Exodus 16 (Continued)
IN THE New Testament the Lord I Jesus tells us that the manna speaks of Himself as the bread of life. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” John 6:5151I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51). In our chapter the Lord tells Moses: “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.” verse 4.
Then we find that the manna came down during the dark hours of the night. “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 hoar frost on the ground.” vv. 13,14.
The Lord Jesus is the true Light, and that Light shone in the midst of the moral and spiritual darkness of this world. “His life of true perfection shed light on all around.” He attracted to Himself hungry souls to find in Him the true bread which the Father gave, “which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” John 6:3333For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:33). How kind, how loving it was of Him to come, knowing as He did that “men loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:1919And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)).
This food from heaven came silently, alighting on the dew all around the camp. This reminds us of the Lord Jesus who came to earth unobserved by men until the angels announced His birth in the manger, to the lowly shepherds on Bethlehem’s hillside. Although he was the true King of Israel, His appearance was unheralded by the very ones for whom He came. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” John 1:1111He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11).
The manna was small, white, round and sweet to the taste. How lovely the virtues of the Saviour that are typified here! He was the humble, lowly One, “small” and despised in the sight of men. He too that lowly place in obedience to Father’s will, but now He is the “highly exalted One,” whom every tongue shall confess and to who every knee shall bow in a coming day. The virgin whiteness of the manna tells of the purity of the Lord Jesus who was holy, harmless and undefiled, “separate from sinners,"__ not tainted with the sins of the world through which he walked. What a beautiful sight it must have been to Israel to see the pure white manna covering the desert sands each morning! And what a contrast is the purity of the Lord Jesus — His Person, His walk and ways — to the evil everywhere in this scene.
Furthermore, no point of beginning or end could be found in the manna — it was round — reminding us of the eternal character of the One who came from heaven, “without beginning of days nor end of life,” and yet One who stooped for an interlude in that eternity to come into this world to save helpless sinners.
Those who have found salvation in the Lord Jesus enjoy the thought suggested in the words, “The taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” verse 31. The Psalmist must have known something of this too, for he wrote: “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether... sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Psalms 19:9,109The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:9‑10). May each of us find these precious virtues seen in Christ and typified in the manna, a personal and real enjoyment to the heart.
ML-10/05/1969