Manna and The Bread of Life
by Doug
Schofield
Joh
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur
not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent
me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath
seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.
Jesus said, “Man shall not
live by bread alone…”, (Matthew 4:4). Of
course he was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 in response to Satan’s temptation that he
turn stones into bread. He said in John
6:48 “I am the bread of life…”. An
interesting choice of words, because certainly everyone recognizes how
important bread is, and how necessary it is to sustain life. Jesus in that statement of course was
speaking of spiritual life – life eternal.
Jesus said in John 6:32, “…Verily,
verily, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; (speaking of the manna God provided for the Children of
Israel in the wilderness), but my
Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven.”(speaking of Himself). The analogy between physical bread and
spiritual bread, and thus between physical life and spiritual life reappears
time and again throughout the text of the Bible.
Bread has been an important
element to mankind ever since leaving the Garden of Eden, where there was an
abundant variety of fruits to eat, all readily at hand. We don’t know all of what was available, but
we do know that there surely must have been grapes, pomegranates, figs, mangos,
nuts, peaches, pears, plumbs, and apples – virtually an endless variety of
wondrous, exotic and delicious food.
Yet, when they gave in to temptation Adam and Eve lost access to Eden
and all of its abundant provision for them.
They were reduced to eating bread; and having to sweat to earn it at
that, (Genesis
It is interesting to me to
note that a number of secular historians confidently place the beginnings of the
history of bread somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 BC! The most common reference I’ve noted seems to
be about 5,500 BC --- about the time Adam and Eve would have left the
garden. Isn’t that amazing? Once again, without even realizing it,
secular history has proven the validity and accuracy of the Bible. There is on display in the British museum in
Man’s diet changed dramatically when he left the
garden, from eating freely of the fruits of the garden to having to earn his
food by the sweet of his brow, (Genesis
It didn’t take long for God’s
providence to enable man to discover that by grinding the grain into meal or
flour it could then be made into cakes and baked by a fire to provide a supply
of food over several days. Bread quickly
became important because meal/flour could be stored to provide a supply of food
for long periods of time then baked up to feed the family between crops. Recall how that Joseph stored vast quantities
of grain in Egypt as a part of his plan to be able to provide food during the
seven years of famine that God had revealed would be coming.
The stalks of grain were cut
by hand and tied into bundles or sheaves.
A sheaf of the first harvest was to be taken to the priest as a wave
offering. This offering was to be made
before anyone ate any of the new crops.
The priest would literally wave the sheaf of grain before the altar in
thanksgiving to God. Likewise, flour
made from the first of the harvested grain was to be made into bread and
presented as an offering. The process
included first the cutting, binding, stacking and gathering of the sheaves of
grain. Then it was transported to a
threshing floor where the head of grain was separated from the stalk and then
the grains were crushed to break them free of the husk. We read of this type of threshing in Isaiah
28:28.
Sometimes a sled or a wheeled device was pulled around
in circles by an animal on the heads of grain to break them free of the
husk. We find reference to this in the
old law in the prohibition from placing a muzzle on the ox. There is a Biblical principle that the ox
that threshes out the grain should be permitted to eat of the fruits of his
labor.
Deuteronomy
25:4 “Thou shalt not muzzle
the ox when he treadeth out [the
corn].”
1Timothy 5:18 “For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer [is] worthy of his reward.”
1Cr 9:9 “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for
oxen?”
After threshing, the grain
was winnowed; that is tossed into the air so that the wind could blow away the
chaff. A quantity of chaff and husk
remained on the floor; this was swept up and used for animal food. Remember how the prodigal son even considered
eating the husks that he fed to the pigs? (Luke 15:16). After winnowing and cleaning the grain it was
then stored in large jars. Each day the
women of the house would grind a small quantity of it, enough for the day’s
baking.
Grinding stones were precious
and valuable possessions, even up until fairly modern times. You can still see old millstones scattered
about the landscape, many of them still lying in the place next to a stream
where they were once stood a mill used to grind meal or flour for the
public. My next door neighbor has
several smaller mill stones at the corners of her flowerbeds. Sometimes people
would grind their grain at home, or in small community groups. As commercial grist mills developed those who
were too poor to pay a miller would continue to grind their meal at home.
Really good millstones, of
hard, coarse rock aren’t as easy to find as one might think. Their scarcity has always made them in high
demand and therefore rather expensive.
Sometimes, the economic status of a person was easily recognizable in
their smile. Those who used the less
expensive, more plentiful softer rock for grinding their grain would eventually
wear down their teeth from the grit of the mill stones that would be baked in
their bread.
One interesting theory of how
bread with leavening came into being comes from a historian’s tale about an
Egyptian slave who fell asleep while making bread. The fire went out before the bread was baked
and the dough soured. When the slave
awoke and rekindled the fire, the bread started to rise as it warmed. He watched to see what would happen, and the
bread baked up into a nice fluffy loaf, instead of the flat flour cake that had
been the common fare. When the slave’s
master discovered the loaf he was impressed with its tender texture and
pleasant flavor. Over a period of time
and much trial and error, the leavened bread was replicated, and soon became
all the rage in the finest households.
Early on, bread was made by
mixing water with meal or flour and forming a small cake that was baked by a
fire. For added nutrition, and improved
quality of the loaf sometimes oil was added.
This small cake is what our granddaddies called a ‘pone’ of bread. As bread making skills and techniques
developed, bread came to be baked under a pot or jar inverted over a fire,
probably to keep the rain out, at first.
This method of baking was so effective that ovens were developed. Perhaps first made of clay and bricks, the
style has changed very little over the years.
Not every household could afford an oven of its own, so community ovens
were sometimes constructed. Fuel for the
fire was frequently dried animal dung.
Sometimes people would pay to
have their bread baked in the oven of another or in a community oven.
The significance and
symbolism of bread throughout the history of mankind is truly interesting. The prophet Hosea spoke of the bread making
process in 7:4, “…they are like a heated oven whose baker ceases to stir the
fire, from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.” (ESV)
As we might imagine, the
quality of flours varied widely, based on the kind of grain and the method of
grinding. More coarsely ground, darker
flours were cheaper for a number of reasons.
First of all, they were made from grains that had very little cleaning,
and didn’t undergo as much grinding; it might even have had various other
things added as filler to increase its volume.
Being coarsely ground, it was frequently more like meal than flour. Finer flours were made from select grains and
so were more white, indicating their purity, and underwent considerably more
laborious grinding to make a finely ground product. We first begin to discern the difference in
the quality of meal and flour in Genesis 18:6 when Abraham asked Sarah to make
cakes of fine meal to serve his guests, (who as it turns out were angels of the
Lord).
In Leviticus 2:1 we first
find the commandment that ‘fine flour’ be offered to the Lord. Fine flour is distinguished form coarse flour
or meal, in that it has undergone more processing. Likewise, to qualify to be designated as
fine, flour must be white – of the highest quality. Sometimes the flour would be presented with
additives such as oil, sometimes baked, sometimes mixed with oil and fried,
(Leviticus 7:12). Most of the time,
the bread to be made of the flour for offering was to be unadulterated by
foreign ingredients, such as leavening.
Occasionally, however, leavened bread was specified, (
Leavening occurs either
naturally or by the addition of leavening agents – usually fungal microbes that
react with other ingredients and cause bread to rise. (A small degree of leavening can also occur
naturally as a result of steam from water content; this may be seen in biscuits
if you forget to add baking powder – it is not as noticeable in pie crust
because a thinner dough is baked.)
Unleavened bread has special
significance in scripture, and is specified by God in many instances both
before and after the exodus. Because it
does not contain the fungal microbes, salt or other leavening agents, unleavened
bread indicates purity – the state to which man needs to be restored, having
sinned. But it also served as a reminder
to the Children of Israel of the haste in which they left Egyptian bondage
under God’s mighty hand.
The first Passover meal was
prepared quickly and there wasn’t time for bread to rise, so they ate
unleavened bread with the Passover lamb.
They also hurriedly baked cakes of unleavened bread to carry with them for
food on their journey out of
Jesus ate unleavened bread
with his disciples when they observed the Passover feast on the night before He
was betrayed. It was this bread with
which He established the memorial feast we are to observe in memory of Him, the
unleavened bread representing His body and symbolizing for us His purity and
innocence, as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
The bread of the Passover was
specified to be unleavened. In stark
contrast, the bread required to be eaten in the observance of Pentecost was to
be leavened. The feast of Pentecost was
to take place 50 days (thus the name) after the Passover, and was to include
leavened bread made from flour of the first fruits of the new crop. Jesus was the first fruits from the dead (1
Corinthians 15:20); the Pentecost bread was made from the first fruits of the
harvest – the church was established on Pentecost – the church is the body of
Christ, and he said I am the bread of life – the first fruits; what beautiful
and meaningful symbolism! As Christians,
we remember and reflect upon these facts each Lord’s day when we eat of the
bread of communion.
But there’s more. Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt
of the earth…” Salt is a leavening
agent. The bread of Pentecost was to be
leavened bread – the church, the body of Christ who is the bread of life, is
comprised of men and women, to whom He said “ye are the salt of the earth…”. Just as leavening causes bread to grow and increase
in size and volume, so we are to do within the church. If we do not, then we may be like the salt
which Jesus said had “…lost its savor and is good for nothing but to be cast
out and trodden under foot of man.”
Are we active leavening
agents for the Lord’s church? When you
purchase yeast in the store look at the package. The label will say something like “active”
yeast – or “doubling acting” yeast.
That’s what the Lord wants us to be…active in causing the borders of His
kingdom to grow.
But what do we know about manna?
Psa 78:23 - 25
Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of
heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the
corn of heaven. Man did eat angels'
food: he sent them meat to the full.
It was NOT the gummy resin of
the tamarisk tree, nor was it secretions of insects that dried on the ground
and tasted like honey. It was NOT
psilocybe mushrooms which, when conditions are right, can pop up overnight in
great numbers, covering the ground like a white frost. Some have gone to great lengths in trying to
establish a theory that in the residue of the Israelites’ large herds, the
moist conditions of the early morning dew caused these so-called ‘magic
mushrooms’ to appear. Drug-heads have
claimed that the hallucinogenic result of eating psilocybe mushrooms is a
spiritual experience, so they must be from God.
Well, we do know that God made everything, (John 1:3), so they are from
Him, but they are NOT manna.
In the first place, there was
enough of it to feed more than 2 million people, every day for 40 years; it
appeared every day of the week except the Sabbath; there was twice as much on
the day before the Sabbath; excess amounts collected bred worms if collected on
any other day than Friday, but not on Friday.
It could be eaten in its natural state or prepared and made into bread,
(Numbers 11:8).
Exo 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.
Also, read Exodus 16:
Neh 9:18 - 21
Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy
God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; Yet
thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar
of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither
the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should
go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to
instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them
water for their thirst. Yea, forty
years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they
lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
1Corinthians 10:1
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all
our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all
baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same
spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of
that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
The daily appearance of manna
was a continual reminder to the Israelites that God was with them. Jesus taught His disciples to pray ‘…give us
this day our daily bread’, (Matthew
Joshua
Manna ceased on the day the
Children of Israel entered the
Read Deuteronomy 8:7:10.
Likewise, the miracles of the
apostles ceased when the last person to whom they passed on the gift died,
because those supernatural powers had served their purpose. (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). Gifts of healing and prophesying, (teaching
things not previously studied), and speaking in foreign languages without studying
them, were no longer needed when they ended.
We know that by approximately AD 51 the teachings of the apostles were
put into writing. The letter from them
concerning the Council at
The collection of letters
written by the apostles was circulated among the various locations of the early
church, and apparently began to be kept intact, as a body of work. We know that there are some that writings
that the Holy Spirit has not seen fit to preserve for us, but the collection we
have is clearly the complete text that was intended.
Canon (As described in
This word is derived from a Hebrew and Greek
word denoting a reed or cane. Hence
it means something straight, or something to keep straight; and hence also a
rule, or something ruled or measured. It came to be applied to the Scriptures,
to denote that they contained the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the
standard of doctrine and duty. A book is said to be of canonical authority
when
it has a right to take a place with the other books which contain a revelation
of the Divine will. Such a right does not arise from any ecclesiastical
authority, but from the evidence of the inspired authorship of the book.
The
canonical (i.e., the inspired) books of the Old and New Testaments, are a
complete rule, and the only rule, of faith and practice. They contain the whole
supernatural revelation of God to men. The New Testament Canon was formed
gradually under divine guidance. The different books as they were written came
into the possession of the Christian associations which began to be formed soon
after the day of Pentecost; and thus slowly the canon increased till all the
books were gathered together into one collection containing the whole of the
twenty-seven New Testament inspired books. Historical evidence shows that from
about the middle of the second century this New Testament collection was
substantially such as we now possess. (It is
particularly interesting to note, that this would be about the time the last of
those to whom the apostles imparted spiritual gifts would have died. Thus the ending of miracles coincided
perfectly with the competition of the New Testament scriptures, (1 Corinthians
are very numerous, and the references are much more numerous. These quotations
and references by our Lord and the apostles most clearly imply the existence at
that time of a well-known and publicly acknowledged collection of Hebrew
writings under the designation of "The Scriptures;" "The Law and
the Prophets
and the Psalms;" "Moses and the Prophets," etc. The appeals
to these books,
moreover, show that they were regarded as of divine authority, finally deciding
all questions of which they treat; and that the whole collection so recognized
consisted only of the thirty-nine books which we now posses. Thus they endorse
as genuine and authentic the canon of the Jewish Scriptures. The Septuagint
Version (q.v.) also contained every book we now have in the Old Testament
Scriptures. As to the time at which the Old Testament canon was closed, there
are many considerations which point to that of Ezra and Nehemiah, immediately
after the return from Babylonian exile.
An important lesson: Deuteronomy 8:3, “And he humbled
thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest
not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth
not live by bread only, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.”
When we come to confidently
believe that God’s providence will never fail us, then we might begin to
approach the lesson embodied here. Most
of the difficulties we encounter in this life are the result of our own doing,
yet, God will care for those who trust in Him.
The Children of Israel had to learn that they could not rely upon their
own ingenuity, but that they must trust in God.
That meant obedience to His commandments, honoring Him in all things,
and most importantly, realizing that it is not physical but spiritual things
that matter most. Recall the words of
our Lord in the sermon on the mount, (Matthew 5:6), “blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness…”.
In 1 John 2:1 we read, “My little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” Remember Jesus’ words in John