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I am reading Exodus and am fascinated as to what manna was. Yes food. But is there a symbolic meaning which we can apply to our lives? That God provides daily as long as we obey His commands? 

People were to gather only the amount required daily, not try to store it as it went rotten. Along with quail, their nutritional needs were met for the long journey of decades. It was preserved for future generations and placed in the Ark of the Covenant. So has any of this incredible substance ever been found? 

Amazing. Also, why quail? They needed protein and bread, i presume this balance was obtained to keep the body fed and alive in a wildernesd where they would have died otherwise.

I take it to mean whatever wilderness we find ourselves in during our lives, God will sustain us. 

Edited by Melinda12
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Manna is a naturally occurring substance. Apparently it's a sugary solution secreted by certain species of scale insects that live in the wilderness. When we went to Jordan a few years ago, it was possible to buy 'manna' as a souvenir.

https://momentmag.com/manna-is-real-and-not-so-heavenly/

But of course, it's normally only available in very small quantities. The miracle of the manna is the sheer scale and consistency of its production - enough to feed a whole nation for forty years!

The quail only came twice in that period of forty years, both times were near the beginning. The Israelites had their livestock with them, so they always had supplies of meat and milk.

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4 hours ago, Melinda12 said:

I am reading Exodus and am fascinated as to what manna was. Yes food. But is there a symbolic meaning which we can apply to our lives? That God provides daily as long as we obey His commands? 

People were to gather only the amount required daily, not try to store it as it went rotten. Along with quail, their nutritional needs were met for the long journey of decades. It was preserved for future generations and placed in the Ark of the Covenant. So has any of this incredible substance ever been found? 

Amazing. Also, why quail? They needed protein and bread, i presume this balance was obtained to keep the body fed and alive in a wildernesd where they would have died otherwise.

I take it to mean whatever wilderness we find ourselves in during our lives, God will sustain us. 

I do not agree that Manna was a naturally occurring substance. I was a miracle from the Lord. It does state in verse 4 of Exodus 16 that it would rain from heaven and not that it would come from insects. It also states in verse 31 what it tasted like. It becomes an appropriate symbol of the Lord Jesus as he refers to himself as the bread from heaven, see John 6:32,33. It was the "food of angels" and sustained the Israelites.  Also it does show the need to obey his commandments. The Lord was teaching of the observance of the Sabbath, one of the ten commandments. They could not keep the manna overnight or it would stink and have worms except on the even approaching the weekly Sabbath. On what is now know as Friday they could gather two days worth for that day and for the Sabbath as the Lord did not want them to gather on the Sabbath day, See what it says in Exodus 16:20 -28.

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8 hours ago, Melinda12 said:

I take it to mean whatever wilderness we find ourselves in during our lives, God will sustain us. 

Okay, But I take it to mean when God gives instruction do as God dictates, do not romance it, do not modify nor add to it, just do it  exactly as God has dictated it be done( Whatever it happens to be).

The same lesson is repeated often, along with the serious adverse consequence to man  for his romancing and divining God's instruction to his own preferences.

 

The desert by the way was not a long journey (It is a pretty short distance). They were there a long time. Kind of the reverse of  the silly movie lyric from the movie Bandit. They might have sang, if they sang, We have a short way to go, but a long time to get there.

Nice to be reading  and thinking upon the word isn't it? ! Thanks for posting; it is fun to  to be thinking upon the word.

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It came from heaven.

John 6: 32-35

32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

 

John 6: 49-51

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

 

Edited by missmuffet
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14 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Okay, But I take it to mean when God gives instruction do as God dictates, do not romance it, do not modify nor add to it, just do it  exactly as God has dictated it be done( Whatever it happens to be).

The same lesson is repeated often, along with the serious adverse consequence to man  for his romancing and divining God's instruction to his own preferences.

 

The desert by the way was not a long journey (It is a pretty short distance). They were there a long time. Kind of the reverse of  the silly movie lyric from the movie Bandit. They might have sang, if they sang, We have a short way to go, but a long time to get there.

Nice to be reading  and thinking upon the word isn't it? ! Thanks for posting; it is fun to  to be thinking upon the word.

Thankyou

A non believer asked me, why were the Israelites wandering for so long? The distance is not so great after all. I was not sure how to answer. So i said it was because God had much to reach them and it took time. God's time. 

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Something a brother shared with me on the New humanity project.org

The Hidden Manna – Spiritual Food for the New Humanity

“To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.”

 

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum (John 6:25-59).

 

The hidden manna is the Bread that comes from heaven, it is the living Word of God who became flesh. To partake of the hidden manna is to be invited into close, intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ and to share in his divine nature. In us, who are filled with the Holy Spirit who gives to us deep spiritual wisdom and understanding, the Word, the hidden manna, becomes flesh and is manifested and revealed in us to sustain our spirits.

 

As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile —the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world” (Romans 10:11-18).

 

In the past, the Lord spoke through the Prophets – but his final and complete word is more than just spoken, it is manifested in Jesus – in that the Word became flesh.

 

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word (Hebrews 1:1-3).

 

Jesus said: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” (John 16:12-15).

 

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them” (John 6:63-65).

 

God has spoken to humanity in the person of Jesus the Messiah. The Word has gone out to the ends of the earth and yet for the most part it is not received in full faith and spiritual understanding. The dept of spiritual insight, knowledge and understanding still remains hidden manna for most people because they remain carnal-minded and dull of understanding.

 

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:6-16).

 

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly —mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).

 

The apostle Paul was called to take the gospel to all the nations, including Israel and beyond. However, as he said to the church in Corinth, he could not address them as the new new spiritual humanity because in their thinking, they were still immature, carnal-minded, (engrossed with the former life in the flesh) and mere, unspiritual people.

 

The deep spiritual truth is indeed hidden manna – and unfortunately still remains hidden even from most professing Christians who are satisfied with a very superficial understanding of the gospel. All they want is the assurance that as sinners they will, by God’s grace alone – and with no effort on their part to gain spiritual wisdom and understanding – they will nevertheless have eternal life being spared from eternal wrath and condemnation.

 

I have personally experienced just how easy it is to lapse into a superficial, complacent, carnal-minded state – and often all the more so as we are drawn into fellowship with like-minded carnal-minded professing Christians who are more concerned about being blessed in the flesh than by putting to death the former life in the flesh – they are, for the most part, mere humans in the flesh oblivious to the new spiritual humanity who are called out of the realm of the flesh to live in the realm of the spirit. They do not have genuine faith which comes through receiving the hidden manna and they do not walk closely with Jesus as did Enoch.   

 

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:5-6).

 

The carnal-minded professing Christian like to hear messages about God’s grace-alone, which excuses them from any effort and spiritual discipline on their part – because they are lazy and content in the flesh – they do not carry their cross.

 

We have much to say about this (i.e. about the Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness who lives in a domain beyond this earthly realm and beyond the realm of the flesh), but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:11-14).

 

It is hidden manna – and remains hidden from the slothful, carn-minded professing Christians who has no desire to grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding because they are content to have their minds stayed on the realm of the flesh.

 

Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown” (Proverbs 4:4-9).

 

To gain spiritual wisdom and understanding cost you nothing (as far as spending money is concerned) and it yet also costs you everything (in that you must give up all other trivial pursuits and carnal-minded desires in order to find it – for it is hidden from humanity in the flesh and is spiritual revealed).  

 

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour” (John 4:27-38).

 

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:25-29).

 

“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and you will delight in the richest of fare.

Give ear and come to me;

listen, that you may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David (Isaiah 55:1-3).

 

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer (2 Thessalonians 2:6-15).

 

There are indeed lazy people who think that they will be sustained by “faith alone” – but they are often also spiritually lazy as well. Just as we need to earn our living to pay for our daily bread, so too, we need to apply ourselves through effort – devoting our lives to prayer and to the study of the Scriptures, in order to find and feed on the hidden manna to grow spiritually.

 

There needs to be a right balance of spiritual discipline, of prayer and the study of the Scriptures, – with of our daily responsibility to work for a living. 

 

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

 

Edited by Christdiedforoursins
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1 hour ago, Melinda12 said:

Thankyou

A non believer asked me, why were the Israelites wandering for so long? The distance is not so great after all. I was not sure how to answer. So i said it was because God had much to reach them and it took time. God's time. 

All the cowardly soldiers had to die off. It was God's judgement for 40 years.

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4 minutes ago, Justin Adams said:

All the cowardly soldiers had to die off. It was God's judgement for 40 years.

Elaborate a little please?

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1 minute ago, Melinda12 said:

Elaborate a little please?

Scripture is quite clear. The faithless ones that came back after checking out the territory angered God.

Joshua and Caleb lived on to later go across Jordan to the Area of the Snake, Bashan and rid the land of Nephilim and other horrors. Thus the Joshua purges. The foot of Hermon was considered one of the gates of hell and the Zeus pagan stuff was there to attest to this fact.

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