by
Stanley Clarke Wyllie
(1909 - 1985)
We might also ask, “What is this pot of manna and what is its significance in York Rite Masonry, especially in the degree of Royal Arch?”
The first account of manna is in the book of manna is in the book of Exodus. The followers of Moses had been in the desert for more than a month and were in want of food. Quail were sent by the Lord in the evening, and after the dew had gone there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground. The people asked, “What is it?” or “Man hu?” (in Hebrew). Moses replied, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.”
The people of Israel were told to gather the manna and not leave any until morning. Some left a part, and it became worms and foul. Morning by morning it was gathered, and when the sun grew hot it melted. This divine supply lasted for 40 years and ceased the day after the people ate the produce of Canaan. God never wastes his power; once the need for the manna was over it ceased to fall.
On the six day of the week a double portion would be provided, as none would come down on the Sabbath. Rabbinical literature records that an individual, by wishing, could taste anything he desired in the manna.
Moses directed Aaron to put some of the manna in a jar to be kept for future generations. A golden pot with an omer of manna was laid up before God in the Tabernacle, to which a reference will be made later.
By two provisions did God sanctify his daily gift. First, the manna came not on the Sabbath. Except on the Lord’s day, that which was kept from one day to the next only bred worms and stank. This was to be to the Israelites a statute and an ordinance of faith, a principle of God’s giving and a rule of their receiving. Secondly, an omer full of manna was to be laid up before Jehovah in a golden pot. Together with Aaron’s rod and the tablets of the Covenant, it was placed in the Holiest of all places, within the Ark of the Covenant, overshadowed by the Cherubim of Glory.
Thus alike in the rain of the bread from heaven, in the ordinance of the ingathering, and in the Sabbath law of its sanctified use, did God prove Israel – even as He now proves us – whether we will walk in his law or not.
There is another point in which the provision of the manna resembles the intention of God’s provision to us. The manna was so dispensed that he who gathered little had no lack; every man gathered according to his need. This marks the true purpose of God’s giving: every man according to his need.
In the letters to the Hebrews we learn more of the golden urn of manna. It was contained in the Ark of the Covenant with Aaron’s rod and the tablets of the Covenant. This is the ark which we discover in the Royal Arch degree.
Another interpretation of manna might be “plenty,” as there was plenty on the day on which it fell and plenty for the Sabbath on the day previous. Thus may manna be likened to the “sheaf of corn hanging by a waterford” of the Fellowcraft degree.
The order in which the pot of manna is discovered gives interpretation of the hidden word for future generations, for which we as Masons are searching. First the book of Genesis, the Aaron’s rod, and the pot of manna. Genesis gives us the first insight of God and His laws, Aaron’s rod may be said to represent the priestly class, and the prophets and the pot of manna represent the bread of life.
Mackey and McClenenchan state that these are symbols of eternal life which the degree of Royal Arch is designed to portray.
(Adapted from an article from The Royal Arch Mason, Volume X, Number 1, Spring 1970, pages 15 - 16)
No comments:
Post a Comment