Christ the True Manna

“This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.”

 John 6:50

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,” Revelation 2:17.

Christ, and the graces of Christ, are called Manna. Manna means to prepare, because it was food prepared from heaven for the Israelites in the wilderness.

TYPE

PARALLEL

I. Manna was a strange and mysterious thing at first to the Israelites, they knew not what it was, Exodus 16:15.

I. Jesus Christ is the wonder of men and angels; and when he came in this world, yea, to his own, they knew him not, 1 Timothy 3:16, John 1:11-12.

II. Manna was food prepared from heaven.

II. Christ had a body prepared of the Father, that he might be food for believers, Hebrews 10:5.

III. Manna came down or descended from heaven.

III. Christ is the true bread, or manna from heaven, John 6:35.

IV. Manna was white. It was a pure, fair, and bright thing.

IV. Christ is described without sin, Revelation 1, 1 Peter 2:22.

V. Manna was round in form and figure.

V. Christ, respecting his Divinity, is infinite, perfect, and entire, no beginning, no end.

VI. Manna was a gift, it was given to Israel freely; it cost them nothing.

VI. Christ is called a gift, the choicest gift that ever God bestowed, given freely for the life of the world, John 4:10.

VII. Manna was given to all, to the poor, as well as to the rich; none were forbidden to partake thereof.

VII. Christ is sent to all, to Jews and Gentiles, to the small as well as the great, to the poor as well as the rich; none are excluded.

VIII. Manna was pleasant, it had all the taste and relish of sweetness in it.

VIII. Whatsoever is pleasant, sweet, and delicious in a spiritual sense, is found in Christ; his word is sweet as honey, or the honey-comb: “O taste and see that the LORD is good,” Psalms 34:8.

IX. Manna did nourish well, and was given in great plenty.

IX. Christ is very sufficient and plentiful, there is in him enough to nourish and feed all. What soul is there but may be filled to the full, if he comes to Christ?

X. Manna was to be bruised in a mill, that so it might become more useful for food.

X. Christ, that he might be food for our souls, was bruised: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him,” Isaiah 53:10.

XI. Manna was given equally to all the Israelites; they had all a certain measure, not one more than another, were all fellow-commoners; every man had his part, his omer.

XI. All believers have their equal share in Christ, a whole Christ is given to every saint; they have all one portion, one husband, one kingdom and crown, that fadeth not away.

XII. Manna was a small and little thing unto the eye, like to a coriander seed.

XII. Christ was little, low, and contemptible in the eyes of the world, of no reputation, Philippians 2:7.

XIII. Manna came down with the dew, it was covered or hid as it were the dew.

XIII. Christ came down with the dew of the Spirit, being baptized or covered therewith, hence called, as some conceive, hidden Manna, Revelation 2:17.

XIV. Manna was not given to the Israelites, whilst they were in Egypt.

XIV. Christ, who is the true Manna, is not given to unbelievers, that remain in bondage and slavery, under the power of sin and Satan.

XV. Manna fell round about the camp of Israel, and in no other place.

XV. Christ is conversant within the limits of his Church. The graces of the Spirit fall upon mount Hermon; “As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion,” Psalms 133:3. There God commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man,” Revelation 1:13.

XVI. Manna was given to Israel in the wilderness: it was their only food, whilst they remained in that desert state.

XVI. Christ, and the blessings of Christ, are given to us, who are in the desert or wilderness of this world. We have no other food for our souls, but are to live upon Christ by faith, so long as we are in this howling wilderness.

XVII. It was gathered daily, except on the sabbath, then there was none to be found.

XVII. Those that would have Christ, must seek him in the time God hath appointed. In the day of the glorious rest of sabbath, that remains to the people of God, there will be no Christ, no Manna for sinners.

XVIII. They went out of their tents to gather it.

XVIII. We must go out of the old man, and sensual rests, and love of this world, if we would participate of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

XIX. If manna was kept or received otherwise than God ordained and appointed, it stank, and bred worms.

XIX. The sacrament of the Lord’s supper, or any other institutions of Christ, made use of, or received in other manner than Christ hath ordained and appointed, it stinks in the nostrils of God, and is abhorred by good men.

XX. Manna ceased when Israel came into Canaan.

XX. Living by faith, and our being fed by ordinances, will cease when we come to heaven.

XXI. Manna was only given to the Israelites.

XXI. Christ, and the Bread of life, is only given to believers.

XXII. Those that would receive the benefit of Manna, were to eat it.

XXII. Those that receive the saving benefit by Christ, must receive and eat him spiritually by faith.

XXIII. Manna came very seasonably to Israel, they had else starved.

XXIII. Christ was promised seasonably, and came seasonably into the world, in the very nick of time. “In due time Christ died for the ungodly,”   Romans 5:6. We had perished else forever.

XXIV. Manna was to be kept, and put in a golden pot before the Lord, to remain in the holiest forever.

XXIV. Christ is glorified in heaven, in his human nature, at the right-hand of God, and abides there forever for the faithful, Hebrews 9:24.

XXV. Manna was loathed by the evil murmurers on whom the wrath of God fell, they esteemed it light bread.

XXV. Jesus Christ, in his word, ordinances, and administrations, is loathed by carnal and ungodly men; yea, and many account Christ’s good word light bread.

XXVI. In the day before the sabbath, in the night, Manna fell abundantly, that so they might gather it on that day, to provide food for the sabbath.

XXVI. Christ now before the last day, the beginning of the true eternal sabbath, is more fully revealed, that so poor saints might be provided for before the everlasting rest, and end of times come, Revelation 14:6.

TYPE

DISPARITY

I. The Manna was food for the outward man, for the body only.

I. Christ is food for the soul.

II. Manna was eaten by many that were wicked, though of the national church of the Jews.

II. Christ is not food for, nor received by any, but those who are truly godly, and Israelites indeed. “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. John 6:56-57.

III. Manna did corrupt and putrefy.

III. Christ, the true Manna, can never corrupt, but abideth forever.

IV. Manna was only found at some certain times, it melted away when the sun rose.

IV. Christ is ever the same, and always to be found by those that seek him aright, both in prosperity and adversity, to his elect.

V. Those that did eat of Manna in the wilderness are dead, they perished.

V. Those that eat of spiritual Manna shall never die. “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life,” John 5:24. “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die,” John 6:50.

VI. The Manna that was reserved in the holiest, was spoiled, and did perish.

VI. But our heavenly Manna abides still in the holy place.