Message 36
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 16:4-5, 13-15, 31; Num. 11:6-9
Let us now turn to the various characteristics of manna. In Exodus 16 and Numbers 11 we are given a brief description of manna. In this short description at least fourteen aspects of manna are pointed out. Every aspect is one of the characteristics of manna.
The first characteristic of manna is that it came from heaven (16:4a). Hence, manna is heavenly. Although we do not know the essence or substance of manna, we know that it came from heaven. In Exodus 16:4 the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.” Manna is difficult to analyze. No doubt, it contained nourishment to meet all the requirements of man’s physical body. Otherwise, it could not have sustained God’s people those many years in the wilderness. On the one hand, manna has all the elements needed to sustain man’s physical body; on the other hand, manna is a heavenly food.
Just as we cannot analyze or explain manna, we cannot analyze or explain the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was sent from heaven by the Father to be the real manna. As the bread which came from heaven, He is the food by which God’s people live. In John 6:51 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever.” Who can analyze the essence of Christ as our heavenly food? It is impossible to analyze His substance scientifically. But although we cannot analyze Christ’s essence or fully explain it, He is nonetheless very real. He is invisible and intangible but He is substantial, and He sustains God’s people.
From the time of the Roman Empire until today, many earthly governments and world leaders have tried to quench the Lord’s move on earth. They have also attempted to destroy and annihilate His Body. But all their efforts have been in vain. Christ’s Body could not be destroyed because within the church there is a heavenly essence, a heavenly element, which sustains the church in its sojourn on earth. Because Christ imparts this element into the church, nothing can destroy it or terminate it.
Just as manna sustained nearly two million people in the wilderness for forty years, so Christ as the real manna sustains the church today. This manna does not have its source on earth; it comes down from heaven where God is. Thus, manna is not only heavenly food, but also godly food. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus is “the bread out of heaven”; on the other hand, He is “the bread of God,” the One who came down out of heaven to be our food (John 6:32-33).
In Exodus 16:13 and 14 we see that manna came with the dew: “In the morning the dew lay round about the camp. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing” (Heb.). This small, round thing was manna. Numbers 11:9 also tells us that manna came with the dew; “And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.” It is significant that in sending the quails God used the wind. But in sending the manna, God used dew. Certainly God could have sent the manna without the dew. The fact that manna came with the dew must have a definite spiritual significance. Because my experience of this is not yet complete, I cannot explain fully why manna came with the dew. But according to spiritual experience, I can point out that the dew signifies daily grace, the grace we receive each day. In Psalm 133:3 we read of “the dew of Hermon...the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.” The dew of Hermon signifies grace which descends from the heavens. Hermon, a high mountain, signifies the heavens, the highest place, from which the dew descends. The dew signifies the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dew is different from rain, snow, or frost. It is softer than rain and not as cold as frost. According to Lamentations 3:22 and 23, God’s mercy, like the dew, is fresh every morning. Mercy in the Old Testament eventually issues in the grace of the New Testament. For this reason, Jeremiah used the word mercy in Lamentations 3. Every morning the Lord’s grace is as fresh as the dew.
We have pointed out a number of times that grace is God reaching us. When God reaches us in a positive manner, full of mercy and compassion, He becomes grace to us. Manna always comes by means of this grace.
We encourage the saints to practice morning watch at the beginning of each day. However, although we may regularly have morning watch, often during our time with the Lord in the morning we do not experience the freshness of dew. Consequently, we do not gather any manna. Instead, the Word seems merely to be letters in black and white. But whenever we experience the dew in the morning watch, we know that God reaches us and visits us. This visitation of God is the Lord as our grace. Our experience testifies that where the dew is, there manna is also.
When we have dew as we read the Word in the morning, the Word truly is food to us. If we do not have the refreshing dew, we cannot have the manna that comes with the dew.
This picture of the manna and the dew is very precious. Truly a picture is better than a thousand words! The dew in the morning is refreshing. Without this dew, this grace, we are very dry. But with the dew we are watered and refreshed. Thank the Lord that manna comes not by itself, but with the dew.
We have pointed out that the quails came in the evening, but the manna was sent in the morning. Exodus 16:21 says that the children of Israel “gathered it every morning.” The fact that manna came in the morning indicates that it gives us a new beginning. Because the earth revolves on its axis daily, every day we have a new beginning, a new turn. We also have new beginnings monthly and yearly. Manna is not related to the yearly or monthly beginnings, but to a daily new beginning. If God sent the manna yearly, we could not survive. If manna were sent monthly, we would not be strengthened, sustained, and satisfied. Thank the Lord that He sends the manna daily. Every morning we can have a new beginning.
In our spiritual experience we need these daily turns, these daily new beginnings. Sometimes at the end of the day I am eagerly awaiting the next morning and a new beginning. As I go to bed at night, I may say, “Lord, after resting tonight, I expect to have a new beginning with You in the morning.” Praise the Lord for every new day, for every new beginning! Manna always brings us such a new start.
We may also say that every new beginning brings us fresh manna. If you expect to receive manna from the Lord, you need to pray, “Lord, I am ready for a new turn. I don’t want to live the same way as in the past. I want to have a new beginning with You.” As you come to the Lord in the morning, are you willing to pray like this? If you tell Him that you are ready for a new start, you will experience the dew, and with the dew, the manna. However, if your desire is to relive the past, to live the same kind of life you did years ago, manna will not come to you.
In order to have manna, we must be prepared for a new beginning. From my experience I can assure you that manna comes whenever you are willing to have a new beginning. In the morning let us come to the Lord and say, “Lord, I want a new beginning. I do not want to be the same as yesterday. I thank You, Lord, that in Your sovereignty and in Your economy, You offer us a new beginning every day of the year.” If you pray to the Lord in this way, eager for a new beginning, the manna will come in the morning with the dew.
Concerning the gathering of manna with the dew in the morning, we do not need more doctrine. What we need is more experience in our daily life. Many years ago we learned that manna is a type of Christ. How pitiful that among Christians today this is mainly a matter of doctrine! When I was with the Brethren, I was taught clearly that manna typifies Christ. But I was not helped to gather the manna day by day. Instead of life, there was mere doctrine.
Many of the good things related to Christ have become traditional doctrines. Even unbelievers may be familiar with certain truths concerning Christ. Some may even realize that manna is a type of Christ. What we need is not traditional doctrine, but more practical experiences in life.
Thousands, even millions, of people read the Bible without receiving the smallest amount of manna. In their reading of the Scriptures there is nothing but letters in black and white. Under the influence of tradition, they do not care to receive new light. They are not even interested in seeking for such light. They are content to understand the Bible according to traditional knowledge and according to ethical aspirations. They want to learn the teachings of the Bible in order to improve their behavior. They approach the Scriptures in the same way the Chinese approach the classical writings of Confucius. I once even heard a missionary say that the teachings of the Bible are identical with those of Confucius. What a deplorable misunderstanding of the Word of God!
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, the Judaizers had no heart for Him. They were fully occupied with the traditions of their fathers. Their understanding of the Old Testament was according to traditional teaching and knowledge. After Saul of Tarsus was saved, he probably spent a good deal of time checking his experience with the Old Testament. He surely did this according to the leading of the Spirit, not according to traditional knowledge inherited from his forefathers in Judaism. Therefore, Paul received light, revelation.
Our experience today should be the same as that of Paul. I can testify that I receive light from the Lord concerning the Word because I do not care for the traditions of Christianity. If I were still caring for religious tradition, I would not receive any enlightenment. In 1964 I was advised by a certain person not to teach that Christ is the Spirit, even though this truth is revealed in the New Testament. I was told that such a teaching would not be accepted by today’s Christians. Because people care so much for traditional teaching, they are blind. Year after year, they receive no new light. We praise the Lord that we are receiving new light almost daily. We should not be limited by what we saw years ago. Even scientists are open to new discoveries. If we want to progress spiritually, we need to lay aside tradition. As we come to the Word, we should forget our traditional knowledge.
Christianity has become a religion of tradition which neglects Christ as the reality. The Sunday morning services are filled with tradition. The situation among us in the Lord’s recovery must be altogether different. Daily we need to go on with the Lord. We should not only read the Bible, but also deal with the living Person of Christ who dwells in us. As we read the words of the Scripture, we must contact this living Person. Instead of being occupied with doctrines or methods, we should desperately seek the Lord Himself. If we pursue the Lord in this way, we shall have a new beginning with Him every morning.
Our time with the Lord in the morning should not be according to tradition or custom. The custom in some households is to rise early and then spend time reading the Bible. But it is possible to read the Word every morning without gathering any manna, for we may not have living contact with the Lord. The printed words in the Bible do not give us life. In John 5:39 and 40 the Lord Jesus said to the religionists, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that testify concerning Me; and you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” If we want to receive life, we must come to the Lord. To have life we must have Him.
There is a big difference between a prescription for some medicine and the medicine itself. We do not have the medicine simply by studying the prescription. However, this is the very thing many Christians are doing today. In some cases they do not even study the prescription in a proper way. On the one hand, my heart rejoices because of what the Lord has shown us. On the other hand, my heart aches because of the situation among Christians. Who really cares for the Lord Himself? Very few actually care for Him, even though He is so living and so available.
In a previous message I pointed out that my confession to the Lord each day primarily concerns my shortcomings in remaining one in spirit with Him. We know that 1 Corinthians 6:17 tells us that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. We also know that we should live according to this mingled spirit. But how much do we actually live in this spirit? Perhaps among us in the Lord’s recovery this also has become a doctrine instead of a real and genuine practice in life. In your daily life, is the matter of being joined to the Lord in one spirit a practice, or is it merely a doctrine? If this is mere doctrinal knowledge, it does not mean anything. It is very easy for any revelation to become a traditional teaching. Let us turn from all the traditional teachings and seek the Lord Himself. If we do this, light from the Word will shine upon us.
Although Exodus 16 is a great chapter in the Bible, many Christians do not have an adequate appreciation of it because they are still under the influence of religious tradition. Perhaps we would be more impressed with this chapter if we were primitive, uneducated people with no knowledge of the Scriptures. If this were our situation, we might be able to see more easily that this chapter reveals God’s intention to change the source of our being, to change our very constituent. It is a superficial understanding of this chapter simply to say that manna is heavenly food which typifies Christ. This kind of doctrinal understanding has no effect on our living. It may even hinder us from receiving God’s revelation conveyed in this portion of the Word. However, if we turn from traditional teaching and pray over this chapter, we shall be enlightened to see that, as believers, we should live on Christ alone. Only the living Christ should be the food on which we live day by day.
What a great difference there is between such an understanding of this chapter and traditional teaching! Many of us heard teachings about Christ as manna when we were in religion. But what effect did it have on us? It did not keep many from indulging in worldly entertainment. Some have received the superficial teachings about not loving the world. They have been told not to hunger for the cucumbers and garlic of Egypt. How superficial! The deep truth in Exodus 16 is that God wants to change our diet. The crucial point here is not whether or not we love the world; it is whether or not our diet has been changed. There is a tremendous difference between learning not to love the world and having a change of diet.
As we seek the Lord for a new beginning and for the supply of manna, we need to turn to our spirit. However, it is easy for us to exercise the mind instead of the spirit. Because this is our tendency, it is a good habit to contact the Lord in the Word before we become occupied with the affairs of the day. Once we have become involved in so many things, it is much more difficult to exercise our spirit to contact the Lord. The first thing we should do each morning is to come to the Lord in the Word and feed on Him.
