The Journal of Biblical Accuracy

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• About Manna and the Word of God

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About Manna and the Word of God

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

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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

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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.”

Andrea Kioulachoglou