Bread from Heaven

I had thought I was going to cover the number 40 today, but had forgotten I was going to bring this following material to you which really has more importance. So next week I will get into the significance of the number 40 as I am seeing it.

Bread from Heaven

Matt 26:26

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.(KJV)

John 6:32-35

32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.(KJV)

The bread in the wilderness:

Exod 16:29-35

29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.

33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.

34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

35 And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.(KJV) [40 years]

What kept the people alive in the wilderness for 40 years? The manna-God’s Word. Truly it was God’s Word-the Logos-who kept people alive in the wilderness having a 40 year supply of food wherever they went. It was by His Word that the substance the people called manna came down each morning except for the morning of the Sabbath. Like clockwork it came, and the people evidently not only got sick of it but began to take it for granted, forgetting this was a supernatural provision so they would not starve to death over the next 40 years. Notice too, the number 40 is being used here. It is not the first time but we only see the number brought to our attention a few times in Genesis. I will get to the significance of the number 40 after I have discussed in further detail the "manna" from heaven.

These folks had complained rather than being appreciative of all that God had done for them so far. He had given them water and supernatural protection from enemies, and as a result of their complaint and needs, He sent them manna. Evidently this was also a food that tasted great. A combination of the flavor of probably bread or rice with honey flavoring added to it. We don’t know what starch it tasted most like, but the flavor was just the right seasoning of honey, a flavor very common to the middle east. Have you ever used honey in your cooking? And God made sure the recipe was just exactly right to please everyone’s palate. It looked a lot like the white coriander seed that is grown. And they could cook it in many ways. They could do it fried, boiled, baked, and I am not sure what else. Now you might say, that is an awful boring menu, manna every day. You and I are very spoiled. Many people in many countries are lucky to get rice, or flour of some kind every day. The Andean tribes of South America didn’t eat rice or wheat or barley. They were limited to grass grains, amaranth seed, and potatoes, and perhaps lima beans. As a matter of fact, they were the first to make freeze-dried potatoes, and did have a variety of potatoes to eat, but it was virtually potatoes every day for many of these peoples till the Spanish came and the North American Indians only had corn for their main grain. No, what was wrong with the people of Israel is they were not grateful to have any food at all. Plus God has never been in the business of pleasing the palate and the flesh. He just wanted them to stay alive and healthy and focused on Him, and not on the pleasures of this world. Great tasting meals with variety are among the pleasures of this world that really capture people. That is why the restaurant business is thriving country wide. But these people of Israel, descendants of the tribes of Jacob, God was sustaining them with a perfect food straight out of the heavens. It would keep them nourished, prevent weight problems, keep them strong and healthy. But the people of Israel did not care about that nearly as much as the pleasures of this life. So they were not grateful.

Now that we have seen that the people had a wrong attitude, we will see how important it was to God to make sure the people remembered that God had provided them bread from out of the sky by saving a pot full and keeping that in the Tent of Testimony-right in front of it, it sounds like here. Hebrews 9:4 indicates they kept the pot inside the Ark of the Covenant. That must be what it means in Exodus when it was stated it was laid up before the Testimony. Aren’t you glad scripture explains scripture.

Now it was Jesus who explained what the bread of life is. Jesus indicated man shall not live by bread (physical bread) alone. No, He said that we would need to live by every word of the mouth of God. His Word. He did not negate the need for the physical bread, but pointed out to us that the spiritual bread was even more important. And Jesus has become our spiritual bread, and became that for us actually before the world began, and He will always be the spiritual bread of life. How do we consume spiritually the Bread of Life? We absorb it into our hearts and minds. How do we do that? Constant communication with Him, constant going to the Word of God, continuous obedience, constant operation in love. Jesus said to prove your love, you must obey me. That is a paraphrase of part of

John 14:21

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (KJV)

Do you obey the Bread of Life? I know I fail in this area more than I like to even admit to myself and have to constantly remind myself what real obedience and love really are. But he who obeys is the one who loves Jesus. Now why did Jesus say that? Because if you love Jesus, truly, and first, you are going to seek to do those things that you know He wants you doing. Otherwise you are just loving yourself which leads to death. Remember what I shared with you from Romans about pleasing self and the flesh-it leads to death.

Rom 8:5

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.(NKJ)

Rom 8:6

6 For to be carnally[fleshly] minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

(NKJ)

The word flesh in verse 5 is the same word in the Greek for the adjective "carnally" in verse 6. The translators would have been just as accurate to say fleshly minded.

Now Jesus says He is the bread of life. We are to be always filling our hearts and minds-renewing our minds by the Word of God-filling our hearts and minds with God’s very presence and will, and this on a daily basis. After all, didn’t God send manna 6 days a week and on that 6th day give them extra so they wouldn’t be working that 7th day, but spend their time in rest in Him? And these folks didn’t have the Holy Spirit living inside them each day either like people today can have. God wanted to use this manna to teach us that the real Bread of Life, Jesus Himself, is the bread we must have every day, and in our case, not just 6 days a week, but 7. For as you notice God made sure they had enough for the 7th day to consume too. God wants your attention 7 days a week, my friends. And actually, I believe He wants it more than once a day also. How many meals do you eat each day? Most of you eat 3 meals a day, right? I know not everyone does, but that is the average. What did God tell Joshua?

Josh 1:8

8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it DAY and NIGHT, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.(NAS)

You notice I capitalized day & night in all caps. How often is that? Twice a day. What did David say in Psalm 1?

Ps 1:2

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate DAY and NIGHT.

(KJV)

How often? Day and Night-twice a day! This is the person who stays strong in the Lord.

Ps 1:3

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.(KJV)

Do you want to be strong like this kind of tree? Then don’t limit yourself to Bible reading, etc. to just once a day. Make it your food, and consume the Word and put it into practice. Fill your head with God’s Word, Will, Love, etc. Fill your heart also with it. Remember what Jesus said to the disciples when they found Him talking to the Samaritan women by the well. He said to them,

John 4:34

34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.(NIV)

That is true for us too.

That bread provided in the desert to the people of Israel was pointing to the fact that Jesus the bread of life was to sustain them. But He did not explain to them, at that time, that the bread was a picture of Jesus’ work in people’s lives at the time. But this manna foreshadowed Jesus. Jesus, the Bread of Life, gives life to the world. And it is a life far more than physical life, it is spiritual life that is eternal.

If you haven’t made Jesus your Bread of Life, I invite you to do so now. For He has the Words of Real Life, and He is the source. Ask Him to come inside you and change you into the person God meant you to be when He created you. Ask His forgiveness not only for your ignorance but for your sins, your rebellion, your pride, your laziness, anything that can be the reason of separation of you from God. If you are willing for Him to have His way in you and in your life, not only do you get the gift of forgiveness since Jesus already paid your debt, but you get a joy and a peace the world cannot touch. You will have faith, hope and love and you will have your job to do as a part of the body of Christ. Nothing is better than that because all this is eternal.

Now look at this verse in Revelation:

Rev 2:17

17 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.(KJV)

What does God give to the person who truly follows-he will receive the hidden manna, and I am assuming that the white stone is a membership card, or even like a credit card that is just particular to you and no one else can use it, and of course in heaven, everything charged to that card has been paid for. You are in a special club-called Christ’s body.

Folks, those of you who are saved, if you have not been experiencing victory through faith, ask yourself how much you have been in the Word of God. Are you anorexic spiritually? Lots of Christians today are and they have been letting the cares of this world choke out the power of the Word of God cause they are too busy with the pleasures of this world. Get rid of those things that hinder you or at least put them on the bottom of your priorities. Make sure your priority is time with God. Then you will see fruit.

John 15:5

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.(KJV)

Hear that? If you abide in Him, you will bring forth a lot of fruit. But without Him nothing gets accomplished. And I mean NOTHING. Remember the works you do, if they aren’t from Him, then those will be burned up. Any works you do apart from Him are worthless. If you want the works to last, make sure they are works He has given you to do. Don’t waste any time and energy on those things that are not His direction and Will.

Next week I will talk about the number 40 because that number plays prominently in the time in the wilderness and you will see evidence of it playing parts in other stuff too in the Bible, including the New Testament. Have a blessed weekend. Your Good News Lady