Miraculous provision - a bible study

            I am led to do a bible study of various instances where the Lord made miraculous provision for His people in various situations, circumstances and in various ways, all to show how merciful and loving He can be to His people.

My first situation is the water situation- the lack of water to be precise, in Exodus 17 at Horeb where Moses struck the rock with his staff and water came out:

(Exo 17:1)  All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

(Exodus 17:2)  Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?"

(Exodus 17:3)  But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

(Exodus 17:4)  So Moses cried to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me."

(Exodus 17:5)  And the LORD said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

(Exodus 17:6)  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

(Exodus 17:7)  And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

They indeed did get their water but they did complain a lot about it. Next up is a very similar situation in Numbers 20 where the people of Israel again complained about the lack of water.

(Numbers 20:1)  And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.

(Numbers 20:2)  Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

(Numbers 20:3)  And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!

(Numbers 20:4)  Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?

(Numbers 20:5)  And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."

(Numbers 20:6)  Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them,

(Numbers 20:7)  and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

(Numbers 20:8)  "Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle."

(Numbers 20:9)  And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him.

(Numbers 20:10)  Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"

(Numbers 20:11)  And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

(Numbers 20:12)  And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."

(Numbers 20:13)  These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy.

Note Moses’ disobedience to the Lord here where he again struck the rock as he did in the Exodus story when he was instead supposed to speak and command the rock to yield its water. This act of disobedience and unbelief cost Moses and Aaron the chance to enter the Promised Land with the rest of Israel. This is a warning to us on two ways- one- the Lord does not always use the exact same methods to achieve the same results. Also we should always obey and do what he tells us to do and believe and not get into presumption and do things the way we did last time. It may be different this time around.

The next story I will go to is Elijah in 1 Kings 17- there are two miraculous provisions here- one with ravens and then one where God would multiply the mother’s last oil and flour so that they would not run out for a long time

(1 Kings 17:1)  Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."

(1 Kings 17:2)  And the word of the LORD came to him:

(1 Kings 17:3)  "Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.

(1 Kings 17:4)  You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there."

(1 Kings 17:5)  So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.

(1 Kings 17:6)  And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

(1Kings 17:7)  And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

(1 Kings 17:8)  Then the word of the LORD came to him,

(1 Kings 17:9)  "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you."

(1 Kings 17:10)  So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."

(1 Kings 17:11)  And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."

(1 Kings 17:12)  And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die."

(1 Kings 17:13)  And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.

(1 Kings 17:14)  For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'"

(1 Kings 17:15)  And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.

(1 Kings 17:16)  The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

According to the story I understand this was for at least a year, the Lord took care of His prophet Elijah during the 3 ½ year drought at the time.

In 2 Kings 4 the oil was multiplied for a woman from a little bit.

(2 Kings 4:1)  Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves."

(2 Kings 4:2)  And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?" And she said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil."

(2 Kings 4:3)  Then he said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few.

(2 Kings 4:4)  Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside."

(2 Kings 4:5)  So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her.

(2 Kings 4:6)  When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another." Then the oil stopped flowing.

(2 Kings 4:7)  She came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest."

This is an example of a financial provision with the miraculous multiplication of the oil, and then the oil was then sold to raise money needed to pay off debts and for them to live off of.

Another story which is later in the same chapter, here God multiplies a food offering to feed 100 men with leftovers:

(2 Kings 4:42)  A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, "Give to the men, that they may eat."

(2 Kings 4:43)  But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred men?" So he repeated, "Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the LORD, 'They shall eat and have some left.'"

(2 Kings 4:44)  So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

Here is the feeding of the four thousand people story by Jesus on Seven loaves of bread :

(Mark 8:1)  In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them,

(Mark 8:2)  "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

(Mark 8:3)  And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away."

(Mark 8:4)  And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?"

(Mark 8:5)  And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven."

(Mark 8:6)  And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.

(Mark 8:7)  And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.

(Mark 8:8)  And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.

(Mark 8:9)  And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

It says this in Matthew about the number of people that were fed in this miracle and that it also included women and children

(Matthew 15:38)  Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Note also that there were no less than seven baskets of leftover bread and fish despite feeding so many people!!

Here is the gospel of John account of the miraculous feeding of the 5000 men, again there were women and children in this miracle:

(John 6:1)  After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

(John 6:2)  And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

(John 6:3)  Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

(John 6:4)  Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

(John 6:5)  Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"

(John 6:6)  He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

(John 6:7)  Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."

(John 6:8)  One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,

(John 6:9)  "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?"

(John 6:10)  Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

(John 6:11)  Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

(John 6:12)  And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost."

(John 6:13)  So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

(John 6:14)  When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"

Here is the feeding of the 5000 as it is written in the gospel of Matthew:

(Matthew 14:13)  Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

(Matthew 14:14)  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

(Matthew 14:15)  Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

(Matthew 14:16)  But Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."

(Matthew 14:17)  They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish."

(Matthew 14:18)  And he said, "Bring them here to me."

(Matthew 14:19)  Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

(Matthew 14:20)  And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

(Matthew 14:21)  And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Note that there were also women and children to be fed as well as the five thousand men. Also there were 12 baskets of left over bread and fish this time. It really is amazing what God does for His people.

Back to the old testament here is a story of how God drives an Assyrian army away so His people may eat and buy food in the middle of a famine:

(2 Kings 7:1)  But Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria."

(2 Kings 7:2)  Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, "If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" But he said, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

(2 Kings 7:3)  Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die?

(2 Kings 7:4)  If we say, 'Let us enter the city,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die."

(2 Kings 7:5)  So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there.

(2 Kings 7:6)  For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, "Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us."

(2 Kings 7:7)  So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.

(2 Kings 7:8)  And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.

(2 Kings 7:9)  Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household."

(2 Kings 7:10)  So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were."

(2 Kings 7:11)  Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household.

(2 Kings 7:12)  And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, "I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.'"

(2 Kings 7:13)  And one of his servants said, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see."

(2 Kings 7:14)  So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see."

(2 Kings 7:15)  So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.

(2 Kings 7:16)  Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD.

(2 Kings  7:17)  Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him.

(2 Kings 7:18)  For when the man of God had said to the king, "Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,"

(2 Kings 7:19)  the captain had answered the man of God, "If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" And he had said, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

(2 Kings 7:20)  And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.

The final miraculous provision in this study is in Exodus 16 where the people were provided both manna, which is bread from heaven, and quail the entire time that they were  in the wilderness- 40 years! This is the most remarkable miracle of all, in my opinion, because it involved far more people(a couple million maybe, all the people of Israel) over such a very long duration of time- 40 years, and not one time only thing as some miraculous provisions are:

(Exodus 16:1)  They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

(Exodus 16:2)  And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

(Exodus 16:3)  and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

(Exodus 16:4)  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

(Exodus 16:5)  On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."

(Exodus 16:6)  So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

(Exodus 16:7)  and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?"

(Exodus 16:8)  And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him--what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD."

(Exodus 16:9)  Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'"

(Exodus 16:10)  And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

(Exodus 16:11)  And the LORD said to Moses,

(Exodus 16:12)  "I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"

(Exodus 16:13)  In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.

(Exodus 16:14)  And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.

(Exodus 16:15)  When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

(Exodus 16:16)  This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'"

(Exodus 16:17)  And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.

(Exodus 16:18)  But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

(Exodus 16:19)  And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over till the morning."

(Exodus 16:20)  But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

(Exodus 16:21)  Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

(Exodus 16:22)  On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

(Exodus 16:23)  he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'"

(Exodus 16:24)  So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.

(Exodus 16:25)  Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.

(Exodus 16:26)  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none."

(Exodus 16:27)  On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.

(Exodus 16:28)  And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

(Exodus 16:29)  See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."

(Exodus 16:30)  So the people rested on the seventh day.

(Exodus 16:31)  Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

(Exodus 16:32)  Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'"

(Exodus 16:33)  And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations."

(Exodus 16:34)  As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.

(Exodus 16:35)  The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

(Exodus 16:36)  (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

 We serve a wonderful and mighty God who is able to provide in all these wonderful ways, and in many others. He is a God who longs after a relationship with each and every person. These miracles are all testimonies of His power, but also of His mercy and grace. For the purpose of having the relationship with all mankind He sent His Son Jesus to die for you on the cross, for all your sins, and those of all mankind for that matter, the same Jesus who fed the 4000 and 5000 men. If you hunger for a relationship with Jesus please pray the following prayer with me:

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness. I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin. You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved. Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.

Amen.

He is still a God of miracles today as in these stories for the bible says He does not change. God bless you and yours.