This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” See “Q is for ‘Quails’”
Manna is a word that remains fairly well known in the English language and most people will even recognize an echo of the Exodus in its usage. The term is actually the Hebrew phrase meaning “What is it?” From Exodus 16:15, מָן הוּא transliterated into the English “manna.” Just a few verses later, the phrase has become a new word in the Hebrew lexicon. “And the House of Israel called it Manna…” וַיִּקְרְאוּ בֵית־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־שְׁמוֹ מָן (Exod 16:31)
This “bread from heaven” was sent by God in response to the grumbling of the Israelites. They had successfully come out of Egypt and just one chapter before, all Israel had sung a song of triumph as they watched “horse and rider thrown into the sea” by the Lord. First they were thirsty and now they were hungry and already regretting their decision to leave the comforts of slavery. Freedom was not comfortable nor easy.
God provided for Israel at every stage of their journey, yet it was not always what they expected or wanted. The manna from heaven was miraculous but even the most generous description suggests a delicacy. “It was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Even the quails sent in the evening were small birds, meat and sustenance, to be sure, but it was no fatted calf. God provided for their needs, not their wants.
Manna is just that, what we need. It may not be – it likely rarely ever is – what we want. That can be because what we want is often far in excess of what we need. Or what we want is, in fact, not actually healthy for us. I am sure the reader realizes this does not only apply to food.
Man-nah? What is it? What is it that God provides? It is what we need.
