Numbers 11:8 says that the taste of manna “was as the taste of fresh oil,” or of “oil cakes.” Oil typifies the Holy Spirit. When we eat Christ as our manna, we taste the Spirit of God. The oil here is fresh. The Spirit we taste when we enjoy Christ as manna is always fresh.
Exodus 16:31 says that “the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Honey is sweet. Honey is the mingling of two lives, the produce of the animal life and the vegetable life. The honey bees which produce honey receive the supply from flowers, from the vegetable life. As our manna, Christ has this element of the mingling of the animal life with the vegetable life. This mingling is our sweet nourishment.
We have pointed out that the taste of manna is like that of fresh oil and also like that of wafers with honey. The taste of fresh oil is fragrant, whereas the taste of honey is sweet. Fragrance and sweetness are the two most important aspects of taste. The taste of oil signifies fragrance, and the taste of honey, sweetness. Tasty food is always either fragrant or sweet. Christ tastes like oil and honey. The oil is mingled with the cakes, and the honey is mingled with the wafers. As our food, Christ has the flavor of oil and honey.
In our enjoyment of Christ, we sense His fragrance and sweetness. Within Him there is the taste of oil and honey. Christ is never bitter or salty to our taste. He is always fragrant and sweet.
After the manna had been ground, the people made cakes of it (Num. 11:8). These cakes were a form of fine bread and were nourishing. As the cakes made from manna, Christ is rich in nourishment. The Bible says that Christ is the bread which came down from heaven (John 6:41). The fact that Christ is bread signifies that He is food rich in nourishment. This aspect of Christ as manna is typified by the cakes. The difference between bread and cakes is that bread is somewhat rough, whereas cakes are fine. Praise the Lord that He is a fine cake full of nourishment!
Finally, manna was a mystery. In fact, the word manna means, “What is it?” None of the children of Israel knew what manna was. Have you noticed that in describing manna the Bible likens manna to certain things? For example, 16:14 says that manna was as small as the hoar frost on the ground, and 16:31 says that manna was like coriander seed and that its taste was like wafers made with honey. Again and again, the words “as” and “like” are used. The Bible does not actually tell us what manna was because manna is mysterious.
Although manna came from heaven and did not belong to the old creation, it could nourish man’s physical body. To do this, manna must have contained certain elements and minerals which were part of the old creation. This shows the mysteriousness of manna.
As the real manna, Christ is mysterious; He cannot be explained scientifically. In the New Testament there are various indications of the mysteriousness of Christ. For example, after His resurrection Christ entered into a closed room where the disciples had gathered. The disciples “were startled and became frightened and thought they beheld a spirit” (Luke 24:37). Knowing they were troubled, the Lord said, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you behold Me having” (v. 39). In resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). Nevertheless, He had a body that could be seen and touched. The disciples could even see the nail prints in His hands and feet. It is difficult to say whether Christ today is spiritual or material. On the one hand, He still has a body of flesh and bones. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that Christ lives in us and is being formed in us (Gal. 2:20; 4:19). We simply cannot explain Christ because He is mysterious. As manna, Christ is indeed a mystery.