In Joshua chapters 3-4, the children of Israel cross the Jordan into the Promised Land due to the wondrous power of God. In chapter 5, the children of Israel celebrate by the sacramental signs: circumcision and Passover. During the Passover celebration, the author emphasizes that the children of Israel “ate of the produce of the land” (Josh 5:11, two other references in v.12). This emphasis highlights an important point: the God who promised the gift of the land with all of its attendant grain, was now fulfilling that promise and His covenant people were reaping the benefits of His faithfulness.
In Josh 5:12, we read “Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.” This highlights an important principle: the cessation of the miraculous (God’s provision of manna) does not imply the cessation of God’s active power in sustaining His covenant people. Whether through the extraordinary manna or the ordinary produce of the land, God is faithful. It is a curious fact that we are inclined to see God’s power displayed when He spares a young man’s life in an automobile accident, but less likely to see God’s power in keeping most of us from automobile accidents each and every day.
If I may draw a parallel: the church today in some quarters seems discontent with the produce of the land and appears to be seeking manna from heaven. Of course, God is still sovereign, still omnipotent, and still able to perform the miraculous. However, in this new covenant setting, the gift of the Spirit in the normal, ordinary events of church life is still our Sustainer and Shield. God is as present in a corporate prayer meeting that is conducted without bells and whistles, as He was in the prayer meeting recorded in Acts 4. The absence of tongues and prophesying, the absence of miraculous displays of healing through human instruments, and the absence of the sort of things we read regularly in the book of Acts does not mean the absence of God. We are to faithfully employ the means of grace given by our good God and enjoy His sustaining power, even if it is just the produce of the land.
