| Eucharist Manna from Heaven The Eucharist derives its origin from “eucharistein” which is Greek and found in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 and 2:13 where it translates to “give thanks,” which can also be understood as expressing gratitude or “grace.” (96) The word “manna” in the Bible, from Hebrew man-hu, meaning “What is that?” According to George Ebers, (97) the name comes from the Egyptian “menu” (= “food”). Manna was one of the ten things created on the first Friday of Creation, in the twilight. (98) From Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, we read: “The melting of the manna formed streams which furnished drink to many deer and other animals, and when those animals were afterward killed by heathen, the latter recognized in the meat the taste of the manna.” (99) This paragraph from Pseudo Jonathan, (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch). The impression I get reminds me of the Siberian shaman who waits until the reindeer gets drunk from the amanita and then kills it and eats it, thereby ingesting the alkaloids necessary for intoxication without the miserable effects of the poisons. We will get to this in a few chapters. In Isaiah, we read about the “bread of adversary” and “water of affliction”: (20) Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. (21) Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (22) Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!” (Isaiah 30:20-22) In 1 Corinthians, we read Manna described as “spiritual food”: (1) For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. (2) They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (3) They all ate the same spiritual food (4) and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4) (100) In Exodus, we read about the Lord providing the “bread of heaven” to the Israelites in the desert: (4) Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” (Exodus 16:4) Continuing, we read about dew and the flakes left on the ground in the morning: (13) That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. (14) When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. (15) When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.” Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. (16) This is what the Lord has commanded: Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.” (Exodus 16:13-16) (101) |
Next, Moses warned them not to keep any of it till morning, and to use it all that evening: (19) Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” (20) However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So, Moses was angry with them. (21) Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. (22) On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. (23) He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So, bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ (24) So, they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. (25) “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. (26) Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.” (Exodus 16:19-26) And lastly … (31) The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. (32) Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.” (33) So, Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.” (34) As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. (35) The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (Exodus 16:31-35) Now, how are you going to eat mushrooms for 40 years, or even 4 years, if they are not preserved, like in honey, for example? Remember, nothing here is literal, this is all figuratively speaking. At this point we can retrace a few steps. The food they were collecting was supposed to be eaten on the seventh day, the day of rest. The Israelites had eaten the manna each night, so they were probably exhausted from the partying. One day off per week is not much. The writers didn’t appear to take the story too seriously, so neither should I. (96) Apples of Apollo, p. 185 (97) "Durch Gosen zum Sinai," p. 236 (98) Apples of Apollo, p. 196-97; Abot v. 9; comp. Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Ex. xvi. 4, 15; http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10366-manna (99) Tan., l.c.; comp. Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Ex. xvi. 21 (100) Apples of Apollo, p. 194 (101) Apples of Apollo, p. 196-7 |