p. 16 | The Manna by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 17, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 49.

The Manna

By Editor

The Manna.—A "Christian" paper in the East says: "It is supposed that the manna of the Israelites was a saccharine exudation of a species of tamarisk, the sap of which was set flowing by an insect." It seems to us that it is easier to deny the entire Mosaic record. Think of it!—exudation of tamarisk-trees on that Arabian peninsula, feeding three millions of people daily, six times a week, winter and summer, for forty years, an exudation which could be boiled or baked, but which melted in the sun! Read Exodus 16 and Num. 11:1-9. We prefer to believe with the psalmist:

"He commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven; And He rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food [margin, "grain"] from heaven. Man did eat the bread of the mighty: He sent them food to the full."

Ps. 78:23-26.

It is a great deal easier for him who knows God to believe this, than to believe that there were tamarisk-trees enough in all Asia to furnish such food for so long a time.