Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full.
Man did eat angels' food because God gave Israel bread from heaven, heavenly food prepared by angels and supplied abundantly morning by morning to satisfy every need. It was the very best food, healthful and suited to preserve strength of body and mind, while flesh was withheld for their good because it brings disease and insubordination. Though not hungry, Israel let appetite perverted by Egypt make them despise the God-given food, loathe it as light bread, and murmur against God and Moses. After their lusting and insistence God granted meat and quail to the full, letting them have what they wanted, but indulgence brought dissension, sickness, plague, and death. The manna pointed to Jesus as the true bread from heaven come to give life to the world, and believers must not repeat Israel's complaining and forgetting but receive truth of heavenly origin and advance in the divine life.
Meaning of Angels' Food
The manna is called angels' food because it was bread from heaven, heavenly food for mighty ones, provided and prepared for Israel by angels. It was heaven's bread and a standing and continuing miracle of provision, the very best food, recalled even by the crowds who followed Jesus when they wondered whether He would keep supplying abundant and satisfying food. That supply was a token of unfailing care and tender love and merciful protection, given alongside pure water from the rock, which the people forgot when they complained of hardship.
He sent them meat to the full because He supplied manna abundantly morning by morning as a rich blessing, with enough to satisfy hunger and meet every need. It was good food, best suited to their training and purpose and to preserving health physically, mentally, and morally, yet Israel's longing for meat showed that it did not satisfy perverted appetite. With God's promise they were left as secure from want as if surrounded by plentiful grain. Flesh was granted only after discontent, murmuring, and lusting for Egypt's food, and its use brought disease and death to many.
The provision carried a threefold miracle to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath: a double portion fell on the sixth day, none fell on the seventh, and the sixth-day portion stayed fresh through the Sabbath though manna gathered on other days spoiled. This heavenly food was also to be shared with strangers among Israel who met the stated conditions, including keeping the Sabbath.
God's Wilderness Provision
The feeding was God's own act for Israel on the way from Egypt toward the promised land, after the slaying of the firstborn and the deliverance with a high hand from captivity. It was given under the leading of the pillar of cloud, and by express command He encamped them at waterless Rephidim to test their faith. That prior feeding should have made them trust Him when thirst came.
The bread from heaven sustained them throughout the wilderness years, eaten daily through constant, miraculous care. It was a standing and continuing miracle of daily provision for bodily need. With His promise they were as secure from want as if surrounded by plentiful grain.
Together with pure water from the rock it was a token of His care, unfailing care and tender love. It showed merciful protection, power, and mercy joined to His covenant to bring them into the promised land. These were repeated manifestations of power and mercy.
The verse stands in the psalm's recounting of God's rich blessings and His people's poor return for those benefits. In that record the children of Israel worked constantly against a good God. Through disobedience they were brought into the state that was the sure result of their own course, repenting under rebuke and chastisement, then falling again under temptation, self-indulgence, and self-gratification.
Health Purpose of Manna
The manna called angels' food was bread from heaven, heavenly food for angels and mighty ones, given as the very best food, good and healthful for Israel and their children. It was sufficient to meet every need and best suited to their training and to God's purpose for them. It was given to preserve health and lengthen life, keeping them healthy physically, mentally, and morally, and would have proved a blessing to them. They did not trust God to supply the best food but despised it, and though not hungry they were dissatisfied, wept and murmured and lusted and cried for meat instead. Their taste had been perverted by Egypt's rich food, and the more they centered their thoughts on the flesh meats and flesh pots of Egypt, as people do now, the more they hated the food God gave them.
God for their good as a general thing withheld the flesh of dead animals and refused them a flesh diet. He did this because flesh meat is not man's natural food but produces disease and shortens life, and He knew eating it would create disease and insubordination. He withheld flesh in the wilderness to educate Israel in correct habits, to modify the disposition and bring the higher powers of the mind into active exercise, so that they would be a pure, holy, healthy people with health preserved and lives lengthened. Health is the reward of keeping His commandments and being a peculiar people, and the state of the mind has largely to do with the health of the body, especially of the digestive organs.
Flesh was not essential to health, for the heavenly provision supplied them fully and was enough. It was simple, wholesome, restricted food, the food God wanted them to have, and despite the hardships of the wilderness none of their tribes was feeble. They were dissatisfied with it, loathed it, grew weary of it, disregarded His restrictions, and demanded flesh with craving for Egypt's flesh pots. Obedience and self-denial would have preserved their strength and judgment, but indulgence of appetite brought physical and mental decline, and when God allowed them to have what they wanted the result was dissension, sickness, disease, and death.
Israel's Rejection and Judgment
God had given Israel angels' food that would best preserve health and prove a blessing, but they did not trust Him to supply what was best and despised it, crying for meat instead, which He then gave them to the full. For their good He had refused them a flesh diet to keep them healthy physically, mentally, and morally, yet they encouraged earthly appetites and hankered after the flesh pots of Egypt, and the more they centered thoughts on the flesh meats of Egypt the more they hated the food He gave. That manna was heavenly food for angels and mighty ones, the very best food, withheld from flesh because flesh meat is not man's natural food but produces disease and shortens life, given to educate in correct habits unto a pure, holy, healthy people with health preserved and lives lengthened; still Israel was not satisfied but, though not hungry and accustomed to flesh eating in Egypt, wept and murmured and lusted for flesh meat. The abundant supply did not satisfy appetite, and their longing for meat showed discontent that, when granted in quail, brought the consequences of transgression. The provision was good and sufficient to meet every need and preserve health, but taste perverted by Egypt's rich food left them dissatisfied, hating it, loathing it as light bread, and complaining that they had no bread.
When brought into strait places and trials they forgot His care and the source of their strength, complaining about hardships despite the token of merciful protection in angels' food and pure water from the rock. They murmured against Him, speaking against God and Moses and loathing the light bread. Dissatisfied with the simple, wholesome provision, they disregarded His restrictions, and indulgence of appetite brought physical and mental decline where obedience and self-denial would have preserved strength and judgment.
Flesh was granted only after discontent and murmuring, though manna was heaven-sent food sufficient and best suited to their training and purpose, and its use brought disease and death to many. The bread was sufficient, but dissatisfaction and desire for Egypt's meat led to demand, and God granted meat in abundance, with gluttony bringing a plague in which many died. Craving Egypt's flesh pots led them to demand flesh despite full provision of angels' food, and He eventually gave them the food they insisted on, though flesh was not essential to health. Their demand arose from discontent, and the animal food granted in response brought disease and death and led them to value earthly things above spiritual character and sacred calling, though manna had been given in abundance as best suited to their needs and God's purpose of training them. When God allowed them to have what they wanted after they loathed His bread and demanded meat and rejected the restricted diet, the result was dissension, sickness, and death.
That feeding should have taught trust at waterless Rephidim, for He Himself had fed them with angels' food after slaying the firstborn in Egypt and bringing them out with a high hand, leading them in the pillar of cloud and by express command encamping them there to test faith, as one of His repeated manifestations of power and mercy joined to His covenant to bring them into the promised land. Instead when thirst came they rebelled, distrusted God, murmured against Moses that he had brought them with children and cattle to kill them with thirst, dishonored God, proved a people He could not trust, and put themselves where they could not appreciate His mercies.
Christ and Present Application
The angels' food was bread from heaven that sustained Israel through the wilderness years as proof of unfailing care and tender love, and it pointed forward to Jesus as the bread of life come from God to give life to the world. It pointed also to the hidden manna promised to those who overcome. The One who gave that wilderness food was Christ Himself, the true bread from heaven who gives life to the world. That physical provision of abundant, satisfying food was a standing and continuing miracle, which those who followed Jesus remembered while wondering whether He would keep supplying plentiful food, and His teaching set it against the greater gift of the living bread that gives eternal life.
Though God supplied food to the full by miracle, the children of Israel complained when trials came and forgot the source of their strength. Believers must not repeat that complaining and forgetting. They must have Bible religion, with Christ abiding in them and them in Him, fully receiving truth of heavenly origin, continually advancing in the divine life, and becoming sanctified and strong men and women in Christ Jesus.
God fed Israel with bread from heaven because for their good He refused a flesh diet, in order to keep them healthy physically, mentally, and morally. That manna in abundance was food best suited to their needs and to His purpose of training them as His people. Yet they encouraged earthly appetites and hankered after the flesh pots of Egypt, and the same hankering is seen now. The more they centered their thoughts on the flesh meats of Egypt, the more they hated the food God gave them. Their demand for Egypt's flesh foods and for animal food arose from discontent, and the food granted in answer brought disease and death and led them to value earthly things above spiritual character and sacred calling.
Man did eat angels' food because God gave Israel bread from heaven, heavenly food prepared by angels and supplied abundantly morning by morning to satisfy every need. It was the very best food, healthful and suited to preserve strength of body and mind, while flesh was withheld for their good because it brings disease and insubordination. Though not hungry, Israel let appetite perverted by Egypt make them despise the God-given food, loathe it as light bread, and murmur against God and Moses. After their lusting and insistence God granted meat and quail to the full, letting them have what they wanted, but indulgence brought dissension, sickness, plague, and death. The manna pointed to Jesus as the true bread from heaven come to give life to the world, and believers must not repeat Israel's complaining and forgetting but receive truth of heavenly origin and advance in the divine life.
Meaning of Angels' Food
The manna is called angels' food because it was bread from heaven, heavenly food for mighty ones, provided and prepared for Israel by angels. It was heaven's bread and a standing and continuing miracle of provision, the very best food, recalled even by the crowds who followed Jesus when they wondered whether He would keep supplying abundant and satisfying food. That supply was a token of unfailing care and tender love and merciful protection, given alongside pure water from the rock, which the people forgot when they complained of hardship.
He sent them meat to the full because He supplied manna abundantly morning by morning as a rich blessing, with enough to satisfy hunger and meet every need. It was good food, best suited to their training and purpose and to preserving health physically, mentally, and morally, yet Israel's longing for meat showed that it did not satisfy perverted appetite. With God's promise they were left as secure from want as if surrounded by plentiful grain. Flesh was granted only after discontent, murmuring, and lusting for Egypt's food, and its use brought disease and death to many.
The provision carried a threefold miracle to impress the sacredness of the Sabbath: a double portion fell on the sixth day, none fell on the seventh, and the sixth-day portion stayed fresh through the Sabbath though manna gathered on other days spoiled. This heavenly food was also to be shared with strangers among Israel who met the stated conditions, including keeping the Sabbath.
God's Wilderness Provision
The feeding was God's own act for Israel on the way from Egypt toward the promised land, after the slaying of the firstborn and the deliverance with a high hand from captivity. It was given under the leading of the pillar of cloud, and by express command He encamped them at waterless Rephidim to test their faith. That prior feeding should have made them trust Him when thirst came.
The bread from heaven sustained them throughout the wilderness years, eaten daily through constant, miraculous care. It was a standing and continuing miracle of daily provision for bodily need. With His promise they were as secure from want as if surrounded by plentiful grain.
Together with pure water from the rock it was a token of His care, unfailing care and tender love. It showed merciful protection, power, and mercy joined to His covenant to bring them into the promised land. These were repeated manifestations of power and mercy.
The verse stands in the psalm's recounting of God's rich blessings and His people's poor return for those benefits. In that record the children of Israel worked constantly against a good God. Through disobedience they were brought into the state that was the sure result of their own course, repenting under rebuke and chastisement, then falling again under temptation, self-indulgence, and self-gratification.
Health Purpose of Manna
The manna called angels' food was bread from heaven, heavenly food for angels and mighty ones, given as the very best food, good and healthful for Israel and their children. It was sufficient to meet every need and best suited to their training and to God's purpose for them. It was given to preserve health and lengthen life, keeping them healthy physically, mentally, and morally, and would have proved a blessing to them. They did not trust God to supply the best food but despised it, and though not hungry they were dissatisfied, wept and murmured and lusted and cried for meat instead. Their taste had been perverted by Egypt's rich food, and the more they centered their thoughts on the flesh meats and flesh pots of Egypt, as people do now, the more they hated the food God gave them.
God for their good as a general thing withheld the flesh of dead animals and refused them a flesh diet. He did this because flesh meat is not man's natural food but produces disease and shortens life, and He knew eating it would create disease and insubordination. He withheld flesh in the wilderness to educate Israel in correct habits, to modify the disposition and bring the higher powers of the mind into active exercise, so that they would be a pure, holy, healthy people with health preserved and lives lengthened. Health is the reward of keeping His commandments and being a peculiar people, and the state of the mind has largely to do with the health of the body, especially of the digestive organs.
Flesh was not essential to health, for the heavenly provision supplied them fully and was enough. It was simple, wholesome, restricted food, the food God wanted them to have, and despite the hardships of the wilderness none of their tribes was feeble. They were dissatisfied with it, loathed it, grew weary of it, disregarded His restrictions, and demanded flesh with craving for Egypt's flesh pots. Obedience and self-denial would have preserved their strength and judgment, but indulgence of appetite brought physical and mental decline, and when God allowed them to have what they wanted the result was dissension, sickness, disease, and death.
Israel's Rejection and Judgment
God had given Israel angels' food that would best preserve health and prove a blessing, but they did not trust Him to supply what was best and despised it, crying for meat instead, which He then gave them to the full. For their good He had refused them a flesh diet to keep them healthy physically, mentally, and morally, yet they encouraged earthly appetites and hankered after the flesh pots of Egypt, and the more they centered thoughts on the flesh meats of Egypt the more they hated the food He gave. That manna was heavenly food for angels and mighty ones, the very best food, withheld from flesh because flesh meat is not man's natural food but produces disease and shortens life, given to educate in correct habits unto a pure, holy, healthy people with health preserved and lives lengthened; still Israel was not satisfied but, though not hungry and accustomed to flesh eating in Egypt, wept and murmured and lusted for flesh meat. The abundant supply did not satisfy appetite, and their longing for meat showed discontent that, when granted in quail, brought the consequences of transgression. The provision was good and sufficient to meet every need and preserve health, but taste perverted by Egypt's rich food left them dissatisfied, hating it, loathing it as light bread, and complaining that they had no bread.
When brought into strait places and trials they forgot His care and the source of their strength, complaining about hardships despite the token of merciful protection in angels' food and pure water from the rock. They murmured against Him, speaking against God and Moses and loathing the light bread. Dissatisfied with the simple, wholesome provision, they disregarded His restrictions, and indulgence of appetite brought physical and mental decline where obedience and self-denial would have preserved strength and judgment.
Flesh was granted only after discontent and murmuring, though manna was heaven-sent food sufficient and best suited to their training and purpose, and its use brought disease and death to many. The bread was sufficient, but dissatisfaction and desire for Egypt's meat led to demand, and God granted meat in abundance, with gluttony bringing a plague in which many died. Craving Egypt's flesh pots led them to demand flesh despite full provision of angels' food, and He eventually gave them the food they insisted on, though flesh was not essential to health. Their demand arose from discontent, and the animal food granted in response brought disease and death and led them to value earthly things above spiritual character and sacred calling, though manna had been given in abundance as best suited to their needs and God's purpose of training them. When God allowed them to have what they wanted after they loathed His bread and demanded meat and rejected the restricted diet, the result was dissension, sickness, and death.
That feeding should have taught trust at waterless Rephidim, for He Himself had fed them with angels' food after slaying the firstborn in Egypt and bringing them out with a high hand, leading them in the pillar of cloud and by express command encamping them there to test faith, as one of His repeated manifestations of power and mercy joined to His covenant to bring them into the promised land. Instead when thirst came they rebelled, distrusted God, murmured against Moses that he had brought them with children and cattle to kill them with thirst, dishonored God, proved a people He could not trust, and put themselves where they could not appreciate His mercies.
Christ and Present Application
The angels' food was bread from heaven that sustained Israel through the wilderness years as proof of unfailing care and tender love, and it pointed forward to Jesus as the bread of life come from God to give life to the world. It pointed also to the hidden manna promised to those who overcome. The One who gave that wilderness food was Christ Himself, the true bread from heaven who gives life to the world. That physical provision of abundant, satisfying food was a standing and continuing miracle, which those who followed Jesus remembered while wondering whether He would keep supplying plentiful food, and His teaching set it against the greater gift of the living bread that gives eternal life.
Though God supplied food to the full by miracle, the children of Israel complained when trials came and forgot the source of their strength. Believers must not repeat that complaining and forgetting. They must have Bible religion, with Christ abiding in them and them in Him, fully receiving truth of heavenly origin, continually advancing in the divine life, and becoming sanctified and strong men and women in Christ Jesus.
God fed Israel with bread from heaven because for their good He refused a flesh diet, in order to keep them healthy physically, mentally, and morally. That manna in abundance was food best suited to their needs and to His purpose of training them as His people. Yet they encouraged earthly appetites and hankered after the flesh pots of Egypt, and the same hankering is seen now. The more they centered their thoughts on the flesh meats of Egypt, the more they hated the food God gave them. Their demand for Egypt's flesh foods and for animal food arose from discontent, and the food granted in answer brought disease and death and led them to value earthly things above spiritual character and sacred calling.