What was manna?

The food miraculously supplied from heaven to the Israelites during the forty years of their wanderings. Its name signifies 'what is it?' for they knew not what it was. It fell every morning except on the Sabbath, and had to be gathered early, or it melted. If kept till the second day it bred worms, except the double quantity gathered on the day before the Sabbath, which was good on the second day. The quantity to be gathered was on an average an omer (about 4 pints) for every man. Some gathered more and some less, and when they measured it with an omer "he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating."

"And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hear frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating; an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons: take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack: they gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted." (vv. 13-21.)

It will be observed, and the significance of the fact has been indicated, that there is the barest mention of the quails, but a full description of the manna. It is with the manna therefore that we are specially concerned. When the dew was gone up, "behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat." (vv. 14, 15.) This then is the meaning of the manna: the bread which God gave the Israelites to eat in the wilderness. It is consequently the proper wilderness food for the Lord's people. Hence when the Jews said to our Lord, "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat," He replied, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." (John 6:32-33. Read especially from 48th to 58th verses.) The manna then, it is clear, is a type of Christ — of Christ as He was in this world — as the One who came down from heaven, and who as such becomes the food of His people while passing through the wilderness. It must be especially noted that until we have life by feeding on His death — eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:53-54) — we cannot feed upon Him as the manna. Having received life, then we are told, "As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by" (because of) "the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by" (because of) "Me." (v. 57.)

The quails appeared that evening, and covered the camp. In the morning the dew lay round about the host. When the dew disappeared, a small round thing, white like coriander seed, was seen on the ground — as small as the hoar frost. That was the bread. Manna, they called it — i.e., what is it? (16:15). It was something quite new. It was not the product of the soil, for the manna fell on the dew (Num. 11:9). It was not peculiar to that region — the wilderness of Sin — for it fell wherever the people were throughout their wilderness journey, and whilst they remained east of Jordan, only ceasing after they were west of that river (Joshua 5:12). It was bread which they knew not, neither did their fathers know, that God might make them know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live (Deut. 8:3).

Heaven offers now to minister to the daily need of such a people. The glory of the Lord was seen again out of the cloud (verse 7, 10). The bread from Heaven was given. It is described as small in size, round, white like coriander seed, like wafers made with honey and hard. Rationalists have tried to explain the giving of this bread in a natural way. In a certain part of the desert is found a tree from which exudes at certain times an eatable gum and falls to the ground in the form of small cakes; this, it is claimed, explains the manna. But they do not explain how it is that the Israelites received the manna in every part of the desert, that they received it in such immense quantities that the hundred thousands were fed by it and it lasted for forty years. It ceased as miraculously as it was given (Josh. 5:12). The word "manna" is from the Hebrew "Man-hu," the question, "What is that?" It is designated as the bread from heaven (Psalm 78:24; 105:40). Our Lord speaks of it as the bread from heaven in John 6, a chapter which is of importance in connection with the typical meaning of the manna. But quails were given first and in the morning dew, and after it arose, the manna. The quails and the manna are both the types of Christ, the food for God's people. The dew after which the manna is seen, speaks of the Holy Spirit, who ministers Christ. Each gathered the bread which had come down according to his eating. Each got what he wanted, and not more. So Christ meets the need we have of Him if only our need of Him were greater and felt more.

The next morning dew covered the ground, and when it had evaporated there remained on the ground a small round object that resembled hoar-frost. This was totally new to Israel, and they questioned among themselves, “What is it?” (v. 15). Moses answered that this was the bread the Lord had given them from heaven. From that time it was called “manna” which means “what is it?”

THE MANNA given by God from heaven to the Israelites — type of heavenly grace for wilderness circumstances set forth in Christ who was the true Bread come down from heaven. Ex. 16:15; John 6:31-33.

The manna came noiselessly into the scene of need, falling so gently that it did not disturb the dew. It was God's provision and gift, a heavenly food, unthought of and unasked by man, by no means the product of chemical analysis or experiment, nor wrought by labour; but God's own and ample provision to meet the need. In it was every element to sustain life and to give the people strength for their daily march or daily duty. It baffled Israel; the very name they gave it (manna; what is it?) showed it to be outside the range of their ken or their comprehension. But its suitability for its purpose is proved by the fact that they lived on it, and on nothing else, for the whole of their sojourn and journeyings in the wilderness. It was just as nourishing for young as for old; the man partook of it with his household. It was lovely in appearance, the colour of bdellium, free to all, without money and without price; and as it followed the Israelitish camp in all its travels it was always within the reach of all. It was in the simplest of positions, upon the dew, and none could complain of the effort required to come at it, unless it were the effort of going down. It was a small round thing, such as the veriest infant could pick up and feed upon without detriment; and it had a most wonderful elasticity in its properties; for he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. None of it, if taken according to divine instructions, had ever to be thrown away. Everyone who fed upon it was happily satisfied as long as his heart was right with God; a little made him happy, yet as long as his appetite craved more there was always more for him. It was only when his heart murmured against God that he pretended to find fault with the manna. It was capable of being ministered and taken in a variety of ways; there need not have been any monotony in the food. Eaten as it fell, its taste was sweet and its quality sustaining; but it could be baked or boiled, it could be ground in mills or beat in mortars, and cakes be made of it, and it was in every form pleasant to the taste and sustaining to the whole person. It was indeed a stupendous miracle of forty years' duration, and its cessation, when other food came in Canaan, was just as remarkable as its provision had been so long as it was needed (Ex. 16:35; Joshua 5:12).

The golden pot that had manna was a memorial of God's sustainment of His people in the wilderness. For forty years this great people were supported in a place where earthly sustenance was absent. God was enough. Morning by morning the manna fell. "Angels' food" it was called. In appearance it was small and round, like hoar frost upon the ground. In colour it was white and it tasted like honey.

Manna is a pure Hebrew word, meaning, What is it? The children of Israel could not give it a name. It fell miraculously from heaven, and was outside the range of human experience as to its origin.

Manna was the food of Israel in the wilderness. It was the divine provision for them for the term of their wanderings — "The children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan" (Ex. 16:35). It fell morning by morning, and they gathered early, and according to their eating. It was found where had been the dew of heaven that fell around the camp — "when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing" (ver. 14). The barren wilderness received upon its face the dew, and where the moisture, collecting invisibly and falling from above, lodged upon the ground, God spread the angel's food for man — "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." The Spirit of God, through whom Christ is presented to us, and Christ our food, are thus before us. "The bread of God is He which comes down from heaven" (John 6:33), and we find Him, we may say, where the Holy Spirit presents Him to us. The Christian's food, as he traverses this wilderness, is not of the earth, but from and of heaven. Our spiritual sustenance here is to be gathered diligently day by day, early in the morning before the sun is up, and the day of our toil is upon us.

What is it? asked the Israelites when they saw the manna for the first time, for they knew not what it was (Ex. 16:15). Therefore this bread from heaven was called manna, which means, What is it? and when the Son of God, the heaven-sent Antitype of the manna, stood before them centuries later, they knew Him not. Although He was promised like the manna. When He told them He was the Bread from heaven, they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have known? how then does he say, I am come down out of heaven?” The Bread of life was there, and they knew Him not.