Manna - A Type of Christ, pt. 1, by Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)   1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 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. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. (Ex 16:1-5 AV)   13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 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. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. 18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. 19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. 21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. 22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. 24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. 25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the Lord: to day ye shall not find it in the field. 26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none. 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. 28 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day. 31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. (Ex. 16:13-31 AV)   In our last paper we considered the “manna” with which Jehovah supplied the bodily need of Israel in the wilderness as a type of the Food which God had so graciously provided for the sustenance of our souls. That Food is His own blessed Word. But “the Word” is used both of the Scriptures and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The two are most intimately related. “In the volume of the Book,” said Christ, “it is written of Me”  (Psalm 40:7); and again, “Search the Scriptures... they are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). Almost everything that can be postulated of the one can be predicted of the other. But the chief value of the written Word is to set forth the perfections and bring us into communion with the incarnate Word. It is only as we feed upon Christ Himself that we truly feed upon the written Word. Therefore in this article we shall confine our attention to the manna typifying the person and perfections of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beneath many a figure and behind innumerable shadows and symbols the anointed eye may discern the glories of our blessed Lord. It should be our chief delight as we read the Old Testament Scriptures to prayerfully search for that which foreshadows Him of whom “Moses and the prophets” did write. All doubt is removed as to whether or not the manna pointed to the incarnate Son by His own words in John 6:32, 33. There we find the Savior saying, “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.” May the Spirit of God now condescend to open our sin-blinded eyes as we earnestly desire to behold “wondrous things” out of His perfect Law. 1. The Occasion of the giving of the Manna is both striking and solemn. After being the recipients of wondrous mercies from the Lord, Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Sin. But no sooner had they come thither than we find that the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (v. 3). A more fearful exhibition of unbelief, ingratitude, and rebellion could scarcely be imagined. The marvel is that the fiery judgments of God did not consume them there and then. But instead of pouring upon them His wrath, He dealt with them in marvelous grace by raining bread from Heaven for them. Strikingly does this picture the condition of that world into which the Lord of Glory descended. For four thousand years the temporal and governmental mercies of God had been showered upon the human race, making His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, sending His rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). And what had been man’s response? “When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the un- corruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and to fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:21-23).  Little better was it with Israel, as a glance at their Old Testament history will show. What wonder, then, if God had abandoned the whole race! But no; in matchless, wondrous grace, He sent forth His own beloved Son to a world wherein every human creature had forfeited every possible claim upon His goodness and mercy. 2. The Place where the Manna fell is also deeply significant. It was in the “Wilderness of Sin” (16:1) that the “bread from Heaven” first fell. Surely it were impossible to select a more fitting title to accurately describe the character of that world into which the Son of God descended. Verily, a wilderness of sin was this world to the Holy One of God! A wilderness! What is a “wilderness”? It is a homeless place. No one would think of building a house there. And a homeless place was this world to the Son of God. No room in the inn at His birth; nowhere to lay His head during the days of His public ministry; a borrowed grave for His crucified body, sums it all up. A wilderness of sin! Never was that more apparent than when the Sinless One was here. How the Light exposed the hidden things of darkness! How the murder of the Savior demonstrated the sinfulness of Jew and Gentile alike! 3. The Glory of the Lord was linked with the giving of the Manna. “And it came to pass as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory, of the Lord appeared in the Cloud” (v. 10). This is very striking indeed. It is the first time we read of the appearing of “the glory of the Lord,” not only in connection with Israel, but in Scripture. Marvelously accurate is this detail of our type. Not until the Son of God became incarnate was “the glory of the Lord”  fully revealed. But when the eternal Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, then, as the beloved apostle declares, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Onlybegotten of the Father” (John 1:14). The “glory of God” is seen “in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). 4. The Manna came down from Heaven. “Then said the Lord unto Moses, ‘Behold I will rain bread from Heaven for you’” (vs. 4). The manna was not a product of this earth. It grew neither in the wilderness nor in Egypt. It was neither produced by human efforts, nor manufactured by human skill. It descended from God. It was a gift from Heaven come down to earth. So our Lord Jesus was no native product of this earth. As we read in Ephesians 4:10, “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens.” The first man (Adam) was of the earth, earthy; but the second Man (Jesus Christ) was “The Lord from Heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:48). 5. The Manna was a free gift from God. “And Moses said unto them. This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat” (v. 15). No charge was made for this manna. It was neither a wage to be earned nor a prize to be won, but was a token of God’s grace and love. No payment was demanded for it. It was without money and without price. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Let us join with the apostle in saying. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). 6. The Manna was sent to the Israelites. “Behold I will rain bread from Heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day” (v. 4). Two truths are here illustrated. First, the Manna was God’s provision for His elect people, and for none others. We do not read of God raining manna upon Egypt nor upon Canaan. It was given to Israel in the wilderness and to them alone, just as the Paschal lamb was for them and not for the Egyptians. So, too, Christ is God’s Provision for those whom He “ordained unto eternal life” (Acts 13:48). Listen to His own words in John 17:19: “For their sakes I sanctify Myself” — set Myself apart unto death. It was for “the sheep,” not the goats, that He gave His life (John 10:11). But second, this manna was also sent to a needy and foodless people. Whatever food Israel had brought with them out of Egypt was, by this time, all consumed. From the human side, they seemed in imminent danger of starving to death. Had not God met their need they would have perished in the wilderness. But from the Divine side everything was sure. God had purposed to bring Israel to Sinai (3:12), and His counsel cannot fail. A complete provision did He make for His needy people. It is the same now. By nature, the elect of God are “children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:3). Shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, their lot is indeed a desperate one. But praise be to God, full provision is made for them. The Bread of Life is their all-sufficient supply. Even before His birth it was announced, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). 7. The Manna came right down to where the Israelites were. The Israelites were in immediate danger of starving to death, but as we have seen, God graciously made provision to supply their need and now we would notice that no long journey had to be taken in order to secure that which would satisfy their hunger — the manna fell all around the camp. “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” (vv. 13, 14). Here we have foreshadowed the blessed fact that, to the sinner conscious of his need and anxious to meet with the Savior, God says, “Say not in thine heart, ‘Who shall ascend into Heaven?’ (that is to bring Christ down from above) or, ‘Who shall descend into the deep?’ (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead). But what saith it? ‘The Word is nigh thee.’”  (Rom. 10:6-7).  And out of this very nearness springs the sinner’s responsibility. All around each tent door lay the manna. Something had to be done with it. It must either be gathered or trodden under foot! Sinner, what are you doing with the Christ of God? Remember His searching words, “He that is not with Me is against Me” (Luke 11:23). 8. The Manna must be gathered by each individual. “This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, ‘Gather of it every man according to his eating’” (v. 16).  This is so spiritually. Receiving Christ (John 1:12) is a personal matter. No one can believe for another. There is no salvation by proxy. The gospel of Christ is, “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16), and “he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). Saving faith is that act whereby each awakened sinner appropriates Christ unto himself. It is true that Christ loved the Church as a whole, and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25), but it is also the happy privilege of each member of that Church to say with the Apostle Paul, “Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Have you, dear reader, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ?   [This article will continue in the next issue (D.V.)]  ------- Originally published in “Gleanings in Exodus”, in the publication Studies in the Scrioptures, 1922-1932.