The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 48

"How unjust," says one, "that that lllan should have so much ea~ier a time than I. 'l'hat my comparatively slight offence should be punished so much more heavily than his, which is far more heinous I" Nay! By ~d1at standard do you measure the relative enormity of the offences? Goo's standard is character and experience; the child's open defiance is less heinous than the man's half-veiled impatience. 2. God's ti-eatmenl ~hould inspire confidence in Himself. All God's gifts are index fingers saying, " Look off from us to God." Our tendency is to rest upon them and credit them as the causes of the satisfaction they oCCJJsion. The same medicine may not be appropriate next time, but the same doctor may be trusted. If we forget the doctor and think only of the medicine, we shall be as irritable and dissatisfied as ever; only by confidence· in the Physician himself can we hope to go on" from strength to strength."-G. Ver. 15.-Cltri.st the breaafrom hea.ven. The manna, which is described in ver. 4 as " bread from heaven," was typical of Christ, who is " the true bread from heaven"- " the bread of God which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world " (John ,i. 31-34). The connection in John vi. is with the Jews' demand for a sio-n, 'l'he interrogators reminded Christ of how their fathers did eat manna in the desert ;°as it was written, He ga,e them bread from heaven to eat! (Ps. cv. 40). The design of Jesus in bis reply was,first, to wean their hearts away from merely carnal expectations in connection with his appearing, and, secondly, to lead them to see in the gift of manna, as well as in the miracle be had just performed-the feeding of the multitudes-some- thing more than the mere supplying of bodily necessities ;-to see in them "signs" (John vi. 26--" Ye seek me, not because ye saw signs," etc. Rev. Ver.) j.e. types, allegories, suggestive earthly symbols, of spiritual realities-of what he was in himself, of the work be came to do, of the relations in which he stood to perishing men. The manna is thus figured as "spiritual meat" (1 Cor. x:. 3), a type of Christ as the livin"0 bread for the souls of men. Consider in illustration of this analogy- I. 'lm 1'"'EED WHICH EXISTED FOB THIS PROVISION. The Israelites were in the desert, where nature, if left to itself, would inevitably perish. Their supplies of food were exhausted. The whole multitude would have died of hunger, had not Divine mercy interposed for their relief. The manna which God gave them literally stood b11twee11 them and death. In this circumstance we see one feature imaged in which Christ clearly appears as the bread of life. When be uses this language of himself he means to tell us, that just as these Israelites under Moses absolutely hung for any hope of life they bad on that food which was miraculously supplied to them; so does the world hang-bang absolutely-for its life, its salvation, its eternal well-being on him. It needs eternal life. Its heart craves for it. It is perishing for want of it. But if it is ever to get it, Christ says, it must get it through him, through receiving him, through appropriating what be is, and what be bas done for it as Saviour. JL THE SUPERNATURAL CHARACTER OF THE PROVISION. There could be no question as to the supernatural character of the supply in the case of the manna. The Israelites needed to be saved, and God saved them by a miracle. There was, as it were, a distinct opening of heaven for their benefit. The band that fed them came from the unseen. 1n like manner, Christ lays emphasis on the fact that he-the bread of life for men-is "bread from heaven." The salvation that embodies itself in him is no salmtion of man's devising, nor one which, even had the thought of it entered bis mind, man could ever from bis own resources have achieved. If the world is to be saved at all, if it is to be delivered from its woes, if it is to have eternal life, Saviour and ,;alva- tion must come from heaven. Our hope, as of old, is in God, and in God only. It i,; not for us to provide, but only thankfully to receive, and earnestly to appropriate the salvation. God gives us the bread from heaven; gives it freely; gives it as bread which no efforts of our own, however laborious, could have enabled us to procure; gives it, that is as a Divine, supernatural bread, the boon of sovereign grace. III. THE A~LE ABUNDANCE OF THE PROVISION. The manna was given in ahundance. There was neither lack nor stint. The table that was spread in the wilderness was one of royal bounty; as in the later miracle of the loaves, "they did all eat, and were filled" (Matt. xiv. 20). There was, as in the father's house in the parable, "Enough and to spare" (Luke xv. 17), overflowing provision. How significant a fact when the heart is putting to itself the question, Will Christ's death avail for me 1 He calls himself " tho en. XVI. 16.] TIIE BOOK OF EXODUS. 49