The spiritual meaning of manna
Israel's complaint
After the Exodus, the Israelites experienced many events in the wilderness. It was a time when the survival of the entire nation was at risk like a windmill, so even a trivial situation for us now would have felt very serious to them. The Ten Commandments and the Law, the pillar of fire and the cloud, the golden calf, the bronze serpent, drinking water, Aaron and Miriam who challenged Moses' authority, the tabernacle, the great and small wars, etc. One of them is the ‘meet’ incident. A similar story is reported in Numbers 11:4. It is sometimes referred to as the manna and quail incident, but the key is still manna. Why did this problem arise when Israel was living in the wilderness?
Isn't this the way we live? We cannot predict our future. Israelis may have thought that all problems would be solved in just one month, but in the end, just as it took 40 years, so is our life. Moreover, like Israel, who started with the dream of being free from slavery in Egypt and living in a new land, but faced with a very harsh reality, our reality is also the same. In this reality, no one can live on only wild dreams.
The Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron. “I would rather die in the land of Egypt by the hand of the LORD. Are you going to bring us out into the wilderness, where we sat by the meat kilns and ate our bread, to starve to death?” (Verse 3). Also in Numbers 11:4, it is pointed out that the Israelites complained that they could not live by not eating meat and eating only manna on false days. Either way, it is clear that the Israelites resented their leaders, Moses and Aaron, over the problem of eating in the wilderness. Of course, their complaints continued even after the problem was resolved.
As we read this text, it is a little difficult to think simply that this happened because the people of Israel did not have faith. It's quite natural for them to grumble and complain like that. That is not to say that it was good, but it is saying that people have no choice but to live like that. Now, don't we always live with such complaints? Korea's economy ranks among the top 150 countries in the world. Although there are many complaints that the economy is not good right now, in reality, they are still living well. From this point of view, the Israelites who felt the crisis of survival in the wilderness and grumbled are yangban. Think about it. Who wouldn't complain if their young sons and daughters were starving?
reality of manna
Moses and Aaron must have been offended by the complaints of the people. Hearing God's command, relying on that promise, and going out into the wilderness together, there is no reason to be upset with the people who often resent them because of difficulties. There must have been a lot of discussion between them. Some might argue that we should go back to Egypt. Or would there not have been people who insisted that we prepare food for war with other races? Perhaps some of them actually returned to Egypt. The Bible, of course, is not interested in any of these things. This is because the Bible is not intended to convey all the facts that happened in Israel's history as it is, but to convey God's intervention in history.
Moses was in a very desperate position to solve a real problem. Even Moses doesn't have any nifty way to solve this problem. The leaders of Israel turn to God for help in times like these. The answer of Yahweh God to Moses' request is as follows. “Now I will give you food from heaven, so let the people go out every day and gather only what they will eat for one day. In this way I will test whether this people have obeyed my instructions” (verse 4). This means that manna will be given to you soon. Manna was spread every morning in the wilderness where the Israelites were encamped. They had to gather only enough for their own household to eat. If you were greedy and reaped more, it soon spoiled. Being able to reap double on the sixth day is related to the Sabbath rule that all labor must be stopped one day a week.
What the hell is the reality of this manna incident? It is not such a special phenomenon to meet. It is said that such things are still common in the inland areas of the Sinai Peninsula. The secretions from the cochineals condense on the leaves, then fall to the ground and harden during the night when the temperature drops. People can collect it in the morning and eat it. However, since these kernels melt at a low temperature, it is said that they disappear as soon as the sun rises. This encounter is not a supernatural event that God created specifically for the people of Israel, but a natural phenomenon that can be encountered by all people.
Then there may be people who think that the Manna incident is meaningless. Why does the Bible report these events as if they were a special grace from God? It is at this point that we can understand exactly what the Bible says about the essence of faith. The Bible gives special meaning to a very general phenomenon because there is a channel through which we can come to know God. God makes Himself known to everyone equally. Just as good people and bad people alike can receive sunlight and rain, God reveals His will regardless of people. If you only make yourself known to a certain special person, it's basically against God's justice. People may like to be treated with special treatment, but God does not and cannot do that. Just as manna was a natural phenomenon that could be eaten every morning not only by the Israelites, but by all who lived in the interior of the Sinai Peninsula, God treats all people equally.
But why did they eat the same manna, but the Israelites recognized it as a special grace of God and did not recognize other nations as such? Herein lies the special role of the people of Israel. They were people who thought, interpreted, and recognized their lives and their history in relation to God. They recognized the parting of the Red Sea as an event that God helped them with. When they saw the volcanic eruption, they thought it was a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud that God had guided them through. It is common, everyday, and natural things, but the nation that found God's grace in them is Israel.
Take this manna case a little more seriously. A month and a half have passed since the Exodus. As I said earlier, the food stockpiled at the time of the Exodus almost ran out. We can fully understand how anxious the Israelites must have been. When I was in a hurry, I fell into a sense of crisis that the entire nation might be completely annihilated in the wilderness. There have been many peoples who have been slaughtered in this way in human history. Moses and Aaron must have been deeply troubled in the face of such a fierce public opinion. What will you do? In particular, Moses, who led the Exodus, was in a dilemma. They can't return to Egypt, and they run out of food. He sensed the absolute crisis of survival. He remembered manna in prayer. Although the Bible does not report it, Moses must have tasted this manna during his 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness. Yes, even if we eat this, we have to survive. This is the food of life that God has given us. Wouldn't you have thought about it this way? Now Moses informed the people that it was Yahweh God who prepared the manna.
This is the spirituality of everyday life. Or what is historical reversal? It is the Bible writers and prophets who can clearly see the power and grace of God intervening in our concrete history. It was invisible to the eyes of others. Others did not think that they could eat manna and survive in the wilderness. Perhaps some of them already knew manna. But they did not find the grace that God guarded their survival there, but Moses recognized it.
Yahweh God Recognition
It is clear that the point of today's text to tell us is not manna after all. The God that I came to recognize through manna is the key. Moses and Aaron said to the people, “In the evening you will know that it is the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord” (verses 6, 7). In verse 12, something similar is communicated to Moses through the mouth of Yahweh. "Tell them, 'Tell them, 'You shall eat meat at sunset, and a large portion of bread in the morning, and then you will know that I, the LORD, am your God.'" “You will know that it is Yahweh” in verse 6 and “You will know that the Lord is your God” in verse 12 are the same. Through this manna incident, the people of Israel now come to recognize that it is Yahweh who freed them from Egypt, and that Yahweh is God.
Did the people of Israel strengthen their faith and deepen their awareness of God after this manna incident? There is no basis for this. Rather, even after that, whenever they encountered difficulties, they always blamed Moses. To blame Moses is the same as saying that they doubted and blamed God. The fact that even after confirming that God loves them in this way, they still did not deepen their faith means that the manna incident was not so clear to them. They may have received some comfort from the fact that they were guaranteed a minimum of survival, but that didn't make them fundamentally trusting in God.
It is at this point that we can confirm that our knowledge of God is not possible by experiencing some special events. People ask for proof that God lives, but there is no such proof. Conversely, this means that everything in this world is also evidence that God lives. Depending on the person, there are people who see very amazing things and do not find any depth of life there, and there are people who see the amazing mysteries of life while looking at everyday things. We don't need to meet any more. No, our surroundings are always full of manna. What matters is whether our hearts and our spiritual sensitivity are open to God. I hope that everything around you will become spiritual manna so that you will know that Yahweh is God.