Numbers 16:14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.

Minutia from the plural Latin minutiae meaning trifles, singularly smallness, the root to the word miniature. I include the plural as it brings in the attitude of trivial. Here in Numbers we are speaking about the manna from heaven. That which was given freely from heaven and gathered to be consumed daily. This is the root of our daily bread.

Jesus included this in teaching us how to pray. “Give us this day our daily bread.” It is meant for sustenance for the day and nothing more. If it had not been so, it would not have been given daily.

Is that a trivial thing? A trifle is not to be taken seriously. Is that our attitude about that small thing given to us to sustain us through each day? Do we have a proper respect for the little thing, the minutia? We have to gather much to make anything of any substance. We need to gather many words to make sense of any passaged. A word by itself says little, yet a misplaced word changes everything. A word overlooked isn’t missed in the gathering. Yet one little word can make all the difference.

For example, what does it mean that the manna fell in the wilderness, outside the camp? They were only allowed to gather enough for each family member. They had to leave the rest. How much was left that was not gathered? How far from the camp did the manna fall and remain because the camp could only gather so much? Did that manna mean anything to anyone outside the camp? Or do we only think about ourselves?

Were there wilderness eyes watching what was gathered and wonder if they too could use it?