Are We Eating of the Manna DAILY?
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ARE WE EATING OUR DAILY MANNA?
By Philip W. Shields
Message transcript May 2004
ABSTRACT: Do you realize God has provided us today with daily Manna and like the Israelites of
old, we must pick it up each day and feed ourselves and our family? In this message, Philip Shields
draws many thought-provoking parallels between the daily manna and Bible Study (Deut. 8:2-3). You’ll
never think of manna, or Bible study, the same way again. If you know you need to do more Bible study
on a consistent daily basis, this message may provide the motivation you need.
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Menachim has not had a good night’s sleep. He’s tossed back and forth on the floor of that desert tent
all night LONG it seems, and now just as he’s finally about to fall asleep, people around him begin to
stir and move around outside. This “church campout” is in its 15th year, and with 2-1/2 to 3 million
people around him beginning getting up, its harder than ever to get any sleep. He can tell the sun is
beginning to rise and he hears people outside his black goatskin tent chatting, moving around as they
pick the small individual berries or pieces of manna.
Then he remembers!
“Bad sleep or not, if I don’t get up, the manna will soon MELT and my family and I won’t have
anything to EAT today!”
So tired as he is, he pulls himself together, stretches, yawns, gets up - and wakes up the children.
His wife is already dressing and gathering the bowls to put the manna in.
HELLO EVERYONE, THIS IS PHILIP SHIELDS from Battle Ground, WA - and today our
Bible study is going to be ABOUT MANNA - and the lessons WE must draw TODAY from the 40
years of manna the Israelites received.
You may know most, maybe for some - even all - of these things you’re about to hear - but if we’re
not seeking our OWN spiritual manna each and every day, then we don’t know it well enough to know
it’s a matter of our very life and death!
God has PATTERNS all the way thru the Bible. He doesn’t always DO things the same way - but He
does have PATTERNS that weave their way from Genesis to the last word of Revelation.
Please be turning to Exodus 16. Today’s Bible study is about the parallels between the Old
Testament manna and the SPIRITUAL manna we have to pick and prepare every day TODAY …
and all the great lessons we can glean from this.
There are 2 main OT passages that refer to MANNA, plus a few others that refer to it as “angel
food” and miscellaneous comments.
Exodus 16:1 And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to
the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after
they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel
Are We Eating of the Manna DAILY?
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complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to
them,"Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of
meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this
whole assembly with hunger."
THERE SHOULD BE A LESSON HERE! They SHOULD have turned to their PROVIDER,
their CREATOR in this time - but instead they went into the SIN of COMPLAINING and worrying.
Remember Matthew 6:33? God promises us if we SEEK HIM and His righteousness FIRST B
He will provide. You know the verse well, don’t you in Matthew 6:33 – “SEEK YOU FIRST the
kingdom of God AND its righteousness, and ALL these things will be added to you.”
You’ll see that the lesson of SEEKING, and putting God and His word FIRST B will be crucial
to this study. God has to be PUT into first place in our lives, PLANNED to be in first place, PUT
THERE. He is not content to be given the left overs of our day, but wants the FIRST of it, the BEST
of it. More on this later.
Exodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the
people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk
in My law or not. [remember Isaiah 66:2 says God appreciates, or looks to, those who TREMBLE AT
HIS WORD - have an awesome respect for it and are careful with obeying God’s word] 5 And it shall
be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they
gather daily."
REMEMBER, MOSES is given this advance information, but the general person was not yet.
v.6-12 B talks about God sending them QUAILS in the evening... and lets pick up in v 13.
Exodus 16:13-15
13 So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all
around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a
SMALL round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. [Perhaps was fragile, or like pieces the size
of a grain of rice, but ROUND... but it could easily melt with misuse or heat).
15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know
what it was. And Moses said to them, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
NOTICE THEY DON’T RECOGNIZE THIS IS FOOD - AND MOSES HAS TO POINT IT
OUT.
BEFORE WE GO FURTHER, LETS MAKE IT CLEAR WHAT THE MANNA pictured: (and
KEEP YOUR FINGER or marker in Ex 16 because we’ll keep coming back to it.)
John 6:30-36 Therefore they said to Him,"What sign will You perform then, that we may see it
and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written,
'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
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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 [PRESENT tense] you the true bread from heaven. 33 For
the bread of God IS He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
35 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.”
Interesting. JESUS SAYS HE is the manna, what the manna represented!
Where was He born? IN BETHLEHEM - BETH means “House.” Faussets Dictionary and
Nelson’s dictionary say Bethlehem means “House of BREAD.”
WHEN did Jesus say - in WHAT CONTEXT - that HE is the BREAD OF LIFE?
Go back a few verses: John 6:3, to get the CONTEXT, for it tells us MUCH!
John 6:3-11 “And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a
great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these
may eat?" 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
[he wanted them to learn to LOOK TO HIM for bread, the TRUE bread.]
7 Philip answered Him,"Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that
every one of them may have a little."
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 9 "There is a lad here who
has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"
10 Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the
men sat down, in number about five thousand.”
FIVE is the number of GRACE in the Bible, and its used also at times of WORSHIP.
Look up “five” in concordance. Read all the places in Ex 22-36 about the tabernacle. The
number five must be used about 35x or more.
The altar was 5 cubit x 5 cubit x 5 cubit high, for example. You can find examples of 5 also in
David’s stones he chose in the battle with Goliath, 5 is mentioned a lot in the temple of Solomon 2
Chronicles 3-4, and also the millennial temple, in Ezekiel 40,42, 45.
BUT MY POINT IS, when Jesus said HE is the BREAD from heaven that the manna
pictured, it was AROUND PASSOVER TIME that He said that (John 6:4). And just before this
PASSOVER, there was a BOY with 5 loaves of bread... and it was sufficient to feed the 5,000 men, and
still have 12 baskets full afterwards!
I’ll refer to 2 passages you can jot down, that again point out that JESUS IS the BREAD:
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of
Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though
many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord
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Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He
broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
1 Corinthians 10:3 says the Israelites all ATE THE SAME SPIRITUAL FOOD and drank the same
spiritual drink - and that was CHRIST. Verse 4 is part of the logo of this very ministry – the ROCK is
Christ.
SO THE MANNA WAS CHRIST (the bread from heaven, remember) AND THEY WERE
SUPPOSED TO LEARN SPIRITUAL lessons from it. Notice a couple more verses that make
that point:
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these
forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you
would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you
with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, THAT HE MIGHT MAKE YOU
KNOW THAT MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE; BUT MAN LIVES BY EVERY
WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD.
THAT was supposed to be the POINT of gathering manna - to point them to seeking
GOD’S WORD every day and LIVING ON God’s word every day. This is the very verse JESUS
used to SQUASH Satan’s temptation in Matthew 4 to turn the stone into bread.
WHO AND WHAT IS THE WORD OF GOD?
WE ALL KNOW JOHN 1:1-2 - In the beginning was the WORD, and the Word was God, and
the Word was with God. John 1:14 says the WORD BECAME FLESH - talking about Jesus. JESUS is
the Word. We know that.
TODAY we can WALK WITH GOD directly by FILLING OURSELVES WITH HIS words, but
instead of the SPOKEN words like the apostles heard for 3-1/2 years, we have HIS WORDS IN PRINT,
in the BIBLE we carry.
So let’s remember that JESUS is the MANNA. And if the manna represented Jesus, and Jesus is
called the WORD OF GOD -- what is the ACTUAL WORD of God we can hold and read today?
OBVIOUSLY the Bible. The Bible is the word of God. The word of God was pictured by Manna, so
Jesus, and the Bible, would be the REALITY of what manna represented. Remember that, as we go
through this study: we’ll tie in the manna to THE BIBLE ITSELF, the word of God, as we progress.
THE MANNA is described:
SMALL, ROUND, WHAT IS IT? They didn’t recognize what it was.
The world did not recognize the SON OF GOD. They thought the “son of God” would be
surely MORE IMPRESSIVE than being the son of a carpenter.
Let’s pick up in Exodus 16:16 “And Moses said to them, "This is the bread which the LORD has
given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Let every man gather it
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ACCORDING TO EACH ONE'S NEED, one omer for each person, according to the number of
persons; let every MAN take for those who are in his tent.”
THE MEN, OR FATHERS OR HEADS OF HOUSES, WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR
MAKING SURE THEIR HOUSEHOLD GATHERED THE MANNA.
So many men do NOT get into God’s word enough and leave it to the women. THAT SHOULD
NOT BE. In fact, PAUL says if a woman has a question, she should ask her HUSBAND (1 Cor.
14:35). It DOESN’T say she should write in to the ministers! The MEN are supposed to be
able to know GOD’S WORD so well that THEY can answer their wives. The net effect of that:
it would FORCE MEN to study so they CAN answer their wife’s questions.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 - these words shall be in YOUR hearts B and THEN we teach it to the children.
Exodus 16:17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they
measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no
lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need. 19 And Moses said, "Let no one leave
any of it till morning." 20 Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it
until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it
EVERY MORNING, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
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FIRST OF ALL: THE MANNA was collected by each household FOR THEMSELVES.
* NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO have someone else do it FOR them! THIS ONE’S HUGE.
MANNA TODAY IS THE WORD OF GOD, the BIBLE FOR US today.
I know many, many people who never really study the BIBLE directly, but rely solely on tapes
or published articles ABOUT the word of God. NO TAPE, no magazine article, no essay, no sermon,
no taped Bible study - should ever substitute for doing your OWN study, reading, DIGGING into the
word of God. INCLUDING THIS TAPE! We can learn a LOT from tapes and magazine articles, and
that’s fine – but if that’s all you’re doing in what you consider to be “Bible Study” – you’re missing out.
You’re still just hearing the opinions and teachings of flesh and blood men, not directly from God.
They CAN be very helpful, true, but they should never REPLACE spending time directly in God’s
word.
Even my own tapes, or ANYONE’S study tapes or sermon tapes, B should NEVER, EVER
replace the FIRST priority of personally studying God’s word, the Bible, EVERY single day!
I personally BELIEVE ITS ONE OF THE BIG REASONS THAT HERESY got into the church
- and continues in the church - because God’s people DON’T KNOW God’s word enough to recognize
error, heresy, - or a very shallow sermon!
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This very study is about encouraging YOU to do more of your OWN study, and to do SOME of
your own study EVERY SINGLE DAY. NOBODY can do it all for you.
YOU have God’s word. YOU can read. YOU have your own brain. YOU do not need someone
to HAND FEED YOU every piece of spiritual information. Nor should you WANT to!
Remember they had to find the manna THEMSELVES…..according to each one’s family.
I think too many of God’s people have relied FAR TOO LONG on others to do their studying
for them. IF the ones we rely on are always on the mark, or always DEEP, that’s one thing. But I
suspect you’ll be surprised at how deeply YOU can go in God’s word B for there’s no
BOTTOM, NO FINITE END to what it offers us.
I love to study with BIBLESOFT software – because it includes so MANY translations, Greek
and Hebrew lexicons, Nave’s topical, concordances, maps, pictures, Bible Dictionaries,
commentaries galore, and much more! With a click of a computer mouse, you’re checking the
original languages, cross references … its just awesome. I wonder how I ever managed before. If
you have a computer, and aren’t intimidated by software – buy BIBLESOFT. I just love mine. It
helps make Bible study even MORE fun, more fascinating and I can hardly wait to get into it
every day.
IF OTHERS do all your actual study FOR you - you won’t spot the heresy...because you often
won’t be presented with ALL the scriptures on a topic, unless you’re likely doing it yourself.
AMOUNT of Bible Study
God DOES give a recommended amount of manna per day. This was a starting point B and not one that
God apparently, from the comments of scripture, made a hard and fast rule.
What does v 18 mean?
* those who gathered much ‘ because probably had bigger families – or, as you’ll see, perhaps they
gathered more than they needed to have something to SHARE. Turn to 2 Cor 8.
2 Corinthians 8:12-15
12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to
what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an
equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may
supply your lack--that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing
left over, and he who gathered little had no lack."
Exodus 16:18 ADAM CLARKE Probably every man gathered as much as he could; and then when brought home and measured by an
omer, if he had a surplus, it went to supply the wants of some other family that had not been able to
collect a sufficiency, the family being large, and the time in which the manna might be gathered, before
the heat of the day, not being sufficient to collect enough for so numerous a household, several of
whom might be so confined as not to be able to collect for themselves. Thus there was an equality, and
in this light the words of Paul, 2 Cor 8:15, lead us to view the passage.
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Rabbis taught that no matter how much they gathered, it was never more than what God had said, but I
think 2 Cor 8:15 shows this was not the case.
So the recommended amounts of Manna and Bible study: In the same way some in the Church
may suggest 30 mins a day of Bible study as a STARTING point, but it should never be a hard and
fast rule. The hard and fast rule is to live each day on the strength of the manna you gathered EACH
and every morning, unless of course a person is sick or unable to for very, very dire reasons.
We obviously can do things to SUPPLEMENT your in-depth study by listening to tapes of the
Bible as you drive... ON TOP OF deep in depth study. Some made this a RITUAL - and you were
more spiritual if you studied at least 30 mins a day than someone who did only 15 mins. And tapes like
this one are a form of study – but NEVER should outside magazines and tapes REPLACE your own
Bible study.
Another suggestion from the story of manna—what TIME of day is illustrated by the story?
God did make a R EQUIRED TIME B in terms of physical manna at least - to collect it. If you
waited to long, your opportunity MELTED AWAY. There is a strong hint there that we should put
God FIRST in our day. Perhaps we need to get to bed sooner so we can get up early enough to do our
study. I realize some people are not “morning people” and just can’t focus til later in the day. Whatever
is your BEST time, give part of that time to God in Bible study.
BACK TO EX 16:22 “And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much BREAD,
two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said
to them, "This is what the LORD has said: 'Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the
LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that
remains, to be kept until morning.' " 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it
did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, "Eat that today, for today is a
Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on
the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none."
27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found
none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My
laws? 29 See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread
for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." 30
So the people rested on the seventh day.”
* MANNA came down 6x a week SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY - as there was no manna on the
7th day, and it says it came down at night with the dew, and when they got up in the morning, it lay on
the dew like small seeds that had to be gathered up.
Don’t believe the liberal commentaries that try to show the manna was simply the sap from the
tamarisk trees or something. Go with what the Bible says. When the dew was on the GROUND, there
was manna. I believe the Bible, not some commentary that wants to limit God’s awesome
PROVIDENCE of their needs.
*Just an aside: verse 23 SPEAKS OF THE 7th day SABBATH as if it were already well known.
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God is emphasizing we don’t collect our physical bread on the Sabbath! We don’t work for bread on
the Sabbath. Friday is the preparation day of the Sabbath B more work on Friday, to get ready to rest
on the Sabbath.
They did not have to earn their living, gather their bread, on the Sabbath. Neither could they
have BOUGHT it from anyone.
Exodus 16:31-36 And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander
seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 Then Moses said, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Fill an omer with it, to be
kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I
brought you out of the land of Egypt.' " 33 And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a pot and put an omer of
manna in it, 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
ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the
border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
Num 11:7-9 in the New Living Translation:
7 The manna looked like small coriander seeds, pale yellow in color. 8 The people gathered it from
the ground and made flour by grinding it with hand mills or pounding it in mortars. Then they boiled
it in a pot and made it into flat cakes. These cakes tasted like they had been cooked in olive oil. 9 The
manna came down on the camp with the dew during the night.
* **THE MANNA WAS PROBABLY NOT found IN BIG CHUNKS, OR BIG PILES - but here a
little and there a little. Probably like picking tiny berries or dots on the ground. They were whole,
clean, and sweet. Probably about size of kernel of rice.
BIBLE STUDY also - On any particular topic - is scattered here and there, and we have to
carefully pick up each piece to get enough for the whole picture.
********** LET’S SHIFT GEARS NOW:
WHY SHOULD WE COLLECT MANNA DAILY? WHY SHOULD WE STUDY GOD’S WORK
DAILY? WHAT DO WE get out of it? WHY NOT PONDER THAT B pause the tape and jot down
2-3 big reasons WHY PEOPLE EAT DAILY, WHY PEOPLE SHOULD EAT daily B and
COMPARE THIS TO THE SPIRITUAL FOOD of God’s word WE ARE TO EAT.
1. GOD IS TESTING US TO SEE IF WE’LL OBEY HIM OR NOT BY PUTTING HIM
FIRST, EVERY SINGLE DAY, AS HE COMMANDED.
Exodus 16:4 “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And
the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will
walk in My law or not.”
Will they get up and gather the manna? Will they keep it overnight? Will they try to gather on
the sabbath? Will they gather the amount I say?
Spiritually - WILL we get up and GATHER GOD’S WORD B and have enough for the whole
family - sharing it with them, talking about it....
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WILL we put God first? WILL WE? Will we OBEY His word?
I preach to myself here. I’m a NIGHT person. I study at night, pray at night.... work at night. And
one reason I’m giving this, is to CHANGE my habit and make my study time in the morning.
KEY is to get to bed early enough to get up early enough to GATHER THE MANNA before the sun
is hot. We can INTEND to gather the manna later, but the opportunity literally MELTS AWAY - like
the manna - unless we put Bible study and prayer first in our day and our lives.
Think of it: IF WE DON’T PUT God first - what are we saying to God?
“Eating breakfast is more important. Sleeping in a bit is more important. Dawdling in the
shower is more important. Getting to work is more important.” B and these can become IDOLS,
which is anything that we put AHEAD of God.
GOD WILL NOT SLIDE INTO FIRST PLACE. GOD HAS TO BE PUT INTO FIRST
PLACE. ANYTHING OTHER THAN FIRST AND BEST TIME does not fulfill the type we’re
shown in God’s word.
Exodus 16:21 So they gathered it EVERY MORNING, every man according to his need. And when
the sun became hot, it melted.
OBVIOUSLY, if you work nights, “first thing in the day” is whenever YOU get up.
We parents need to teach this to our children by EXAMPLE - and when they’re small, to
teach them to - as they get up in the morning - use the washroom, make their bed, then kneel and
pray - then eat and finish getting ready for school.
(DESCRIBE EXPERIENCE AS A FRESHMAN AT BRICKET WOOD - all the other
students were up and studying/praying by 5:30 or 6 am.)
IF WE PUT GOD FIRST, HE WILL PROVIDE OUR PHYSICAL BREAD WITH A
LOT LESS HASSLE AND WORK ON OUR PART. THINK OF IT, Israel woke up every
morning, and there it was B their bread provided without toil on their part.
BUT, they still had to go out and GATHER IT THEMSELVES.
2. WE EAT BECAUSE WE GET HUNGRY B And we KNOW it, FEEL IT, THAT HUNGER IS
THERE! SPIRITUALLY, WE’RE NOT ALWAYS AS IN TUNE TO OUR SPIRITUAL
HUNGER.
The FOOD is there, but WE must do our part and GATHER OUR OWN FOOD. EVERY day.
GOD in his love B even to COMPLAINING Israelites B spread the food out for his people
every single day. The MATERIALS for breakfast was always provided. Israel simply had to collect it
and prepare it.
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In the same way, the BIBLE IS THERE - GOD’S WORD IS THERE - but do we blow the dust off
our Bibles, do we DIG into that goldmine of spiritual wealth and nourishment? DO WE
RECOGNIZE our spiritual hunger anywhere NEAR the way we do PHYSICAL hunger?
Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth MORE than my necessary food.
Frankly, if we don’t eat, we will starve. We should understand that spiritually even more.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE EAT TODAY, WE’LL STILL BE HUNGRY TOMORROW. We
should realize that applies spiritually too. We need spiritual FOOD every single day! But we don’t
RECOGNIZE that fact as much unless we’re very SPIRITUALLY MINDED.
cite Matt 4:4 - man does NOT live by physical bread alone, but by every word of God.
John 6:25-27 “And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi,
when did You come here?" 26 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek
Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor
for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of
Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." and Jesus goes on in v 35 to
say HE IS THAT BREAD OF LIFE.”
DO YOU AND I TREAT studying GOD’S WORD AS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TAKING THE
TIME TO EAT? PONDER THAT AND BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF.
* with PHYSICAL MANNA, you KNEW if you failed to gather, you’d be HUNGRY that day.
There was NO STORING from one day to the next. But with SPIRITUAL manna, we CAN and DO
FOOL ourselves that we can go a day without it. Sometimes we don’t REALIZE OUR spiritual
hunger as much as our physical. WE EAT BECAUSE WE GET HUNGRY! Do we see that
spiritually?
Just look at a BABY. When they’re hungry, they start with being fussy and fidgety, then
eventually they’ll SCREAM if they’re not fed when they’re hungry. As we grow older we
learn to no longer SCREAM B but hey, when we’re hungry, we want to EAT!
Are we that way SPIRITUALLY? Do you feel your hungry SPIRITUALLY as much?
In Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, he said: Matt 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
Do you FEEL YOUR HUNGER for spiritual things as CLEARLY as you feel your
PHYSICAL hunger?
Ps 84:2 My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
This was said by the SONS OF KORAH - not David. Very encouraging that Korah had
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descendants who ended up very strong spiritually and even wrote part of the Bible
SO WE EAT BECAUSE WE get hungry.
AND YET THE SPIRITUAL IS ACTUALLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN PHYSICAL.
REMEMBER WE ARE TO SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and its righteousness. FIRST.
God does not just SLIDE into first place, but we have to PUT our relationship with Him in first place
3. **WE OFTEN EAT PHYSICAL FOOD – NOT JUST FOR THE FOOD’S SAKE – BUT TO
SHARE A MEAL WITH SOMEONE, FOR THE FELLOWSHIP. During that meal, we talk
and we do a LOT of listening too – and WE BOND with others during a meal.
SPIRITUAL MEALS SHOULD BE THE SAME.
Bible Study is LISTENING TO GOD, learning about HIS mind, the way HE thinks. We do
daily Bible study to let God speak to us directly.
When you’re CLOSE to someone, don’t you FEEL HAPPY to hear their voice? When we study God’s
word, its HEARING HIM, hearing HIS voice… and we can REJOICE in that.
In Europe, they accuse Americans of eating for eating’s sake and not for the company, for the FUN of
it. They say we eat to live, but they LIVE TO EAT! They love the social occasion. There’s laughter,
joviality, music, fiesta, fun! It’s rewarding, mind stimulating conversations - sometimes even very
ANIMATED conversations!
REGULAR BIBLE STUDY is sharing a MEAL WITH GOD, who after all PROVIDED THE
MANNA FOR US, and we simply have to take the time to collect it and digest it!
Ps 119:161-162 “Princes persecute me without a cause, But my heart stands in awe of Your word.
162 I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure”
Our BIBLE STUDIES can become times we LOOK FORWARD TO being with God, hearing
God, talking to God, walking with God – and not just reading a book.
4. Many are now aware that eating certain foods act as CLEANSERS of the body’s systems.
EATING OUR DAILY SPIRITUAL MANNA – or, DOING OUR DAILY BIBLE STUDY -CLEANSES OUR MINDS AND HEARTS.
People who are really into eating right foods, know there are certain foods that scrub our
intestines, others that cleanse the urinary tract, others clean TOXINS out of our bodies – and the
right food cleanses us!
Do you want a cleansing agent in your spiritual life? Does your mind need a good dousing
of spiritual bleach and disinfectants?
Eph 5:25-28 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for
her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He
might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that
she should be holy and without blemish”
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We know that we’re washed at baptism. We know the Blood of the Lamb washes us. Now lets learn
what Ephesians 5 says – the we can also be WASHED BY THE WATER OF THE WORD.
The point here is – we don’t even have to know HOW God’s word, Bible study – cleanses our minds.
It simply DOES. And we ALL need our minds cleansed from time to time.
Ps 119:9-11
9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
PUTTING GOD’S WORDS IN OUR MINDS EVERY SINGLE DAY helps prompt us to do the right
thing. To walk away from the crass, the sinful, the unholy things of this life and to live for higher,
cleaner, better values. When we’re tempted, those same words can STRENGTHEN us so we won’t sin
as easily. As David said, in verse 11, he HID God’s words in His heart so he wouldn’t sin!
So point #4 – we STUDY GOD’S WORD so we can CLEANSE our hearts and minds, with the
washing of the water of the word.
5*** WE ALSO EAT even though we may not be STARVING - BECAUSE WE LIKE THE
FOOD, EVEN WHEN WE’RE NOT STARVING NECESSARILY! Especially if it’s a
DELECTABLE DISH that is presented well, beautifully, with wonderful aroma and color - we
want to sample it.
THE PHYSICAL MANNA became dull to many Israelites over time. So they learned to
PRESENT IT and prepare it different ways.
WE can, and MUST, do the same with spiritual manna.
VARY your studying, KEEP IT INTERESTING to yourself AND your family.
Do you smell the aroma of a good Bible study? Doesn’t it make your mouth water spiritually? If
not, let’s talk about HOW TO PRESENT MORE APPEALING spiritual food.
WHEN WE DO take the time to make it a thrill, THE WORD OF GOD CAN BECOME VERY
tasty, VERY interesting, VERY gripping, a REAL JOY:
Jer 15:16 “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing
of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts”
In Numbers, it says it was tasty. Like wafers and honey.
PARENTS: this is a STRONG, STRONG HINT that we need to WORK HARD at making God’s
way clear, attractive to our children, something they can learn to eat and enjoy!
- I’m going to work harder than ever at preparing for the sabbath, so its FUN and SPECIAL for
the family
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- family Bible studies - many of mine have not been so FUN... gotta work on that. TAKES
PLANNING and involvement with and from the kids perhaps.
BIG TIP: plan the family Bible studies around the needs of the children, how they learn, what
style gets their attention. We often just do these studies by what interests US, and that’s missing the
point.
If you go out to dinner, the waiter asks you to order something you LIKE, prepared the way you
like it. If you go to a Chinese restaurant, you may even tell them if you like it spicy or not. Imagine that
spiritually. We will feed our children all the nutrients they need, but PREPARED in a way that will get
their interest and attention.
Even our OWN studies, for our own selves, need to be prepared in a way that will motivate us.
Notice the parallel to Jesus again. For time’s sake, just jot the verses down and read them later
if you wish, and I’ll just read them to you for now:
Ps 34:8 “Oh, TASTE and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
Ps 119:103 “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
1 Peter 2:2-3 “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if
indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
VARY your Bible study from week to week to keep it NEW and INNOVATIVE and interesting:
- reading and studying verse by verse
Bquick overview first, then go back and plumb the depths with a WORD BY WORD study (Greek,
Hebrew, Aramaic)
- Do studies on “LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF” ... Abraham, Samson, Noah, Esther, Priscilla and
Aquila, etc. Use Bible Dictionaries for these, as well as the references about these people directly in
the Bible.
You can do other TOPICAL studies - study wisdom, holy spirit, conversion, child rearing, sex in
marriage, husband, wife, joy, love, faith, hope, fruit of the spirit, and on and on….
Use a CONCORDANCE, Nave’s Dictionary of NT Words, and other resources.
- for 2-3 days, maybe study something that seems “off the wall” like - chronology
- TAKE NOTES AS YOU DO THESE STUDIES B AND THEN ORGANIZE THEM as if you had to
prepare a Bible study of your OWN on these (someday you MAY have to!)
So PT # 5, we also eat because eating has become A JOY to us. Bible study can become a real joy too.
6. WE EAT BECAUSE WE KNOW WE ARE WHAT WE EAT, we BECOME what we EAT.
WHEN WE EAT CHRIST’S WORD B WE BECOME AS CHRIST AND CAN MORE EASILY
FIGHT SIN . The bread we eat literally becomes the flesh on our bones. Its what energizes us and
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feeds us and keeps us literally going. Without daily food we would starve and die.
Taking in Christ helps us become like Christ. We ARE, after all, parts of HIS body.... and when we eat
of HIS food, of HIS mind, of HIS way, of HIS thoughts day by day. We become what we think about.
John 6:47-58
47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes
down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 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."
52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to
eat?"
53 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is
drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the
living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.
58 This is the bread which came down from heaven”
So in daily Bible study, we are EATING OF CHRIST – and His words are our FOOD that makes us
what we are.
Motivational speakers have taught for many years now that there is something
POWERFUL about the FIRST AND LAST thoughts we have in every day. That’s why they teach
their audiences to have GOALS, to review those goals, to have positive statements they read and say to
themselves.... but these are all HUMAN substitutes to what we’re taught by GOD. HE says, before the
sun is hot, TAKE IN MY WORDS, MY SPIRITUAL MANNA, AND MAKE THOSE the thoughts of
your life, every day, FIRST THING in the day.
SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and its righteousness. FIRST can’t mean anything but first.
First does not mean later. First does not mean just before bed time. First does not mean after breakfast,
or at the lunch hour. We certainly CAN ADD to our Bible study at other times, but I think the Bible
clearly is teaching us to put God absolutely FIRST in the day.
What happens if we don’t’ do it first is that it can get SKIPPED ENTIRELY - and you know it!
Or it gets rushed, in dribs and drabs.
I haven’t always done my study first thing. That has changed. Now it IS first in my life.
* The DAILY MANNA SHOWS GOD PROVIDING FOR THEM while they were in the wilderness.
It was PROOF, day by day, that God was with them. We too, have God’s promise that He is with us,
forever and ever, to the ends of the age B in Matt 28, it says that.
Jesus said HE IS THE VINE, WE ARE the branches B and we must STAY STUCK ON TO,
ABIDING IN, the vine.... or we quickly lose strength and die (John 15:1-8).
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7. ANOTHER reason for BIBLE STUDY: TO GROW to have much more FAITH and
STRENGTH in GOD. We grow in both kinds of faith: IN God as well as the faith OF Jesus
Christ.
Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
As we read of the stories of faith, those very stories GIVE US faith too!
* We also become STRONG by having the WORD of God in us.
1 John 2:14 “I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men, BECAUSE YOU ARE STRONG, [Why? How?] AND THE
WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN YOU, And you have overcome the wicked one.”
With a lot of Bible Study, we’re far better able to RECOGNIZE SATAN’S ATTEMPTS TO
TRICK US... by his subtlety!
B he often gets us to sin by using SCRIPTURE ITSELF on us, and making us feel it would be
OK to do this or do that. He tried to do the same thing on Jesus but failed (Matthew 4, Luke 4)
* We KNOW the Word and the Word knows US IF we’re spending time with Christ in His Word
8. CONSISTENTLY EATING A HEALTHY DIET HELPS US SPOT AND NOT DESIRE TO
EVEN EAT junk food or foods laced with toxins. EATING OUR SPIRITUAL MANNA
EVERY DAY HELPS US SPOT – AND DESTROY - HERESY.
The word of God B what manna pictures B is the SWORD of the spirit, in Eph 6:17. The armor of
God has only ONE weapon that can be used for OFFENCE - the SWORD. And its called the “THE
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17).
What’s the point of that?
FEEDING ON GOD’S WORD is what gives us the ability to FIRST RECOGNIZE, then
FIGHT heresy, to knock it down with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
TOO MANY BRETHREN do not even RECOGNIZE spiritual error and heresy because too
many aren’t DELVING DEEPLY in the Word every single day.
1 Cor 11:18-19 “For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions
among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are
approved may be made manifest among you. (some translations use “factions” or “divisions” - but the
ACTUAL GREEK is HERESY)
How did Jesus use that sword of the Word of God to destroy a false argument: whenever He
ANSWERED anyone - like in His battle with Satan in Matt 4 - He began with : “It is written...
.” In other words, He said, “my ANSWER is going to be BASED on God’s word.. In there it
says....”
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We should be able to HAVE A VERSE pop up and tell us the PRINCIPLES by which we live
and move day by day. God’s words should FLOOD into our minds in ANY given situation. We are
supposed to live and move in HIM, and BY HIM have our very BEING - Paul says so in Acts 17:28.
2 Thess 2:9-12 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power,
signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because
they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason GOD will
send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did
not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
John 8:47 tells us that if we’re OF GOD, we’ll HEAR HIS WORDS, WANT TO hear His words.
We’re at the end of the study – so I’ll wrap up now.
I know you can, if you put your mind to it, think of many, many more parallels with manna and Bible
study, and reasons to do more Bible study. This was not meant to be an exhaustive list of every
possible reason. I just hope I’ve accomplished my purpose: to LIGHT a FIRE under us to get all of us,
me too, into God’s word much more.
Remember Menachim at the beginning? Well, after picking the manna, he and his wife prepare it a
new way today for the family and he gathers the family, gives thanks God for supplying their daily
bread.
Always ask GOD’S BLESSING on your spiritual meal – your Bible study – before you begin,
and ask Him to guide and bless your study. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, begin the study with your head
bowed, and ASK HIM to guide your every thought, to SPEAK to you by his written word.
There’s one more interesting verse about manna I want to read in Revelation 2:17. What we’ll read
is said to the PERGAMOS church, but remember the messages were for EVERYONE.
Rev. 2:17 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the
stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."'
The “hidden manna” was the manna placed in a gold pot and placed inside the ark, which was kept
in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. It represents CHRIST, being in His very presence, and sharing
His THRONE with Him, working and dining and feeding with Him as HIS BRIDE in a very intimate
setting forever and ever and ever.
BRETHREN, WE’VE BEEN GIVEN MUCH. WE’LL BE JUDGED BY WHAT we’ve been
given.
So let’s STUDY God’s word as NEVER BEFORE... MORE URGENTLY than before. Let’s FEED
on Christ and HIS WORD and make HIM part of our very lives, our thoughts, our way. Let’s be
EAGER to GET UP AND HAVE BREAKFAST with our HUSBAND-TO - BE , first thing in the day
... EVERY single day.... asking Him to open our minds to his words, his thoughts.
LET’S LEARN the lesson of the manna B and PUT God first in our lives with DAILY, fervent
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STUDY every single day of our lives. You may find motivation from this message from time to time,
as needed.
SO REVIEW SOME OF MAIN POINTS
* Manna ‘ the bread from heaven, Jesus, who is our word.
* When we study the Word of God, we are eating spiritual manna - having a WONDERFUL MEAL
FEAST with our very HUSBAND to -be Jesus Christ.
* It needs to be done DAILY, every single day, with possible break on sabbath as we meet with other
believers and feed on what God’s ministers have prepared for us. I still like to study, a LOT, on the
sabbath. As we study each day, we preferably do it first thing in the day. You can’t do 3 hours of
study one day and feel like that will fulfill your needs for the next 3-4 days. NO SIR! It needs to be a
DAILY joy we seek.
* Fathers and parents are responsible for gathering enough for their whole household. We need to be
leading the family in Bible study.
* It needs to be kept interesting B both to ourselves and to our family.
* God’s word CLEANSES our minds. Many of us NEED our minds and thoughts cleaned up. FILL
your thoughts with God’s HOLY words, every day, and over time our minds WILL be refreshed,
recharged.
* Related to that previous point, we become what we eat, we ARE what we eat. What we feed our
minds is what we’ll become. What we focus on is what we do and become. So daily Bible study puts
GOD INTO OUR HEARTS more directly and helps us become more like Him day by day.
* Bible study daily helps us become STRONG in faith, in VISION of what the game plan is, and able
to recognize and fight HERESIES and error. We SPOT these faster and easier when we’re doing a ton
of study ourselves.
Have a wonderful day! God’s blessings be with you as you study the manna of God’s word.
Remember you can download these messages off the website, lightontherock.com. You can also
download the TRANSCRIPTS of these messages from the website also. If you’re getting spiritually
fed by these messages, pass the word to others. Invite your friends to check out the website too, or
you can order the cassettes of these directly. You only need to ask. They’re free – although I won’t
refuse freewill donations to help me defray the costs involved.
Till next time my dear brothers and sisters, this is Philip Shields urging us all to walk in the light of
God’s word - every day, FIRST thing in the day. Use the Light which is on the ROCK of Jesus.
Now – go pick your spiritual manna today and every day.
***
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