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)
