Beyond Bread: Depending on God's Provision

Rev. Sang Ho Bae's 7th expository work on the gospel of Matthew is about the temptation of Jesus based on Matthew 4, verses 1 to 11. The title he gave is God Who Opens the Way.

The devil came to Jesus when He had fasted forty days and was extremely hungry and tempted Him, saying:

If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.

But Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” and He overcame the devil.

The word Jesus quoted was Deuteronomy 8:3:

He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

This word has as its background the event when the people of Israel, after coming out of Egypt, entered the wilderness. They were in an extreme situation with no food at all, but God opened the heavens and rained down manna. Israel sustained life with manna for forty years until they entered the promised land and ate its produce. By human common sense, the only way to sustain life when hungry is food. But the Lord said that if God speaks, another way of life comes into being. He gave the manna that came down from heaven as the example, saying that man does not live by bread alone but lives by the word that comes from the mouth of God. Even when in an extreme situation where there seems to be no other way, if the mouth of God commands, a way opens. Just as when Israel was in the wilderness with no means to obtain food, God spoke, and manna came down from heaven, so in special cases God opens a new way through His word.

Earthly food is not the only means of life. People think food comes only from the earth, but God sent food from above. God is the One who makes a way, and He always has a way. God made a way in the middle of the sea by a method man could not imagine. A way is not only on land; there is also a way of ships on the sea. Ancient people thought there were only these two ways, but in modern times we see new ways: airplanes in the sky, subways under the ground, and tunnels through mountains and under seas. If man discovers new ways, how much more God!

Man cannot survive if he completely cuts off water and food for forty days, but Jesus survived. Because the word of God upheld Him. So when the devil tempted Him to make stones into bread, Jesus said that even without bread, if there is the word of God, one can live. If God commands, one can survive not only forty days but even longer without bread. Therefore, we must not rely on earthly food but rely on God, who can also send food down from heaven. The psalmist says that the LORD gathered the waters of the sea as a heap, and when He commanded, they stood firm (Ps. 33:7–9). When the word comes from the mouth of God, the sea is divided, and the waters stand firm like a wall. Manna came down from heaven because the LORD spoke (Ps. 78:23–24). Ravens brought bread and meat to Elijah (1 Kings 17:4), and the great fish swallowed Jonah and then vomited him out (Jonah 1:17; 2:10), all because God commanded.

When God commands, supernatural things that man could never imagine happen. God does not usually perform supernatural miracles in ordinary situations but lets man solve them by effort. God does not make a person who does not study but only expects miracles pass into a top university. In Joshua 5, when Israel came to the plain of Jericho in Canaan and ate the produce of the land, the manna from heaven stopped. Because now they could solve it by farming themselves.

“The word that comes from the mouth of God” is present tense (Matt. 4:4). In the Greek original, the word here is rhema (ῥῆμα). Rhema, unlike the written word (logos), is the word that comes presently, at a specific moment, as God commands to deliver His people from crisis. Here lies the comfort and hope of God’s children. Even when all ways are blocked, if God speaks, the situation can be changed. Therefore, even in extreme situations, we must not fall into despair but trust and wait upon God. When we rely on God with all our heart, He will command the way to open for us at the most needed time.