Food for Stomach, Stomach for Food

We are familiar with the phrase, “Some eat to live; others live to eat.” Apostle Paul phrased it as, “Food for Stomach, Stomach for Food” (1 Cor 6:13a). Both will die and decay. Yet, our modern world is obsessed with food. Entire television channels are dedicated to food – how to make them, fighting to make them, and winning competitions for money and prestige. Food is presented with flowers and ornate decorations that one is afraid to eat. Chefs have become celebrities, and “foodie” has become a trend.

YHWH knew the danger of food’s enticement. He tested his people: Can they live on one food alone for forty years? Moses said,

“YHWH afflicted you – first, with hunger, and second, with feeding you manna that you or your ancestors have known – to see if you realize that a person does not live by food but by the Words of YHWH.” (Deut 8:3)

Manna in Hebrew was man hu’, meaning “what” (man) [is] “this” (hu’). “When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What this?’ because they didn’t know what that [was]” (Exod 16:15). It was like a thin frost replacing the dew (16:14) and melted when the sun came (16:21). White in color, coriander seed in size, and tasted like thin bread dipped in honey.

Imagine eating pancakes for three meals a day for forty years! No variety, no color, no flowers to decorate them, and no icing. Just plain pancakes, tiny pieces of them (the size of coriander seeds), dipped in honey, and 2 liters (or ½ gallon) for the whole day (Exod 16:16b). They couldn’t eat more or eat less. They had no control over their diet!

YHWH gave manna to test and see if they would learn that a person doesn’t need food, decorated one, to live. God would sustain them by his word, just as he created the world by his word.

Jesus faced a similar test: Could he wait for God to sustain him or make his own bread?

“Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan. Then, the Spirit led him to a desert. The devil tested him for forty days, and he did not eat anything in those days. When those days were finished, he was starving. Then the devil said to him, ‘You are the Son of God. Say to this stone, “Become bread.”’ Jesus replied, ‘It is written a person does not live by bread alone.’” (Luke 4:1–4)

The Israelites ate manna for forty years – a test from YHWH to see their dependence. Similarly, Jesus ate nothing for forty days, but this was a test from the devil to see if he would be self-dependent. The Greek construction – “if you are the Son of God” – was an affirmative challenge, like me saying to one of my sons, “If you are my son, you will work as I do.” This “if” is not a doubtful “if” but one that challenges my son to work as I do. The devil didn’t wonder if Jesus was God’s son; he knew. He asked him to turn a stone into bread because he was God’s Son. Jesus replied to him by citing Deuteronomy 8:3 – a test from YHWH that proved a person believed food wasn’t needed for life, but God was.

We, too, face the same question. Can we say, “We don’t need food to live but God?”