Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Revelation 2:17 and the Promised "Hidden Manna"


In Rev 2:17, we have the following promise:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

The “hidden manna” cannot refer to the Eucharist (regardless of one’s theology of the Lord’s Supper) as this promise will be realised at the eschaton/parousia. Even in Roman Catholic theology, the Mass (wherein Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice is re-presented) will cease to take place, as Jesus will be personally present with His people. Further, in LDS theology, there will be change from celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to the Messianic Banquet when Christ returns (D&C 58:11; 65:3; cf. 27:5). Indeed, the grammatical structure of 1 Cor 11:26, using αχρι coupled with ου, followed by a verb in the subjunctive, demands a cessation of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (see here and here). This flies in the face of the naïve belief among some defenders of the Catholic Mass that if one believes that Old Testament manna was a type/shadow  of something in the New Covenant, this necessitates the fulfillment of the OT type being the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass (on the Mass, see the listing of articles at Responses to Robert Sungenis, Not By Bread Alone (2000/2009))

Commenting on the identity of “the hidden manna,” Catholic scholar Wilfred J. Harrington, who is also a Dominican Priest, wrote:

17. the hidden manna: Reference to a Jewish apocalyptic tradition (see 2 Baruch 29:8) according to which the manna will reappear as food of the messianic kingdom (see 2 Macc 2:4–8). (Wilfred J. Harrington, Revelation [Sacra Pagina 16; Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2008], 62)

With respect to the texts Harrington referenced, here they are, quoted in full:

And it will happen at that time that the treasury of manna will come down again from on high, and they will eat of it in those years because these are they who will have arrived at the consummation of time. (2 Baruch 29:8)

It was also in the writing that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. And Jeremiah came and found a cave, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense, and he sealed up the entrance. Some of those who followed him came up to mark the way, but could not find it. When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: “The place shall be unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. And then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.” (2 Macc 2:4-8 RSV)

On Rev 2:17, G.K. Beale (Reformed) wrote in his commentary on Revelation (which is one of, if not my favourite, commentary on the Apocalypse of St John):

The promise of “hidden manna” is a metaphorical portrayal of end-time fellowship and identification with Christ, which will be consummated at the marriage supper of the Lamb and which those refusing to participate in pagan feasts will be rewarded with (cf. John 6:31–35 and the conclusions for the promise of “eating from the tree of life” above on 2:7). “Manna” could be named in contrast to the “things sacrificed to idols” or idol meats,87 and this might be supported by the questionable reading φαγεῖν (“to eat”) after δώσω αὐτῷ (“I will give to him”), which at least reflects an early interpretation contrasting φαγεῖν εἰδωλόθυτα (“to eat meat sacrificed to an idol,” v 14) with φαγεῖν τοῦ μάννα (“to eat the manna”). Manna was also a portrayal of eschatological expectation in Jewish writings (so b. Ḥagigah 12b; 2 Bar. 29:8; Sib. Or. 7.149; Midr. Rab. Eccl. 1.9; cf. Exod. 16:32ff. with 2 Macc. 2:4–7), a promise was sometimes addressed to those not worshiping idols (Sib. Or. fragment 3.24–49).

Here the idea of the manna may have come to mind because of the preceding meditation on Israel’s confrontation with Balaam in their wilderness journey. Israel should have relied on God’s heavenly food for their sustenance rather than partaking of idolatrous food, and the church will partake of heavenly manna if it does not compromise in the same way.

That the manna is “hidden” means that it will be revealed to God’s people at the end of time, and possibly to each at the time of death. Though no tangible evidence of this promise can be seen, overcomers must place their hope in the unseen word of God (cf. Hebrews 11).

Some have proposed that the hiddenness is linked to the Jewish tradition that Jeremiah hid the manna in the ark before the temple was destroyed and that it would be revealed again when the Messiah came (cf. Exod. 16:32ff. with 2 Macc. 2:4–7). This is not incompatible with the understanding of the hiddenness described above. The manna given to Israel in the wilderness was also said to have been “hidden in the high heavens … from the beginning” of creation (Targ. Ps.-J. Exod. 16:4, 15) and was ultimately to prosper Israel “at the end of days” (Targ. Neof. 8:16). (G.K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text [New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999], 252)