In the wilderness the children of Israel did not do any farming, sowing, or reaping. Instead, they gathered manna. Some may have been greedy and tried to gather a large amount of manna, much more than they needed. However, by the end of the day, what was left was no longer useful. Exodus 16:19 and 20 say, “And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.” In the case of those who gathered an excess of manna, perhaps wanting to store it up for days and weeks to come, God caused the excess to be taken away.
Those who were rather feeble and not able to gather much manna did not have any lack. The divine way is that those who gathered little had no lack and those who gathered much had nothing over. This is God’s heavenly way of balancing the supply among His people. God exercised His miraculous ability to balance the supply of manna among the people. God balances the daily supply among His children by His sovereign and miraculous hand.
In Paul’s writing of 2 Corinthians, he combines the gathering of manna with the believers’ giving of the material supply to the needy saints. In Exodus 16 it was a matter of gathering, but in 2 Corinthians 8 it is a matter of giving. Concerning the gathering of manna, the result was the same whether the children of Israel gathered more or gathered less. This indicates that in their gathering they should not have been greedy. Gathering manna was their duty. They were to do their duty without being greedy.
Suppose some of the children of Israel had said, “God is merciful, sovereign, and miraculous. He controls everything. Since I will have no excess if I gather a lot and no lack if I gather a little, then actually I don’t need to go out and gather anything.” If one of God’s people had practiced this, he would not have had anything for that day. God would not fulfill that one’s duty for him. God would neither work for him nor feed him. The children of Israel had to fulfill their duty. As long as they fulfilled their responsibility according to God’s ordination, they had a sufficient supply, no matter how much or how little manna they gathered.
In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul likens our giving to the needy ones to the gathering of manna. To our realization, we are giving, not gathering. But what Paul says indicates that our giving is a gathering. Paul’s word at least implies that as children of God we should not be greedy. We should not think that if we earn a large sum of money, we shall be able to preserve it all for ourselves. We need to see that whether we give or not, eventually the outcome will be the same.
Suppose a brother earns $40,000 a year, but what he actually needs for his living is much less than that amount. Being rather greedy, he wants to reserve a large amount for himself. He tithes ten percent, or $4,000, with the intention of keeping the other $36,000. This tithing is a good practice. However, it is possible for this brother to follow an even better way. According to this better way, the brother should keep what he needs for his living, perhaps $20,000, and give away the remainder. No doubt, humanly speaking, almost everyone would follow the first way, the way of tithing, instead of the second way, the way of giving all that he can. If the brother decides to tithe and keep the extra $16,000 for himself, eventually he will learn that, in His sovereignty, God has many ways to cause this excess money to disappear. There may be illness, accident, or calamity. If the money does not disappear in this generation, it will disappear in the following generation or certainly in the third generation. God’s mighty, sovereign hand will be active to practice a heavenly balancing of the wealth among His people.
For approximately seventy years I have been observing the situation among Christians. I can testify that I do not know of one Christian family who has been able to maintain wealth continually for three generations. The first generation in a Christian family may become very rich and save vast riches for the second generation. But either in the second generation or in the third the money mysteriously disappears. It seems to sprout wings and fly away. I know of cases where the wealthy third generation had all their riches taken away by others. Although the ones in this generation inherited vast wealth, it was taken away from them. Thus, eventually it proves true that he who gathers much has no excess. I have seen that those who gather little have no lack and those who gather much have no excess. I have truly witnessed the miraculous and sovereign hand of God balancing the wealth among His people.
You may consider yourself quite wise in money matters. You know how to make money, how to save it, and how to preserve it for your children and grandchildren. But no matter how wise you may be in the handling of money, God is wiser. As the heavenly pilot, he knows how to cause your money to fly away. He did this with the manna in the Old Testament, and does it with money today. The question that faces you is this: do you want to balance the material supply willingly, or will you force God to balance it in a miraculous, sovereign way? I can assure you that sooner or later you will be balanced in financial matters. Concerning this, we need to understand God’s heart. Deep in His heart God desires that His people be balanced in the daily supply. Therefore, we should say to Him, “Lord, thank You for enabling me to gather manna. But, Lord, instead of saving this for myself, I want to share it with others.” You should remember that whether or not you willingly share with others, eventually the outcome will be the same. The result will be that he who gathers little has no lack and that he who gathers much has nothing over. It is foolish, then, not to share what we have with others.