January 3

"And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." Joshua 5:12.

THIS cessation of the manna is one of the several remarkable occurrences at the crossing of the river Jordan. God is every thing to his people. In the wilderness they had no pathway, but he led them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They were in danger, but he was their defence. They had no abode, but he was their dwelling-place. They had no water, but he gave them streams in the desert. They had no provisions, but he rained down manna around their tents. So that what nature refused, Providence furnished; and what could not be derived from the ground, came from the clouds.

When the supplies they brought with them from Egypt were spent, they feared they were going to perish. They forgot the hand that had dried up the sea, and said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? But he gave them bread from heaven, and for forty years they did eat angels' food. What an abundance was necessary for such a multitude! And what a display of divine power was here witnessed!

Nor less was it a proof of divine mercy. Had he dealt with them after their desert, fire would have come down from heaven, instead of food; but as the mother silences the fretful, angry child by giving it not the rod, but the breast, so did his gentleness indulge them. Hence, when they despised the manna as light food, it might have been suspended, and they might have been left to learn the worth of it by the want; but day after day, year after year, it continued to attend them, and ceased not till the day after they had taken possession of their inheritance, and they had eaten of the old corn of the land.

At length it did cease, and wisely too. What was necessary before, became needless now; and what want had endeared, abundance would have despised. This teaches us not to look for extraordinary supplies when relief is to be had in an ordinary way. He who sustained Israel is as almighty as ever; but we must plough, and sow, and gather into barns. He who fed Elijah by ravens commands us to labor, working with our hand the thing that is good. If a man neglects the means of subsistence, he is not trusting providence, but tempting it, and is likely to be reminded, by something more than Scripture, that if any man will not work, neither shall he eat. Even in miraculous achievements, what human agency could do, was not done supernaturally. When Peter was in prison, the angel of the Lord opened the door, and broke off his fetters, for this Peter could not have done; but he did not take him up in his arms, and carry him out, but said unto him, "Find on thy sandals and follow me." Miracles were never needlessly employed. Had they been common, they would have ceased to be marvellous; the exceptions would have become a general rule, and the whole system of nature and providence have been deranged.

The manna was typical. "I am," said Jesus, "that bread of life." As the manna came down from heaven, and preserved the Israelites from famine, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And the Saviour surpasses the emblem. The manna was for the body; he saves the soul. The manna could not preserve from death always; but they who partake of him live for ever. The manna was confined to one people; he gave his flesh for the life of the world. He, therefore, is the true bread.

And shall this cease? Far from it. You shall live by him, as well as with him, for ever.

Yet there will be a great difference between your present and your future experience. Many things now necessary will then be done away. Conjecture, opinion, reasoning, will give place to knowledge. Now we walk by faith; then we shall walk by sight. Now we are saved by hope; then hope will cease in fruition. Love will continue for ever; but charity and mercy can have no object, no exercise there. We shall be still praising him; but prayer and preaching, and baptism and the Lord's supper, will have no place. We can dispense with the channels when we are at the fountainhead, and with the types when we have the reality. We are now glad when they say unto us, "Let us go into the house of the Lord;" but says John, "I saw no temple there; but the glory of God and of the Lamb were the light thereof." When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part will be done away. The fare of the wilderness will be superseded by the produce of Canaan.