A Golden Pot Holding The Manna

by G. Prasher | Category: The Tabernacle | Feb 1960

The story of the LORD sending manna for His people is found in Exodus 16, and in verses 33 and 34 we read that Aaron was directed to "Take a pot, and put an omerful of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations ... so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept." We had not known that the pot was of gold but for the testimony of the Spirit in Hebrews 9.4, which reads: "Having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was a golden pot holding the manna."

We wish to consider the circumstances under which the manna was sent, its spiritual significance, and the shadows seen in the pot of manna.

A TRIAL OF FAITH

Elim's springs and palm trees had been left behind, and the Israelites were brought into the wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. For fully a month they had trodden the desert path, and had been drawing from their scanty stock of bread. It will be recalled that" the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders" (Exodus 12.84). We can imagine the women of Israel rationing their households, and very carefully preparing the day's portion. Their store, however, was not like that of the widow of Zarephath. She had "but an handful of meal in the barrel, and a little oil in the cruse, but the effect of faith in the word of God was such that "The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which He spake by Elijah." She, Elijah, and her house, did eat many days.

With Israel in the wilderness it was different; that small stock with which they started out was a diminishing quantity, and when the month was past a serious situation presented itself. Of course the LORD entered into the condition of things thoroughly. Long years afterwards He said to His messenger: " Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, the firstfruits of His increase " (Jeremiah 2.2, 8). None can fully appreciate the joy that was the LORD'S as He beheld His people going after Him under these conditions. God could never forget it. Even years of disobedience and estrangement could not erase it from His memory. This is a precious reminder that acts of faith still cause joy in the realms of glory; whether such be in the case of the repentant sinner, or in that of the pilgrim travelling home, God values the honour done Him, and is grieved when disbelief dishonours His name. That start on the pathway gave the LORD delight, but a month later they murmured in their unbelief. The trial of their faith found them wanting. Their souls cleaved unto the dust, instead of rising to their God in the energy of faith. Empty kneading-troughs in the wilderness of Sin constituted a test of the most severe kind.

How often do we under less trying circumstances fail to give glory to God! Had we been in the congregation of Israel in the wilderness would we have acted differently? Most likely not! Faith would have said to God, "Thou art responsible for our being here, and therefore Thy name and honour are at stake if we perish by hunger." Oh that we, too, could learn this lesson! Some six weeks in the wilderness, without even a kneading-trough of unleavened dough, found the Lord Jesus, though hungry, still trusting His God, and He refused the suggestions of the enemy for the alleviation of His sufferings. Perfect example He of simple faith in God, and in the word of His grace!

As Philip sat beside His Lord on the mountain slope beyond the Sea of Tiberias, and heard the question regarding the approaching multitudes, "Whence are we to buy bread, that these may eat? he also was proved to be wanting. He might have said, "Lord, Thou art here and all is well." Instead, however, he began to reason in pennyworths of bread. Of the Lord it is written, "And this He said to prove him: for He Himself knew what He would do" (John 6.5-7). The Lord will prove the faith of His servants, and to these Peter wrote: "the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth, though it is proved by fire ... " (1 Peter 1.7).

"THAT HE MIGHT HUMBLE THEE."

It would have been a simple matter for the LORD to have sent the manna during the first week of their journey from Egypt, but He had His own wise purpose to serve for His people's good. So we read: "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 everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live" (Deuteronomy 8.8). Humility and contrition on the part of God's saints are of prime importance. Of him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at His word, God says, "To this man will I look." With a man of a contrite and humble spirit He says, " I dwell "(Isaiah 66.2 ; 57. 15). His object is " to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Do we desire revival in our time ? If so, then here is the gateway to that delectable mountain, namely, the valley of humility. It has a prominent place in the teaching of our Lord and His apostles, and their lives are ensamples of the doctrine they propounded. See the Master as He girds Himself with humility to wash His disciples' feet (John 13), then to the cross repair! Listen to the words of wisdom from His mouth in Matthew 20.26-28: "Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister (diakonos, one who serves another); and whosoever would be first (chief) among you shall be your servant (doulos, slave) : even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." When we turn to the epistles we read, " Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5.5). To be proud is to have inordinate self-esteem. Let us hear and heed the exhortation, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time."

Many are the examples of wondrous blessing resulting from a humbling before the LORD. Rehoboam with his princes were about to be destroyed, but on humbling themselves as a result of a message through the prophet they were saved. Even wicked Ahab, king of Israel, attracted divine attention and compassion when he humbled himself, and went softly (2 Chronicles 12. 7; 1 Kings 21.29).

"When pride cometh, then cometh shame:

But with the lowly is wisdom" (Proverbs 11. 2).

The psalmist describes the guilt of the desert travellers thus

"He brought streams also out of the rock,

And caused waters to run down like rivers.

Yet went they on still to sin against Him,

To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

And they tempted God in their heart

By asking meat for their lust.

Yea, they spake against God;

They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

Therefore the LORD heard, and was wroth:

And a fire was kindled against Jacob,

And anger also went up against Israel

Because they believed not in God,

And trusted not in His salvation.

Yet He commanded the skies above,

And opened the doors of heaven;

And He rained down manna upon them to eat,

And gave them of the corn of heaven.

Man did eat the bread of the mighty" (Psalm 78.16-25).

Calves of a year old, thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil, one's firstborn for one's transgression, the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul, are together without avail. "He hath shewed thee, o man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6.8).

HIS PLACE SO SMALL

The first description of the bread which God rained from heaven is that it was small, small as the hoar frost on the ground (Exodus 16.14). As a shadow of Christ it points us to His incarnation. How small He became! How humble His surroundings! He who created Betelgeuse, a star in the shoulder of Orion, whose diameter is estimated at two hundred and fifteen million miles, that is, two hundred and forty eight times the diameter of the sun, became the Babe of Bethlehem. The Upholder of the universe was supported by the arms of a gentle woman, Mary. God became Man. The Word became flesh. "Without controversy great is the Mystery of Godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels "(1 Timothy 3.16). Being in the form of God He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men. Before the manna could be of use to Jacob's sons it had to come down to earth, so the Lord had to stoop from heaven to earth if He were to become the Bread of God for us. That He so became the bread from heaven is the burden of John chapter 6, where He calls Himself,

"the Meat which abideth,"

"the true Bread out of Heaven,"

"the Bread of God,"

"the Bread of life,"

"the Bread which cometh down out of heaven, "

"the living Bread,"

"true Meat."

"If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever."

THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA

Next, the manna is said to be round, like a circle without beginning or end. This turns our thoughts to the eternal character of the Lord Jesus. The Child was born, the Son was given-that Son who was ever in the bosom of the Father.

Without beginning or decline,

Object of faith, and not of sense;

Eternal ages saw Him shine,

He shines eternal ages hence."

We are merely touching this precious and most important theme, knowing that all who trust the Saviour of men will rejoice in the remembrance of the fact that their Saviour is not only Man, but God and Man in one combined. It is thus that He is the all-sufficient Saviour of men-the One who will present the Church to Himself, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

WHITE

Further the manna is said to be white, like coriander seed (Exodus 16.31). Here we are reminded of the righteousness of Christ. He "loved righteousness, and bated wickedness "is the Spirit's testimony (Psalm 45). "My righteous Servant " is how God speaks of Him in Isaiah 53. As the Advocate with the Father He is termed, "Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2.1). When He shall come as Son of Man He is called" Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war" (Revelation 19.11), and the white horse on which He will sit would also suggest this important truth.

As the manna speaks of the Lord Jesus who came down from heaven to become the Bread of God for us, so we judge the golden pot would remind us of

THE GLORY OF His DEITY

The Spirit of God would keep before our minds and hearts this glorious theme that He is God as well as Man. In the sanctuary on earth was the bread with which God fed His people in the desert, it being kept for their generations; and in the sanctuary above there is One on whom God's people feed-the Man Christ Jesus. Let us feed on Him day by day. The more we eat of Him the sweeter He will become; but if we neglect this Bread, the Manna will become loathsome as it did with the people in the way to the Red Sea. Oh to enjoy daily the sweetness of the wafers as if made with honey! May we not be like the multitude in John 6 which said, "Lord, evermore give us this Bread," but remained hardened in their unbelief. " He that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst " (verse 35), said the Lord. " Come believing," and all will be well. It was the truth concerning the eating of Christ that caused the disciples to say, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" Many went back and walked no more with Him, when they heard His teaching concerning coming and believing. If, however, we have been drawn to Himself by the Father, we shall have learned that " it is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words" that Christ has spoken "are spirit, and are life" (John

6.68).

The contents of the ark, as we have viewed them, bring before us (a) the life of Christ in His perfect obedience to the Law of His God, as seen in the unbroken tables of the Law: (b) the resurrection of Christ who died on Golgotha, in the rod of Aaron which budded: and (c) in the golden pot holding the manna, the Lord Jesus Christ exalted in the glory at God's right hand, as the One who ever lives, and who says, "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14.19). How important to abide in Him!

We now conclude our remarks on the shadows of the Mosaic Tabernacle with the earnest desire that the reader may find light and truth which will bring him to God's holy hill, and to His tabernacles, even unto God Himself, and to experience the exceeding joy of which the sons of Korah wrote in the Book of the Psalms.

G. Prasher | Feb 1960
The Tabernacle