The Manna was God’s gracious provision for feeding His people on their journey to Canaan. When the Israelites awoke and stirred from their tents they found the ground covered with a small, white granular substance ‘fine as hoar frost’. It was to be collected and baked. Its mysterious appearing caused the people to ask, “What is it?” God gave two injunctions relating to it. (1) ‘Let no man leave any of it till the morning’ v.19 (2) ‘Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none" v.26. Some failed to believe that God meant what He said! “Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and became foul” and “some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.” God’s Word is sure!
We keep the same question this month, as we wish to emphasise another important point
from the Manna. The Manna presents a lovely picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
was small, white and round. In grace He became small enough to be placed in a manger,
which as we know is the feeding trough of the cattle. The white would speak of His
spotless, holy perfection. The roundness (the un-
The Lord Jesus was very much a ‘thorn in the flesh’ to the Jewish authorities and
even a cursory read through the four Gospels will reveal they wanted Him out of the
way. In John ch.7 we learn ‘the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to
take Him’. As the soldiers waited for an opportune moment to carry out the arrest,
they were forced to stand and listen to Him teach. Soon they were gripped by what
they heard, and eventually returned to their leaders empty-
“Why have you not brought him?” -
The Chemist might answer this question by saying that man is only a number of chemical elements mixed together. The mathematician might have said, “Man is only a statistic.” The evolutionist would say that man is the pinnacle of the process of evolution. All of these beliefs would rob man of his true dignity and honour. The Bible shows clearly that man is different from any creature, in that he alone is said to be made in ‘the image of God’. This realisation should cause us to lift up our heads and praise our Creator for conferring upon us an honour that far exceeds the plaudits of men. You are made ‘in the image of God’! Grasp it!
“What is man ...?” -