"'Manna' - Bread from Heaven" , Chapter 1

MANNA – Bread from Heaven

Deoram Bolan


Contents

Chapter 1 (contained in this blog post)
Manna: What is it?............................5

Chapter 2 (to be posted later)
The Bread of Life ……………………………..12

Epilogue (to be posted later)
Hidden Manna …………………………………..42


“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.
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, this is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.”
Exodus 16:14-15

Chapter 1

Manna: What is it?

Manna was a token of God’s grace towards the Israelites. Therefore, I would like for us to explore some of the meanings of this Divine food which God fed the Israelites for 40 years.

First, there are some basic Scriptures which we should consider in the study of manna. We will refer to Exodus, chapter 16:11-31, the book of Numbers, chapter 11:1-9, and in the New Testament, the Gospel of John 6:31-38. Jesus spoke to the Jews about the manna that God fed them and how He was the true bread that came down from heaven.

When the Israelites first beheld the manna that God sent from heaven, they were perplexed and did not know what this object was. Verse 15 in Exodus 16 states,

“And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.”

In Hebrew, the word manna means: “what is it?” In the Chaldean tongue it means: “it is a portion.” In English, manna means “bread.” Jesus is referred to in the Gospel of John as the “bread of life” (Jn. 6:48), and as “the true bread which came down) from heaven” (Jn. 6:32). The people of the world who do not know the relevance of Christ and the revelation of truth which is in the Holy Scriptures have this reaction, “what is it?” “Who is this Jesus Christ?” “What is the man all about?” The true believer can say, “Christ is my portion.” For us, He is all that we need: but for those who do not know Him, there is always the question: Who is He? What is this salvation that He came to offer?

The manna proved to be a sufficient portion as stated in Exodus, chapter 16. It was sufficient for all the Israelites and there was no lack: no one had to go impoverished. Each individual, each family, had a sufficient portion. Secondly, the manna was a suitable portion. It suited the taste of old and young alike and it was to benefit old and young alike. Thirdly, it was a satisfying portion; no one went hungry. Fourthly, it was a strengthening portion that made strong people out of the Israelites. They were able to journey in the desert, to work and to fight. That food gave them strength for the wilderness and for the perils in the wilderness. Fifthly, the manna was a sustaining portion. They were sustained by this Divine food for 40 years. The Israelites could count on the fact that God would not leave them hungry in the wilderness. He sent them manna day by day, except on the 6th day when they gathered twice as much and rested on the 7th day.

From these facts we can safely say that Jesus Christ, Whom the manna typifies, is our all-sufficiency in all things. Paul referred to that in one of the Epistles. He said,

“…Our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers…of the spirit….” II Corinthians 3:5-6

Jesus Christ suits all classes, all nations, all ages, and all men everywhere.

After the Israelites crossed the wilderness and had entered into the land of Canaan, God provided for them to receive an overlapping of the manna. This is found in the book of Joshua in Chapter 5, verse 12:
"And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."


Notice, the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land. So God sustained them until they were brought into the Promised Land. It is a picture of how Jesus Christ will sustain His children in the wilderness of this world until we are privileged to enter into the Heavenly Canaan.


Now, as we get into the description of the manna, we need to consider Exodus 16 and Numbers 11. Exodus 16:14 reads,

"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 hoarfrost on the ground."

The manna is described as "small." The manna is a type of the Lord Jesus and the smallness of the manna speaks of His humility. He humbled Himself; He took a lowly position, but it was God who exalted Him after He finished the work the Father gave Him to do. The manna was "round," and the roundness speaks of the perfection of His life. A circle speaks of a figure that is complete. The Bible says He was made perfect, complete through the things He suffered (Heb. 5:8-9). It also says that manna was as "hoarfrost," and is de­scribed in Exodus 16:31 as "white." In the same verse, it is likened unto "coriander seed." This typifies the purity of His life. White is the color of purity and holiness, t1he purity of His life, that Divine life that He wants to impart within the soul of man. For the Bible says when we are born again, we are born not of the corruptible but of the incorruptible seed, by the Word of God that lives and abides for the ages. This seed speaks of the life that comes from the Lord Himself, that incorruptible life that He only can impart (1 Pet. 1:23; Jn. 3:5; Jn. 16:14-15).

In Numbers, chapter 11, you will read where the manna tasted as fresh oil and as wafers made with honey. Now, fresh oil speaks of the anointing of the Spirit that was upon the Lord. Honey speaks of the sweetness that is in the Lord. The manna was "as the color of bdellium" (Num. 11:7). This word is synonymous with the pearl and this in one sense speaks of the sufferings the Lord had to go through so that His glorious church could come forth.

It is indeed amazing that we can see these attributes of the Lord in the manna that was given to the Israelites. Just as the Israelites were sustained in the wilderness on the manna, it is a picture of how the Lord wants to sustain us in the wilder­ness of this world as we go through life's journey. He is the One that we need. We need Him day by day as they needed the manna. The Lord wants to become more and more alive unto us. He wants us to discover Him in a new and in a living way, day by day.

As we consider the manna, we shall limit our study just to the aspect of the manna representing the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a secondary sense, the manna is also a type of the Word of God. We shall not go into the aspect of the manna now as the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ. Having gone into these preliminary details, I would like to bring to your attention some more references with regard to the manna.
It is always good for us to see the background for a subject whenever we consider that subject in the light of Scripture. What was the occasion of the giving of the manna? If you go to Exodus 16, you will see that the Israelites were grumbling in the wilderness. In verse 3, they said,

"... Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

Now the Israelites, we see in verse 1, had completed 30 days since they had departed from Egypt. The manna came on the 31st day. Thirty days speak of one period. After 30 days, we see another period that leads to their going to Mount Sinai. They reached that Mount on the 60th day after their departure from Egypt. So the manna coming on the 31st day is to bring them to the foot of the Mount. They did not have manna previously. The manna did not come in the first 30 days. It was after that period was over that manna was sent from Heaven. That manna was to sustain them so that they would come to the foot of the Mount and encamp at the foot of the Mount.
Now there are depths of meaning in all these things in the Scripture. I'm sure there is a meaning to God sending the manna on the 31st day. The manna was given in spite of the murmurings and the complaints of the Israelites. God should have acted in harmony with their behavior if He were that rigid. But, instead of being rigid with them, He showed them mercy. His reaction was grace instead of judgment. That does not mean He didn't send judgment upon them when they continued to rebel, but He tempered mercy with judgment. In spite of their murmurings, God sent the manna. The mur­muring of the Israelites is a type of the murmuring or rebel­lion of sinful man.

Although man rebelled against God, God in mercy saw fit to send a Redeemer, the manna came from Heaven. In spite of man's rebellion, God sent His Son to be the Life of the world and to be the Light of the world.

The next thing we can ponder also is the place where the manna fell. The Lord Jesus Christ, as you will recall, did not come to the earth until 4000 years had lapsed. That is from the fall of Adam, and man was becoming more and more entrenched in the ways of sin and rebellion. Yet, God sent His Son in the fullness of time. Just as there was a time for the manna to come to the Israelites, there was a time known by God when the Son was to come to earth, in spite of man's rebellion and sin. The place where the manna fell is given in Exodus 16:1.

"And they took their journey front Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Si­nai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt."

So when the manna came it fell in the wilderness of Sin. How important that is, for the wilderness is a picture of the world in which we live. What kind of world is this? It is a sinful world. Yet, it was into this wilderness of Sin, this world of sin, that the manna came. A wilderness is not a place, normally, for someone to dwell in; and it is a type of the fact that when Jesus Christ came into the world there was no place for Him in the inn (Lk. 2:7). There was no place for Him to lay His head as He journeyed (Lk. 9:58). Even when He went to the Cross and He laid down His life, His body was placed in a borrowed tomb (Matt. 27:57-60). So, this world was a wilderness to the Lord, and yet it was into this world He came.

"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not...."
John 1:10

Yet, He came into this wilderness of sin, but there was one place that He found lodging. He stayed in Bethany in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Beyond that, He found a place of abode: the heart of the Father. That's why He spent much time with the Fame.

The next point I would like to consider is that the Glory of God is linked with the giving of the manna. Let's consider the 10th verse of Exodus 16:
"And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud."

This is the first occurrence of the expression, "The Glory of the Lord." It was not long after that we read of the coming of the manna. The glory of the Lord is specifically connected with the giving of the manna. When we think of the glory of the Lord, the Scripture that is given in John's Gospel, 1st chapter, verse 14 comes to mind. It's a Scripture that talks about that glory.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

The glory and the manna are connected. In II Corinthians 4:6, it says:
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Then we should keep in mind that the manna came down from heaven. God said that He would send them bread. This bread came from heaven. It was not a product of the earth; it was not a product of the wilderness; and, it was not a product of Egypt. This manna was not grown in the field of the world. The origin was from heaven. It descended from God. It was a gift from heaven to earth and what does that tell us? Jesus Christ is the Lord from heaven (I Cor. 15:47-49). Adam, the first man is of the earth, earthly. Jesus Christ, the second man, the last Adam, is from above. He is from Heaven. He told the Pharisees that they were of the earth, from below. He said that He was from above. “I am not of this world” (Jn. 8:23). This show conclusively His Heavenly origin. Just as the manna came from heaven, Jesus Christ who lived in heaven came from Heaven down to earth. How beautiful a relationship is seen in the manna the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The manna was a free gift from God. Ho charge was made for it. No price was stipulated for the manna. Can you imagine the Israelites receiving this food without having to pay any grocery bills? All they had to do was to go and gather it. It was free. It was the best food they could ever get to sustain them. In Exodus 16:15 we read:

“…And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.”
When God gives something, it is a gift. The manna was free. In II Corinthians 9:15, it states: “thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”

Who is that unspeakable gift? Jesus Christ. John 3:16 states: “For god so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

He gave His only begotten Son. We need to consider another fact, the manna was sent to Israel, not to the other nations, the one nation, the nation of Israel.

"He came unto His own...."
John 1:11

“.. I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Matthew 15:24

Jesus Christ, the Manna, is God's provision for all who ac­knowledge Him as their Savior and their Lord. "Salvation" the Bible says, "is of the Jews" (Jn. 4:22). The manna came to the nation of Israel. The manna came down to where the Israelites were. It fell around their camps. In Exodus 16:13-14 you will see this.
God is not far away from us. He is ready to help us. He is not so far that we cannot reach Him; He is closer than we realize. Just as the manna was right where the Israelites were in their camp, it is a type of the Lord coming to them in hu­man flesh, tabernacling with them in a human body. It is a type of how the Lord is still showing grace to man as man recognizes his need. Man does not need to go to the Holy Land to find the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a time when He was limited to one place and one people, but He said:

"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
John 12:24

That was the answer to the Greeks who came to seek an inter­view with Him. He told Philip in the parable just quoted that without going to the Cross, He could not help the Greeks. His mission was primarily to the Jewish people. After His death and resurrection His salvation would not be confined
to the Jews, but become available to the Greeks and all other nations. In Romans 10, it tells us that God is not so far away that we cannot get in touch with Him. In the latter half of Romans 10:6-9 we read:

"Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

In verse 12 -13 it says,

"For there is no difference be­tween the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whoso­ever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved."

The Lord is ready to help us if we realize our need and are convicted by the Holy Spirit. Just as the Israelites had access to the manna, we can have access to God through the Lord Jesus Who is our help in time of need. We can find Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. There is no need to travel anywhere; call upon the Name of the Lord and the Lord will save. Salvation is available to man even as the manna was available to the Israelites. They had to go and gather the manna; and appropriate it for themselves. Likewise, man without the Lord has to come to the place where he sees his need and comes in repentance to the Lord and receives cleans­ing, healing, and infusion of Divine life. The gathering of manna by the individual corresponds to the incorruptible seed of Christ being planted into the soul by the Holy Spirit. [See I Pet. 1:23; Jn. 16:14-15.]

The manna met a daily need. They had to go and gather manna every day except on the 7th day. Just as the manna proved to be very helpful and nutritious and had to be gath­ered daily, so this is a type of the fact that we must feed on Christ every day. We must commune with Christ; we must live in fellowship with Him day by day. We dare not allow a day to go by without praying to Him, worshipping Him and drawing our life from Him. We can eat of Him, feed on Him, absorb His life and approach Him in adoration, prayer, and in worship. Daily we need to keep that relationship with the Lord up-to-date. The Psalmist says,

"...Teach us to
number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto
wisdom."
Psalm 90:12

"...As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
Deuteronomy 33:25

Each day the Lord wants to be our strength. Each day the Lord wants to help us in the wilderness of the world.
Praise His Holy Name!
The manna had to be gathered by every individual.

". . . Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents."
Exodus 16:16

Again, we see an important point to receive the Lord involves a personal matter. Salvation is available through a personal contact with the Lord. John 1:12:
"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons [children] of God…”.

In Romans 1:16 it says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Salvation has to be a personal matter. Our parents can not answer for us. It is true that our parents are responsible for us while we are still very young in years, but as we grow up we have to make our personal decision for the Lord. While children are still in their minor years, their parents have to teach them and lead them and guide them. They are under the care of their parents and they are blessed. But as they come to the age of responsibility, they too have to come to that place where they acknowledge the Lord for themselves. Go and gather every man of the manna (“Gather of it every man…”) and this shows us how important god views the individual and that salvation involves the individual. We have to decide for ourselves. We cannot accept Him by proxy. We have to come to Him on an individual basis.

“And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.” Exodus 16:17

The appetite determines the amount gathered. Some gathered more and some gathered less. Some want a little of Christ; others want more of Christ. It all depends on how much we are reaching out for the Lord. The Lord wants to enlarge our appetite. He wants us to have more of Him, but for us to have more of Him, we must hunger and thirst for it.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

It all depends on how much of the Lord we want as we go through the wilderness of the world.

As you will recall when Israel left the land of Egypt, a “mixt multitude” went with them. In the book of Numbers, chapter 11, verses 4-6, we read that it was this mixed multitude who began to grumble and complain and discourage the people in the way. They were the ones who said, “…Our soul loatheth this light bread” [“worthless food”] (Num. 21:5). The mixed multitude represents the unregenerate; those who may profess to know the Lord, but in reality they only put on an act. They profess but do not possess His life, and for these the manna is despised. Again this reminds me of the natural man. The Bible says the natural man does not discern the things of God, for the tings of God are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). Many are trying to figure out the Lord with their natural mind, and they are trying to reconcile in their mind the thought that Christ is the Savior and that He is the answer to man’s problem. The more they try to figure it out, the more the answer eludes them. We can only know Him by revelation. The mixed multitude loathed the manna. The natural man does not have an appetite for the Lord. He does not see the value of Christ. His spiritual eyes are blinded. Until his eyes are opened, he cannot see.
The manna fell on the dew, not on the dust of the ground.

“And when the dew fell upon the comp in the night, the manna fell upon it.” Numbers 11:9

The dew and the manna are closely associated. The manna did not come to the ground; it fell on the dew that was on the ground. What is the meaning of this? The dust of the ground speaks of fallen man, man who has become a victim of the Enemy. Remember what the Lord told the serpent:

“…Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of they life…” Genesis 3:14

Now the serpent, as a type of Satan, is a picture of how Satan feeds on the carnal nature of man. What is the hidden prophecy there? When God says “dust shall be thy meat,” the dust speaks of fallen man. Because of his sinful nature, Satan takes advantage of the fallen nature of man to deceive him, to lead him astray; but, when the manna came, the manna fell on the dew, not on the ground. And there is a reason for that. Not on the dust of the ground but on the dew. This shows us the Jesus Christ, though He came into the world, was not connected with the dust of the ground in the sense that He was infected with sin. The dew speaks of the vigor of the Holy Spirit. Before He was born, Mary conceived through the power of the spirit. In other words, he came without sin and later on He proved Himself obedient to the Father. There was no corruption in Him. Amen! He is not connected with fallen humanity; He has no sin. He was tempted but He overcame in all points. Praise His Wonderful Name!
I mentioned that the manna was white in color, which speaks of His purity. In I Peter 1:19, He is called the Lamb without blemish and without spot. Without spot means that He had no outward pollution. Without blemish means He had no inward defects. He was pure within and without. He could touch a leper and not be infected with leprosy. The leper speaks of man in his sin. He could touch the sinner and yet not be defiled with sin. He knew no sin. “Which of you,” He said, “convinceth Me of sin?” (Jn. 8:46). So it is beautiful to see the whiteness of the color of the manna speaking of the spotless purity of the Master.

The manna “was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Ex. 16:31). Song of Solomon 2:3 speaks of the sweetness of the Lord. Indeed, He is sweeter than the honey, isn't He?! Yes, He is sweeter than the honey and the honey comb.

".. .I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."
Song of Solomon 2:3

"My meditation of Him shall be sweet...."
Psalm 104:34

May the Lord enable us to find sweetness in Him as we medi­tate on Him. As we worship Him, we find delight in Him and we will find Him to be sweeter than all the pleasures of this world.

The manna was ground and baked. In Numbers 11:8 this bespeaks the sufferings of the Lord. The Bible speaks of the fact that He groaned and sighed and wept. This is a picture of the grinding of the manna. He was ill-treated by the Jews and spat upon. He was beaten by the soldiers and this speaks of the beating of the manna and of the Christ. On the Cross He faced the fire of God's judgment. The fire is used for baking. He faced the wrath of God's judgment against sin in His own person. We are told that the manna was ground and baked in order to become their food. We should always be grateful for Calvary, for the Lord and for His work of re­demption. Think of how much He suffered for us so that we can receive so great a salvation.
The manna was preserved on the Sabbath. Remember, when it came on the 6th day it came in a double portion, and it did not spoil on the 7th day (Ex. 16:5, 22-27). What does this speak of? The physical body of Jesus, after it was laid in the tomb on Friday, was also in the grave on Saturday. He rose again on the next day, Sunday, the first day of the week. His body saw no corruption. Hallelujah! Just as the manna did not spoil on the 7th day, in like manner Jesus' body did not decay. How wonderful that God can give us these details.

"For thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption."
Psalm 16:10

Therefore, the manna did not spoil on the 7th day.

It was also laid up before the Lord. Aaron gathered an omer and put it in a golden pot of manna which was placed in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle (Ex. 16:33-34). In He­brews 9:24 we see where Jesus represents us in the Holy of Holies in Heaven. He is in the very Presence of the Father and is functioning as our High Priest. The golden pot of manna speaks of the glorified body of Christ. Gold is connected with the glory of God and the life of Jesus is in a glorified body. His humanity is glorified and He is laid up, for He is seated with the Father in the Heavenlies.

The manna was called "angels' food" in Psalm 78:25. Even the holy angels feed on Christ and worship and adore Him. Furthermore, the manna was given in the night. We were in the night of sin and darkness before we came in con­tact with the Lord. The world was facing a night time when Jesus came, but when He came He said, "I am the light of the world" (Jn. 9:5). As the manna came secretly and si­lently, that was how He came the first time, and yet He is available to all who would call upon His Name while the age of grace is still in existence.

Lastly, the manna was hidden. That golden pot of manna was stored up and did not spoil. And it was hidden from the view of the Israelites after they had entered the land. But it was preserved, which is a picture of how Jesus is now hidden from the view of man, but one day He will come out of hiding. He shall return and “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ" (see Rev. 11:15). Now He is functioning as our High Priest, but when He comes to earth, He comes as "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19:16).

There is much revealed about manna which we can apply to our daily lives. May we come to appreciate the Lord Jesus more and more. May we see Him as the Manna and see Him as our food as we journey here on earth. We need to keep our eyes upon Him. We need to live in fellowship with Him. The First Commandment is to "love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:5). And as truly as we love the Lord with that kind of love, which only the Holy Spirit can put into our heart, then we are going to feed on Him. We will find Him to be sweet to our taste. We will discover Him to be the fairest of ten thousand. We will discover Him more and more as the answer to all our needs. He is our portion; He is our bread; He is all that you and I need. May the Lord then give us that strength that we can only receive by coming to Him day by day, so that we can go through the wilderness of this world strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man so that when the wilderness days are over we will enter into our Heavenly inheritance. Amen!