Exodus 16:31-36
Manna means, “what is it?” in Hebrew, and that is exactly what the Israelites said when they saw this small, white piece of bread on the ground, given by God as their provision. What an amazing gift this was, for here is their daily portion of food and they do not have to grow it, cultivate it, water it, feed it or sweat over it. God gives them all that they need, everyday through absolutely no goodness on their part. All they must do is reach down and pick it up every day.
Manna is a perfect picture of God’s grace. It is given without regard to whether the recipient has earned it and all one must do to have it is pick it up. In spiritual terms, picking it up is believing and receiving. Simply believe that God has provided it for you and that you are made worthy to receive it by the blood of the New Covenant and you can then take all that you need.
Just as manna was new every day, the blessings of God in Jesus Christ are fresh and new everyday as well. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22, 23). Israel was forbidden from taking extra manna to last into the next day, with the eve of the Sabbath being an obvious exception. God did this so that they were never eating yesterday’s blessing. Jesus wishes for His church to feed on Him and His goodness on a daily basis; not surviving on last Sunday morning’s blessing.
Jesus said that as the manna fell in the wilderness, feeding the children of Israel, so He is the bread of life sent to feed the church. “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 6:51). Our spiritual bread is the broken body of Jesus Christ, which we partake of every time that we realize what Calvary accomplished for us. We now feed on His finished work on the cross, with all of our sins having been punished in His body, and all of our sickness having been paid for in Him. This is glorious food for the believer, for it takes all that is wrong with us and puts it in Jesus, so that we can be truly free.
God told Moses to fill an omer of manna to be placed into the Ark of the Covenant. An omer was the tenth part of an ephah (Exodus 16:36), and an ephah was a day’s worth of manna. In other words, God instructed Moses to put 1/10 of a day’s worth of manna into the Ark. This 1/10 is also called the tithe, denoting that God put the tithe into the Ark in the form of manna. Everything inside of the Ark was covered over by the mercy seat which was covered in blood. The blood sealed everything inside, freeing man from whatever its contents held over him. Israel placed the tithe of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the 10 Commandments into the Ark. Since these items are inside the Ark, they cannot be held against us again.
This means that we are free from the tithe, the 10 Commandments and the authority of man. Though free from every one of these, we still live them out through our righteousness: tithing by revelation of how good our God is; living the moral code of God through the finished work of Christ; and submitting ourselves to the authorities of the world and the church. All bondage to works has been placed beneath the blood and now we feed on the heavenly bread, Jesus Christ.
Manna means, “what is it?” in Hebrew, and that is exactly what the Israelites said when they saw this small, white piece of bread on the ground, given by God as their provision. What an amazing gift this was, for here is their daily portion of food and they do not have to grow it, cultivate it, water it, feed it or sweat over it. God gives them all that they need, everyday through absolutely no goodness on their part. All they must do is reach down and pick it up every day.
Manna is a perfect picture of God’s grace. It is given without regard to whether the recipient has earned it and all one must do to have it is pick it up. In spiritual terms, picking it up is believing and receiving. Simply believe that God has provided it for you and that you are made worthy to receive it by the blood of the New Covenant and you can then take all that you need.
Just as manna was new every day, the blessings of God in Jesus Christ are fresh and new everyday as well. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22, 23). Israel was forbidden from taking extra manna to last into the next day, with the eve of the Sabbath being an obvious exception. God did this so that they were never eating yesterday’s blessing. Jesus wishes for His church to feed on Him and His goodness on a daily basis; not surviving on last Sunday morning’s blessing.
Jesus said that as the manna fell in the wilderness, feeding the children of Israel, so He is the bread of life sent to feed the church. “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 6:51). Our spiritual bread is the broken body of Jesus Christ, which we partake of every time that we realize what Calvary accomplished for us. We now feed on His finished work on the cross, with all of our sins having been punished in His body, and all of our sickness having been paid for in Him. This is glorious food for the believer, for it takes all that is wrong with us and puts it in Jesus, so that we can be truly free.
God told Moses to fill an omer of manna to be placed into the Ark of the Covenant. An omer was the tenth part of an ephah (Exodus 16:36), and an ephah was a day’s worth of manna. In other words, God instructed Moses to put 1/10 of a day’s worth of manna into the Ark. This 1/10 is also called the tithe, denoting that God put the tithe into the Ark in the form of manna. Everything inside of the Ark was covered over by the mercy seat which was covered in blood. The blood sealed everything inside, freeing man from whatever its contents held over him. Israel placed the tithe of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the 10 Commandments into the Ark. Since these items are inside the Ark, they cannot be held against us again.
This means that we are free from the tithe, the 10 Commandments and the authority of man. Though free from every one of these, we still live them out through our righteousness: tithing by revelation of how good our God is; living the moral code of God through the finished work of Christ; and submitting ourselves to the authorities of the world and the church. All bondage to works has been placed beneath the blood and now we feed on the heavenly bread, Jesus Christ.
