Let us now consider the various aspects of the manna in the Old Testament. Numbers 11:9 says, “When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.” Manna always comes early in the morning with the dew. What does the dew signify? Psalm 133:3 says, “As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.” In the Bible, dew signifies God’s gracious visitation from the heavens. When God comes from the heavens to visit us as grace, He is like the dew, so precious and watering. That manna always comes with the dew signifies that the very Christ who is our manna today always comes with grace, with God’s gracious visitation from the heavens. Whenever we touch Christ as our life supply, we have the deep sense that heaven has come to us in a soft, watering manner. This watering is so well proportioned that it does not trouble us, but it certainly refreshes us. As we enjoy touching Christ as our manna, we have the sense that heaven has come down to visit, water, and refresh us.
Exodus 16:14 describes manna as “a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.” Although some hymns have been written to praise Christ for His greatness, we also need to praise Him for His smallness. Manna was small; yet the Bible does not give us its dimensions. Although manna is small, it is immeasurable; we cannot say how small it is. This indicates that we cannot tell the size of Christ. Our Christ is without size. Nothing is smaller than He is, and nothing is greater than He is. He is the smallest as well as the greatest. Nothing can exceed Him. Who can measure the greatness or the smallness of Christ?
We are also told that the manna was round (Exo. 16:14). In typology, this signifies that manna is eternal, without beginning or ending. Christ is the eternal food with the eternal nature for the eternal nourishment without any limitation. Whoever eats Him will have the eternal life with the eternal nature and receive the eternal nourishment.
Manna was like the frost (Exo. 16:14), which is between dew and snow. Dew is refreshing, but it is not as refreshing as frost is. Although dew refreshes, it does not kill the germs. Frost does kill germs. As manna, Christ not only refreshes us; He also kills all the negative things within us. He comes with the dew, and He comes as the frost. Whenever we experience Christ as the supply, we sense that heaven has come down to visit and water us. While we are being watered and refreshed, we also sense that the negative things within us, such as our negative attitudes, are being killed. I enjoy the refreshing and the killing of this frost. If two brothers are upset with one another, it means that they need the killing of the frost.
The frost not only kills the negative things in us; it also cools us down. Although the young people love the Lord, sometimes they are “hot” for sports. If they do not have the time to go to a football game, they may at least try to watch a game on television. When, while they are so “hot” for sports, they touch Christ, the “frost” will come to cool them down. Other brothers and sisters like to talk, talking in vain words about many things. When we talk like this, we are “hot.” But when we touch Christ, the “frost” cools us down. The older brothers and sisters also need to be cooled down by the “frost.” Although the older sisters love their husbands, if we would ask the husbands to speak frankly, they would say that they cannot stand the bothering of their wives. Neither can the older sisters bear the bothering of their retired husbands. Many of the retired brothers have little to do every day except to bother their wives. By this we see that even the older ones need to be cooled down. The older we are, the more bothersome we are. Hence, we all need the “frost” to cool down our hot temper. In a sense, this “frost” is our spiritual refrigerator. The very Christ within us who nourishes us is also the frost which freezes us.