In 16:31 and Numbers 11:7 we are told that the manna was like coriander seed. This indicates that as food Christ is full of life. When we eat Christ, He comes into us as a seed. Compared to corn or wheat, the coriander seed is tiny. Although this seed is very small, it is full of life, and it brings the life element into our being. As such a seed, Christ grows within us.
If we try to receive Christ in His greatness, we are mistaken. The Christ we receive as nourishment is small, like a coriander seed. The normal and proper enjoyment of Christ is to take Him in as a small seed full of nourishment.
As the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, Christ is not great; He is actually very small. If He were not small, how could He dwell in us? In our daily experience the Spirit is small, not great. However, those in the charismatic movement desire to have the Spirit in a great way. They want the whole world to be stirred up by a mighty move of the Spirit. Some Christians have been praying for this for years, but no such move of the Spirit has taken place. In the church the life-giving Spirit moves in us and among us in a small way, here and there capturing people for the Lord. Although the Spirit’s working is on a small scale, it never stops.
In many cases those who are saved in a spectacular way do not go on with the Lord. But those who are converted in a seemingly uneventful way often go on with the Lord steadily and absolutely. Like coriander seeds that grow quietly and without excitement, they grow gradually and positively. With them there is nothing special, nothing unusual, but life grows and multiplies. This is the way to enjoy Christ as coriander seed, full of life.
The fact that manna also was solid is implied in the description of how the people prepared it; they “ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in pots” (Num. 11:8, Heb.). In order to be ground, beaten, and boiled the manna had to be solid. Perhaps it was hard like certain grains.
In your experience is Christ soft or hard? Often in my eating of Christ I find that He is solid, even hard. Contrary to our natural concept, Christ is not soft. However, many Christians like to think of Christ as being very soft. But the manna was so solid that it had to be ground, beaten, and boiled in pots. Before cakes could be made of manna, the manna first had to be ground.
Perhaps you are wondering what this means. When I was young, I thought that the children of Israel simply gathered the manna, brought it to their tents, and ate it. Numbers 11:8 troubled me for a long time. Eating manna is not a simple matter. After gathering it, we need to grind it, beat it, boil it, and then make cakes of it. Many Christians read the Bible, but they do not receive any food because they lack the grinding, beating, and boiling. Daily in our experience we need to grind Christ, beat Christ, and boil Christ. Our experiences are the millstones, mortars, and pots for grinding, beating, and boiling Him. Certain experiences are like grinding stones, whereas others are like mortars and pots. Through different kinds of circumstances and situations the Bible is food to us. We may have gathered manna but may not have ground, beaten, or boiled it. We may have only raw manna, which is not good for eating. After the manna is ground, it is made into cakes. To make these cakes we need certain situations and circumstances. We also need other saints with more experience to help us grind, beat, and boil the manna. Apart from this process, the manna is not yet suitable for eating.
Although we may gather manna during our time with the Lord in the morning, this manna may still not be ready to eat. But through our experiences in different circumstances, the manna is ground, beaten, and boiled. Then it is ready to eat.
In Numbers 11:7 we are told that the appearance of manna was like the appearance of bdellium (Heb.). It is difficult to translate this verse properly. The King James Version says that the color was as the color of bdellium. Bdellium has been interpreted to signify two different substances, both a white transparent gum and a white pearl. The pearls produced by resin from certain trees are very much like pearls produced by oysters. When the resinous gum that flows out of these trees hardens, it forms pearl-like balls. The word bdellium in this verse may refer to these balls. Hence, two substances may be called pearls, one produced by oysters and the other produced by the secretion of resinous gum from trees. Both kinds of pearls are bright and transparent.
The Hebrew word rendered “color” or “appearance” in this verse actually means an eye. Manna has an eye. The eye of the manna is like the eye of a pearl. A pearl somewhat resembles an eye. If you examine a pearl, you will see that it is like an eyeball. Every piece of manna looked like an eyeball, round, bright, and transparent. Do you realize that your eyeball is transparent? Otherwise, we would be blind. Our eyeball is transparent like the lens of a camera.
The more we eat Christ, the more eyes we shall have and the more transparent we shall become. The four living creatures in Revelation 4 are “full of eyes in front and behind” and “full of eyes around and within” (vv. 6, 8). Eyes are for living things to receive light and vision. The fact that the four living creatures are full of eyes indicates that they are crystal clear in every respect.
An eye signifies transparency. With the exception of our eyes, which are transparent, our whole body is opaque. If we do not have Christ, we do not have any eyes, and we are altogether opaque. When we were saved, we began to be transparent. Now the more we enjoy Christ as the heavenly manna, the more transparent we become. Whenever we are with saints who enjoy Christ as food, we sense that they are transparent. As the manna, Christ is transparent. When we eat Him, we become transparent also.
This transparency will eventually become our appearance. If we enjoy Christ day by day, eating Him as the manna with the appearance of bdellium, we shall have the appearance of Christ, the appearance of an eyeball, and this appearance will become our color. By eating Christ our color becomes the transparency of Christ. In this way, transparency becomes our appearance and our color.
Eating Christ causes us to have more eyes. The more we eat Him and eat His word, the more we become living creatures full of eyes. Sometimes I wish that I were not limited to two physical eyes. With more eyes I could see a great deal more. If we had more spiritual eyes, we would be much more bright and transparent. The way to have more eyes is to eat more of Jesus as the real manna with the appearance of bdellium, the appearance of a bright, transparent eyeball. When we are in the New Jerusalem, our whole being will be transparent, like the wall of the city. Because the wall of the city is wholly transparent, the glory of God can shine through it. By eating Jesus, we shall eventually become transparent throughout our entire being.