There are many ways we use to ensure that we remember, including videos, photographs and voice notes. We might also set an alarm or make a list. Some things are forever inscribed in our brains, we don’t need reminders. Yet, if it’s important to future generations, we try to preserve it ‘for posterity’. (The phrase, for posterity, refers to something kept in trust for one’s descendants.) Within the context of the emergent nation Israel, the Exodus, including God’s miraculous provision of bread, was one such sign. Let’s learn more about this sign as we consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Exodus 16:32-33 AFV
[32] And Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, ‘Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations, so that you may see the bread with which I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’”
[33] And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer full of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations.”
For Posterity
Nationhood for the House of Israel was built on a self-identity as a theocracy (God as the Head of State). This meant that their leader was chosen as God’s representative by God and not by the people. As time progressed, YHWH added new elements to the constitution, starting with their worship life. This was perhaps the equivalent of meetings of the upper and lower houses of Parliament.
One aspect of their worship life included anamnesis, that is to say, ‘remembering’. (This isn’t to be confused with amnesia, which is forgetting). Through anamnesis, the House of Israel would remember God’s provision and continue to trust in God, their sovereign, in the future.
Self-Check
Does having a memento actually help us remember a person or event? How so?
Deeper Dive
Hebrews 9:1-5, particularly verse 4, confirms that manna played an important role in the spiritual life of the Israelites. As they moved from forty years of their Wilderness Wanderings to habitation in the Land of Promise, both structures and ceremonies accompanied the items kept for posterity. The manna, though unused, was kept in the most significant place – the Holy of Holies. This was a space reserved solely for the High Priest to interact with God on behalf of the people.
It suggests to me that the manna was kept for both God and the generations. I suspect that as the High Priest interceded, he would probably remind God of God’s past provision of manna, asking God to yet again forgive the people’s sins. Then God would remind the priest that inasmuch as their sins were forgiven when they failed to believe God for God’s promised provision, so too, were their sins forgiven. For some of us, this takes us to that line in the Prayer of Y’shua, ‘today give us our daily bread, and forgive us of our sins…’ Moreover, when we believe Christ, our manna, is our High Priest, we recognize that He negotiated our forgiveness long ago, and continues to intercede for us in Heaven.
We see therefore, that the manna was not only kept for posterity in the spiritual lives of the House of Israel. It is also about our lives, about our salvation. In theology, we say that the Eucharist or Holy Communion is anamnesis (remembering), epiclesis (current manifestation), and also prolepsis (anticipation). That’s partly due to Christ’s invitation that we remember and anticipate each time we eat and drink that which is kept in posterity for us.
Can we see manna’s symbolism when we approach God’s mercy seat through Jesus Christ, our High Priest? Siblings, may we always remember our own Living Bread, and the cost of His sacrifice each time we go before God in prayer.
Point to Ponder
What barriers do we see Christ removing, if any, by becoming our High Priest who enters the Holy of Holies on our behalf?
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May all we seek be found in Christ
