Back in the 60s there was a sit-com called “F Troop.” It was the story of a bunch of guys in the Calvary stationed in the western frontier. They were made up of misfits and con men. Even the Indians were part of some schemes.
The Indian tribe was called the Hekawi. On one episode Chief Wild Eagle explains how the tribe got its name: "Many moons ago tribe move west because Pilgrims ruin neighborhood. Tribe travel west, over country and mountains and wild streams, then come big day... tribe fall over cliff, that when Hekawi get name. Medicine man say to my ancestor, "I think we lost. Where the heck are we?" "Where the heck are we?" became "We're the Hekawi"
This story is similar to what the children of Israel experienced. It only took one month from the time they were set free from Egypt before the people started complaining. The word says they moaned about the pots filled with meat and all the bread they wanted that they had left behind. Now they were starving for the good life. Strange how quick they had forgotten about their oppression.
So God decided if they want meat, He would send them meat. He sent quail in to the camp and covered it. Plus He decided if they wanted all the bread they could eat He would do that also.
So the next morning when they awoke the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated a flakey substance blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it and said “What the heck is it?” Since they did not speak English but rather Hebrew they actually said “Manna.”
Moses answered “It is the food the Lord has given you to eat. Now gather what you need for just today. There will be plenty more tomorrow.” And the people did as they were instructed. It tasted like honey wafers.
Then Moses told Aaron, his assistant, to gather up two quarts of manna and put it in a sacred place for future generations. Which brings us to our sermon today.
Revelation 2:17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.”
Last week we studied what it meant to be victorious and what we had victory over. Since we are victorious we are now offered the hidden manna that has been hidden away in heaven. Now I have been a Christian for 34 years and I have never walked outside and discovered a flaky white substance that tasted like honey wafers ready for me to eat. So manna; what is it?
Look at Deuteronomy 8:3 “Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus would repeat this statement. “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
John describes Jesus as the word that became flesh. Also in the book of John, Jesus reveals himself to be the bread of life. Jesus is the bread, the manna, and Jesus is the word, the scripture. So it’s safe to say that the word of God is the hidden manna that is now offered to us.
Jeremiah said “When I discovered your words, I devoured them.” The psalmist wrote “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Personally I love honey wafers. I can taste them and know they are good. So good that I devour them. And so it is with God’s word.
There are four points that I want us to discover about manna. First it was hidden. The first time the Israelites encountered manna it was hidden by the dew. God says his favor is like the dew. He says that each day, like the morning dew, our strength is renewed. And I love this picture painted in Deuteronomy 32:2 “Let my teaching fall on you like rain; let my speech settle like dew.
Let my words fall like rain on tender grass, like gentle showers on young plants.”
Hidden under this spiritual dew of favor, strength, and speech lies the sweet tasting manna. Jeremiah said he discovered the word. Therefore it was hidden. Revelation told us that the manna was hidden in the heavens.
Let me tell you something. God loves to play hide and seek. There is the story of two young boys who were out in a large field playing hide and seek. As the first boy leaned against a tree covering his eyes and counting to 100, the other boy ran across the field and climbed up into another tree to hide. Just then the first boy reached 100 and he yelled out, “ready or not here I come.” Immediately the boy ran across the field looked up into the tree and said, “I found you! Now it’s my turn to hide.” The other boy climbed down out of the tree, then leaning against the tree, covering his eyes he began counting to 100. The first boy made the long run across the field climbed up into the first tree to hide. When the other boy finished counting to 100, he yelled out, “ready or not, here I come.” Without hesitating, he ran across the field to the other tree, looked up and said, “Ha, I found you!” Just then a third boy ran up to his friends and asked, “Hey what you guys doing?” When the boys told him that they were playing hide and seek he excitedly asked if he could play too. In unison the other boys responded, “You can’t; there are only 2 trees!”
God hides things from us but He makes them easy to find if we search for them. Daniel says of God in 2:22 “He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness,
though he is surrounded by light.” The manna hidden in heaven is easy to find. It is the form of God’s word, the Bible. We are to feast on the manna and hide it again. But this time, the word says, we are to hide it in our heart so that we will not sin against God.
Along with this manna we have been given the Holy Spirit. We are to cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Hidden manna is meant to be found, enjoyed, and brings nourishment to our spiritual bodies.
Next it was meant to be consumed daily.
Exodus 16:4 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.”
Each day the people were to go out and collect as much manna as they needed for that one day. Some of them worried about the availability of manna for the next day so they stored some away. The next morning it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell.
When the day before the Sabbath, their day of rest, came God told them to gather twice as much so they could rest. It did not spoil overnight and was wholesome and good.
The hidden manna God has for us is meant to be consumed daily. Everyday we eat, unless we are fasting, because we are hungry. Our spiritual self needs to be fed also. We eat the manna of God’s word to feed our spirit.
Imagine if you only ate a meal on Sunday. How would you be feeling by Saturday? Your stomach feels empty. Your blood sugars are low. You suffer from vitamin deficiency. Your electrolytes are depleted. You have suffered weight loss. Possibly you are dealing with high blood pressure. You experience dizziness, headaches, muscle spasms, and weakness. Your heart beat may even become less rhythmic. Then Sunday comes and you stuff yourself. Your body is unable to handle this sudden influx of food. So now you are dealing with nausea. But Monday comes and the lack of food will last another week.
Why would we want to put our bodies through this? The facts are, we don’t. We eat when we get hungry. But if we are not careful we put our spirit through this.
People will come on Sunday and be fed the word. They will leave energized and ready to face the world. But they don’t feed their spirit during the week. They begin to sense a loss feeling of God’s presence. As they face temptations they grow weaker as they fight against sin. Spiritually they don’t feel right. But come Sunday they will try to get energized enough to see them through another week.
Often some people get used to the feeling of being spiritually hungry. They see no need to be fed this manna offered to them. So they quit coming to be fed on Sundays all together. They may snack on the word here and there but they never get filled with the word.
God never intended for us to have a meal of manna once a week. We are to feed on manna daily. Just as food gives our bodies the nutrients to sustain life, the manna from heaven gives life to our spirit. Just as food is vital for our bodies to grow from infancy to adulthood, the manna from heaven is vital for us to grow into spiritual maturity and enjoy all that is offered to us.
This manna gives us light in the darkness of this world. This manna gives us wisdom in the choices that we are making. This manna gives us hope and encouragement in our moments of desperation.
Thirdly, it was temporary.
Exodus 16:35 “So the people of Israel ate manna for forty years until they arrived at the land where they would settle. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.”
Every morning, except on the Sabbath, God provided this manna from heaven for 40 years. That was 12,480 days. God will provide us with the hidden manna everyday of our journey. In fact, on our Sabbath day, today, you will not have to seek the hidden manna. I will gather it for you on Saturday and feed you with it on Sunday. Now that’s a deal. All that is required of you is to be here.
Eventually the manna stopped falling. It stopped on the day the Israelites entered into the promise land and ate from the produce there. Eventually the manna will stop falling here also. There will come a time when God’s word is no longer present.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
The grave is the realm of death. It is the word Sheol. When we leave this life, the manna of heaven will no longer be offered. The souls of those who died without salvation will long to be fed but no food will be given. Their destiny is eternal hunger and separation from God.
1 Corinthians 13:9-10 “Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.”
For those who have accepted the salvation that has been offered through the sacrifice of Jesus, the manna will cease when they become perfected. In other words, when the leave this mortal shell behind and claim their immortal body they will become perfect. There will no longer be a need to feed them with the word of God because they no longer hunger. The fullness of God has enveloped them and now meets their needs. Their destiny is the eternal dwelling in the fullness of God.
Lastly, it can become cumbersome.
Numbers 11:4-6 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”
I don’t believe the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites were people who decided to suffer with them. I think the foreign rabble was a spirit that they carried out of Egypt when they left. It was a spirit that led them to crave the “good things” they had left behind. That craving led to lusting. That lusting led to complaining. That complaining led to dissatisfaction.
Within us there is a foreign rabble. It causes us to crave the life that we once lived or see others living. We may find ourselves lusting to live that life we crave. And we grumble within ourselves that it is unfair for us to be restricted by the word of God. We may eventually become dissatisfied with our Christian walk. In dissatisfaction we begin to question the validity of God’s word. We hear that whisper “Did God really say---. Is that what the word is really telling us we shouldn’t do?”
Jesus understood the difficulties we would face being one of his followers. It is why He stated “Count the cost.” The word can be restrictive. The word does not allow us the freedom to pick and chose what we will and will not follow. Our flesh will cry out to enjoy the world while our spirit is fighting to remain holy. The battle can grow cumbersome and tiresome. But be careful if you turn your back on God’s word.
Numbers 11:31-35 Now the Lord sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall all around the camp. For miles in every direction there were quail flying about three feet above the ground. So the people went out and caught quail all that day and throughout the night and all the next day, too. No one gathered less than fifty bushels! They spread the quail all around the camp to dry. But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (kib-roth' hat-tah-av-aw) (which means “graves of gluttony”) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt.
Everyday the offer for manna is laid before you. All you have to do is search for it. But beware of what you are feeding your soul. It’s either manna or meat. It’s either the word of God or the pleasures of this world. You have to choose.
