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.
Why did
God give the Israelites manna to begin with? Yesterday's Old
Testament reading, in Exodus 16:3 is a good place to start to answer
this question. Basically Ex 16:3 says the Israelites grumbled and
complained they'd rather have died in Egypt, where although enslaved,
they at least had enough meat and bread to fill their stomachs, than to
be led by God to this wilderness to die of hunger. In v.4, God responds
that He "will rain bread from heaven for you". More about this later.
Vv.7, 8, 9, and 12 all four clearly state that God has heard the
"murmurings" of the Israelites; it is in response to their need that God
gives them manna. He provides for them bread to sustain life,
something which can not be found in a desert or wilderness such as where
they are.
The body of Christ, "the bread of heaven", is given to us from God to fulfill a need we can not fill in our own strength. We have no method to satisfy the spiritual hunger which plagues all mankind. But God says to us: "I have heard [your] murmurings ... ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God." (Exodus 16:12 Authorized Version / KJV) We shall be filled with the "bread of heaven" that God has rained down for us.
Not to delve too deeply into the question of transubstantiation or consubstantiation, etc.; I would like to point out that the Holy Communion has always had a certain element of mystery about it. Once again, a reflection of manna. The word manna is derived from a Hebrew expression man hu, which means "What is it?" (Exodus 16:15 New American Standard Bible) When the Israelites saw the manna, they knew not what it was, just as we know not how bread and wine become the actual, real body and blood of Christ. But they trusted God's word announced through Moses and partook of God's gift. We do the same with Communion.
Even Jesus himself compared himself to manna in St. John 6:
The body of Christ, "the bread of heaven", is given to us from God to fulfill a need we can not fill in our own strength. We have no method to satisfy the spiritual hunger which plagues all mankind. But God says to us: "I have heard [your] murmurings ... ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God." (Exodus 16:12 Authorized Version / KJV) We shall be filled with the "bread of heaven" that God has rained down for us.
Not to delve too deeply into the question of transubstantiation or consubstantiation, etc.; I would like to point out that the Holy Communion has always had a certain element of mystery about it. Once again, a reflection of manna. The word manna is derived from a Hebrew expression man hu, which means "What is it?" (Exodus 16:15 New American Standard Bible) When the Israelites saw the manna, they knew not what it was, just as we know not how bread and wine become the actual, real body and blood of Christ. But they trusted God's word announced through Moses and partook of God's gift. We do the same with Communion.
Even Jesus himself compared himself to manna in St. John 6:
31Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (Authorized Version / KJV)Indeed, Lord, evermore give us this bread, that we who come to Thee and believe in Thee shall never hunger nor thirst.
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