What Is Manna?

Rev Colin Chow
17-11-2018

Exodus 16:4 New King James Version (NKJV)
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]a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

After the children of Israel drank from the spring of Elim, they began to grumble to Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 16:8-16 New King James Version (NKJV)
8 Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

13 So it was that quail came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

God hears our grumbling. He knows our frustrations.

The temperature dropped overnight. When the dew disappeared, thin flakes that looked like coriander seeds began to appear on the desert floor.

Manna means, "What is it?"

The bread came not looking like what they expected.

God wanted to change their minds and their way of thinking. God wanted them to learn to adapt to change.

The Israelites didn't want to change.

Even for us, it is not easy to make a change. It can lead to stress. Our natural response is to resist it. And we complain.

Because of lack of trust in God, they thought of a way to escape.

There is a difference between hearing the promise of God and receiving the promise of God.

Manna didn't look like a loaf of bread.

They couldn't change their mentality.

This applies to us as Christians as well.

Here lies the problem about you telling people about your vision. We need to be careful. Sometimes our vision is affected by our past experience. You expect it to look like what it used to look like and when it comes differently, you tell God that He is giving something different and ask, "what is this?" The answer comes unrecognisable to you.

Manna is an Old Testament picture between Jesus and Israel. Israel had been praying for the Messiah to come down from heaven. When He did at the 42nd generation, the Jews looked at Jesus and they couldn't recognise Him and asked, "What is this god?"

John said He comes unto His own but they receive Him not.

You are a son of God. The sons of God, male or female, mean heirs. Sons and daughters receive an inheritance from the father.

If you ask God to send a blessing, very often the blessing comes differently from what you asked for. When God opens the door, you are murmuring and complaining. This is Manna. Manna means "What is it?"

The answer that God gives us is a blessing if we can go through it. A lot of times we miss it. We cannot get it.

God's blessing is a test through stormy weathers and high waters. If you don't go get it, you're not going to get the blessing. When you recognise the manna and you come out of the test, you will receive the blessing.

John said in John 5 that He is the Bread of Life who came down from Heaven.

John 6:32-33,35 New King James Version (NKJV)
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

The first generation of Israelites had to die in the wilderness.

When the dew fell, the manna came with it.

When the dew evaporated, the manna appeared.

The dew is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Anointing comes first. That's why people cannot curse the Word of God.

Coming out of Egypt, God's desire for them is to be a changed people. That's why God drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea. God wanted the Israelites to come out with a clean slate. They had to follow the move of God.

Before that they were slaves for 400 years. They had to learn everything from scratch in the wilderness. That's why the journey had to be 40 years in wilderness so that they could lead about the God and the attributes of God.

The Israelites had to go out of their tent and "gather the manna" every morning.

If you want a blessing from God, you have to "go out and get it."

Ger out of our tent, get out of that box, get our of that narrow mindedness, get out of that defeated mentality, get out! You must recognise the people that you are with.

The Bible said as they began to gather, God did not distribute the manna equally. We're talking about 2,000,000 people here. It is fair, but not equal.

Exodus 16:17-18
17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

It is no good you looking around jealous of someone who got more bread than you.

Can you handle what you got?

God responds to hunger.

How hungry are you, how thirsty are you for God?

You will get more if you hunger more. How much you get from God depends on how much you hunger for God.

If you have the capacity inside of you, God will give you more.

Take time to pray, seek God and ask Him to provide for you.

What is equal to us may not be equal to God. God is always equal and fair.

Those who know the Lord your God will do great exploits. You can do things even greater than the disciples could do.

The Israelites didn't receive it with gladness and thanksgiving.

This true manna from heaven will sustain not just hunger but also life.

Father, rain down this true manna from heaven. We will not be surprised and ask "What is it?" Because our spirit is in touch with Your Spirit. We already have a glimpse and a touch of what You are about to give us. It may not be exactly what we ask for but we know it is the best for us.

You are our refuge. You are the high tower. You are the cornerstone. You care for us and know what we are up against.

The church is hungry for more. The church is hungry for a deeper revelation of Your mind, purposes and will.

We pray that your dew will fall from heaven and touch us and do a deep work in our lives.


He who has started a good work in us will complete it until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.