Exodus 16:1 And they took their journey from Elim.... Elim was one of the places the Israelites camped on their way to Canaan. It is interesting that in Matthew chapter one there are forty-one generations from Abraham unto Christ. Also there were forty-one encampments of Israel listed in the Book of Numbers before they entered the land of promise. Both the genealogy of Matthew chapter one and the encampments of Israel are representative of the stages of spiritual development as we are coming into Christ.
And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim, and Sinai on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. Here is another study for you. Find out what Elim represents and what Sinai represents. The wilderness of Sin between them will probably have something to do with God’s dealing to bring them to Sinai. Sinai was the first Pentecost since it took place fifty days after the Passover in Egypt.
Exodus 16:2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: The wilderness is where God wants to get all the grumble out of you.
The murmuring usually began with the mixed multitude. There were some who left Egypt with them that were not Israelites. Some Israelites had married Egyptians. Also some Egyptians realized that these were a people blessed of God and they didn’t want any more plagues, so they went along. They are the mixed multitude the Scriptures speak of. And a mixed multitude went up also with them. Exodus 12:38. They are also the ones spoken of as being on the outskirts of the camp. Those on the outskirts of the camp were the first to feel the assault of marauding bands. It doesn’t pay to be on the outskirts of the camp. If you want security and immunity get into the fullness of what God is doing.
Exodus 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
When you start to walk with God, you say, “God, You’re going to kill me!” And the Lord says, “Yes, I want to kill that old self-life. You’re always thinking about self. That’s why you’re grumbling now.”
Exodus 16:4 Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no.
Listen, God knows whether or not you will walk in what He has for you. Your testing ultimately is so you will know.
Exodus 16:5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
They were not supposed to work on the seventh day. So on the sixth day they would gather twice as much, enough for that day and the coming day. It is interesting that in the Lord’s prayer where it says, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the Greek reads, “Our bread for the coming day” (Luke 11:3).
The sixth day is the day of double portion, and this is shown is the first chapter of Genesis, too. It is recorded that each day God spoke, but on the sixth day He spoke twice, indicating a double portion of the Word on the sixth day. God is taking the seals off the Book. Comparing this with the Apostle Peter’s proclamation, we conclude that we are in the sixth day now. Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. II Peter 3:8.
We also understand from Genesis 1:26-31 that man is created on the sixth day. In considering this we think not of natural man, but the Body of Christ, which becomes the “perfect man” of Ephesians 4:13. Thus, we are in the day when God creates a people for Himself. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. Psalm 102:18.
When the Israelites went out in the morning the manna was lying on the ground. They gathered what they needed for that day, and then the next day they would gather again. It wasn’t hard to gather the manna; it was on the surface of the ground. Surface manna is not hard to get.
Revelation chapters two and three are the letters to the seven churches. There are those in each church that are called overcomers. At the end of each letter is a special promise given to those who overcome. These New Testament Churches are like the ark that took Noah and his family over the waters to a new age. We must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God. Acts 14:22. The New Testament Church, then, is the vehicle to take us through these troubled times unto the Kingdom. The overcomers in these churches are those who overcome the churchanity and move on into the Kingdom.
Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear… That is always a tip off in the Scriptures. It means that we need the capacity to hear what the natural man cannot hear. We need spiritual hearing. If you have the ability to hear what is being said here, then hear it! He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh…. Or, to him that is willing and able to get out of the ark and move into a new age. …To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna…. Moses gave the Israelites surface manna. Here the Lord is speaking of hidden manna. He is talking about revelations of the Word that are hidden in the Scriptures.
When you study the Scriptures it is very easy to get the surface manna, that which is on top of the ground, that which is literal, the natural realm. But you have to be an overcomer to be able to discern the hidden manna that is overlooked by others.
Matthew 13:44 The Kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
In the sense we are speaking of, the Bible is the field! So many people have read it, gathered the surface manna, but they have never found the treasure hidden in it. We must learn how to get the hidden manna that is for the overcomers.
John 6:31-32 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave
them bread from heaven to eat.
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.
The Jews said, “We’ve got the heavenly bread! Moses gave it to us! We’re the chosen people!” But Jesus said, “Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven. That was surface manna. You only received the letter of the Word. My Father gives the true bread from heaven, the spiritual revelations that minister the presence of the Lord; that is the hidden manna!” In order to receive the hidden manna we must know how to relate to the Scriptures, how to relate to the promises and provisions of the Lord.
What do many Christians do? “Well, God gave the commandment, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to do what He said.” That is legalism, and it puts you in bondage. Replace the word “commandment” with “provision.” It is a provision. Appropriate it! Receive it! Here is an example. Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy. Leviticus 19:2. That is not a command to be holy; it is a provision. God is saying, “Because I am holy, you can be holy. Because I am holy, I can make you holy.” So don’t turn away from the Lord to do what you think He wants you to do. But turn to the Lord, expose yourself to Him and receive of His presence, so you might become the holiness of the Lord.
Let’s look at the last part of verse 32 again. My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. The Greek word translated “from” is ek, which literally means “out of.” So it should read out of heaven. Also in the original text a word or phrase is sometimes repeated to give it emphasis. Thus, “the true bread from heaven” in the Greek is the bread out of heaven, the real bread. The “real bread” is the hidden manna.
John 6:33 For the bread of God is He which cometh (present tense, “is coming”) down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
If you want the true Bread out of God, then it is necessary to appropriate the Life and Spirit of the Lord. His coming is progressive. He is coming and will continue to come. Our responsibility is to appropriate and to continue appropriating. His coming is not just an instantaneous event that takes place sometime in the future. His coming is now. So you can understand why the scripture says that He comes to His own and His own receives Him not (John 1:11). The religious world looks for a sign. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. I Corinthians 1:22. They look for signs and wonders. And what does Jesus say about that? For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning (literally, “bright shining”) cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:24-27. The false christs and false prophets will show great signs and wonders in order to deceive. What about the King and His Kingdom? The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:20-21. It isn’t coming on the natural realm that you can touch or see. You will have to have spiritual eyes to see.
John 5:37-38 And the Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of
Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape.
38 And ye have not His Word abiding in you: for whom He hath sent, Him ye
believe not.
“You mean to tell us that as much as we have studied the Torah, and memorized the Pentateuch, that we don’t have the Word abiding in us?” Well, you can’t have the Word abiding in you if you haven’t received the One who is sent. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He (he) that cometh in the name of the Lord. Matthew 23:39. What does that tell us? We had better know who is coming in the name of the Lord. “Oh, that’s talking about Christ.” I know it is. Christ is a people, a many-membered Body. He is coming in somebody, and he probably won’t look like the Lord on the outside. But the Lord will be in him, and we will have to receive the one He sends. He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me. Matthew 10:40. I tell you, there are a sent people that God is raising up and those who do not receive them will not receive the Lord. That is divine order.
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.
It isn’t the Scriptures alone, the letter of the Word, that is the eternal life, but the One the Scriptures witness of. The eternal life is in Him! It is not the Bible itself. What Bible do the Presbyterians use? the Baptists? the Methodists? the Pentecostals? the Charismatics? They all use the same Bible, but what a division! They search the Scriptures, all with different interpretations. And each one thinks his interpretation is eternal life. That’s not it!
John 5:40 And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.
Partaking of the Scriptures without a revelation of the Lord is surface manna. His presence is the hidden manna.
John 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat (Greek: ephzon = “eat up”) manna, and are dead: he that eateth (Greek: trogon = “feed upon”) of this bread shall live for ever.
The verb “eat” (ephzon), meaning “to eat up” indicates that all sustenance of the surface manna was exhausted and so was their spiritual life, for they were dead. On the other hand, the verb “eateth” (trogon), meaning “to feed upon” indicates that the hidden manna is inexhaustible and can be fed on continually.
John 6:59 These things said He in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.
He was speaking to religious folks.
John 6:60 Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?
In verse 56 Jesus had said, “He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.” They couldn’t accept that, so they all left.
John 6:61-62 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He
said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?
In other words, “If you can’t handle what I’m saying, what if the Son of man becomes what He was before?” What was He before? Spirit! He is not speaking of ascending up in the sky, but ascending to the realm of spirit. He is Spirit now, and we must learn how to recognize Him with our spirit.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing… The flesh profits nothing. Your fleshly Jesus won’t profit you anything. It is the Spirit of the Lord, His nature, His life that you must partake of; …the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Christians will sometimes quote scripture and say, “Jesus said this,” and “Jesus said that,” not understanding at all what Jesus was saying. We must get past the surface manna and find the “treasure hidden in the field.” The Spirit of the Word is the hidden manna. The Word of the Lord is Spirit. Scripture quoted is not the Word if His Spirit is not in the Word, and that is determined by the one speaking it.
In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The Biblical definition of truth, then, is the Lord Jesus Christ. His Spirit, His life, His presence is truth. In John 8:44, Jesus said that the devil was a lie. Any word, then, that carries the presence of the Lord is truth. And any word that carries the presence of the devil is a lie. Even correct facts are a lie if the demonic nature is riding on it. When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness he quoted scripture. Was he speaking the Word of God? No! It was a lie because it was coming from his nature. Just because what someone says is scripturally correct doesn’t make it the Word of God. You have to be able to discern the spirit on the words.
II Corinthians 3:1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
It is that way with many churches today. If a member moves he needs a letter of commendation to present to the next church. If you are unable to discern someone’s spirit, then you need a letter.
II Corinthians 3:2-3 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of
all men:
3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in
tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.
God is creating epistles today, too. He is writing a Kingdom Bible. He is writing a living Word upon our hearts, so that when we speak a living Word will flow out, a word that carries His life.
II Corinthians 3:4-6 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves;
but our sufficiency is of God;
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter,
but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
“I believe the Bible from cover to cover. I believe it happened just like it says.” That is the letter of the Word. To only believe it happened historically is dead letter; it kills! You won’t fall over dead like Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10), but you will surely die spiritually. Churches that only have a literal interpretation of the Word (surface manna) are dying spiritually. The Word must be spirit to you. It must be what you are walking in, participating in, what you are experiencing. You must partake of the Lord of glory in the Word.
Matthew 23:13 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
The religious Pharisees were guilty of shutting the door to the Kingdom of heaven. They wouldn’t go in and they wouldn’t let those under their care to go in. How did they do that? When they ministered in their synagogues, they taught the people about the things God did in the past and the things that were in the future. Christ in the future was alright, but they didn’t want Him in the present. The Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. John 9:22.
You cannot enter the Kingdom until it is present. What did John the Baptist preach? Repent ye: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 3:2. It is at hand! It’s available for you now! What did Jesus preach? Repent: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17. What did Jesus tell His disciples to preach when He sent them out? As ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 10:7. It is available now! The teachings of the Pharisees, though, were only historic and futuristic. They kept the door to a present Kingdom closed. Does that happen in the religious world today? Much of the teachings in Christianity today are the same as it was with the Pharisees. “Let me tell you what the Lord did in the early days of Pentecost. Let me tell you what He did in the days of the Latter Rain Movement, and what He is going to do when He comes back. Just wait until He comes back!” That is the leaven of the Pharisees. It shuts up the Kingdom of heaven against men. A living Word, on the other hand, puts the Lord in the present so you can partake of His life.
Let me give you an example of taking an Old Testament scripture out of the past and bringing it into the present. Do you believe that David really picked up a stone and with his sling killed the giant Goliath? You should, but believing that won’t bring change to your life. You won’t grow spiritually by believing it. But if you realize that David represents Jesus Christ the Son of David, and Goliath represents your old carnal nature that you want to overcome, then you can bring it into the present. When you allow the life of the Lord Jesus Christ to come forth in your life and slay your Goliath, then change takes place and you grow spiritually.
Now let’s take one out of the future. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. Isaiah 11:6. This scripture is usually taken literally and interpreted to mean that the wolf and the lamb will live in peace in the Millenium. A futuristic interpretation like that will not help you spiritually at all. Couple this scripture with Galatians 5:17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. You probably see this one already. As you partake of the Lord of glory your spirit is taking on the nature of the Lamb of God. So your spirit is the lamb. Your flesh is the wolf that tries to destroy the lamb (John 10:12). Again, it is the Lord coming forth in your life that overcomes the flesh. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and He that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto Him: and He went forth conquering, and to conquer. Revelation 6:2. When the Lord comes forth in your life it is to conquer the wolf and to establish His Kingdom.
I’m not telling you that Jesus Christ won’t ever appear again as an individual. He can do that anytime He wants to. But the important thing is for you to know Him, to experience His life. And His Spirit is available for you now. Be determined to experience II Thessalonians 1:10 in this present time: When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. So how do we relate to the Scriptures? We bypass the surface manna and partake of the hidden manna. We want the treasure hidden in the field. We refuse to have only a historical and futuristic interpretation of the Scriptures. We make them a reality now. The Word of God is Spirit! It is eternal!
Copyright © 1999 by Henry DuBose