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Preface: When Israel complained of having no food while in the desert wilderness, God rained manna upon them.
1. In the Hebrew, the word is mân (ןָמ) [pronounced mawn], which means what is it; manna. Strong’s #4478 BDB #577.
2. In the Greek, this is manna (μάννα) [pronounced MAHN-nah], which means what is it; the food that nourished the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness; 2) of the manna was kept in the ark of the covenant; 3) symbolically, that which is kept in the heavenly temple for the food of angels and the blessed. The definitions are all from Thayer. Strong’s #3131.
3. When the Jews were in the desert, the grumbled against Moses, their favorite activity it seems, and complained that they had no food to eat. God gave them manna from heaven, which appears to be some kind of a bread-like substance.
4. There are two basic theories about Manna:
a. God miraculously provided this manna each and every morning for the Israelites. Now, in any understanding of this word, this is true. However, the first approach is, God actually created this manna each and every morning. This is the supernatural explanation, and the least likely, in my opinion. I question whether or not God has created anything new after the 6th day (although, I must admit to being at a loss to explain the soul—when God breathes life into each one of us at birth, obviously, a part of this result is a soul—does God create this soul anew each time or has He developed the birthing process to result in a soul being created when He breathes life into the body?).
b. God set into motion, a series of events, back when He created the world, that would provide this manna naturally to the Jews. This would be in line with a natural explanation for most of the plagues against Egypt. That is, huge numbers of insects and frogs were brought into the land of Egypt. We have seen that this can occur if a natural predator is removed from the mix. The speed with which a particular species of animal can reproduce can be mind-boggling when the natural predators are removed. I believe that most of the plagues in Egypt were a result of natural phenomena. However, I lean toward the water being turned to blood as being a miracle, where the actual composition of the water was changed. If any of the descriptions of this substance below are accurate, there is much more going on than the simple production of this substance from the Tarfa tree, as this is provided to the Jews in huge quantities in what is possibly a near-treeless desert.
c. A third theory is that God took some sort of existing material and made it into something which was both edible and versatile.
5. The Biblical describes manna: as “a small round thing,” like the “hoar–frost on the ground,” and “like
coriander seed,” “of the colour of bdellium,” and in taste “like wafers made with honey.” It was capable of
being baked and boiled, ground in mills, or beaten in a mortar.
6. The composition of manna:
a. Barnes tells us that this is the sweet juice from the Tarfa, which is a species of tamarisk. Most of these descriptions will come from Biblical Scholars on Manna below, and go into much greater detail there as well.
b. Although Easton names a couple of similar substances, he also tells us that the manna the Jews enjoyed is entirely different from any such natural substance produced today. Fausset will enumerate this differences below.
c. Strong suggests it is an edible gum, which probably puts him in agreement with Barnes above.
7. God uses real events which happened to real people, to illustrate spiritual truths, which is done throughout Scripture. In fact, when our Lord was incarnated, He taught in the same manner—He used real events about real people, or illustrative events which were common to that era, and these stories taught a variety of spiritual truths. The same were called parables.
a. Manna gave life to a people who, otherwise, would have dropped dead in the desert wilderness. This is a picture of Jesus Christ providing for us. We are slaves in Egypt, unable to purchase our own freedom. We wander through this desert wilderness which is the cosmic system. Jesus Christ gave His body for our sins; He paid for our sins in His body on the cross (which means that God the Father judged Him and punished Him for our sins while He was alive in His human body). In this way, Jesus is the True Bread of Life sent down from heaven by God, so that, whoever eats of his body (believes in Him) will live forever. John 6:47–51: Point of doctrine: He that believes on Me has everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and they are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The entire passage is John 6:30–58.
b. Manna was a provision of God for the people of God which sustained them, regardless of their spiritual
condition. We know this as logistical grace. Unless God is going to take a believer out by the sin unto
death, He continues to provide for them their daily needs. This is the second concept of manna. It
is important to recognize that no one in the New Testament has to use an event of the Old Testament
in order to present a present-day spiritual truth in order for such a comparison to be valid. In fact, our
Lord and Paul and the remainder of the Apostles and New Testament writers only used a few
incidents in the Old Testament to illustrate spiritual truths. There are many more instances of types
and antitypes to be found in Scripture than are unearthed in the New Testament. My point is, Paul
did not, in one of the epistles, tell us that the manna sent by God for the grumbling Israelites
was
illustrative of logistical grace. In fact, Paul never used the term logistical grace. However, logistical
grace is a true doctrine, as is the fact that the manna given by God illustrates the principle of logistical
grace.
8. Interesting points:
a. Fausset points out that there is this strange relation between the natural and the supernatural. God does not ever seem to operate within a vacuum. Despite the many differences between a manna-like substance which occurs naturally in that part of the world, there appears to be also a number of similarities. Along these same lines, the plagues which infested Egypt do not appear to be wholly divorced from Egypt. That is, the insects and frogs were probably native to that general region; it was their numbers which was extraordinary.
9. The writings of others:
This is what others have written concerning manna. Most of the commentary has been slightly edited, primarily to bring them up-to-date and to make them more readable. |
|
Scholar |
Commentary |
Barnes |
“Man” or “man-hut,” i.e. white manna, was the name under which the substance was known
to the Egyptians, and therefore to the Israelites. The manna of the Peninsula of Sinai is the
sweet juice of the Tarfa, a species of tamarisk. It exudes from the trunk and branches in hot
weather, and forms small round white grains. In cold weather it preserves its consistency,
in hot weather it melts rapidly. It is either gathered from the twigs of tamarisk, or from the
fallen leaves underneath the tree. The color is a greyish yellow. It begins to exude in May,
and lasts about six weeks. According to Ehrenberg, it is produced by the puncture of an
insect. It is abundant in rainy seasons, many years it ceases altogether. The whole quantity
now produced in a single year does not exceed 600 or 700 pounds. It is found in the district
between the Wady Gharandel, i. e. Elim, and Sinai, in the Wady Sheikh, and in some other
parts of the Peninsula. When therefore the Israelites saw the “small round thing,” they said
at once “this is manna,” but with an exclamation of surprise at finding it, not under the
tamarisk tree, but on the open plain, in such immense quantities, under circumstances so
unlike what they could have expected: in fact they did not know what it really was, only what
it resembled.
|
Clarke |
[Manna] is a most unfortunate translation, because it not only gives no sense, but it contradicts itself. The Hebrew אה ןָמ (man hu), literally signifies, What is this? for, says the text, they did not what it was, and therefore they could not give it a name. Moses immediately answers the question, and says, This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. From Ex. 16:31 we learn that this substance was afterwards called ןָמ (mân), probably in commemoration of the question they had asked on its first appearance. |
Clarke continued |
What this substance was we know not. It was nothing that was common to the wilderness.
It is evident the Israelites never saw it before, for Moses says so in Deut. 8:3,16 : God fed
you with manna which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; and it is very likely that
nothing of the kind had ever been seen before; and by a pot of it being laid up in the ark, it
is as likely that nothing of the kind ever appeared more, after the miraculous supply in the
wilderness had ceased. It seems to have been created for the present occasion, and, like
Him whom it typified, to have been the only thing of the kind, the only bread from heaven,
which God ever gave to preserve the life of man, as Christ is the true bread that came down
from heaven, and was given for the life of the world. See John 6:31–58.
|
Easton |
Heb. man–hu, “What is that?” the name given by the Israelites to the food miraculously supplied to them during their wanderings in the wilderness (Ex. 16:15–35). The name is commonly taken as derived from man, an expression of surprise, “What is it?” but more probably it is derived from manan, meaning “to allot,” and hence denoting an “allotment” or a “gift.” This “gift” from God is described as “a small round thing,” like the “hoar–frost on the ground,” and “like coriander seed,” “of the colour of bdellium,” and in taste “like wafers made with honey.” It was capable of being baked and boiled, ground in mills, or beaten in a mortar (Ex. 16:23 Num. 11:7). If any was kept over till the following morning, it became corrupt with worms; but as on the Sabbath none fell, on the preceding day a double portion was given, and that could be kept over to supply the wants of the Sabbath without becoming corrupt. Directions concerning the gathering of it are fully given (Ex. 16:16–18, 33 Deut. 8:3, 16). It fell for the first time after the eighth encampment in the desert of Sin, and was daily furnished, except on the Sabbath, for all the years of the wanderings, till they encamped at Gilgal, after crossing the Jordan, when it suddenly ceased, and where they “did eat of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more” (Joshua 5:12). They now no longer needed the “bread of the wilderness.” |
Easton continued |
This manna was evidently altogether a miraculous gift, wholly different from any natural product with which we are acquainted, and which bears this name. The manna of European commerce comes chiefly from Calabria and Sicily. It drops from the twigs of a species of ash during the months of June and July. At night it is fluid and resembles dew, but in the morning it begins to harden. The manna of the Sinaitic peninsula is an exudation from the “manna-tamarisk” tree (Tamarix mannifera), the el-tarfah of the Arabs. This tree is found at the present day in certain well-watered valleys in the peninsula of Sinai. The manna with which the people of Israel were fed for forty years differs in many particulars from all these natural products. |
Easton continued |
Our Lord refers to the manna when he calls himself the “true bread from heaven”
(John 6:31–35, 48–51). He is also the “hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17; compare John 6:49,
John 6:51).
|
Fausset |
There is a connection between the natural manna and the supernatural. The natural is the sweet juice of the tarfa, a kind of tamarisk. It exudes in May for about six weeks from the trunk and branches in hot weather, and forms small round white grains. It retains its consistency in cool weather, but melts with heat. It is gathered from the twigs or from the fallen leaves. The Arabs, after boiling and straining, use it as honey with bread. The color is a greyish-yellow, the taste sweet and aromatic. Ehrenberg says it is produced by an insect's puncture. It abounds in rainy seasons, some years it ceases. About 600 or 700 pounds is the present produce of a year. The region wady Gharandel (Elim) and Sinai, the wady Sheich, and some other parts of the peninsula, are the places where it is found. The name is still its Arabic designation, and is read on the Egyptian monuments (mennu, mennu hut, "white manna".) Gesenius derives it from manah, "to apportion." The supernatural character of the manna of Exodus at the same time appears. |
Fausset continued |
Manna differs from this natural honey-like substance in the following ways: (1) Manna was found not under the tamarisk, but on the surface of the wilderness, after the morning dew had disappeared. (2) The quantity gathered in a single day exceeded the present produce of a year. (3) It ceased on the Sabbath. (4) Its properties were distinct; it could be ground and baked as meal, it was not a mere condiment but nutritious as bread. (5) It was found not merely where it still is, but Israel's whole way to Canaan (and not merely for a month or two each year, but all the year round). |
Fausset continued |
The miracle of manna has all the conditions and characteristics of divine interpositions. (1) Manna was a necessity, for Israel could not otherwise have been sustained in the wilderness without it. (2) Manna had a divine purpose, namely to preserve God's peculiar people on which His whole providential government and man's salvation depended. (3) There is still this strange harmony between the natural and the supernatural; God fed them, not with the food of other regions, but with that of the district. |
Fausset continued |
The local coloring is marked. Moses the writer could neither have been deceived as to the fact, nor could have deceived contemporaries and eye–witnesses. (Speaker's Commentary) The Scripture allusions to it are in Ex. 16:14–36 Num. 11:7–9 Deut. 8:3–16 Joshua 5:12 Psalm 78:24–25 ("angels' food"; not as if angels ate food, but food from the habitation of angels, heaven, a directly miraculous gift), Matt. 4:4 John 6:31–50 1Cor. 10:3. The manna was a "small round thing as the hoar–frost on the ground," falling with the dew on the camp at night. They gathered it early every morning before the sun melted it. |
Fausset continued |
If laid by for any following day except the Sabbath it bred worms and stank. It was like coriander seed and bdellium, white, and its taste as the taste of fresh oil, like wafers made with honey (Num. 11:7–9). Israel subsisted on it for 40 years; it suddenly ceased when they got the first new grain of Canaan. Vulgate, Septuagint, and Josephus (Ant. 3:1, sec. 6) derive manna from Israel's question to one another, maan huw' " 'what is this?' for they knew not what it was." God "gave it to His beloved (in) sleep" (Psalm 127:2), so the sense and context require. Israel each morning, in awaking, found it already provided without toil. Such is the gospel, the gift of grace, not the fruit of works; free to all, and needed by high and low as indispensable for true life. |
Fausset continued |
To commemorate Israel's living on omers or tenth deals of manna one omer was put into a golden pot and preserved for many generations beside the ark. Each was to gather according to his eating, an omer apiece for each in his tent, a command testing their obedience, in which some failed, gathering more but gaining nought by it, for however much he gathered, on measuring it in his tent he found he had only as much as he needed for his family; type of Christian charity, which is to make the superfluity of some supply the needs of others. "that there may be equality" (2Co_8:14-15); "our luxuries should yield to our neighbor's comforts, and our comforts to his necessities" (John Howard). The manna typifies Christ. |
Fausset continued |
(1) It falls from above (John 6:32, etc.) as the dew (Psalm 110:3 Micah 5:7) round the camp, i.e. the visible church, and nowhere else; the gift of God for which we toil not (John 6:28–29); when we were without merit or strength (Rom. 5:6, 8). (2) It was gathered early; so we, before the world's heat of excitement melt away the good of God's gift to us (Psalm 63:1 Hosea 5:15 6:4 Matt. 13:6). (3) A double portion must be gathered for the Sabbath. (4) It was ground in the mill, as Christ was "bruised" for us to become our "bread of life." (5) Sweet as honey to the taste (Psalm 34:8 119:103; 1Peter 2:3). (6) It must be gathered "day by day," fresh each day; so today's grace will not suffice for tomorrow (1Kings 8:59 margin; Matt. 6:11 Luke 11:3). Hoarded up it putrefied; so gospel doctrine laid up for speculation, not received in love and digested as spiritual food, becomes a savor of death not life (1Cor. 8:1). (7) To the carnal it was "dry" food though really like "fresh oil" (Num. 11:6, 11:8 21:5): so the gospel to the worldly who long for fleshly pleasures of Egypt, but to the spiritual it is full of the rich savor of the Holy Spirit (2Cor. 2:14–16). (8) Its preservation in the golden pot in the holiest typifies Jesus, now in the heavenly holiest place, where He gives of the hidden manna to him that overcomes (Rev. 2:17); He is the manna hidden from the world but revealed to the believer, who has now a foretaste of His preciousness; like the incorruptible manna in the sanctuary, the spiritual food offered to all who reject the world's dainties for Christ is everlasting, an incorruptible body, and life in Christ at the resurrection. (9) The manna continued with Israel throughout their wilderness journey; so Christ with His people here (Matt. 28:19). (10) It ceases when they gain the promised rest, for faith then gives place to sight and the
wilderness manna to the fruit of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7
22:2, 14).
|
Gill |
they said one to another, it is manna; not such as is known by that name now, which is only
used in medicine; nor anything that was then known by any such name; but so they called
it, because it was, as Jarchi says, a preparation of food, or food ready prepared for them,
from ה-נָמ, "manah", which signifies to appoint, prepare, and distribute (see Daniel 1:5), so
Christ is appointed of God, and prepared in his purposes and decrees, and delivered out, by
his grace as proper food for his people, who have everyone their portion in due season: for
Kimchi and Ben Melech give the sense of the word, a gift and portion from God; and such
is Christ, the gift of his grace, and an unspeakable one. Some think these words were
spoken by the Israelites on first sight of the manna, by way of question, "Man hu, what is it?"
and so Josephus
|
Gill continued |
and Moses said unto them, this is the bread which the Lord had given you to eat; which he had promised them the day before, and which God had now rained in plenty about them; and which they had as a free gift of His, without any merit and desert of theirs, and without their labour, diligence, and industry, and which they had now power from him to eat of freely and plentifully. |
Matthew Henry |
Next morning God rained manna upon them, which was to be continued to them for their daily bread. 1. That which was provided for them was manna, which descended from the clouds, so that, in some sense, they might be said to live upon the air. It came down in dew that melted, and yet was itself of such a consistency as to serve for nourishing strengthening food, without any thing else. They called it manna, manhu, “What is this?” Either, “What a poor thing this is!” despising it: or, “What a strange thing this is!” admiring it: or, “It is a portion, no matter what it is; it is that which our God has allotted us, and we will take it and be thankful,” Ex. 16:14–15. It was pleasant food; the Jews say that it was palatable to all, however varied their tastes. It was wholesome food, light of digestion, and very necessary (Dr. Grew says) to cleanse them from disorders with which he thinks it probable that they were, in the time of their bondage, more or less infected, which disorders a luxurious diet would have made contagious. By this spare and plain diet we are all taught a lesson of temperance, and forbidden to desire dainties and varieties. |
Henry continued |
2. They were to gather it every morning (Ex. 16:21), the portion of a day in his day, Ex. 16:4. Thus they must live upon daily providence, as the fowls of the air, of which it is said, That which You give them they gather (Psalm 104:28); not today for tomorrow: let the morrow take thought for the things of itself. To this daily raining and gathering of manna our Saviour seems to allude when he teaches us to pray, |
Henry continued |
Give us this day our daily bread. We are hereby taught, (1.) Prudence and diligence in providing food convenient for ourselves and our household. What God graciously gives we must industriously gather; with quietness working, and eating our own bread, not the bread either of idleness or deceit. God's bounty leaves room for man's duty; it did so even when manna was rained: they must not eat till they have gathered. |
Henry continued |
(2.) Contentment and satisfaction with a sufficiency. They must gather, every man according to his eating; enough is as good as a feast, and more than enough is as bad as a surfeit. Those that have most have, for themselves, but food, and raiment, and mirth; and those that have least generally have these: so that he who gathers much has nothing over, and he who gathers little has no lack. There is not so great a disproportion between one and another in the comforts and enjoyments of the things of this life as there is in the property and possession of the things themselves. |
Henry continued |
(3.) Dependence upon Providence: Let no man leave till morning (Ex. 16:19), but let them learn to go to bed and sleep quietly, though they have not a bit of bread in their tent, nor in all their camp, trusting that God, with the following day, will bring them their daily bread.” It was surer and safer in God's store–house than in their own, and would thence come to them sweeter and fresher. Read with this, Matt. 6:25, Take no thought for your life, etc. See here the folly of hoarding. The manna that was laid up by some (who thought themselves wiser and better managers than their neighbours, and who would provide in case it should fail next day), putrefied, and bred worms, and became good for nothing. Note, That proves to be most wasted which is covetously and distrustfully spared. Those riches are corrupted, Jam. 5:2–3. |
Henry continued |
Let us set ourselves to think, [1.] Of that great power of God which fed Israel in the
wilderness, and made miracles their daily bread. What cannot this God do, who prepared
a table in the wilderness, and furnished it richly even for those who questioned whether he
could or no? See Psalm 78:19–20. Never was there such a market of provisions as this,
where so many hundred thousand men were daily furnished, without money and without
price. Never was there such an open house kept as God kept in the wilderness for forty
years together, nor such free and plentiful entertainment given. The feast which Ahasuerus
made, to show the riches of his kingdom, and the honour of his majesty, was nothing to this,
(Esther 1:4). It is said (Ex. 16:21), When the sun waxed hot, it melted; as if what was left
were drawn up by the heat of the sun into the air to be the seed of the next day's harvest,
and so from day to day. [2.] Of that constant providence of God which gives food to all flesh,
for his mercy endures for ever (Psalm 136:25). He is a great house–keeper that provides
for all the creatures. The same wisdom, power, and goodness that now brought food daily
out of the clouds, are employed in the constant course of nature, bringing food yearly out of
the earth, and giving us all things richly to enjoy.
|
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |
man´a (מן, mān; μάννα, mánna): The Hebrew man is probably derived, as Ebers suggests, from the Egyptian mennu, “food.” In Ex._16:15, we have a suggested source of the name, “They said one to another, What is it?” i.e. manhu, which also means, “It is manna” (see margin). |
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia continued |
1. Old Testament References: This substance is described as occurring in flakes or small round grains, literally, “hoax frost”; it fell with the dew (Num. 11:9) and appeared when the dew left the ground (Ex. 16:14); “It was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Ex. 16:31). In Num. 11:8, its taste is described “as the taste of fresh oil,” margin “cakes baked with oil.” “And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came ... unto the borders of the land of Canaan” (Ex. 16:35). It ceased the day after they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain, in the plains of Jericho (Joshua 5:10–12). Although an important article of diet, it was by no means the sole one as seems implied in Num. 21:15; there are plenty of references (e.g. Ex. 17:3 24:5 34:3 Lev. 8:2, 26, 31 Lev. 9:4 10:12 24:5 Num. 7:13, 19 f, etc.) which show that they had other food besides. The food was gathered every morning, “every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted” (Ex. 16:21); a portion of the previous day's gathering bred worms and stank if kept (Ex. 16:20); on the 6th day a double amount was gathered, the Sabbath portion being miraculously preserved (Ex. 16:22–27). A pot – a golden one (Heb. 9:4) – with an omer of manna was “laid up before Yahweh” in the tabernacle (Ex. 16:33). Manna is referred to in Neh. 9:20. It is described poetically as “food from heaven” and “bread of the mighty” (Psalm 78:24 f); as “bread of heaven” (Psalm 105:40); and as “angels' bread” (2 Esdras 1:19 The Wisdom of Solomon 16:20). |
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia continued |
2. New Testament References: In John 6:31–63, our Lord frequently refers to “the manna” or “bread from heaven” as typical of Himself. Paul (1Cor. 10:3) refers to it as “spiritual food,” and in Rev. 2:17 we read, “To him that overcomes, to him will I give of the hidden manna.” Manna, as might be expected, figures largely in rabbinical literature. It was, it is said, adapted to the taste of each individual who could by wishing taste in the manna anything he desired (compare The Wisdom of Solomon 16:21). Manna is reserved as the future food of the righteous (compare Rev. 2:17), for which purpose it is ground in a mill situated in the third heaven (Chag 12b; Tan. Beshallach 22). |
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia continued |
3. Natural Explanations: No substance is known which in any degree satisfies all the requirements of the Scriptural references, but several travelers in the wilderness have reported phenomena which suggest some of the features of the miraculous manna. |
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia continued |
(1) In the Peninsula of Sinai, on the route of the children of Israel, a species of tamarisk, named in consequence by Ebers Tammaris mannifera, is found to exude a sweet, honey-like substance where its bark is pierced by an insect, Gossyparia mannifera. It collects upon the twigs and falls to the ground. The Arabs who gather it to sell to pilgrims call it mann-es-samā, “heavenly manna”; it is white at first but turns yellow; in the early morning it is of the consistency of wax but when the sun is hot it disappears. This substance occurs only after mid-summer and for a month or two at most. |
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia continued |
(2) A second proposal is to identify manna with a lichen - Lecanora esculenta and allied
species - which grows in the Arabian and other deserts upon the limestone. The older
masses become detached and are rolled about by the wind. When swept together by sudden
rain storms in the rainy season they may collect in large heaps. This lichen has been used
by the Arabs in time of need for making bread. It is a quite reasonable form of nourishment
in the desert, especially when eaten with the sugary manna from the trees.
|
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown |
and in the morning . . . a small round thing . . . manna––There is a gum of the same
name distilled in this desert region from the tamarisk, which is much prized by the natives,
and preserved carefully by those who gather it. It is collected early in the morning, melts
under the heat of the sun, and is congealed by the cold of night. In taste it is as sweet as
honey, and has been supposed by distinguished travelers, from its whitish color, time, and
place of its appearance, to be the manna on which the Israelites were fed: so that, according
to the views of some, it was a production indigenous to the desert; according to others, there
was a miracle, which consisted, however, only in the preternatural arrangements regarding
its supply. But more recent and accurate examination has proved this gum of the tarfa–tree
to be wanting in all the principal characteristics of the Scripture manna. It exudes only in
small quantities, and not every year; it does not admit of being baked (Num. 11:8) or boiled
(Ex. 16:23). Though it may be exhaled by the heat and afterwards fall with the dew, it is a
medicine, not food––it is well known to the natives of the desert, while the Israelites were
strangers to theirs; and in taste as well as in the appearance of double quantity on Friday,
none on Sabbath, and in not breeding worms, it is essentially different from the manna
furnished to the Israelites.
|
Keil and Delitzsch |
Then in the morning there came an “effusion of dew round about the camp; and when the
effusion of dew ascended (i.e., when the mist that produced the dew had cleared away),
behold there (it lay) upon the surface of the desert, fine, congealed, fine as the hoar-frost
upon the ground.” The meaning of the αʽπ. λεγ. מחספּס is uncertain. The meaning, scaled
off, scaly, decorticatum, which is founded upon the Chaldee rendering מקלּף, is neither
suitable to the word nor to the thing. The rendering volutatum, rotundum, is better; and better
still perhaps that of Meier, “run together, curdled.” When the Israelites noticed this, which
they had never seen before, they said to one another, הוּא מן, τί ἐστι του?το (lxx), “what is
this?” for they knew not what it was. מן for מה belongs to the popular phraseology, and has
been retained in the Chaldee and Ethiopic, so that it is undoubtedly to be regarded as early
Semitic. From the question, man hu, the divine bread received the name of man
(Exo_16:31), or manna. Kimchi, however, explains it as meaning donum et portio. Luther
follows him, and says, “Mann in Hebrew means ready money, a present or a gift;” whilst
Gesenius and others trace the word to מנה, to divide, to apportion, and render הוּא מן “what
is apportioned, a gift or present.” But the Arabic word to which appeal is made, is not early
Arabic; and this explanation does not suit the connection. How could the people say “it is
apportioned,” when they did not know what it was, and Moses had to tell them, it is the bread
which Jehovah has given you for food? If they had seen at once that it was food sent them
by God, there would have been no necessity for Moses to tell them so.
|
The Net Bible |
The text has: מָן הוּא כִּי לאֹ יָדְעוּ מַה־הוּא (man hu’ ki lo’ yadÿ’u mah hu’). From this statement the name “manna” was given to the substance. מָן for “what” is not found in Hebrew, but appears in Syriac as a contraction of ma den, “what then?” In Aramaic and Arabic man is “what?” The word is used here apparently for the sake of etymology. B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 274) follows the approach that any connections to words that actually meant “what?” are unnecessary, for it is a play on the name (whatever it may have been) and therefore related only by sound to the term being explained. This, however, presumes that a substance was known prior to this account – a point that Deuteronomy does not seem to allow. S. R. Driver says that it is not known how early the contraction came into use, but that this verse seems to reflect it (Exodus, 149). Probably one must simply accept that in the early Israelite period man meant “what?” There seems to be sufficient evidence to support this. See EA 286,5; UT 435; DNWSI 1:157. |
The Net Bible continued |
Jacob (Exodus, 454-55) suggests that Moses was saying to them, “It is not manna. It is the food Yahweh has given you.” He comes to this conclusion based on the strange popular etymology from the interrogative word, noting that people do not call things “what?” |
The Net Bible continued |
For other views see G. Vermès, “‘He Is the Bread’ Targum Neofiti Ex. 16:15,” SJLA 8 (1975):
139-46; and G. J. Cowling, “Targum Neofiti Ex. 16:15,” AJBA (1974-75): 93-105.
|
Scofield |
Manna, type of Christ as the "bread of life," come down from heaven to die "for the life of the world." (John 6:35, 48–51). A "small" thing (Ex. 16:14) having but the taste of "fresh oil." (Num. 11:8) or "wafers with honey" (Ex. 16:31); it typifies Christ in humiliation as presented in Matthew, Mark, and Luke; "having no form nor comeliness; . . . no beauty that we should desire him" (Isa. 53:2). But as such He must be received by faith if we would be saved (John 6:53–58). To meditate upon Christ as He went about among men, doing not His own will but the will of the Father (John 6:38–40) is to feed on the manna. This is, of necessity, the spiritual food of young believers, and answers to "milk" (1Cor. 3:1 1Cor. 3:2). |
Scofield continued |
But Christ in glory, and the believer's present and eternal association with Him there,
answers to "the old corn of the land" (Joshua 5:11) the "meat" of (Heb. 5:13–14) or Christ
as presented in the Epistles of Paul. Compare (2Cor. 5:16).
|
Smith’s Bible Dictionary |
Manna. (what is this?). (Hebrew, man). The most important passages of the Old Testament on this topic are the following: Ex. 16:14–36 Num. 11:7–9 Deut. 11:5, 16 Joshua 5:12 Psalm 78:24–25. |
Smith’s Bible Dictionary continued |
From these passages, we learn that the manna came every morning, except the Sabbath, in the form of a small round seed, resembling the hoar frost, so that it must be gathered early, before the sun became so hot as to melt it; that it must be gathered every day except the Sabbath; that the attempt to lay aside for a succeeding day, except on the day immediately preceding the Sabbath, failed because the substance becoming wormy and offensive; that it was prepared for food by grinding and baking; that its taste was like fresh oil, and like wafers made with honey, equally agreeable to all palates; that the whole nation, of at least 2,000,000, subsisted upon it for forty years; that it suddenly ceased when they first got the new corn of the land of Canaan; and that it was always regarded as a miraculous gift directly from God, and not as a product of nature. |
Smith’s Bible Dictionary continued |
The natural products of the Arabian deserts and other Oriental regions which bear the name of manna have not the qualities or uses ascribed to the manna of Scripture. The latter substance was undoubtedly wholly miraculous, and not, in any respect, a product of nature, though its name may have come from its resemblance to the natural manna. The substance now called manna in the Arabian desert, through which the Israelites passed, is collected in the month of June from the tarfa or tamarisk shrub (Tamarix gallica). |
Smith’s Bible Dictionary continued |
According to Burckhardt, it drops from the thorns on the sticks and leaves with which the ground is covered, and must be gathered early in the day or it will be melted by the sun. The Arabs cleanse and boil it, strain it through a cloth and put it in leathern bottles; and in this way, it can be kept uninjured for several years. They use it like honey or butter with their unleavened bread, but never make it into cakes or eat it by itself. The whole harvest, which amounts to only five or six hundred pounds, is consumed by the Bedouins, "who," says Schaff, "consider it the greatest dainty their country affords." |
Smith’s Bible Dictionary continued |
The manna of European commerce conies mostly from Calabria and Sicily. It's gathered
during the months of June and July from some species of ash, (Ornus europaea and Ornus
rotundifolia), from which it drops in consequence of a puncture by an insect resembling the
locust, but distinguished from it by having a sting under its body. The substance is fluid at
night and resembles the dew, but in the morning it begins to harden.
|
Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary of American English |
A substance miraculously furnished as food for the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness of Arabia. Ex. 16. |
Webster’s 1838 Dictionary continued |
Josephus, Ant.B.3.1. considers the Hebrew word man, to signify what. In conformity with this idea, the seventy translate the passage, Exo 16:15. what is this? which rendering seems to accord with the following words, for they knew not what it was. And in the Encyclopedia, the translators are charged with making Moses fall into a plain contradiction. Art. Manna. But Christ and his apostles confirm the common version: "Not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead." John 6:58. Heb 9:4. And we have other evidence, that the present version is correct; for in the same chapter, Moses directed Aaron to "take a pot and put a homer full of manna therein." Now it would be strange language to say, put an homer full of what, or what is it. So also verse 35. "The children of Israel ate manna forty years, &c." In both verses, the Hebrew word is the same as in verse 15. |
Webster’s 1838 Dictionary continued |
2. In the materia medica, the juice of a certain tree of the ash-kind, the Fraxinus ornus, or
flowering ash a native of Sicily, Calabria, and other parts of the south of Europe. It is either
naturally concreted, or exsiccated and purified by art. The best manna is in oblong pieces
or flakes of a whitish or pale yellow color, light, friable, and somewhat transparent. It is a mild
laxative.
|
Wesley |
What is this? Manna descended from the clouds. It came down in dew melted, and yet was
itself of such a consistency as to serve for nourishing strengthening food, without any thing
else: It was pleasant food; the Jews say it was palatable to all, according as their tastes
were. It was wholesome food, light of digestion. By this spare and plain diet we are all taught
a lesson of temperance, and forbidden to desire dainties and varieties.
|
Obviously, that may be more than you actually want to read. My thinking is that, even though this information is repetitive, I attempted to include everything here which is public domain. |
10. The word manna is found in the following verses: Ex. 16:31, 33 Ex. 16:35 Num. 11:6, 7, 9 Deut. 8:3, 16 Joshua 5:12 Neh. 9:20 Psalm 78:24 John 6:31 John 6:49 John 6:58 Heb. 9:4 Rev. 2:17
11. Before going into all of these passages, a few words needs to be said about type and antitype, something
which we find used in the Bible again and again.
a. A type is a person, thing or event which really existed or really happened, but which teaches a spiritual truth—generally a truth which will be more fully revealed in the future. Most of the types are found in the Old Testament.
b. The antitype is a person, thing or event which is a later fulfillment of the type. Most of the antitypes are found in the New Testament.
c. In the Bible, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of types and antitypes—and not every single one
is specifically pointed out to us. Let me offer one illustration: Abraham took his son, the son whom
he loved, the son through whom the promises of God would be fulfilled, and, at God’s orders, took him
up to the top of a mountain (I suspect that it was Golgotha) to offer him up to God as a human
sacrifice. When Abraham had set up the altar on which to offer his son Isaac, and had put the blade
to Isaac’s throat, God stopped him and indicated that there was a goat caught in the thicket, and that
goat would be offered up instead of Isaac. Quite obviously, this illustrates God the Father offering up
His Son, Jesus Christ, through Whom, the promises of God would be fulfilled, as the offering for our
sins. This offering was a substitutionary offering; we deserve eternal death; our Lord endured our
eternal suffering and pain in the space of 3 hours.
Abraham taking Isaac up to the mountain to offer
him up is the type; Jesus dying for our sins as our substitute, is the antitype.
d. Type and antitype is probably the greatest illustration of the Bible being the Word of God. Only God would know the end from the beginning, and therefore record specific historical events which would illustrate later spiritual fulfillments. Types and antitypes are impossible for a responsible scholar to refute, because the evidence is clear that the Old Testament predated the New Testament. Even if you bought into the goofy JEPD theories, and that no book of the Old Testament was written by who we think it was written by, and they were all written centuries later (which theories are hogwash); even accepting that false premise, the Old Testament and all of its types precedes the New Testament and all of its antitypes.
e. We, in retrospect, can understand and locate the many types and antitypes in Scripture; for those who recorded Old Testament Scripture, which is filled with types, they did not have a full understanding of what their types illustrated or even that what they were recording were types to later be fulfilled by antitypes.
f. The antitype fully and completely explains the type; we do not fully understand the type, which is given to us first, until we understand the antitype, which is written about later.
g. Man, in and of himself, is incapable of recording page after page after page after page of types, which have a later fulfillment—sometimes a millennium or two later.
h. I mention this because the manna given by God to Israel is a type. The antitype is Jesus Christ. The manna also illustrates a spiritual truth (also an antitype), which is that God will provide for us our basic needs under any circumstance.
12. Passages where manna is spoken of in the Old Testament (as an aside, some of these passages, like Psalm 105 do not use the term manna):
a. Ex. 16:1–36: And they pulled up stakes from Elim. And all the congregation of the sons of Israel came into the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their going out from the land of Egypt. And all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. And the sons of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, in our sitting by the fleshpots, in our eating bread to satisfaction. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill all this assembly with hunger. And Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, I AM! Bread will rain from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather the matter of a day in its day, so that I may test them, whether they will walk in My Law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day they shall prepare what they bring in. And it shall be double what they gather day by day. And Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, At evening you shall know that Jehovah has brought you from the land of Egypt; and in the morning you shall see the glory of Jehovah, in His hearing your murmurings against Jehovah. And we, what are we that you murmur against us? And Moses said, When Jehovah gives you flesh to eat in the evening, and bread in the morning, to satisfaction; when Jehovah hears your murmurings which you are murmuring against Him, you will see. And what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Jehovah. And Moses spoke to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, Come near before Jehovah; for He has heard your murmurings. And it happened, as Aaron was speaking to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, they turned toward the wilderness. And, behold! The glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud! And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel. Speak to them, saying, Between the evenings you shall eat flesh; and in the morning you shall be satisfied with bread; and you shall know that I am Jehovah your God. And it happened in the evening: the quail came up and covered the camp. And in the morning a layer of dew was around the camp. And the layer of dew went up, and, behold, something small was on the face of the wilderness, scalelike, small like the hoarfrost on the earth. And the sons of Israel looked. And they said, each one to his brother, What is that? For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, That is the bread which Jehovah has given to you for food. This is the thing which Jehovah commanded. Gather from it, each one according to the mouth of his eating; an omer for a head. By the number of your souls you shall take for each man who is in your tent. And so the sons of Israel did. And they gathered; the one gathering much and the one gathering little. And they measured with an omer. And the one gathering much did not have too much. And the one gathering little did not have any need. Each one gathered according to the mouth of his eating. And Moses said to them, Do not let anyone leave from it until morning. And they did not listen to Moses. And some left from it until morning; and it became rotten with maggots, and stunk. And Moses was angry against them. And they gathered it in the morning, each one in the morning according to the mouth of his eating. And it melted in the heat of the sun. And it came about on the sixth day, they gathered double bread, two omers for one. And all the leaders of the congregation came and reported to Moses. And he said to them, That is what Jehovah said, Tomorrow is a rest, a holy Sabbath to Jehovah. What you will bake, bake. And boil what you will boil. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until the morning. And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses commanded. And it did not stink and no maggot was in it. And Moses said, Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to Jehovah. Today you will not find it in the field. You shall gather it six days, and on the seventh is a Sabbath; in it none shall be found. And it happened on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and did not find any. And Jehovah said to Moses, Until when do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? Behold! Because Jehovah has given the Sabbath to you, therefore He is giving to you two days of bread on the sixth day. Each one of you remain in his place. Do not let anyone go out from his place on the seventh day. And the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called its name, Manna. And it was like the seed of coriander, white; and its taste like cakes with honey. And Moses said, This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded, Fill an omer from it, to keep for your generations, so that they may see the bread which I caused you to eat in the wilderness, as I brought you out from the land of Egypt. And Moses said to Aaron, Take one pitcher, and put there the fullness of an omer of manna, and lay it up before Jehovah, to keep for your generations. Even as Jehovah commanded Moses, Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to keep it. And the sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until their coming into an inhabited land. They ate the manna until their coming to the border of the land of Canaan. And the omer was the tenth of an ephah.
i. The problem of no food occurred within two months of leaving Egypt. However, the key to these events is the order in which they occurred and what they all represent. Now, so there is no confusion, all of these things are literal, historical events. They really happened. However, God the Holy Spirit recorded these particular events in order to relate a spiritual narrative to us. Do you recall how Jesus, again and again and again, spoke in parables? He would tell a story, but this story would relate something different to us; His parables would reveal to the listeners some spiritual truth. This was not some arbitrary choice on the part of our Lord. He did not simply say, “Hey, I think I will mess with their minds and speak to them in parables.” GOD HAD BEEN SPEAKING TO THE JEWS IN PARABLES FOR THE PAST 200 YEARS! Why should He do things differently now? These are real historical events, and right along side each real historical event is a spiritual meaning.
ii. Now leaving Egypt, where the people of Jacob were enslaved; being baptized into the water of the Sea of Reeds; and then emerging on the other side of this river or sea, no longer enslaved, free men, represents salvation. To be specific, this represents Old Testament salvation. Ex. 14
iii. Ex. 15 is a celebration of this salvation in song, which represents the limited Word of God available to them at that time. At the end of Ex. 15, we have water being provided for the Israelites, which can represent salvation or the water of the Word. Here, what was bitter water was made sweet—the Word of God prior to salvation, gave the people nothing; it was bitter to them. After all, until we believe in Jesus Christ, the Word of God condemns us; it is bitter. After salvation, the water of the Word is sweet. It is a new thing to us.
iv. This takes us to Ex. 16, where manna is introduced for the first time. Manna represents two things to us: our daily sustenance (which Bob Thieme called logistical grace) and our daily spiritual sustenance, which is Bible doctrine. If you doubt this, then let me quote to you Ex. 16:4: And Jehovah said to Moses, Behold, I AM! Bread will rain from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather the matter of a day in its day, so that I may test them, whether they will walk in My Word [Law] or not.
v. This all begins with Gen X grumbling and complaining again. Back in Egypt, which represents their life in slavery, they ate pots of meat and bread until they were full. You read their complaints and you cannot help but wonder, are these people related to the real world? They have just come out of slavery, and it got so horrid, that these people began to call out to God for deliverance. Now they look back and think, “We used to have roasts going in the crock pots all the time, and we just sat around and ate great food all day long.” Did you ever look back on your own unsaved life like this? Chasing women, all night drinking binges, hanging out with friends all the time and talking trash. This is what the Jews were doing, and part of the reason why is, they were unsustained from day to day. They needed more than what they had.
vi. God rained bread upon them. Every day, the Jews would wake up, and it was if the McDonald’s truck had dropped off a ton of Sausage and Biscuit breakfast sandwiches. Every day, they needed to gather enough for their daily needs. So God provides for us, for the most part. What we need to sustain us is given to us every day. The same is true of Bible doctrine. We are given enough to get us by every day. You do not have to turn freakish, quit your job, and listen to Bible doctrine for 8 hours a day—not even as a newbie. Now, of course, some people are going to get enthusiastic and listen to more than an hour of Bible teaching each day. That’s fine, but that is not required. You don’t eat enough food at any given meal to get you through the next week. You eat enough to get by until the next meal.
vii. The first time the Jews saw the manna on the ground, which became visible after the morning dew evaporated, they said, “What is it?” which, in Hebrew, is manna.
viii. Although God specified the amount of manna which was supposed to be gathered up per person, those who gathered too little, had enough to eat; and those who gathered too much, did not have excess. This has two applications: when it comes to Bible doctrine, if you make an honest attempt to take in Bible doctrine, while filled with the Spirit, you are going to get enough spiritual information to get you through the day. When it comes to your own daily grind, in order to provide for yourself and for your family, you can still only gather up enough for your daily necessities.
ix. When Jews intentionally attempted to gather too much manna—so that they could store enough away for an extra day, the manna simply spoiled before the next day, and it would become malodorous and infested with worms. The idea is, we do not need in excess of what God has provided for us. When it comes to personal possessions, when we get carried away in this regard, these things become a curse on us. I live in a neighborhood where one of the issues is the boat dock and how it should be run. These are people who, when compared to the world population, live in the top 1%. Now, I have been to the neighborhood meetings maybe twice and I have never seen such angry, unhappy people. These are people who have gathered too much manna and it is becoming malodorous and it is teeming with worms.
x. What the Jews learned to do was to gather the proper amount for them, day in and day out, and to leave the rest of it out on the ground, where the sun would melt the manna. Again, two applications: you will learn what is the proper amount of doctrine to take in every day, and it will get you through the day. You are going to have a plethora of questions, and, now and again, you will even encounter a forum where you can ask these questions; however, at any given time, you are not going to know everything or have all of your question answered. Now, when it comes to your day-to-day work in order to provide for yourself and your family, you are going to find that there is a balance to be had. Every man wants to provide for his family; but there is a balance. That is, you cannot work so many hours that you have no time with your family. Your wife and children need attention. If you are the woman of the house, and you are taking on another job, you have to be careful if you have abandoned your children or whether you are giving the proper amount of time to your husband and children. There are a huge number of two-job families where, at first, they were trying just to catch up, but eventually, they were simply working to buy more and more stuff. This destroys your children. A child needs a mother and a father; not ipods and a tv in his room. When you attempt to gather too much manna to set it aside for tomorrow, it will become worm-infested and it will stink.
xi. In the evening, God provided quail for their meat of the day. At some unspecified point, this was discontinued.
xii. For the Jews, one day was different, and that was the day before the Sabbath. On that day, they were to gather enough manna for 2 days, so that they would not work on the Sabbath. The idea is, the Sabbath is holy—it represents God’s perfection, His completed creation, after which He was done creating.
xiii. A jar of manna was to be kept for generations as a testimony to God’s provision for Israel in the desert. We will later find out, in the New Testament, that this was kept in the Ark of God. In Ex. 16:34, we are told the pot of manna was kept before the Testimony, which is reasonably understood to be the Ark of Testimony.
xiv. Israel ate this manna for 40 years, until they entered into the Land of Promise.
xv. After this, God gave these people abundant water from the rock (Ex. 17:1–7). The living waters flowing from the rock represent salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. In several instances, our Lord tells those he is with, “Drink from My waters and you will never thirst again.” So, you may complain, weren’t these Jews already saved? Wasn’t there a parallel already drawn to salvation? Yes, however, this is New Testament salvation—Jesus Christ has come in the first advent and He offers Himself to Israel as the Water of Life.
xvi. Then, immediately afterward, Israel comes across Amalek in the desert, and there is a war. The gist of this is, after we are saved, we become a part of the Angelic Conflict. Our place here in the Angelic Conflict has little to do with our own innate abilities. When Moses lifted up his arms, Israel would begin to win; when he lowered his arms, Israel would begin to lose. So, the key in the Angelic Conflict is Moses, who is a type of Christ. The last thing that we read here is, “The Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.” In our lives on this earth, we never step away with from the Angelic Conflict. We will be involved in a spiritual war from generation to generation. Ex. 17:8–16.
b. Num. 11:4–21, 31–34: And the mixed multitude among them lusted with a great lust; and the sons of Israel also turned back and wept, and said, Who shall cause us to eat flesh? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; and now our soul withers. There is nothing except this manna before our eyes. And the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium resin gum. And the people went around and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in a pan, and made it into cakes. And its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew came down on the camp by night, the manna came down on it. And Moses heard the people weeping by its families, each at the door of his tent; and the anger of Jehovah glowed exceedingly, and in the eyes of Moses it was evil. And Moses said to Jehovah, Why have You done evil to Your servant; and why have I not found grace in Your eyes to put the burden of all this people on me? I, have I conceived all this people? I, have I begotten it, that You say to me, Carry it in your bosom as the foster father bears the suckling, to the land which You have sworn to its fathers? Where shall I get flesh to give to all this people? For they weep to me, saying, Give to us flesh that we may eat. I am not able, I alone, to bear all this people, for it is too heavy for me; and if You deal thus with me, please quickly kill me, if I have found grace in Your eyes, and let me not look on my affliction. And Jehovah said to Moses, Assemble to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you have known that they are elders of the people, and its officers. And you shall take them to the tabernacle of the congregation; and they shall station themselves there with you. And I shall come down and speak with you there; and I will take of the spirit which is upon you, and will put it on them; and they will bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. And you shall say to the people, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh. For you have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who shall give us flesh, for we had good in Egypt? And Jehovah shall give flesh to you, and you shall eat. You shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days; but to a month of days, until it comes out of your nostrils, and it shall become to you a loathsome thing; because you have despised Jehovah, who is in your midst, and weep before Him, saying, Why is it that we have come out of Egypt? And Moses said, The people in whose midst I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and You, You have said, I shall give flesh to them, and they shall eat a month of days. And a wind went forth from Jehovah and cut off quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as a day's journey here, and as a day's journey there, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the land. And the people rose up all that day, and all that night, and the day after, and gathered the quails; he who had least had gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves around the camp. The flesh was yet between their teeth, it was not yet cut off, and the anger of Jehovah glowed among the people. And Jehovah struck among the people with a very great plague. And one called the name of that place, The Graves of Lust; for there they buried the people who lusted.
i. This occurred sometime later. Apparently, God had stopped providing quail in the evening for meat for the Israelites and now they were lusting after some meat.
ii. They had grown tired of manna and began to reminisce about their idyllic life in slavery to Egypt, about the fish and the leeks and the garlic which they once enjoyed.
iii. This speaks of believers who have given into their lusts and they begin to desire the life that they once had, when they were in slavery to sin and sinned almost without conscience.
iv. God gave them what they desired in abundance, and they died the sin unto death.
v. Believers, in the Christian life, do lose their way. If they give into their lusts too much, there is a point at which they are not coming back, and God lets them die the sin unto death.
c. Deut. 8:3–4: And He has humbled you, and caused you to hunger, and caused you to eat the manna, which you had not known, and your fathers had not known, in order to cause you to know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man shall live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of Jehovah. Your clothing did not wear out on you, and your foot did not swell, these forty years.
i. In Deuteronomy, Moses summarizes to the people what they have gone through and how God has been with them all of this time. He is now speaking to the Generation of Promise, as Gen X has died out.
ii. He reminds the people that God provided them with all their necessities in the desert.
iii. Their clothing did not wear out, their shoes did not fall apart, and their feet did not swell up from all the walking. I believe the comparison here is to the resurrection body, which God will give to all believers.
iv. Again, note the close association of manna with the Word of God, bolded above.
d. Deut. 8:16–20: God made you eat manna in the wilderness, which your fathers did not know; that He might humble you and that He might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; that you not say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. But you shall remember Jehovah your God, for it is He who gives to you power to get wealth; that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if you shall forget Jehovah your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you today that perishing you shall perish; as the nations that Jehovah makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God.
i. Moses reminds the people that what God provided for them was on the basis of grace.
ii. If, in spite of all that God has given them, they turn away to chase after other gods, Moses assures them that they will perish.
iii. Bear in mind, these other gods can be anything that your soul lusts after, which you put above Bible doctrine.
e. Joshua 5:10–12: And the sons of Israel camped in Gilgal, and prepared the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plains of Jericho. And they ate the old grain of the land on the morrow of the Passover, unleavened bread and roasted grain, in this same day. And the manna ceased on the next day after they ate of the old grain of the land. And there was no more manna to the sons of Israel, but they ate the produce of the land of Canaan in that year.
i. When the Jews entered into the Land of Promise, they were able to eat the grain of the land, so that God no longer needed to provide manna for them.
ii. There will be a point at which that we enter into the presence of God. The way in which He provides for us and sustains us will change dramatically.
f. Neh. 9:15–17, 20–21: And You gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst. And You said to them that they should go in to possess the land which You had lifted up Your hand to give them. But they and our fathers acted presumptuously, and hardened their necks, and did not listen to Your commands. And they refused to hear, and were not mindful of Your wonders which You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a leader to return them to their bondage. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and did not forsake them. You also gave Your good Spirit to teach them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years You sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.
i. This is a public prayer in the book of Nehemiah.
ii. God’s continued provision for Israel is recognized, as well as their hardness of heard.
iii. God sustained these Jews in the desert with water and manna, even though they deserved death. In fact, in the desert, where they all should have died, they lacked nothing.
g. Psalm 78:23–25: And He commanded the fine clouds above; and He opened the doors of the heavens; and He rained on them manna to eat; yea, He gave the grain of the heavens to them. Man ate the bread of the mighty; He sent them food to the full.
i. Psalm 78 is a psalm which recalls Israel’s stubbornness and God’s faithfulness.
ii. Despite their repeated, failures, God provided them meat and manna.
h. Psalm 105:39–42: He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. He asked, and He brought quail; and satisfied them with the food from the heavens. He opened the rock, and waters gushed out; they went in the dry places like a river. For He remembered His holy Word and His servant Abraham.
i. This portion of Psalm 105 is all about what God provided for Israel in the desert. God gave them a cloud cover in the day, to shield them from the sun; He gave them light at night. Moses asked for the people, and God sent them manna and meat.
ii. When they needed water, God provided them with water.
iii. God saw to all of the needs of the Jews in the desert wilderness.
13. New Testament passages which mention manna:
a. Matt. 4:1–4: Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. And when the tempter came to Him, He said, If You are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
i. This passage does not make a direct reference to manna, but quotes from Deut. 8:3.
ii. In Deut. 8, Moses illustrates how God had taken care of Israel in the desert wilderness, and indicated that man ought to be not simply sustained by food, but by God’s Word. Moses’ point of reference was the manna provided by God for Israel in the desert.
iii. See also Luke 4.
b. John 6:31–58: Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written "He gave them bread out of Heaven to eat." (Psalm 78:24) Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread out of Heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread out of Heaven. For the bread of God is He coming down out of Heaven and giving life to the world. Then they said to Him, Lord, always give us this bread. Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of life; the one coming to Me will not at all hunger, and the one believing into Me will not thirst, never! But I said to you that you also have seen Me and did not believe. All that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me, and the one coming to Me I will in no way cast out. For I have come down out of Heaven, not that I should do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of the Father sending Me, that of all that He has given Me, I shall not lose any of it, but shall raise it up in the last day. And this is the will of the One sending Me, that everyone seeing the Son and believing into Him should have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Then the Jews murmured about Him, because He said, I am the Bread coming down out of Heaven. And they said, Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph, of whom we know the father and the mother? How does this One now say, I have come down out of Heaven? Then Jesus answered and said to them, Do not murmur with one another. No one is able to come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. It has been written in the Prophets, They "shall" all "be taught of God." So then everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to Me; not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One being from God, He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, The one believing into Me has everlasting life. I am the Bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. This is the Bread coming down out of Heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And indeed the bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Then the Jews argued with one another, saying, How can this One give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one partaking of My flesh and drinking of My blood has everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. The one partaking of My flesh and drinking of My blood abides in Me, and I in him. Even as the living Father sent Me, and I live through the Father; also the one partaking Me, even that one will live through Me. This is the Bread which came down out of Heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and died; the one partaking of this Bread will live forever.
i. Jesus Christ presents Himself as the bread from heaven, the Bread of Life, the bread sent by the Father. All who believe in Him will never hunger again.
ii. The key is believing in Jesus Christ.
iii. The emphasis in this passage is upon salvation resulting in eternal sustenance.
iv. The Bread which our Lord offers us is His flesh, whereby He is indicating that He gives His own body that we might live.
v. Jesus does not interpret manna as God’s daily provision for us or as Bible doctrine in the soul, but as His Own body given for us, when God the Father would lay our sins upon the body of God the Son. By the way, the key here is not our Lord’s physical body, but the fact that, He became a man, as we, in order to die for our sins. His physical death marked the completion of His death for our sins, but prior to that, He received while alive in His body, the proper judgment for all of our sins.
c. 1Cor. 10:1–6, 11: Furthermore, my brothers, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and they all ate of the same spiritual food; and they all drank the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
i. Paul speaks to the Corinthians, who are a mixture of Jews and Gentiles, and tells them about Israel’s march through the desert, and how that these things illustrate contemporary spiritual doctrines.
ii. Paul approaches this from the standpoint of, don’t make the same mistakes that Israel made. In retrospect, it is clear that God was with Israel every step of the way, and equally clear that they, despite the great signs and wonders that they observed, did not seem to be fully aware of God’s care and Presence.
iii. Although Paul does not specifically go off onto a tangent of type and antitype, when he writes of manna as being spiritual food and the water being spiritual drink, and that the Rock which followed them was Christ, it is clear that Paul regularly taught type and antitype, but that was simply not the thrust of the context of this passage.
d. Heb. 9:3–6: But behind the second veil is a tabernacle, being called Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant covered around on all sides with gold, in which was the golden pot having the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it the cherubs of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat (about which now is not enough time to speak piece by piece). And these having been prepared thus, the priests go into the first tabernacle through all, completing the services.
i. The writer of Hebrews spends some time explaining some of the meaning behind the rituals of the Old Testament.
ii. In this passage, He merely gives a descriptive background without assigning any meaning to anything.
iii. It is in this passage, that we find all that was kept in the Ark of the Covenant: a golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the table of the Ten Commandments.
iv. As a matter of interest, as we have already seen, the pot of manna being kept in the Ark was implied in the Old Testament. Although it may have been known the Aaron’s rod that budded was in the Ark, I do not recall any Scripture which even implies this in the Old Testament. However, we are told that the tables of the Law were placed in the Ark both here and in the Old Testament.
(1) Since we are here, let’s go off on a tangent about the meaning of these things. The Tables of the Law, the Ten Commandments, condemn us.
(2) The manna represents both our Lord’s body which was given for us and it represents God’s provision for us on earth, in this desert wilderness where we live.
(3) Aaron’s rod that budded represents the resurrection, both of out Lord and later, us.
(4) The Ark itself represents Jesus Christ and His death for our salvation and the Angelic Conflict. However, we will get into that later.
(5) Bob Thieme Jr. says these 3 items represent sin from 3 different angles. However, at this point in time, I cannot recall exactly how he put this.
e. Rev. 2:7: The one who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To the one overcoming, I will give him to eat from the hidden manna. And I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name having been written, which no one knows except the one receiving it.
i. This final passage is fascinating, as our Lord is speaking to John about the hidden manna. I believe what is in view here is, eternal reward as related to our eternal sustenance.
ii. It is possible that it refers to what God has provided for us on this earth that we do not see.
iii. I believe that the white stone is related to assignment by lots. I have not exegeted this passage, so I am venturing a guess that this refers to one’s spiritual gifts?
I realize that this abbreviated doctrine may seem long, but the full doctrine runs about 25 pages. |