HIDDEN MANNA

‘What is it?’ Such is the meaning of the word manna. It was the response of the Israelites when they first saw the heaven-sent bread, ‘For they did not know what it was’, Exod. 16. 15, NKJV But the question is still worth asking.

1. The manna was a marvellous act of grace. The people had murmured against the Lord, casting doubt on His love and wisdom. They had slandered His servant, Moses. It was brimstone, not bread, that they deserved. And when, fifteen hundred years later, God looked down again on a people who had jailed, beaten, and sawn asunder His prophets, He asked, what more can I do? Once more He opened heaven and send Bread, delivered to Bethlehem - the house of bread.

2. The manna was a marvellous act of provision. Since there were 600,000 men able for war, we may approximate that there were about 2,000,000 Israelites in the desert. There was to be gathered ‘an omer for every man’, Exod. 16. An omer equals six pints. Therefore, each day, for forty years, 4,500 imperial tons were provided, about three hundred railroad cars worth per day. The Lord provided ‘bread to the full’, v. 8. In other words, the only limitation was their appetite. It is a solemn thing to realize that I have as much of Christ as I wish. If I want more, I may have as much as I desire.

3. The manna was a marvellous act of revelation. It came as God’s idea - not in answer to human prayer but to human despair. Little did the Jews know that this manna would be a picture of the incarnate Messiah, not only ‘angels’ food’, but the very ‘bread of God’! The manna was small as it pictured that Babe in His coming down to earth; white in its purity; lowly and therefore accessible to all willing to stoop and receive it; and sweet, like honey. But it was a limited time offer. ‘Let no man leave it till the morning’, said Moses. The morning will dawn when the Bread of Life will no longer be available to men.

What, then, is the hidden manna? There was some manna contained in a golden bowl and hidden in the holy ark. It was perpetually fresh, seen only by faith, and enjoyed by those who went beyond the veil to see God’s true bread.