Manna

This small thing reminds us of some of the Lord’s greatest miracles.

What Is It?

What did manna look like? It was small, round, thin like a flake, and white (see Exodus 16:14, 31).

What did it taste like? “Like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31) or like “fresh oil” (Numbers 11:8).

How did it come? It came with the dew every morning except on the Sabbath. On the day before the Sabbath, people gathered enough for two days. On other days, any extra they gathered would spoil. (See Exodus 16:14–30.)

What did people do with it? They “ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it” (Numbers 11:8). Sometimes they boiled it (see Exodus 16:23).

Scripture Facts

Manna means “What is it?” in Hebrew. The Israelites had never seen anything like it.
The Lord told the Israelites to put some manna in a pot and take it with them. This helped them remember what He had done for them (see Exodus 16:33–34; Hebrews 9:4).
The Israelites once complained about eating only manna. They longed for the food of Egypt—even though they had been slaves there (see Numbers 11:1–6).
Moses taught the people that their suffering was meant to help them trust in the Lord. He taught that the Lord gave them manna “that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
After the Israelites passed into the promised land, the manna stopped coming (see Joshua 5:12).
The Savior once miraculously fed five thousand people and then talked about manna. Then He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51).