Now an omer, &c.— See note on Exodus 16:16.
Reflections on the manna in the wilderness, considered as a type of Christ.
We have seen how the horrors of the wilderness were considerably abated by the miraculous cloud. But soon their provision, which they brought from Egypt, is exhausted; and unless some new miracle be wrought for them, they have nothing before their eyes but the melancholy prospect of perishing with hunger. The faithless multitude, forgetting their late deliverance at the Red-sea, fall to murmuring against Moses, and wish that they had never stirred from their house of bondage. Had they got what they deserved on this occasion, the Lord had sent fire from heaven upon them instead of food; but God, who is rich in mercy, chore to still the fretful murmurs of his firstborn with the breast, rather than the rod. He bids the heaven supply, by its bounty, what the earth denied by its barrenness; and without their toil or sweat gives them plenty of bread, even in a land which was not sown. "He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food; he sent them meat to the full." (Psalms 78:24-25.) How happy are they who are walking after the Lord, though in a wilderness! It was a convincing proof, that man does not live by bread alone. But God intended, by this good gift, not only to supply their present necessity, but also to prefigure that spiritual meat presented in the Gospel. In this interpretation we cannot possibly be wrong, when we have no less an authority for it than Jesus Christ himself, who, speaking to his hearers on this very subject, says, "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 who cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the Bread of life." (John 6:32-33; John 6:35.) Having therefore such infallible testimony to the general meaning of this heavenly food, let us endeavour to find out the principal traces of resemblance between it and Jesus Christ. In order to this, we shall briefly attend to the following things:
1. Its falling. "The manna fell from heaven;" Christ is he that comes down from above. It fell "round about their camp;" Christ is, in an especial sense, to be found in the visible church——"With the dew when they slept;" Jesus Christ is purely the gift of God, who descends like dew upon the grass——"When they were in the most absolute need, and ready to perish;" when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly——"When they were grievously sinning, by preferring the flesh-pots of Egypt to the prospects of Canaan;" and Christ laid down his life, when sinners were preferring the pleasures of sin and the vanities of the world to all the things above. Lastly, it fell "in such large quantities" as to "suffice that numerous host;" and in Jesus Christ there is enough to supply our every want.
2. Its being gathered by all the Israelites, may signify the improvement we should all make of the offered Saviour. It was gathered every day; so Christ should be daily improved by faith. It was gathered in the morning; so we must devote the best part of our time to the seeking his face, as it is said, "O God, early will I seek thee." Psalms 63:1. It was gathered without the camp; so must the soul that seeks him retire from the hurry of the world, or, to use the expression of the sacred page, "go out into the fields, and lodge in the villages." (Song of Solomon 7:11.) A double portion of it was gathered on the sixth day; but on the seventh, which was the sabbath, they stirred not from their tents, but lived on what they had laid up the day before: so in the season of this mortal life must we labour for that meat which endures to everlasting life, in the believing improvement of the means of grace; and when the eternal sabbath comes, we shall enjoy the hidden manna without means or any painful endeavours.
3. Its being prepared in mills, mortars, and pans, where it was ground, beaten, and baked, to make it fit for digestion and nourishment, may remind us of the various sufferings of Christ's body and soul. It behoved him, as it were, to be beaten in the mortar of adversity, ground in the mill of vindictive justice, baked as in the oven of the wrath of God, and, at last, to die, that he might prove the bread of life, and that his flesh might be meat indeed.
4. Its tasting so sweet when thus prepared, (for it resembled the fatness of oil, and the sweetness of honey,) and its proving so wholesome and nutritive to all, though of different constitutions;—may it not signify, that Jesus Christ is to the soul both sweet and wholesome food, adapted to the taste of all, of children, young men, and fathers? And as the manna is supposed not to have needed any other ingredients to make it palatable, no more does Jesus Christ, or the doctrine of his Gospel, need any foreign recommendation to the spiritual taste. "O taste and see that the Lord is good," (Psalms 34:8.) says the sweet singer of Israel; and in another place, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste; yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalms 119:103.)
5. Its putrefying, if kept contrary to God's command;—might not this denote, that when the wholesome doctrines of Christ's Gospel are hoarded up in idle speculation, without being received in love, or digested in spiritual nourishment, they are so far from being the savour of life unto life, that they become the savour of death unto death, and breed the worms of various lusts and of a condemning conscience? On which account it may be said, "He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow." (Ecclesiastes 1:18.)
6. Its being despised by the multitude as light food, by which their soul was dried away, (Numbers 11:4; Numbers 11:35.) in comparison with their rank Egyptian fare, renders it a proper emblem of Jesus Christ, the true bread, who is despised and rejected of men. Though the pure doctrine of Christ is like the manna, angels' food, (for into these things they desire to pry,) yet are there found those to whom the word of the Lord is a reproach, and they have no delight in it. A romance, a philosophical disquisition, a political harangue, is far more grateful than a sermon, whose theme is a crucified Redeemer. What is this, but to prefer the fish, the cucumbers; the melons, and the garlick of Egypt, to the corn of heaven? For their contempt of this celestial food, the Lord sent fiery serpents to plague the murmurers. Nor do the despisers of Jesus Christ expose themselves to less dreadful strokes, though they should not be of a corporal kind: for "all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." (1 Corinthians 10:11.)
7. The preserving it in a golden pot, where, for a number of ages, it was deposited in the most holy place, and remained without corruption;—was it not a representation of Christ's ascension into heaven, where he appears in the presence of God, death having no more dominion over him, and where he will be contained till the time of the restitution of all things? Why else should communion with Christ in glory be spoken of in terms alluding to this very thing? For thus it is promised, in the words which the Spirit saith unto the churches, "To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the hidden manna." (Revelation 2:17.)
8. The continuance of this heavenly bread for the space of forty years, during their abode in the wilderness; does it not clearly intimate, that Jesus Christ will ever remain with his church, while militant here below? Still shall the bread of God descend in the dispensation of the everlasting Gospel, while the necessities of his people call for it; for so he promises, when about to depart from the earth: "Go," said he to his apostles, "teach all nations; and lo! I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." (Matthew 28:19-20.)
9. The ceasing of the manna upon their tasting the corn of Canaan;—may it not be viewed as a figure of the ceasing of ordinances, when the wandering tribes shall gain their promised rest? Know your mercy, ye distinguished favourites of Heaven! nor envy their happiness who eat the calves out of the stall, and the lambs out of the fold, but are not fed with the heritage of Jacob. Let the sensual voluptuary glut himself with the impure pleasures of sin, which, like the little book that John did eat, are sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the belly; and to whom we may adapt the significant words in Job, (xx. 14.) "His meat in his bowels is turned: it is the gall of asps within him." Let the rapacious worldling, who is smitten with the dull charms of gold and silver; who is all hurry, hurry, about the business of this transitory life; let him fill his belly with the hidden treasure, which never yet did satisfy a soul immortal. But let the Christian, who knows the gift of God, and the excellency of the heavenly provision; let him labour, not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. Hungry and starving soul, you ask for bread, and the world gives you a stone; what else are worldly riches? You ask a fish, and the world presents you with a serpent; what else are sinful pleasures? Hearken, therefore, diligently to him who is himself the living bread; "Eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto him; hear, and your soul shall live." (Isaiah 55:2-3.) What is a happy old age to a happy eternity? This, O Jesus, is thy unspeakable gift! He that eats thee by faith, shall live for ever. He that cometh to thee, shall never hunger; and what is more, shall never die. O Lord, deny as what else thou wilt, but give us this bread evermore!