And it came to pass in the evening, that quails came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay round the camp.
Israel had complained against God in the desert. His answer came as food, not punishment — and commentators read both the evening birds and the morning dew as pointing far beyond one meal.
God had every reason to rebuke them. Notice what He sent instead.
But grace, without judgment, answers their murmuring, and provides for their need. Jehovah heard them, but did not scold them. They cried for bread, and He rained it down from heaven. He gave them flesh every evening, and bread every morning.
Notice also how the bread reached them.
So divine grace ministers, and they are dependent entirely upon it. No human hands gave this bread. God Himself showers it around their tents in the night while they sleep.
The birds settled on the camp in the evening and met plain, physical hunger. One writer asks what that teaches.
Does it not tell us of the provision God makes for our bodily needs? After the work of the day the body needs refreshment... He who sent the quails is the same One who said, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow"... And just as the evening quails meet the body's needs, so the morning bread teaches us to begin each day with Him who alone sustains the soul... The quails are as much His gift as the bread; both are of His grace. The quails, since they only meet the body's needs, are not laid up before the Lord, but the manna, the bread from heaven, is.
The evening gift told Israel something about God. The morning gift showed them more.
We take our stand with the hungry people at the end of the anxious day. And look — "In the evening quail came up and covered the camp." Here was the flesh they wanted. Jehovah, their salvation, had not appointed Israel to perish! It was He who had brought them out from the land of Egypt, and this the quails showed to Israel. But there was more — in the morning they were to see the glory of Jehovah... It was God's glory in the wilderness — it was the gift of God.
The proportions of the text carry a message.
Only part of one verse deals with the miracle of the quails. All the rest of our chapter gives the details of the manna. That is because the manna is a picture fulfilled in Christ, the wilderness food of His saints. The Lord's own words in John 6 make this clear. The manna was the picture, but He is the "true bread from heaven."
The same writer looks at the flight itself, and at what happened when the miracle came again later, under the law:
The word of the Lord came true in an extraordinary flight of quails that evening. This bird migrates and is easy to catch, but the huge numbers settling on the camp made the event a miracle. Nothing more is said here about them. But when this miracle was repeated under the law, judgment followed, as we see in Numbers 11:31-34.
One writer sees the order as deliberate: flesh before bread, evening before morning.
A flight of quails comes before the manna, in the evening. It supplies the people with the flesh they had been promised. We know well what this death as the food of life means, so it raises no difficulty here. The Lord Himself, in His sermon on this text of manna (John 6), assures us that we must not only eat His flesh, but drink His blood, or we have no life in us. His person and His work are both necessary to us. And His sacrifice must come first. In the same way, Israel could eat the lamb only inside the house sprinkled with blood. So the quails come first, and in the evening.
Commentators differ on what the dew pictures. One connects it with the Holy Spirit:
But notice, it was in connection with the dew that the manna came. It is the Holy Spirit who makes Christ our food; and may there not be a fitness in the dew being withdrawn so that the manna may be seen? The Spirit always presents Christ and none but Him. But the same things that removed the dew also melted the manna. The sun of this world soon drives away, as far as our enjoyment goes, what should be our food.
Another reads the same dew as a picture of Scripture:
Water in Scripture is a figure of the word of God in its cleansing or purifying power. The Israelites got manna in connection with dew — we receive Christ through the word.
- Murmuring — Israel complained, and God did not punish them. Grace answered with supper and breakfast.
- Gift — No human hand brought it. God scattered it around their tents while they slept, so they lived on pure dependence.
- Evening — The quails proved that He who brought them out would feed them. God cares for plain bodily need.
- Morning — The evening gave proof. The morning gave glory: God's own gift in the wilderness.
- Christ — Half a verse for the quails, a chapter for the manna. Flesh first, then bread: His sacrifice, then His life as our daily food.
And when the dew that lay [round it] was gone up, behold, on the face of the wilderness there was [something] fine, granular, fine as hoar-frost, on the ground.
The people had grumbled for food, and God answered by covering the desert floor with something no one had ever seen before. This verse describes what Israel woke up to. Commentators read every detail — its smallness, its shape, its link with the dew — as a picture of Christ given for His people in the wilderness.
Older translations read "a small round thing, as small as the frost on the ground." Several writers below comment on that word "round."
The manna came after the people complained.
God stamped the character of grace on this gift of the manna, given to meet the people's need. Their grumbling should have brought down judgment. Instead, God met it by supplying this food.
What they saw had never been on earth before, and they had no name for it.
And when the dew lifted, a new thing appeared, one which had never been on earth before. "Manna?" — "What is this?" — the people exclaimed. It was God's glory in the wilderness — it was the gift of God.
Jesus took up the story of the manna and applied it to Himself.
This then is the meaning of the manna: the bread which God gave the Israelites to eat in the wilderness. It is therefore the proper wilderness food for the Lord's people. The Jews once said to our Lord, "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" He replied: "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." (John 6:32-33.) The manna, then, is clearly a type of Christ — a picture of Him as He was in this world. He came down from heaven, and He becomes the food of His people as they pass through the wilderness.
Two words describe how it looked: small, and round. Each says something about Jesus.
Second, it looked like "a small round thing," as small as the tiny specks of frost. The Son of God came down from heaven into manhood, so that He might give His flesh for the life of the world. In doing so He did indeed make Himself small and of no account in the eyes of men. It was also round, not angular and uneven. In the same way, in Christ once humbled here, there was an evenness that came from perfection in every detail.
Another writer reads the round shape differently: it shows how easy Christ was to reach.
The manna was round, picturing how accessible Christ is. A round thing is not like a square or an oval. Wherever you touch its edge, you are the same distance from its center. So the round shape shows how easy our Lord was to reach — young and old, rich and poor, religious and irreligious. Think of the woman who was a sinner, and Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven demons were cast. Think of the dying thief, and the children whom the disciples would have driven away. All alike could reach Him and be blessed.
It lay on the ground, and it looked like nothing special.
It is on the ground, so they must stoop to gather it. It lies on the face of the wilderness — something fine, as if pounded to pieces, fine as the frost on the ground. It does not look like much. It carries marks as if of rough handling. It reminds us of the prophet's words: "no beauty that we should desire Him." "What is it?" they say; for they did not know what it was. "The world knew Him not."
The manna lay where the dew had been.
The manna was found where the dew of heaven had fallen around the camp. The barren wilderness received the dew on its face. The moisture gathered unseen and fell from above. Where it settled on the ground, God spread the angels' food for man — "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." So we have both before us: the Spirit of God, who presents Christ to us, and Christ our food... We must gather our spiritual food diligently, day by day, early in the morning before the sun is up.
Older translations add the word "Behold" here. One writer turns it straight on the reader.
"Behold" — on the face of the wilderness at this very moment, despite all the bareness and roughness of your path. Behold, for you, God's own provision. Stoop, gather it up, and it will be sweet to your taste, and it will supply strength to you for all your desert way! Yes, weak as you are, surrounded by sorrow as you are, or, sadly, proud as you are, it is there waiting for you... not covered up, but out in the open... It is for every saint of God.
- Grace — Their grumbling should have brought judgment. God sent food instead, and stamped the gift with His own grace.
- Gift — What lay on the sand had never existed before. It was the gift of God, and it was God's glory in the wilderness.
- Small — Fine as frost, lying on the ground, with nothing about it to attract. Coming down into manhood, the Son of God made Himself of no account in men's eyes.
- Round — Even in every detail, and near at every point. The sinful woman, the dying thief and the children could all reach Him.
- Gather — It is not hidden but out in the open, waiting for every saint of God. Stoop early, take it daily, and it feeds the whole desert way.
And the children of Israel saw [it], and said one to another, What is it? for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, This is the bread which Jehovah has given you to eat.
Israel had grumbled for food in the desert, and the next morning something they had never seen lay on the ground. Their name for it was a question, and Moses answered by naming the Giver.
Israel saw the small round thing on the ground and had no name for it. Their name became a question. Early English versions kept that sense, and one writer shows what is lost when translators leave the Hebrew word as it stands.
"It is manna" (Ex. 16:15) has no meaning to a reader who does not know Hebrew, but translated as the earliest versions had it — "What is this?" — the passage is simple enough.
The name stuck because the puzzle never cleared up.
The people say to one another Man-hu? "What is it?" And the question remained as its name, for no one ever really found out what it was — nor ever will. But something we know: it is the sustenance and strength of the redeemed soul.
The bread arrived after the people had grumbled about food.
The mark of grace is on this gift of the manna, given to meet the people's need. Their murmurings did not bring down judgment. Instead, God met them with this food.
The people asked what it was; Moses told them who gave it. Commentators read that answer through Jesus' own use of the story in John's Gospel.
This, then, is the meaning of the manna: the bread which God gave the Israelites to eat in the wilderness. It is therefore the proper wilderness food for the Lord's people. The Jews said to our Lord, "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" He replied, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven." So the manna is plainly a type of Christ — Christ as He was in this world. He came down from heaven, and in that character He becomes the food of His people as they pass through the wilderness.
Nobody could tell what it was by looking at it. One writer hears an echo of how the world treated Christ Himself.
It lies upon the ground, so they must stoop to gather it — on the face of the wilderness — something fine, as if pounded to pieces, fine as the frost on the ground. This is how the people see it, who have not yet tasted it, and do not know what it is. It clearly does not look like much; it carries marks as if of rough handling. It reminds us of the prophet's words, "no beauty that we should desire him." "What is it?" they say; for they did not know what it was. "The world did not know Him."
Where the manna lay mattered: it rested on ground the dew had covered.
The barren wilderness received the dew on its face. The moisture gathered unseen and fell from above, and where it settled on the ground, God spread the angels' food for man — "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." So we have both before us: the Spirit of God, who presents Christ to us, and Christ our food. "The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven" (John 6:33), and we find Him, we may say, where the Holy Spirit presents Him to us.
What God gave could not be stockpiled.
The heavenly manna must be gathered fresh every morning. Yesterday's manna will not do for today, nor today's for tomorrow. We must feed on Christ every day, with fresh energy of the Spirit, or else we shall stop growing. What is more, we must make Christ our first object. We must seek Him "early," before "other things" have had time to take hold of our poor, easily-swayed hearts.
One writer sets the manna beside a second food, and says we need both.
You and I cannot feed on that manna unless we come to it through death. Manna, then, is Christ humbled, as He was in this scene. "The old grain of the land" is Christ glorified. You and I have to eat both, because we are in the wilderness and yet going to heaven. We are on our road home to God, and the Spirit of God carries our souls into heavenly places now. You must eat both.
- The question. "What is it?" was Israel's reaction, and it became the food's name. No one ever solved the mystery, yet this food is the strength of the redeemed soul.
- The giver. Moses did not define the substance; he named the Source. The answer to "what is it?" is "bread the Lord has given you."
- The Person. Jesus took up this story and pointed past Moses to His Father. The Father gives the true bread from heaven, so the manna pictures Christ come down and humbled.
- The daily habit. The manna could not be stored. Feed on Christ fresh each morning, before other things crowd in.
- The full table. Manna is Christ humbled for the desert; the grain of Canaan is Christ glorified. The traveller eats both.
This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded Gather of it every man according to what he can eat, an omer a poll, [according to] the number of your persons ye shall take every man for those that are in his tent.
The bread lies on the ground, and God attaches a rule to it: one set measure each, and every man gathers for his whole tent. Commentators read that rule as a picture of how a believer feeds on Christ, and of who else depends on it.
The manna is more than desert food. Commentators identify it with Christ Himself, in His lowly life on earth.
What, then, is the Manna for the believer? It is Christ come in human flesh — a humbled Christ… So Christ is the Manna in all that He was in the flesh. He is the Manna in the expression of what He was, both as the revealer of the Father and as the perfect man. His grace, compassion, sympathy, tenderness, and love; His meekness and lowliness of heart; His patience, forbearance, and long-suffering; His example — all these are found in the Manna. God has given us that Manna as our food for the journey through the wilderness.
The measure is fixed. Older translations read "an omer for every man," and one writer shows what that says about God's thought for each person.
In the giving of the manna, you remember, God said, "an omer for every man." Whether one gathered much or little, it was all measured. Each one had his full quota — "an omer for every man." A full Christ for every man was the thought of God… So the omer was the measure of Christ coming into this world. He came to meet the need of man, and in doing so to show the grace and glory of God.
The omer was an everyday household measure. So the gift came sized to the person, not to the crowd.
An omer was the measure people used in the tents of Israel for ordinary purposes. It held the usual portion of a man's daily food. So it made the gift of the manna personal to the need of every single person in the camp.
The verse ties each man's portion to what he can eat. One writer turns that into a test of the believer's desire.
First, they were to gather it every man according to his eating (vv. 16-18). As a result, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. The appetite governed the amount collected. How strikingly true this is of the believer! We all have as much of Christ as we desire — no more, and no less. If our desires are large, if we open our mouth wide, He will fill it. We cannot desire too much, nor be disappointed when we desire. On the other hand, if we barely feel our need, we shall have only a little of Christ.
How does one fixed measure fit appetites that differ? Commentators give two explanations.
Some explain that although several in a family went out to gather the manna, when it was brought home and measured it came to just an omer for each of them. The more likely explanation is that an omer was the average portion for each. Some needed more and others less, so every one gathered "according to his eating," according to what he knew he would need. That way every one had enough, and nothing was wasted.
The bread lay free on the ground, yet nobody was fed without going out for it. One writer notes the effort and the posture it took.
Human responsibility went together with divine goodness. The heaven-sent provision lay around Israel's camp, yet each Israelite still had to be diligent to make that provision his own portion… To gather the manna, a man had to stoop, for it fell on the ground. Without question, the lowliest find for themselves the most of Christ.
The verse does not stop with the individual. It reaches the whole household.
But they must gather the manna "according to each one's need" (v. 16). This would take time, and would also mean bending down. First it says "an omer for each person." God would provide for each one individually. But it is also specifically said that each man should gather for all who were in his tent. The head of the household is responsible to share with his whole house the preciousness of the Lord Jesus.
The New Testament takes this scene out of the desert and applies it to money given for believers in need.
The earlier part of the passage comes up again in 2 Corinthians 8:15. It shows that when believers make a collection for poor fellow believers, this divine principle of "equality" should be worked out: what some have in abundance supplies the need of others.
- Given — the manna is Christ in His lowly life on earth, God's own provision for the journey.
- Measured — the omer is one fixed portion for each person: a full Christ for every man was God's thought.
- Gathered — the supply is equal, but the intake follows appetite; we have as much of Christ as we desire, no more and no less.
- Stooped for — the bread lay on the ground, so a man had to bend; the lowliest find the most of Christ.
- Shared — each man gathered for his whole tent; the same principle of equality later shapes giving among believers.