Manna in the wilderness. Students of their bibles know the story. Most non-students of the bible have heard it also. After passing through the Red Sea the children of Israel spent the next forty years wandering in the wilderness before entering Canaan. Throughout this entire period of their history the LORD God fed them miraculously each day with "manna", bread rained from heaven [Exodus 16:4,15,35]. This is a picture, a type, for NT believers. For these called-out ones, this world is a wilderness, and they too have only one possible source of sustenance while passing through it [1John 2:16-17], namely the antitype of the manna, the true bread from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ [John 6:51]. On this topic, below is an excerpted portion of a C.H. Mackintosh (1820-1896) commentary on Exodus in which he brings out something very profound about this "manna" that all would do well to take to heart - that is that it fell not upon the earth but 'fell upon the dew':
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Numbers 11:9 'And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it'
The manna was so pure and delicate that it could not bear contact with earth. It fell upon the dew [Num. 11:9], and had to be gathered ere the sun was up. Each one, therefore, had to rise early and seek his daily portion. So it is with the people of God now. The heavenly manna must be gathered fresh every morning. Yesterdays manna will not do for today, nor today's for tomorrow. We must feed upon Christ every day, with fresh energy of the Spirit, else we shall cease to grow. Moreover, we must make Christ our primary object. We must seek Him "early," before "other things" have had time to take possession of our poor susceptible hearts. Many of us, alas! fail in this. We give Christ a secondary place, and the consequence is, we are left feeble and barren. The enemy, ever watchful, takes advantage of our excessive spiritual indolence to rob us of the blessedness and strength which flow from feeding upon Christ. The new life in the believer can only be nourished and sustained by Christ. "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 6:57]
It is truly deplorable to find Christians seeking after the things of this world. It proves, very distinctly, that they are "loathing" the heavenly manna, and esteeming it "light bread" [Numbers 21:5]. They are ministering to that which they ought to mortify. The activities of the new life will ever show themselves in connection with the subjugation of "the old man with his deeds" [Rom. 8:13]; and the more that is accomplished, the more will we desire to feed upon the "bread which strengtheneth man's heart" [Psalms 104:15]. As in nature, the more we exercise, the better the appetite, so in grace, the more our renewed faculties are called into play, the more we feel the need of feeding, each day, upon Christ. It is one thing to know that we have life in Christ, together with full forgiveness and acceptance before God, and it is quite another to be in habitual communion with Him — feeding upon Him by faith — making Him the exclusive food of our souls [John 6:47-48].
Very many profess to have found pardon and peace in Jesus, who, in reality, are feeding upon a variety of things which have no connection with Him. They feed their minds with the newspapers and the varied frivolous and vapid literature of the day [John 6:53]. Will they find Christ there? Is it by such instrumentality that the Holy Ghost ministers Christ to the soul? Are these the pure dew-drops on which the heavenly manna descends for the sustenance of God's redeemed in the desert? Alas! no; they are the gross materials in which the carnal mind delights [Rom. 8:7]. How then can a true Christian live upon such? We know, by the teaching of God's word, that he carries about with him two natures; and it may be asked, Which of the two is it that feeds upon the world's news and the world's literature? Is it the old or the new [Eph. 4:22-24]? A man's acts are always the truest index of his desires and purposes. Hence, if I find a professing Christian neglecting his Bible [KJV - link], yet finding abundance of time — yea, some of his choicest hours — for the newspaper, I can be at no loss to decide as to the true condition of his soul. I am sure he cannot be spiritual — cannot be feeding upon, living for, or witnessing to, Christ. - CHM [1862]
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[Note: Crucial have to make sure the manna is real not counterfeit - meaning you MUST have the AV Authorized Version aka KJV only; for proof of that see: KJV-Only / links ]
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Colossians 3:1-2 'If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth'
***
Numbers 11:9 'And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it'
The manna was so pure and delicate that it could not bear contact with earth. It fell upon the dew [Num. 11:9], and had to be gathered ere the sun was up. Each one, therefore, had to rise early and seek his daily portion. So it is with the people of God now. The heavenly manna must be gathered fresh every morning. Yesterdays manna will not do for today, nor today's for tomorrow. We must feed upon Christ every day, with fresh energy of the Spirit, else we shall cease to grow. Moreover, we must make Christ our primary object. We must seek Him "early," before "other things" have had time to take possession of our poor susceptible hearts. Many of us, alas! fail in this. We give Christ a secondary place, and the consequence is, we are left feeble and barren. The enemy, ever watchful, takes advantage of our excessive spiritual indolence to rob us of the blessedness and strength which flow from feeding upon Christ. The new life in the believer can only be nourished and sustained by Christ. "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 6:57]
It is truly deplorable to find Christians seeking after the things of this world. It proves, very distinctly, that they are "loathing" the heavenly manna, and esteeming it "light bread" [Numbers 21:5]. They are ministering to that which they ought to mortify. The activities of the new life will ever show themselves in connection with the subjugation of "the old man with his deeds" [Rom. 8:13]; and the more that is accomplished, the more will we desire to feed upon the "bread which strengtheneth man's heart" [Psalms 104:15]. As in nature, the more we exercise, the better the appetite, so in grace, the more our renewed faculties are called into play, the more we feel the need of feeding, each day, upon Christ. It is one thing to know that we have life in Christ, together with full forgiveness and acceptance before God, and it is quite another to be in habitual communion with Him — feeding upon Him by faith — making Him the exclusive food of our souls [John 6:47-48].
Very many profess to have found pardon and peace in Jesus, who, in reality, are feeding upon a variety of things which have no connection with Him. They feed their minds with the newspapers and the varied frivolous and vapid literature of the day [John 6:53]. Will they find Christ there? Is it by such instrumentality that the Holy Ghost ministers Christ to the soul? Are these the pure dew-drops on which the heavenly manna descends for the sustenance of God's redeemed in the desert? Alas! no; they are the gross materials in which the carnal mind delights [Rom. 8:7]. How then can a true Christian live upon such? We know, by the teaching of God's word, that he carries about with him two natures; and it may be asked, Which of the two is it that feeds upon the world's news and the world's literature? Is it the old or the new [Eph. 4:22-24]? A man's acts are always the truest index of his desires and purposes. Hence, if I find a professing Christian neglecting his Bible [KJV - link], yet finding abundance of time — yea, some of his choicest hours — for the newspaper, I can be at no loss to decide as to the true condition of his soul. I am sure he cannot be spiritual — cannot be feeding upon, living for, or witnessing to, Christ. - CHM [1862]
***
[Note: Crucial have to make sure the manna is real not counterfeit - meaning you MUST have the AV Authorized Version aka KJV only; for proof of that see: KJV-Only / links ]
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Colossians 3:1-2 'If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth'
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