Manna from heaven …. Hebrew

 The LORD provided manna.

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction" (v. 4).

The word "manna" is a transliteration of two Hebrew words meaning, "What is it?" Moses didn't provide the manna; God did. The LORD provided meat at night and manna in the morning for the next forty years, or until they crossed over the Jordan (vv. 13-21, 35). All of chapter sixteen gives instructions on gathering and eating manna. Every day for forty years they saw God provide! It should have produced a song of praise every morning and evening. "I saw God do it!" It was His supernatural gift. They did not work for it. They did not earn it. It was without money and without price. It was a free gift from God. All they could do was appropriate it. Every morning each individual bent over, picked it up and ate it!

However, the manna met only a temporal need of the body for a short period. The Israelites came to loathe the manna. They were forever grumbling and complaining about it. Everyone one of them who ate it, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb died in the wilderness because of unbelief and disobedience!

The message is clear. When you love Him, you don't have any problem obeying Him. "If you love Me you will keep My commandments," Jesus said.

Jesus is the Bread of Heaven.

Manna is a type of Christ giving His life that the believer might eternal life. Jesus Christ is the true manna. He is the Bread from heaven.

Jesus tells us about bread that gives life. It is not the commodity, but a Person who gives life that begins the moment someone believes on him and it satisfies throughout eternity. The life He gives is eternal because He is eternal. The person who believes on Jesus receives eternal life. He is the giver of life for all who will believe on Him. Just as the Yahweh provided manna in the wilderness of Sin, Jesus is the heavenly provider of the bread of heaven that issues in eternal life. A person who eats His bread will never die.

Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread out of heaven to eat." Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe" (John 6:29-36).

Jesus used a figure of speech that means to believe on Him. We must appropriate the bread He gives. We do so by faith in Him. Jesus is not referring to the Lord's Supper or the "sacraments." The Lord's Supper came a year later. Jesus would not have used the symbolism of the Lord's Supper while speaking to the Jews who were arguing with Him. They wouldn't be able to understand Him. "Eating" and "drinking" is simple faith in Him and the provision of eternal life He has made for us. We "eat" and "drink" Jesus by believing on Him as our personal Savior. Note how often in the context Jesus refers to believing on Him (vv. 29, 35, 40, 47, 69). His death gives life to all who believe on Him. The only possible meaning is the spiritual appropriation of Jesus Christ by faith. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life" (v. 47).

In Galatians 2:16, 20 the apostle Paul's teaching is clear on this subject. "Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. . . . I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."  

Jesus is more than manna; He is our bread of life. We can have all of Him that we desire, and we can never desire too much of Him. We definitely will never be disappointed in Him. May the Lord cure us of our spiritual anemia and cause our hearts to feast daily at His table.

"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." (John 6:48-51).

Jesus went on to stress that He came from the Father in heaven and we can have fellowship with Him. "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever" (6:56-58).

Jesus has the last word on manna. He said, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it" (Revelation 2:17). Jesus Christ is our Bread from heaven. Come, let's feast on Him daily! We have life-sustaining fellowship as we abide in Him. He alone gives us grace and strength for each day. Could it be that we are now enjoying the heavenly food that we shall partake of in Christ for all eternity?

The manna was also meant to teach them to depend on God and His word.  “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

Jesus compared Himself to the manna in John 6 and said that He is the true Bread from heaven.  When we eat Him, we will never be hungry again.  Jesus satisfies.

Application

I need to feed daily on Jesus.  I need fresh manna, fresh bread from heaven, a fresh word from God each day.  Jesus said that we don’t live on bread alone, but every word that comes from God’s mouth.  (Matthew 4:4) Just like I need my daily bread for physical sustenance, I need a daily word from God for my spiritual growth and strength.

It didn’t work for the Israelites to gather manna for tomorrow—only today.  The manna was “new every morning”, like God’s mercies (Lamentations 3:23).  In that same way, I need to hear from God every day.  I need fresh bread, a fresh word from God.

Honestly, I’ve been doing this (PBJ) so long and so steadily, that I sometimes struggle to get a fresh word.  I can read a passage like today’s—so much great content, so much to think about—and nothing jumps out at me.  It’s like a meal I’ve eaten so many times that I take it for granted—nothing new or exciting here.  BTW, this happened to the Israelites, who soon grew weary of the manna and complained, “We never see anything but this manna.”  (Numbers 11:6)  

As I was reading the book of Exodus again I was surprised to find more about the manna than I noticed before. I would like to share some thoughts with you: 

The first occurrence of the heavenly bread is in Exodus 16:4: “Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”

God promised to meet the need of food in the wilderness. The bread that God supplied was not something processed, a product from a bakery in the wilderness, it came straight from heaven, right to where the people were. Also it could be eaten the way it came, yet they could also cook or bake it. God makes clear that He supplies their daily need for food, but they would have to go out and gather their bread every day. This Manna was a supernatural gift from God. Daily He rained about 4500 tons of it down for them, for 40 years!

Jesus instructs us the same way when He directs His disciples to pray, give us this day our daily bread. Sometimes we might find ourselves in wilderness situations where everything seems to be too hot, dried up, without life or growth and we think we are going in the opposite direction of our dreams. We may feel unloved and even ignored. God appears to be miles away and His promises even farther. He is, however, close for He has promised never to leave of forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). So we do not need to be discouraged because even in the wilderness the Lord keeps His promises and meets our need for bread from heaven, sufficient bread, everybody according to his eating (Exodus 16:18). All we have to do is go out and get it. That applies to all of us! It speaks about “daily bread” and not about the “abundance of things”. It’s about what we need and not about what we want. And God wants us to trust Him concerning our needs. At times the going out to gather the bread seems to be the main struggle because it requires action and often effort. We can get it daily from the Supreme Supplier, the Source, not from a can (e.g. tapes, DVDs, TV, books about the Bible). Daily does not mean that once per week, maybe Sunday, is enough.

Remember what Satan tempted Jesus with (also in the wilderness!) and what Jesus replied in Matthew 4:4: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” I like the way The Message puts the reply of our Lord: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth." It’s not about the manifestation but about the presence of God. God’s Word in an ultimate sense is Jesus Christ, 

John 5:39  
“Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” 

John 6:32-35 
“Then 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. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” 

Do you see the analogy between the manna of the wilderness, the bread from heaven and Jesus Christ as the bread of life? Manna was white, suggesting purity and holiness, and sweet like honey. Interestingly the manna fell in the night upon dew, not dust (Numbers 11:9). Jesus Christ is a gift from God, freely given, for us. There is a daily need, a daily provision and it is to be gathered and eaten by everybody individually.

I pray that we discern our wants from our needs so that we can focus on the heart of God. That we will do whatever it costs to go out every day to gather our daily bread that God provides for each one of us. May we enjoy it, for it tastes like wafers with honey (Exodus 16:31b), and eat as much as we need, so that it strengthens our bodies and we may be saturated and purified. Amen

Jeremiah 15:16 
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”

Jesus teaches us to pray that God would give us daily bread (Matthew 6:11). Obviously Jesus was not telling His disciples to pray only for bread. But bread was a staple in the diet of the Jews, and had been so for many years. Furthermore, bread was a powerful symbol of God’s provision for His people in the Old Testament. We remember how God cared for the Israelites when they were in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Life in the wilderness was hard, and soon the people began to complain that it would be better to be back in Egypt, where they had wonderful food to eat. In response to these complaints, God promised to “rain bread from heaven” (Ex. 16:4). The next morning, when the dew lifted, there remained behind on the ground “a small round substance, as fine as frost. . . . It was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Ex. 16:14, 31). When God miraculously fed His people from heaven, he did so by giving them bread.

It’s interesting to me that in the language of Western culture, we sometimes speak of one partner in a marriage (it used to be almost exclusively the husband, but not so much these days) as the wage earner of the home. But more colloquially, we call that partner “the breadwinner.” Even in our slang, we use the word bread as a synonym for “money.” Bread remains, at least in our language, as a powerful symbol of the rudimentary basis of provision for our needs.

This petition of the Lord’s Prayer, then, teaches us to come to God in a spirit of humble dependence, asking Him to provide what we need and to sustain us from day to day. 

After the Korean War ended, South Korea was left with a large number of children who had been orphaned by the war. We’ve seen the same thing in the Vietnam conflict, in Bosnia, and in other places. In the case of Korea, relief agencies came in to deal with all the problems that arose in connection with having so many orphan children. One of the people involved in this relief effort told me about a problem they encountered with the children who were in the orphanages. Even though the children had three meals a day provided for them, they were restless and anxious at night and had difficulty sleeping. As they talked to the children, they soon discovered that the children had great anxiety about whether they would have food the next day. To help resolve this problem, the relief workers in one particular orphanage decided that each night when the children were put to bed, the nurses there would place a single piece of bread in each child’s hand. The bread wasn’t intended to be eaten; it was simply intended to be held by the children as they went to sleep. It was a “security blanket” for them, reminding them that there would be provision for their daily needs. Sure enough, the bread calmed the children’s anxieties and helped them sleep. Likewise, we take comfort in knowing that our physical needs are met, that we have food, or “bread,” for our needs.

This petition of the Lord’s Prayer, then, teaches us to come to God in a spirit of humble dependence, asking Him to provide what we need and to sustain us from day to day. We are not given license to ask for great riches, but we are encouraged to make our needs known to Him, trusting that He will provide.

If we find that God’s hand seems to be invisible to us and that we cannot discern His providential intrusion into our lives, that may be due partly to the way we pray. We have a tendency to pray in general. When we pray in general, the only way we will see the hand of God’s providence is in general. As we enter into prayer, this conversation and communion with God, and put our petitions before Him, pouring out our souls and our needs specifically, we see specific answers to our prayers. Our Father has invited us to go to Him and ask Him for our daily bread. He will not fail to provide it.

When we read the book of Exodus we may have a high appreciation for God delivering His people out of Egypt, the changing of bitter water into sweet, the law was given at Mount Sinai, etc but we may not appreciate the manna too much. But throughout their journey in the wilderness toward the good land, the people of Israel daily ate one thing only: the heavenly food, the manna.

Every morning, when the dew lifted, there upon the surface of the wilderness were fine round flakes, fine as the frost on the earth. When the children of Israel saw it, they asked one another, What is it? Then Moses told them, It is the bread which Jehovah has given you to eat. God caused food from heaven to fall down for His people to eat, and all of them ate the manna daily for forty years.

God only commanded that they would gather of it each one according to his eating – some gathered much and some gathered little, each according to his eating. The manna came early in the morning, and they had to wake up and gather it, since when the sun came out, the manna melted. Also, the people of Israel could cook it (grind it and boil it) and eat it, but the manna could not stay until the next day.

In John 6 the Lord applied the matter of manna to Himself; He clearly said that Moses didn’t give Israel the real bread out of heaven, but He Himself, the Christ of God, is the bread coming down out of heaven so that His people would eat Him and live forever.

Looking at the many details of the manna in the first five books of the Bible, we can apply at least sixteen aspects of manna to Christ. We need to see and experience the characteristics of Christ as our unique food, our daily manna, for our metabolic transformation.

First we need to see the characteristics of Christ as our daily manna, and then we need to daily enjoy Him and experience Him as our unique food for our metabolic transformation.

We need to See and Experience the Characteristics of Christ as our Daily Manna, our Unique Food

There are at least sixteen aspects of manna that show us the characteristics of Christ as our daily manna, and many of them are unpacked, unveiled, and developed in the Life-Study of Exodus(see msg. 35) by our dear brother Witness Lee. Praise the Lord for such a rich Christ – so real, so sweet, so available, so refreshing, so nourishing, and so wonderful!

The manna is a mystery. When the children of Israel saw manna, they asked, What is it? (Exo. 16:15), and the name of the manna derives from this. Christ is the mystery of God, yet He is so wonderful (Col. 2:2; Isa. 9:6; Eph. 3:4; John 3:8). Christ is wonderful – He is incomprehensible; He is a miracle, since He came as God becoming man to be our food, and we can feed on Him.

The fact that we can feed on this One is a mystery, and because we eat of Him every day makes us mysterious; by eating Christ as our daily manna we become the mystery of Christ, the church.

Others may see us and recognize us, but we are beyond understanding to them since we enjoy Christ and are becoming the same as He is. Just as we cannot analyze and explain manna, so we cannot analyze and explain the Lord Jesus; to us, Christ is the real manna, the real, “What is it?” and when we eat Him, we become the church as the mystery of Christ.

Manna is a long-term miracle. God sent manna every morning for forty years, and it had to be gathered by the children of Israel every morning. It is a miracle that we as men can eat God: somehow God became a man and then became the Spirit to be edible, good for food; daily we can eat God – what a miracle!

We cannot “store” the supply of Christ for later; rather, morning by morning and day by day we need to experience Christ as our life supply, and He will last for eternity (Exo. 16:4, 21; cf. Matt. 6:34). We should not worry about tomorrow but just enjoy the Lord today; in the world we may have trouble and affliction, but we can daily enjoy Christ as our real manna, our food supply. How amazing it is that daily we can eat God! This is really a long-term lifelong miracle, and it will continue for eternity!

Manna is from heaven. Day by day manna came from heaven for the food supply of the children of Israel. In John 6:32-33 and 51 we see that Christ is the bread out of heaven and the bread of God. On the one hand, Christ is the bread coming from heaven for our food supply, and on the other hand, He is the bread of God, God Himself coming to us in the form of food, bringing God into us. Our time with the Lord in His word day by day nourishes us with heavenly food, the bread of God.

Manna comes with the dew. When the dew lifted, manna was there (Exo. 16:13-14; Num. 11:9). This means that daily the Lord’s refreshing and watering grace is brought in by His fresh compassions (see Psa. 133:3; Lam. 3:22-23; Psa. 110:3). If we don’t have the dew in our time with the Lord, we don’t get the manna; but when we open to the Lord morning by morning to enjoy His fresh compassions and be refreshed by Him, we enjoy God as grace refreshing us and watering us.

We can come forward with boldness to the throne of grace day by day to enjoy mercy and find grace, enjoying the compassionate God every morning to be refreshed, supplied, and nourished (Heb. 4:16).

Manna comes in the morning. This means that if the children of Israel woke up late, they missed the manna and they had no food to eat for the day. Every morning we need to wake up a bit earlier to enjoy Christ as the heavenly manna. Every morning we need a new beginning; when we wake up it is good to tell the Lord,

Lord Jesus, I love You! I am ready for a new turn today. I don’t want to live the same as in the past. i want to have a new beginning with You!

If we contact the Lord in a living way every morning, coming to Him as we read the word of God, we will enjoy Him as the real manna see Exo. 16:21; cf. S.S. 1:6b; 7:12; John 5:39-40; Rom. 6:4; 7:6). May we not just “search the Scriptures”, reading the Bible for knowledge, but come to the Lord daily to have a new beginning with the fresh supply of life! May we not just “read the prescription” in the Bible but “take the medicine” in the word of God by having a living contact with the Lord!

Manna is small. It was small and fine, like coriander seeds upon the face of the earth. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus is Great: He is God. On the other hand, He is small enough for us to eat. Christ was born in a manger (a lowly place), and He was raised in the home of a carpenter in a small, despised town; this indicates that the Lord didn’t make a display of His greatness but preferred to be small in the eyes of man (see Exo. 16:14; Luke 2:12; John 6:35; cf. Judg. 9:9, 11, 13; Matt. 13:31-32).

Christendom is like the transmuted mustard seed growing into a big tree; the church of God is like a small herb to feed people. May we know Christ and experience Him in His smallness, enjoying Him “bite-size” as the One who became small enough for us to eat.

Manna is fine. Christ was not only small enough for us to eat but He was even and balanced in everything (John 6:12). After feeding the 5000 with the fish and the bread, the Lord asked His disciples to pick up the remains – 12 baskets full. He was so fine and so balanced; when we eat Christ as the fine daily manna, we become fine God-men, balanced believers who express Christ.

Manna is round. In the spiritual significance, the fact that manna was round shows that as our food Christ is eternal, perfect, and full, without any shortage or defect (John 8:58). He is the great I AM: He is eternal; He is perfect and full, without shortage or defect, and when we eat Him we also live because of Him. When we eat Christ as the “round” daily manna, our shortages are made up and covered by Him, and He makes us the same as He is.

Manna is white (Exo. 16:31). This indicates that Christ as the real manna is clean and pure, without any mixture. Christ as the Word of God is like silver refined by fire, very pure (see Psa. 12:6; 119:140). When we eat Christ’s pure words by exercising our spirit, we become pure and simple toward Christ (see 2 Cor. 11:3b). By eating Christ as the pure One in His word, we become pure in heart, we are cleansed, and we are purified from any mixture.

Manna is like frost (Exo. 16:14). The frost cools and refreshes the earth, at the same time killing the negative elements. On the one hand we need to be burning in spirit toward the Lord for God’s interest, and on the other hand we need to be “cool in spirit” in our sober understanding of God’s economy (Rom. 12:11; Prov. 17:27).

When we eat Christ as the manna, He cools us, refreshes us, and kills the negative things within us. When we really eat the manna, it will be difficult for us to lose our temper, fall into lusts and temptations, or have selfish ambition.

Manna is like coriander seed (Exo. 16:31; Num. 11:7). This indicates that Christ is full of life that grows in us and multiplies; the seed is the word of God (which is Christ Himself) coming into us to be sown in us, grow in us, and bear fruit in us for God’s expression in glory (see Luke 8:11). When we eat Christ as manna, we grow in life and bear fruit for God.

Manna is solid; this is implied in the fact that the people could ground it between two millstones or beat it in a mortar, then they boiled it and put it in pots (Num. 11:8). After gathering Christ as manna, we must “prepare Him” for our eating by “grinding, beating, and boiling” Him in the situations and circumstances of our daily living.

This means that this solid Christ is being “cooked” and prepared by us in our daily living through all the situations and things we encounter so that He may become our constitution and experience (see 2 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 6:18).

Mann’s appearance is like that of bdellium (Num. 11:7). This shows us the brightness and transparency of Christ. On the one hand Christ is bright, shining with God as light within Him; on the other hand, He is “full of eyes”, full of sight and visions (Ezek. 1:18). When we eat Christ every day as manna we become full of the heavenly visions of God’s economy.

Manna’s taste is like that of cakes baked in oil (Num. 11:8). This signifies that in the taste of Christ (the manna) we have the fragrance of the Holy Spirit (the oil). Hallelujah, our Christ is so tasty: He tastes like cakes baked in oil, being anointed with fresh oil for our enjoyment and experience day by day (Psa. 92:10).

Manna’s taste is like that of wafers made with honey (Exo. 16:31). This signifies the sweetness of the taste of Christ. When we eat Christ in His word, His words are sweet to our taste (Psa. 119:103) and they become the gladness and joy of our heart. Just taste and see that the Lord is good: He is so rich, so sweet, and so full!

Manna is good for making cakes(Num. 11:8). This indicates that Christ is like fine cakes good for nourishment. When we are nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching of God’s economy, we are able to feed others also with Christ as “fine cakes” for their enjoyment, supply, satisfaction, and nourishment (1 Tim. 4:6).

Wow, so many rich aspects of Christ as the real manna for us to enjoy day by day in our Christian life to be reconstituted with Him metabolically and be qualified to build up the church as the house of God!

Let’s look again at the manna God so amply supplied to His people under the Old Covenant. Psalm 78:23-25 records that God “…opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat and…Man did eat angels’ food…” The psalmist told us several important truths about this supernatural provision:

• The doors of Heaven were opened (v. 23).
• When the doors were opened, manna rained upon them (v. 24).
• Manna was the food of angels (v. 25).

First, the psalmist wrote that when the manna fell, the “doors of heaven” were opened. This phrase “doors of heaven” refers to a heavenly portal that opens at God’s command. The first mention of it in Scripture is in Genesis 7:11, where the Bible says that “…the windows of heaven were opened” and rain started falling. That phrase “windows of heaven” is a reference to the same portal referred to as the “doors of heaven” in Psalm 78:23. In fact, so much rain fell through this portal over the course of 40 days and nights that Genesis 7:19 records, “And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.”

Second, the psalmist recorded in Psalm 78:24 that when this manna began falling, it “rained down.” This shows that when Heaven’s portal opens, whatever comes through does so in superabundant measures.

Let me refer to rabbinical literature for a moment. That literature asserts that manna fell in the wilderness each day in such abundance that one day’s supply of manna would have been enough to feed the children of Israel for 2,000 years!

However, despite this overabundance, God forbade the Israelites to take more than one day’s supply per person except in the case of the Sabbath, in which case they were allowed to collect two days at once in order to avoid breaking the Sabbath laws. Each person was limited to an omer, or approximately six to seven pints, which was gathered each morning. If anyone gathered more than what God prescribed, the extra became filled with maggots.

This was doubtlessly a great test of obedience for many people since the human tendency would have been to hoard manna just in case it didn’t fall again. However, hoarding manna would have caused the Israelites to trust in their supply rather than trust in the God who supplies. By gathering only a single day’s ration, it meant that they had to trust God anew for His faithful provision each day.

It is impossible to know exactly how much manna came pouring through that portal during those 40 years, but one can make a rough estimate. If the Israelites numbered approximately 3,000,000 people, as many Bible scholars believe, it is estimated that they needed 4,500 tons of manna every day. If they gathered 4,500 tons a day every day for 40 years, that means an estimated 65,700,000 tons of manna supernaturally appeared on the ground over that period of time.

However, for the children of Israel, this miracle was an everyday event that occurred for 40 years. In fact, an entire generation of young children was born during that time period who grew up thinking it was normal for 4,500 tons of manna to appear each morning out of thin air (see Exodus 16:35)!

God instructed the children of Israel not to hoard manna, but rather to trust Him to provide them with the sustenance they needed each day. The manna that rained daily in the desert was an ever-present reminder that God was faithful and would not lead them on a path that lacked His provision.

Likewise, we need to trust that God will touch us every day with the power and substance we need to be strong overcomers! He simply needs our availability. He is willing to give, but He needs hungry takers!

We read from Psalm 78 that, first, the “doors of heaven” were opened when all that manna fell. Then, second, the psalmist says the manna “rained down.” When Heaven’s portal opens, whatever falls through it does so superabundantly.

Third, the psalmist recorded that manna was “angels’ food” (see v. 25), which explains the extraordinary effect it had upon those who ate it. Theologian Albert Barnes noted that manna was “…food so directly and manifestly from heaven that it might be supposed to be the same kind that was eaten there, and that had now been sent down by a special miracle for man; food so delicate and so free from the ordinary coarse properties of food, that it might be supposed to be such as angels feed on.”1

In order for us to do what God asks us to do, we must regularly eat of His table and receive of His grace. He provided manna to sustain His people in the wilderness. In the same way, Jesus promises divine sustenance to believers who overcome. Jesus’ offer of “manna” in Revelation 2:17 to those who overcome was a declaration to believers throughout the ages that He provides nourishment in times of need and that at His table, the food never runs out.

There is a divine supply of provision for us — a supernatural, heavenly touch — that will replenish and strengthen us, enabling us to overcome the most difficult circumstances. But we must continually draw near to His table and eat the heavenly “bread” He has set before us.

Jesus promises to provide spiritual provision and replenishment to every one of us who will come to His table with faith to receive. He is sufficient to provide the spiritual refreshment and nutrients needed to strengthen us through tough times to accomplish our assignment. God’s grace is available to us, just as daily manna had been available to the children of Israel during their trek across the desert. If they will but come to His table, Christ will provide everything they need.

When Christ offered “manna” to these believers, He was not referring to a mere one-time taste of heavenly power. Rather, He was offering them a consistent supply of spiritual nourishment that would enable them to forge ahead, regardless of the opposition. And no matter what they faced, that supernatural sustenance would empower them to outlast the challenges that surrounded them.

Just as manna was provided to sustain God’s people in the wilderness, He has divine provision for you today and every day! If you will draw near to His table and eat the heavenly bread He has set before you, Christ will personally provide the manna you need — a divine touch — to strengthen and replenish your spirit so you can finish your race and complete your divine assignment. He will provide the manna you need to stay strong for the journey!

Are you ready to pull up your chair to God’s table and let Him set a feast of heavenly bread before you that will fill you with a fresh supply of His awesome power? God is willing to give you this divine sustenance every single day, but you must be willing to proactively come to His table to take in this strengthening supply!