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They remembered the savouries, the tasty morsels, and were not satisfied with the
simple fare for the heavenly pilgrimage: Is there no lesson here for ourselves? They
forgot the bitterness of hard bondage which had caused the cry to reach heaven
(Exod. 2: 23). This people said on another occasion:--
"Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt" (Numb. 14: 4).
but the inspired comment, given by Nehemiah, is:--
"In their rebellion they appointed them a captain to return to THEIR BONDAGE"
(Neh. 9: 17).
If at any time the old nature seeks to turn the face of the pilgrim back to the world he
has left behind, it will call to remembrance the pleasures (the leek, the onion, the garlick),
but will not remind of the awful bondage and bitterness. We are not left to the evident
analogy of the type to show that the manna set forth the Lord Jesus, for with
unmistakable directness He Himself has taught the lesson:--
"Our father did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from
heaven to eat."
"Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which
cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die."
"I am the bread of life."
"This is that bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers did eat manna,
and are dead; he that eateth of this bread shall live for the age" (John 6: 31, 48-50, 58).
Step by step we shall find Israel's history unfolding the all-sufficiency of the Son of
God for all things. His one sacrifice as the great Passover was all sufficient for our
deliverance. Identification with Him breaks the threefold dominion of sin, death and law.
His cross makes every Marah sweet, and He, the great gift of God, supplies all our needs
unto the very border of the promised land. The experiences of the Exodus are to be
repeated in the near future. The sore judgments of the Revelation echo the plagues of
Egypt. In an earlier article we saw that the crossing of the Red Sea was in its turn a type
of the future, and now we shall find that the miraculous supply of bread from heaven will
be repeated:--
"And to the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished" (Rev. 12: 14).
In our articles on The Sermon on the Mount we drew attention to a clause in the prayer
taught therein, viz., "Give us this day our daily bread". "Daily" in Greek is epiousios,
from epi = upon, and ousios = coming. The true rendering of the prayer therefore is,
"Give us this day the bread which cometh down upon us", i.e., the manna. We read of
"the hidden manna" in Rev. 2: 17. Some of the manna which fell in the wilderness was
placed in the ark.
"That they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I
brought you forth from the land of Egypt" (Exod. 16: 32).