June 26, 2023
Building People of Substance for Works of Power
And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.” As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
Exodus 16:31-36 NKJV
Exodus 16, the story of manna from Heaven, ends with one of the strangest verses in the Bible: “Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.” It sounds like a note from a cookbook. Why was it included in the text? Remember, things are included in Scripture for a reason. We’re looking for connections, threads of significance that enhance our understanding of Bible themes, hints of connection to other passages. What are we supposed to understand from this?
The manna episode is a demonstration of God’s steadfast commitment to His covenant people. Israel had only recently come out of Egypt, delivered in a series of incredible, supernatural events. In Chapter 15 they celebrated, they sang and danced as they declared God’s greatness:
“Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
Exodus 15:11
Then came a three-day trek with no water, followed by complaining, Divine intervention, and the revelation of God’s nature as Jehovah Rapha. They then camped and were refreshed at the waters of Elim. Starting out again, they found themselves in need of food. This ragamuffin crew of escaped slaves was still not quite ready for prime time as representatives of Jehovah in the earth. In spite of God’s promise and His very recent history of miraculous provision, they complained again. This time, God provided them with manna straight from heaven:
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
Exodus 16:4
Jehovah understands that transformation requires more than information. This supernatural provision came with instructions on how they would cooperate in their miracle. At Marah, the Lord had given instructions to Moses to make the bitter water sweet (Exodus 15:23-25). He acted and the people’s need was met. This time, He ups the ante by including specific instructions to all the people on how to use manna:
- Gather it in the morning. If you are too late, it will melt.
- Gather an omer for each person. That will be the right amount for every person, no matter their appetite.
- Double up on day 6, because there won’t be any manna on the day of rest.
Forty years later, speaking to a generation born in the wilderness, Moses expands on the purposes of God in the manna:
And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
Deuteronomy 8:2-4
The manna was a test of their willingness to do it God’s way. This was foreign to their human reasoning. They had to learn that life required more than just bread, they needed obedience in order to thrive. When they gathered it in the manner and amount that God instructed, the result was forty years of supernatural provision: food, clothing, and physical health. The children of Israel lived forty years on one omer per day each. God’s omer was enough whether you were a grown man or a child.
The story concludes with a set of instructions about a pot of manna to “be kept for your generations.” They were to take an omer of manna, one person’s daily provision, and place it before the ark of the covenant. God wanted to make sure they had proof when they told this story to their kids. The last sentence of the manna story is our odd verse: “Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.” An ephah was roughly what one person could produce in one day’s harvest of grain (See Ruth 2:17). The tenth is given as a remembrance of God’s supernatural provision. The reference to the tenth is a connection back to Abraham and Jacob offering a tenth to their Provider.
Hebrews 9:4, tells us that this pot of manna found its way into the Ark along with the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments and Aaron’s rod that budded. Unlike the manna on the ground that melted with the sun, the manna in the Ark remained fresh for forty years. The pot of manna is the first item of remembrance designated to be placed in the inner sanctum, the Holiest of All. The tablets of the covenant won’t exist until Exodus 34 (second edition), and Aaron’s rod doesn’t bud until Numbers 17. Manna, the supernaturally God-given daily bread of life, was the first deposit God wanted permanently in His intimate Presence.
“…and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ”
Hebrews 9:3-4
Life-giving bread of which they did not know, was provided by God for the sustenance of His covenant people. They were then to place a tenth back in His Presence. He gives us His life; we give back in the manner He instructs. Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven. Life comes from eating that Bread, but we must partake of His word by faith in order to receive it (John 6:47-63). Paul said in Colossians 3:3, “your life is hidden with Christ in God.” He gives me life; I give it back.
The tithe of the manna is not a sacrifice for sin. It is not burned up by judgment, but it is placed before the Lord where it abides forever in His heart as shared life. It’s a life connection. In Malachi 3:6 God begins His instruction on tithing by saying, “”For I am the LORD, I do not change.” In Leviticus 27:32-33, the tithe is called “holy to the Lord.” It is endued with His holy nature. We see this picture in the New Testament where the tithe is received in heaven by our new High Priest, Jesus Christ. “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives” (Hebrews 7:8). Our tithes go straight to the Presence for a remembrance that Jesus is alive. The tithe is part of the nature of God, and we are “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
Here’s the Point: By pointing out that the omer of manna is a tithe of an ephah, the writer is connecting the manna episode to the principles of the tenth. Pick up on these threads that have already been revealed by the stories of Abraham and Jacob:
- The tenth is again associated with the opening of heaven to provide. Compare Exodus 16:4, “I will rain bread from heaven for you,” and Malachi 3:10, “”If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”
- The tenth is a test. Will I do it God’s way, or trust in myself? (Remember Abraham and Jacob)
- It acknowledges that God is my source, and I am grateful. The tithe expresses gratitude for His provision. (Another connection to Abraham and Jacob)
- The tenth is connected to covenant. It goes in the Ark of the Covenant. The tenth of the Bread is the first thing given to man that God asked to be placed back in His Presence.
This story reaches back to the original set-apart test in the Garden of Eden and connects to the tree of life:
- The tenth is a connection to divine life. Faith in the Bread of Life gave me new life; I give it back to Him. We share. I’m in Him; He’s in me.
- The tenth is part of the divine nature that we share with God. I tithe because it’s who I am.
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. (2 Peter 1:4 NLT)
Pastor Virgil
3141 W. Ironwood Hill Dr.
Tucson, AZ 85741
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