This essay was originally published on Facebook before I created the Via Media blog.
While praying through the office of Morning Prayer (Matins) today, I was struck by this idea while reading today's appointed Old Testament reading, Exodus 16:10-21. I first started pondering this idea at v.14 "And when the dew that lay was gone up*(a), behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost*(b) on the ground." (Authorized / King James Version) [*(a) or evaporated; *(b) I had to look "hoar" up on Wiktionary.org, because I was so curious what it meant: 'Dew-drops which have undergone deposition and frozen into ice crystals to form a white deposit on an exposed surface.']
"A small round thing" could also easily describe the communion host [wafer] used in most churches; although based on the description of manna being like the frost-crystals, it must have been even smaller than the average host. The New International Version describes manna as "thin flakes like frost". Hosts too are "thin flakes". So, in appearance, I believe there are similarities between one of the elements of Communion and manna. But let's go further.
While praying through the office of Morning Prayer (Matins) today, I was struck by this idea while reading today's appointed Old Testament reading, Exodus 16:10-21. I first started pondering this idea at v.14 "And when the dew that lay was gone up*(a), behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost*(b) on the ground." (Authorized / King James Version) [*(a) or evaporated; *(b) I had to look "hoar" up on Wiktionary.org, because I was so curious what it meant: 'Dew-drops which have undergone deposition and frozen into ice crystals to form a white deposit on an exposed surface.']
"A small round thing" could also easily describe the communion host [wafer] used in most churches; although based on the description of manna being like the frost-crystals, it must have been even smaller than the average host. The New International Version describes manna as "thin flakes like frost". Hosts too are "thin flakes". So, in appearance, I believe there are similarities between one of the elements of Communion and manna. But let's go further.
