"We remember . . . the leeks." Numbers 11:5
Leek, like onions, are mentioned only once in the entire Bible and then only in association with the fruits of Egypt as contrasted to the heavenly manna. Leeks, together with the onions, melons, and cucumbers of Numbers 11:5, are symbolic of the works of the flesh and the old nature. When Moses delivered Israel, they went out of Egypt, but Egypt was not yet OUT of them. Egypt was still IN them, though they were no longer in Egypt. This is a picture of our salvation. When we know and follow our Lord and Saviour,we do not immediately lose our "old nature, but instead we receive a "new" nature, which must ultimately overcome the old. The Bible nowhere teaches eradication of the old man in this life. Instead it teaches that every believer has two natures: the old, received by natural birth from father Adam,and the new, received in the new birth by the Spirit of God.
Hence there is the struggle for mastery between the two. Paul tells us "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other" (Galatians 5:17). Every true born-again believer is conscious of this struggle between the flesh and the Spirit - between the appetite for "leeks" and learning to feed upon the manna.
Someone has said, "A man is what he eats." This is surely true of the believer, for his entire spiritual development depends on his diet, even more than his exercise. Will you take a careful inventory and seriously examine your spiritual menu for today? How much time for the Word, for prayer, for witnessing? That's manna for the soul. And then add up the time you spend in frivolous pursuits, idle talk, questionable entertainment. Study the long list of "leeks" to be avoided in Colossians 3:5-9: Uncleanness, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, filthy communications, and lying. The nature you feed is the nature which will be victorious.
"Bread For Each Day"
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