Notice how Israel’s complaint began with bitter waters but how it ends up with an abundance of spring water and of fruit trees. This is the outcome, the result of believing the message of the Tree which, as we have seen, directs us right to the death and resurrection of Yeshua, the One who gave His life on another tree which brought sweet results into people’s lives.
And now they come upon twelve springs of water and seventy date palms. What a great relief and rest they must have experienced seeing these waters and trees. The word springs in Hebrew is so interesting. It is the same word as eye עַיִן ( ayin) perhaps because it is not only refreshing to the body but it must have been such a sight of rest, and in many places where this word spring is mentioned, there is a miracle taking place.
For example, when Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, went to fetch a fiancé for Isaac, it was after many days of travel when he finally found a spring of water. This is where Rebeccah appeared. He was so glad, he mentions this spring of water seven times in Gensis 24.
And here, Israel found 12 springs of water, one for each tribe of Israel. And along with it, there were 70 palm trees, perhaps preparing Israel to receive her election and ministry in Exodus 19 where she would be told that she will be a nation of priests to the other nations. According to the Table of the Nations in Genesis 10, there were then 70 nations in the world and from these nations each of us could find our roots.
The palm trees are a symbol of the Sabbath and the Messianic Times. In Ezekiel 40-41 which describes the Temple of the Messianic Times, the word palm is mentioned 13 times, as both the outside and inside of the Temple was filled with illustrations of palm trees. And we remember those who will eventually sing the song of Moses in heaven, that in Revelation 7:9 each one is holding palm branches in their hands as they are waiting for the Messianic age to begin. All of this because, they believed in the Tree, and the Tree healed them and the Tree points to Yeshua Himself.
Now, as concerns the manna, when the Israelites first saw it, they asked a pertinent question: see vs.15, When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. See the question: What is it? First, the word manna is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew word, man. In the Hebrew Scriptures is it not manna but simply man. The French translation kept the Hebrew and calls it la manne. And the Hebrew in the text says man hou. If it was what is it, we would have read ma hou and not man hou.
The word man is not a Hebrew word. There is no word man in Hebrew. It is Aramaic and many rabbis, like Rashbam who lived in France in year 11th century, believed that they spoke Aramaic for in Aramaic the word man means who and not what. And so, it is as if they asked the question, who is it? This same word man is used in those parts of the Bible that were written in Aramaic as in Daniel 3:6 where it says:
“But whoever, (man), does not fall down and worship. Or in Ezra 5:9 when it asks the question: ‘Who, (man), issued you a decree to rebuild this temple. So then, who is the man or manna? In the Brith Chadashah, Yeshua Himself gives us the answer; the Manna is Himself, the Savior, the Messiah. He says in John 6:31-33, “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, `He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
This manna represents the Messiah, in its preciousness, and immeasurable value. It represents the provision and the so many ways the Lord blesses, feeds, and supplies. And notice how unique it is for it comes down from heaven, every day, and like the manna did, so the Lord does this all the time for the believers.
Now it is not that they did not know what Jesus meant. First, let us remember that the language spoken at the time by the people in the first century was Aramaic and the word man meaning who in this language, is the one they used to ask concerning the manna and here Yeshua proclaims that He is that very substance.
Second, rabbis of the time understood and explained the manna, not as bread, but as far as saying that it was a manifestation of God. One of those who lived right after Yeshua, Rabbi Akiva who lived between the years 50 to 135ad, explains in the Talmud what it means when we read in the Book of Psalm 78:25 that the manna is angel food. He says that the angels are sustained by the radiance of the Shekhinah and manna partake of the nature of the upper light, materialized by the will of its blessed Creator. So those who ate manna were nourished by the same thing that nourishes the angels. (Nahmanides on Akiva / Exd. 16:6-7).
What he is saying is that the food of angels is the light and radiance of God, and we gladly take this interpretation for it fits well the word of Yeshua which says, He is the radiance of God, the manna from heaven. However, it is this radiance, this manifestation of God they rejected and other manifestations as well. In fact, the greatest manifestation is Yeshua Himself, and this dismissal of Yeshua, if we can use that word, was not only with Israel, but with the many other nations who rejected Him. Even in the churches itself, we find this rejection. One of these seven churches, the church of Pergamum, which means married, typifies those churches which are married to the world; this is what Yeshua says to her in Rev. 2:17, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat”.
Now, how can the manna be hidden? If the manna is Jesus, how can it be hidden? The word for hidden is krupto, like something you see but do not understand, something you read but cannot comprehend. Unfortunately, while many may know the name of Jesus, the true treasure we find in Him may be hidden to many – like it was to these people who rebelled in the book of Numbers. The manna is hidden, but is not a secret. It is hidden to those who do not want to see it, but very clear to those who have a humble and contrite heart and understand their need of God.
Click Here for the Teaching: Exodus Sermon 16: Manna: God’s Full Provision