For my Sunday School lesson today I decided to focus on the parting of the Red Sea and the bestowal of Manna in the wilderness. It made me look closer at Manna, how it was described, and the rules about how it was to be gathered and eaten.
First of all, what was Manna. There are a few different words and phrases that described it. In Exodus 16:31 we read that "it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." in Exodus 16:14 we learn that it was "a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground." We also learn in 16:21 "and when the sun waxed hot, it melted." I have to admit that the first thing that came to my mind with this description was Dipp'n Dots. We learn elsewhere, however, that they would "bake" it and "seeth" or boil it. So it wasn't Dipp'n Dots. For my class, I made a honey graham cracker recipe, crumbled the dough, and cooked it. It wasn't white like real manna, but the students enjoyed gathering it up from the butcher paper I had spread on the floor.
My attempt to make Manna taught me something about the message of the Manna. I think the reference to Coriander in Exodus 16:31 refers to the size of the bits of Manna because it is followed by the phrase, "and the taste...". Here is a picture of Coriander seed.
As you can see, it is pretty small. I think a modern American would say it is about the size of pepper corns. The Lord tells them that they are to gather one omer every morning per person(16:15) , and the chapter says that it was found on the ground (v. 14). An omer is believed to be about two quarts.
So think about what it would take to gather two quarts of something the size and shape of a peppercorn. They couldn't just scoop it up, or they would get a handful of dirt mixed in with their Manna. They would have to bend down, pick up each piece, one at a time, and put it into their container. After that they would then have to either grind and cook it as bread or boil and eat it.
In John 6: 25-40 Jesus compares himself to Manna, the bread of life. Several of my podcasters, and materials in the Come Follow Me manual talked about how just as the children of Israel had to gather Manna each day for physical sustenance, we have to give ourselves spiritual Manna each day to stay spiritually strong. If gathering Manna is a symbol of diligently seeking God's spirit, what do the details of Chapter 16 teach us?
First of all, we need to feed our spirits every day. We can't gather enough spiritual food on Sunday to last us through the week. If we try to rest on yesterday's spiritual laurels, it could go rotten in our souls.
Second, the daily spiritual experiences we seek are not necessarily large. Spiritual health is based on many small acts of devotion, like picking up the many pieces of Manna in an omer. These could include saying prayers, daily scripture reading,and small acts of service. Each is another seed of the bread of life.
Third, to collect spiritual sustenance, we have to humble ourselves. The people gathering manna had to bend over, probably to their knees, just to see the Manna in order to pick it up. It took physical effort and focus. If we don't bend over, examine closely, and focus, we are likely to end up with a metaphorical handful of dirt instead of the bread of life.
Finally, if we do humble ourselves, gather spiritual experiences daily, and focus our lives on Christ, the Lord does send us, each day, what we need to get through the day. In the Lord's Prayer Jesus taught his disciples, "Give us this day our daily bread." He will sustain us. Maybe we aren't eating Thanksgiving dinner every day, but we aren't starving to death either. He is faithful and will provide.
We get the impression from the scriptures that Manna was not only nutritious, but also delicious. The scripture describes it like "cakes of honey" and "bread made with oil", (think doughnuts). Likewise our daily communion with God can also be a delicious part of our lives. It will sustain us and help us get through whatever wilderness we might encounter.
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