The Pot of Manna by F. W. Stray

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 27, 1913

The Pot of Manna

By F. W. Stray

F. W. STRAY

“Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.” Heb. 9: 4.

We dwell much upon the tables of the covenant and the testimony in our thought and teaching, and this is proper; but should we not also dwell upon the other things contained in the ark? There is a beautiful, faith-inspiring lesson in the pot of manna, which represents God’s provision for commandment-keepers.

Israel in bondage to the Egyptians could not fully and freely serve God in outward observance, and live. So the message of God to Pharaoh was, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” It is evident that as long as they labored they were well fed by the thrifty Egyptians; they ate bread to the full; they got a good living, from that standpoint. But this is not and cannot be the end and aim of existence; and God was not satisfied to leave his people in Egypt, even though well fed. There was much affliction with it, also sin and degradation. “And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people; that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws.” Ps. 105: 43-45.

And God was leading them out to keep his commandments, and permitted them to face starvation, that he might teach them and all succeeding generations the blessed truth concerning his love and care for his people.

In the sixteenth chapter of Exodus we have the record of the circumstances that led to the placing of the manna in the ark. Now in the wilderness, where no one could interfere with their service to God, they murmured because of the lack of food, and declared that they had been brought out to starve to death. In Egypt they could not fully keep the commandments of God, but had a good living; now they might keep the commandments, but would surely starve to death in the attempt. The answer of their challenge to God was the falling manna. “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy

fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.” Deut. 8: 3. Then the purpose of giving the manna was to teach the lesson that man is altogether dependent upon God for his living.

The method of impressing this truth was this: The manna fell every day, and was to be gathered and used, none to be kept for the morrow. This was the word of the Lord; yet some, fearing that it might not fall the next day, kept it over, and it nauseated them, so that they probably lost their appetite for manna for some days at least. Then the word of the Lord came that they were to gather twice as much as usual, and keep it over, because tomorrow would be the Sabbath and there would be no manna in the field. Naturally, after the experience early in the week, many would say, We tried keeping it over, and we do not wish to repeat the experience; it has fallen every day, and we will gather ours fresh tomorrow, even if it is the Sabbath. “And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days.” Ex. 16: 27-29. Henceforth, as a reason for not keeping the commandments of God, no man could advance the idea that he must get a living. “And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread. . . . So Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.” Ex. 16: 32-34.

And so every soul that in succeeding generations should look at the commandments of God, was also to see the bread given by a loving Father. There, beside the commandments of God, was the means of living. With the requirement is the provision; and the only right way to get a living is in the way of the commandments of God,—by every word. Many seek a living in other ways, but they are deceived; for the wages of sin is death, and they are earning death rather than a living.

The Saviour, when tempted in the wilderness to make bread, to live according to the devil’s directions, met him with the very scripture which grew out of this manna experience; and, like Israel in the wilderness, he suffered hunger and was fed of the Lord, for “angels came and ministered unto him.” And so he could teach from his own experience, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

In the time of the end, as brought to view in Rev. 11: 18, 19, “the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” And so in the early days of this movement, when God began to gather the remnant who should keep his commandments, he selected one through whom he could send messages of warning and encouragement to his people; and one of the first things that he did was to take his servant in holy vision into the temple of God, and show her the ark with its contents. We quote from “Early Writings,” page 32, “Subsequent Visions:” “In the holiest I saw an ark; on the top and sides of it was purest gold. On each end of the ark was a lovely cherub, with its wings spread out over it. . . . In the ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of stone.”

This teaches the same blessed truth to the remnant as to Israel of old, that God will provide a living for commandment-keepers; that with the Sabbath he will give the bread. In view of all this, we ought never to give place in our thought or teaching to the idea that temporal affairs constitute any reason whatever for failure to keep the commandments as soon as our duty is made plain. With the authority of Jehovah a living is promised to all who will obey from the heart. . . . “No man can serve two masters. . . . Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life [living], what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink.” Matt. 6: 25. When a man stands at the fork of the road, at the parting of the ways, one road is mammon, a living as it appears, the things of this world; the other is the service of God, the way of his commandments. The trumpet-call of the Master comes sounding down through the centuries, and should be voiced by us: “Take no thought for your life.” “Man shall not live by bread alone;” and the bread is beside the law. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” “Your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” The will of God on the tables, the promises of God in the pot of manna,—the law and the promises in the ark together,—let us see them both.

Concord, N. H.