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Manna: Symbol of Jesus Christ

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Manna: Symbol of Jesus Christ
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The Jesus Christ Focused Old Testament

Donald W. Parry

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Contents

Introduction
Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s Mortal Ministry and Atonement
Symbols that Testify of Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ: Conquering Hero
Jesus Christ is the Lord of History: Nine Major Historical Eras
The Lord Jesus Christ: Potter, Captain, Shepherd, and More
The Lord Jesus Christ Controls the Nations: Book of Judges Case Study
Old Testament Passages Cited by Jesus Christ
Messianic Prophecies in the Psalms
Psalm 22 and Its Fulfillment in Jesus Christ
Isaiah’s Prophecies of the Mortal Messiah
The Messiah in Isaiah 53: Four Recurring Themes
Names, Titles, and Metaphors of the Lord Jesus Christ
Lord (Jehovah): The Most Frequently Used [Content] Word in the Hebrew Bible
Equivalent Designations of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old and New Testaments
God: Compound Names
Lord: Compound Names
The Lord Is Our Savior
The Lord (Jehovah) Is Our Redeemer
The Lord Is Our Atoner
Jesus Christ Is the Messiah
Jesus Christ Is the Lord
One, Three, and Seven: Sacred and Symbolic Numbers
Seven and Sacred Time
Prophets and Prophetesses: The Lord’s Messengers
Eve: Life and Help: A Type of Christ
Adam: “The Figure of Him that Was to Come”
Melchizedek: Type of Christ
Isaac: Type and Shadow of Christ
Joseph of Egypt: Foreshadow of Christ
Moses: Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ
Elijah: Symbol of Jesus Christ
Job: Suffering Servant, A Type of Jesus Christ
Hosea’s Family: Symbols of the Lord for Ancient Israel
The Sign of Jonah: Pointing to Christ’s Death
Priests and High Priests: Foreshadowing Jesus Christ
The Lord Reveals Cycles of Sacred Time
Striking Blood on the Doorposts: The Passover Anticipates Jesus Christ
The Day of Atonement: Messianic Foreshadowing
“A Feast to the Lord”: Sacred and Secular Meals
Parallelisms: Teaching About the Lord Jesus Christ Through Poetry
Chiasmus: Unique Presentations of the Lord’s Word
The Psalms: Praises to the Lord Jesus Christ
Lord: Focused Prophetic Speech Forms
Prayers: Mortals Seeking the Lord’s Divine Favor
Worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ through Music and Song
Law of Moses: Anticipated Jesus Christ and His Atonement
Manna: Symbol of Jesus Christ
Symbols of Christ in the Tabernacle of Moses
Sacrifices Under the Law of Moses: Six Acts
Sacrifices: Symbols of Jesus’s Atoning Sacrifice
Diet Code: Unclean and Clean Animals
God Is a Holy Temple: Temples and Sacred Space
The Atonement-Focused Earthly and Heavenly Temples
Jesus’s Royal Ancestry: Rulers of the Kingdom of Judah
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Contents

Introduction
Prophecies of Jesus Christ’s Mortal Ministry and Atonement
Symbols that Testify of Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ: Conquering Hero
Jesus Christ is the Lord of History: Nine Major Historical Eras
The Lord Jesus Christ: Potter, Captain, Shepherd, and More
1 2 … 10 Next »

Donald W. Parry, “Manna: Symbol of Jesus Christ,” in The Jesus Christ Focused Old Testament: Making Sense of a Monumental Book (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2022), 126–127.

After the children of Israel complained that they missed the fleshpots and bread of Egypt, the lord told Moses that He would “rain bread from heaven” (Ex. 16:4). This bread was called “manna,” “the corn of heaven,” and “angels’ food” (Ps. 78:24–25). Exodus 16:31 describes manna as being “like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.”

God fed Israel this special bread for forty years (Ex. 16:35), a number that symbolizes a period of probation, testing, and tribulation (see Deut. 8:2–3). The manna ceased the day after the Israelites partook of grain in the Promised Land (Josh. 5:12).

Manna symbolized Jesus Christ, who is “the living bread” (John 6:51). In the context of the miraculous feeding of bread and fish to five thousand people near the Sea of Galilee, Jesus taught the people that He was “the bread of life.” He said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger. . . . Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. . . . I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh” (John 6:35, 49, 51). As the chart indicates, manna served as a type and shadow of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.[1]



[1] See also McConkie, Promised Messiah, 397–99.

Manna: Symbol of Jesus Christ

Manna

Jesus Christ

God called the manna “bread” (Ex. 16:12, cf. v. 15).

Jesus called Himself the “bread of life” and the “living bread” (John 6:48, 51).

Manna provided the Israelites with temporal life.

Jesus the living bread provides all with eternal life: “I am the living bread . . . if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever” (John 6:51).

Manna came from heaven: The lord told Moses, “I will rain bread from heaven” (Ex. 16:4).

Jesus is “the bread which cometh down from heaven” (John 6:50).

The lord God gave manna to the children of Israel.

God “gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16) to the children of men.

There was enough manna for every person (Ex. 16:16–18).

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is infinite, sufficient to cover all of God’s children.

Every person received his fill of manna: “They gathered every man according to his eating” (Ex. 16:18; see also vv. 16–17).

Jesus fills those who are spiritually hungry: “I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger” (John 6:35).

Manna was undeserved. The lord said, “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, . . . at even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread” (Ex. 16:12).

Jesus died for undeserving sinners: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. . . . While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6, 8).

The children of Israel ate manna for forty years (Ex. 16:35), a period of testing.

Jesus was tempted of Satan after fasting forty days and forty nights (Matt. 4:1–2).

Concerning those who overcome the world, they will be given “to eat of the hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17).

Jesus, the “living bread,” is “hidden,” or unknown, to the wicked but revealed to the righteous.

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