When the Lord visited and redeemed His people Israel, and brought them forth into the wilderness, it was not, surely, for the purpose of letting them die there. It was His gracious purpose to provide for them, all their journey through; and, in the 16th chapter of Exodus, we have the account of His marvelous provision.
“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.” They had just said, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, where we sat by the fleshpots, and where we did eat bread to the full.” But now the word is, “bread from heaven.” Blessed contrast! How vast the difference between the flesh-pots, the leeks, the onions, and garlic of Egypt, and this heavenly manna!—“angel’s food!” The former was nature’s provision; the latter was God’s. That belonged to earth; this to heaven.
But, then, this heavenly food was a test of Israel’s moral condition, as we read, “That I may prove them whether they will walk in my law or no.” It needed a heart weaned from Egypt’s influences to be satisfied with, or enjoy “bread from heaven.” In point of fact, the people were not satisfied with it; but, despising it, pronounced it “light food,” and lusted for flesh. Thus they proved how little their hearts were delivered from Egypt, or disposed to walk in God’s law. “In their hearts they turned back again into Egypt.” It demands a heavenly taste to feed on bread from heaven. Nature cannot relish such food; it will ever yearn after the things of this world; and, therefore, it must be kept down.
In contemplating Israel as “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” and also, as “eating the spiritual meat, and drinking the spiritual drink,” we are to remember that they are “our types.” All true believers are “baptized into Christ’s death,” and risen again, “through the faith of the operation of God.” As such, they feed upon Christ, as “the bread of life which came down from heaven.” This is their wilderness food—Christ ministered by the Holy Ghost, through the written word; while, for their spiritual refreshment, the Holy Ghost has come down, as the fruit of the smitten rock—Christ smitten for them.
Now, it is evident that, in order to enjoy such meat and drink as these, our hearts must be weaned from all that addresses itself to us as natural men. A worldly heart would neither find Christ in the word, nor enjoy Him if found. The manna was so pure and delicate, that it could not bear contact with earth. It fell upon the dew-drops, (see Numb. 11:9,) and had to be gathered ere the sun was up. Each one, therefore, had to rise early, and seek his daily portion. So it is with the people of God now. 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 upon Christ every day, with fresh energy of the Spirit, else we shall cease to grow.
Moreover, we must make Him our first object. We must seek Him early, before other things have had time to gain possession of our hearts. Many of us fail in this. We give Christ a secondary place, and the consequence is, we are left feeble and barren. The enemy takes advantage of our excessive spiritual indolence, to rob us of the blessedness and strength which flow from habitual feeding upon Christ. The new life in the believer can only be nourished by Christ. “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” (John 6:57.)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, as One come down from heaven to be His people’s food, is unspeakably precious to the renewed soul; but, in order to enjoy Him thus, it is needful that we realize our true wilderness position, separated unto God, in the power of an accomplished redemption. If I am walking with God, through the wilderness, I shall be satisfied with the food which He provides for me, and that is Christ coming down from heaven. “The old corn of the land” of Canaan has its antitype in Christ ascended up on high, and seated at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens. As such He is the food of those who know their high position, as “raised up together and made to sit together in the heavenlies” with Him. But the manna is for God’s people in their wilderness experience. It was by it the redeemed of the Lord were sustained in their journey from Egypt to Canaan.
Nothing can be more striking than the position of Israel in the desert. Egypt was behind them; Canaan before them; and the wilderness around them; and they were called to look up to heaven for their supply. The wilderness afforded not one blade of grass. In God alone was their portion. Most touching and beautiful type of God’s pilgrim people in this wilderness world! They have nothing here. Their life, being heavenly, can only be nourished and sustained by heavenly things. Though in the world, they are not of it, for Christ has chosen them out of it. As a heaven-born people they are on their way to their birth-place, and are sustained by food sent from thence. Theirs is an upward and an onward course. The glory leads only thus. It is in vain to cast the eye backward, in the direction of Egypt. Not a ray of the glory can there be discovered. “They looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.” Jehovah’s chariot was in the wilderness; and all who desired companionship with Him should be there also; and, if there, the heavenly manna must be their food, and that alone.
True, it was strange sustenance, such as an Egyptian could never understand, appreciate, or live upon; but those who had been “baptized in the sea and in the cloud,” could, if walking in happy consistency with that significant baptism, enjoy this food, and be sustained thereby. So it is now, in the case of a true believer. The worldling cannot understand how he lives. Both his life, and that which sustains it, lie far beyond his ken. Christ is his life, and on Christ he lives. He feeds upon the matchless grace of One who “took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” He traces Him from the bosom of the Father—the eternal dwelling place of light and love—down to the cross—the place of shame and reproach—and from the cross up to the throne, the place of majesty, victory, and glory, and finds Him in every stage of His wondrous journey to be most precious food for his soul. All around him, though, in point of fact, Egypt is (morally) a waste howling wilderness, affording nothing for his renewed mind; and just in proportion as he finds any material to feed upon must his spiritual man be hindered in its progress.
It is a sad thing to find Christians seeking after the things of the world. It proves very clearly that they are loathing the heavenly manna, and esteeming it “light food.” They are ministering to that which they are called to mortify. The activities of the new life, in the believer, will ever show themselves in connection with the keeping down of “the old man and his deeds;” and the more that is accomplished, the more shall we desire to feed upon “the bread which strengthens man’s heart.” As in nature, the more we exercise the better the appetite; so in grace, the more our renewed faculties are called into play, the more we feel the need of feeding daily upon Christ.
It is one thing to know that we have life in Christ, and full forgiveness and acceptance before God, and it is quite another to be in habitual communion with Him—feeding upon Him, by faith—making Him the exclusive food of our souls—“eating his flesh and drinking his blood.” Very many profess to have found peace in Jesus, who, in reality, are feeding upon various things which have no connection with Him whatever. They may be found habitually dipping into the newspapers, and the varied, frivolous, and vapid literature of the day. Will they find Christ there? Is it by such instrumentality that the Holy Ghost ministers Christ to the soul? Are these the pure dew-drops on which the heavenly manna falls for the sustenance of God’s redeemed in the desert? The question, here, is not as to the right or wrong of the case, but simply, are these things Christ, or are they not? They, unquestionably, are not.
Now, how can a child of God live upon such? We know, by the teaching of God’s word, that he carries about with him two natures; (See Gal. 5:17;) and, it may be asked, which of the two is it that feeds upon the world’s news and the world’s unhallowed literature? Is it the old or the new? “the flesh” or “the spirit?” There can be but the one reply. Well, then, which of the two am I desirous of cherishing? Assuredly, my conduct will afford the truest answer to this inquiry. If I really desire to grow in the divine life, I shall seek, with my whole heart, that character of nourishment which is designed of God to promote that growth. This is clear. A man’s actions are always the truest index of his desires and purposes. Hence, if I find a professing Christian neglecting his Bible, yet finding ample time—yea, some of his choicest hours—for the newspaper, I can be at no loss to decide as to the true condition of his soul. I am sure he cannot be spiritual, cannot thrive, cannot be feeding upon, living for, or witnessing to, Christ.
If an Israelite did not gather, in the freshness of the morning hour, his daily portion of the divinely appointed food, he would speedily have become lacking in strength for his journey. Thus it is with the Christian. He must make Christ the paramount object of his pursuit, else his spiritual strength will, inevitably, decline. He cannot even feed upon feelings and experiences connected with Christ; for they, inasmuch as they are fluctuating, cannot form the soul’s spiritual nourishment. It was Christ yesterday, and it must be Christ today, and Christ forever.
Oh! that we all entered more fully into the truth and power of these things. May the Holy Ghost awaken in our souls more earnest desires after the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then a little of this present scene will go a great way with our hearts.
An Extract from the. MS. “Notes on the Book of Exodus.”