Christ as the manna is also the food of His people. The manna differs from the roast lamb, in that it was confined to the wilderness. It was not until Israel had been brought through the Red Sea that the manna was given (see Ex. 16), and it “ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna anymore, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year” (Josh. 5:12). It was the wilderness food of Israel, and in like manner Christ, as the manna, is the wilderness food for the believer. But a distinction has to be made. Inasmuch as the history of Israel, passing through the desert, crossing the Jordan, and occupying the land, is typical, they could only be in one place at a time. The believer is at the same moment in the wilderness and in the heavenlies. For service, for the expression of Christ down here, viewed as a pilgrim, waiting for the return of the Lord, he is in the desert; his position before God, as united to a glorified Christ, is ever in the heavenly places—whether he enjoys it, is another question. Hence, supposing him to know his place, he needs the manna and the old corn at the same time. In other words, he needs to feed upon Christ in both aspects. It is as being in the wilderness that he feeds upon Christ as the manna.
What, then, is the manna for the believer? It is Christ in incarnation—a humbled Christ. “Jesus said unto them, 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.” “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh 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” (John 6:32-33,49-51). Christ is thus the manna in all that He was in the flesh—in the expression of what He was both as the revealer of the Father and as the perfect man. His grace, compassion, tenderness, and love—His meekness and lowliness of heart—His patience, forbearance, and long-suffering—His example—all these things are found in the manna which God has given to us for food during our sojourn in the wilderness.
He is continually presented to us in the manna character in those epistles which especially deal with the desert path of the saint. “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Heb. 12:1-3). That is, we are exhorted to feed upon Christ as the manna to sustain us amid the trials, difficulties, and persecutions incident to the desert. In like manner Peter, who writes particularly “to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,” and so forth, continually leads us to Christ in this aspect. “What glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:20-24). (See also 1 Peter 3:17-18). The Apostle Paul, too, feeds the saints with manna. For example, though it contains more, we have it in Philippians 2:5-9—manna, we might say, of the most precious character. “Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” But it is in the gospels that the manna lies gleaming round us on every side, and where it is to be gathered for use as the needs of each day may require. For there it is that we have the unfoldings of the wondrous life—the life of Him who was the perfect Man, and, at the same time, God manifest in flesh.
Two remarks, however, may be made as to the collecting and use of the manna. The Israelites went out of the camp to gather at a certain rate every day (Ex. 16:4). We must go down for the same purpose. That is, unless we know our place in the heavenlies, and in truth, what it is to feed upon the old corn of the land, we shall scarcely be able to feed upon the manna. This is remarkably brought out in the Apostle Paul’s ministry: he began with Christ in glory. So must it be with us. When we know our union with a glorified Christ, our place in Him before God, we shall feast with intensified delight upon Christ as the manna.
Historically the manna came before the old corn, but the order should be reversed for the believer—for the simple reason that God has so reversed it in the presentation of Christ to our souls. We preach, as Paul did, a Christ in glory. When He is thus apprehended we find in a humbled Christ our food while in the wilderness. Hence the great loss, and consequent weakness, of those who are never permitted to hear of Christ in glory; whose only thought of Him is as once dwelling down here in the flesh, when He was made in the likeness of man.
The second remark is the very obvious and often repeated one, that the manna cannot be stored for use. Everyone must gather it every day according to his eating (Ex. 16:16): and if he gather more—unless it be for “the Sabbath”—it will surely become corrupt. No, there must be the constant feeding upon Christ, day by day and hour by hour, and we can never receive more than our need for the moment requires. Thereby we are kept in continual dependence, and our eyes are ever directed to Christ. “As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me... shall live by Me” (John 6:57).