For those of you who are parents, what do you think about when you think about providing for your kids? Maybe a roof over their head, a bed to sleep on, food to eat, clothes to wear, transportation to get places, an education. Pretty much anything a child needs to survive, they need a parent or guardian to provide. The same is true for God and humans. Anything humans need to survive, God must provide. The Bible tells us that everything we need comes from God.
In 1 Chronicles 29:14, David praised the Lord, saying:
“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”
Paul echoed this sentiment in Philippians 4:18-19:
18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
God provides everything we need, but that’s a little vague. What specifically does God provide? We’ll look at four things: food/water, safety, good gifts, and spiritual nourishment.
Food/Water
The Bible is filled with God providing food and water for people. In last week’s lesson, we saw God provide manna and quail for the Israelites when they were in the wilderness, and we saw Jesus feeding the crowds, with leftovers to spare. Not only did God provide food for the Israelites, he also provided water when they needed it.
Exodus 17: 2-11: 2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
Even though God was angry that Moses disobeyed by striking the rock rather than speaking to the rock, he still provided water for his people.
God also provided food and water for the prophet Elijah in a unique way.
1 Kings 17:2-6: 2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”
5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
In general, God promises to provide food for those who fear him:
Psalm 111:5: He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
And he promises to provide food for the hungry and water for the thirsty:
Psalm 107:8-9: 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
Beyond thinking about human needs, God also provides for all of creation. He provides food for the animals and rain for the crops. He also provides the shelter each animal needs.
Psalm 104:10-18: 10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.
Psalm 147:8-9: 8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.
This is one way that he provides for humans. Crops provide food and income for humans and animals, and animals provide labor and food and income for humans. By providing nourishment for crops and animals, God is also providing for us.
Safety
God also promises to provide safety for his people, who he compares to sheep. In a well-known Psalm, we see that God provides peace, safety, guidance, comfort, and sustenance:
Psalm 23:1-6: 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
This picture of God as our shepherd is carried over in Ezekiel 34, where God promises to care for his sheep. He again is shown to provide safety, security, a home, food, rest, and healing for his sheep.
Ezekiel 34:11-16: 11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
God is a good shepherd for his people by providing everything they need.
Good Gifts
At the start of the lesson, I asked you to think about what parents provide for their children. This was intentional. The Bible makes this same comparison.
Matthew 7:9-11: 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
If parents know how to give good gifts to their children, God knows how even more so.
James 1:17: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
As a Father, God gives good gifts to his children.
Spiritual Nourishment
The final thing I’ll discuss that God provides is perhaps the most important. He provides for our spiritual needs. The Bible tells us that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Thankfully, God has provided a substitute sacrifice so that we do not have to pay that penalty if we believe in him. This substitute sacrifice started all the way back in Genesis 3 with the first sin. God made “garments of skin” for Adam and Eve, which we assume means he used the skin of an animal to clothe them.
We also see God’s provision of a substitute sacrifice for Abraham in Genesis 22, which we looked at several weeks ago in our Bible Essentials lesson. This substitute sacrifice continued through the sacrificial system in Leviticus, and that sacrifice has been fulfilled once and for all with the death of Jesus on the cross.
Romans 8:32: He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Through this system of sacrifices, and in the one final sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God provides redemption for his people.
Psalm 111:9: He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.
For those who believe in the name of Jesus, who partake in his sacrifice on our behalf, God provides everything we need to live a godly life.
2 Peter 1:3: His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Part of that promise is providing us the Scriptures to guide and correct us.
2 Timothy 3:16-17: 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Another part of that promise is providing a way out for us when we are faced with temptation.
1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Through Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible, God has provided everything we need to follow him and resist temptation. This is the greatest provision of all. This provision gives us eternal life.
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