taste. It was literally food from Heaven. I think it is worthy of note that even food from Heaven can be taken for granted.
The children of Israel wished for the fish, leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt and totally disregarded the food God had given them. Having said that, it was miraculous provision. God took care of His people. But, it is interesting that when they came into Canaan they ate of the fruit of the land. There was no more manna.
Someone might have said, “Oh, I remember the old manna we used to have by God’s supernatural provision.” Well, which was better, food from Heaven while Israel wandered in the wilderness or food from the land that God had promised them? Both were good and both were from God Almighty. The point is that every resource is God’s provision, whether natural or supernatural.
Sometimes we can see stories in our lives where we think, “Wow! That was miraculous! That was something that couldn’t have happened, but it did happen. God was obviously in it!” There are other times when we need money and God provides a job, or we need wisdom and God provides a person who gives us the truth of the Scripture. We think, “This is not an angel from Heaven!” That may be true, but it is most certainly a messenger from God if your friend is giving you God’s truth from the Bible.
Don’t ignore supernatural provision, and don’t ignore natural provision because at the end of the day every resource is provision from God.