Jesus lived on the Will and Work of the Father. It was this food that sustained Jesus in the wilderness for forty days. Interestingly, it took forty years to prepare Moses before He could lead Israel around the wilderness for a second forty years. Jesus was in the wilderness for only forty days. Jesus, like Moses, would also take His people on a journey. I pray this article will stir some readers to begin this journey with Jesus, others to return to Him and others to be refreshed. Remember, He is the Way. He is also the beginning and the end. Quite frankly, one day we will discover, that in Christ is everything! As the Scriptures say “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” Cry out to God to make these words your reality!! Now let us learn some more about this “bread.”
Jesus was tempted by Satan with these words: “Command these stones to be turned to bread.” Jesus replied with, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Please note: He did not say “by every word in the King James Bible.”) Scripture memorizing will not give one the “hidden manna.” Often, Scripture memorizing merely breeds a modern Pharisee. Remember, Jesus once chided the greatest Bible memorizers on earth, the Pharisees, with “You search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. But they testify of Me, but you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39,40). The letter kills, it is the Spirit that gives life.
Remember, Jesus said He was the True Bread who came down from heaven. The manna of Moses was not the true bread. It was a type. I am making this connection between bread, words out of His mouth, and the manna in the wilderness because Jesus makes the connection Himself. When He said that man shall live by “every word which proceeds from the mouth of God,” He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 which also speaks of manna. Let us see if we can glean something from the “type” of the manna that sustained Israel for forty years.
There are probably many things we could say here, but we will just highlight some essentials. This manna formed early in the morning. The male head of each household was to do the gathering. This speaks of the spirit (male) rather than the soul (female) doing the gathering. (I know this opens many questions for some, but I cannot get into the subject any further than this.) Each male was to collect only enough to sustain his household for that day (daily bread). While God provided the substance, they still had to gather and prepare it for eating. Note God could have simply supernaturally sustained them without their having to gather and prepare food, but He did not. Whether they gathered more than their share (hoarding) or whether they gathered too little, no one lacked. Each had their daily allotment met. They were commanded to leave none of it for the next day. If they gathered too much it became rotten and stank. (That’s what happens to the work we do for Jesus instead of doing the work He gives us.)
They were to eat all of what they had prepared or gathered. On the sixth day, they were to gather twice as much. The extra was to be used on the seventh day on which day there was to be no work. This extra food did not rot and stink. (This also is another fascinating subject for another time.) For forty years, Israel’s primary occupation, their “work” so to speak, was to learn to receive God’s daily bread, which represented the Life of God. They never really learned the principle. However, we shouldn’t chide them too much, should we? After all, have we really come any further than Israel when it comes to truly trusting Him for our “daily Bread?” Do we not also grumble and complain? Israel sometimes tried to gather more than a day’s worth of manna. This speaks of worrying about what will happen tomorrow. It speaks of a lack of trust that He will be there to meet your needs tomorrow. It speaks about hoarding and greed. It speaks about impatience also.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about the body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying What shall we eat?’ or What shall we drink?’ or What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matt. 6:24-34)
Oh God, how often we have read these words! But do our actions manifest these words? Will memorizing these words cause us to actually manifest the trust and abandonment required to fulfill these words each and every day of our lives? Do we really take these words to heart? Are we really in great unbelief and are too afraid to acknowledge it before God and ourselves and our Christian brothers and sisters? Why do we play games with ourselves and pretend to do and be what we are not? Some reading these lines need to stop right now and go to our Father and confess their unbelief, their doubts. Oh ye of so little faith! Some reading these words are ready to come to our Father right now and be changed forevermore. Go. Confess your unbelief. Cast your burdens upon Him because He cares for you. He wants to make these words you know by heart a reality in your heart. He is calling you right now. (Whoever you are, please write to me and tell me about this special moment in your life.) These words will be burned into your very being and you will never be the same again,
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy ladened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). (I am broken and full of tears as I write these words. Surely, the Holy Spirit will move deeply into someone’s life right here.)
In Jesus are the will and the work of the Father that will sustain us in our spiritual journey on earth. “He who does my will, the same is my brother, sister, and mother” (John 12:50) Jesus is the “head” of our family. It is His responsibility to gather His family’s food. He is the male head (spiritual) of His family. Remember, He is a “life-giving Spirit!” (1 Cor. 15:45). It is His responsibility to gather just the right amount of food for each member of His family. He has done that perfectly!! However, we must abide in Him in order to have our daily manna. Only in Jesus Christ are the works of God. We must eat Him, trust Him, hide in Him to receive this daily salvation, this daily bread. These works are not in the Roman Catholic Church, the Pentecostal Church, the Baptist Church, Billy Graham Evangelistic Center, or any other man-made institution! The works of God and the strength and resources to fulfill them are only found in the true body of Jesus Christ.
Angel Food
The Bible speaks of works prepared from the foundation of the world in which we should walk. Obviously, if they were prepared that long ago, they are not our works that came from our will, but God’s works prepared for us to walk in.
Psalm 78:25 calls manna “angel food.” An angel is a messenger, whether a spiritual being from heaven or a human being with a word from the Spirit of God. Manna, which dropped upon the dew in the darkness of the night, then speaks of a word, a message from above which will manifest in the life of a believer as the work of God. This word (manna) sustains His life in us as we walk this wilderness (earth). Jesus is the Word of God. When we are active in the true work of God, prepared from the foundation of the world, we truly are eating Jesus Christ. Jesus’ walk was perfectly righteous. We have received an inheritance in Him into which we should enter. It is a walk, Word, work, will, way, prepared from the foundation of the world and all provision has been provided. Remember that after Cain killed Abel, the earth no longer gave provision to him. The earth represents our flesh. In the flesh (earth) is no longer any spiritual sustenance. Nothing good dwells there. We must rise up to be freed from the curse. We must enter the spiritual realm. Oh, Father please let these words penetrate deep within the hearts of your people! I pray that you cover my shortcomings with your grace.
Brothers and Sisters, one of the most difficult things for us Christians to overcome is the self-righteousness and pride we puff ourselves up with when we think we are “doing the Lord’s work,” when in fact we are doing our own work and doing it unlawfully. Remember, it is Jesus who has already done the work and has provided everything to bring it all to fulfillment. All we have to do is eat!! There is no room for anyone to exalt themselves over another. Pride and self-righteousness have always been the leading downfall among His people, whether Jew or Christian. Deuteronomy 8:11-18 explains why God fed them manna in the wilderness as a guard against the pride that they would be tempted with in the Promised Land. Sadly, Israel forgot the lesson. So have we.
Israel spent forty years in the wilderness eating food from heaven, but they did not do it right. They complained about the taste, they gathered too much, they tried to gather on the Sabbath. And Moses failed as well. He struck the rock twice, a big no-no, and so died outside the Promised Land. Jesus, the Rock in the wilderness only needs to be struck once to open the flow of forgiveness of sin to all mankind.
Jesus in the Wilderness
So Jesus went into the wilderness to do it right for them. He spent 40 days there with no food or water. He lived only on the will and work of our Father. He did it perfectly for them, that is, the Jews. He also did it perfectly for you and me! We, Christians, have failed just as poorly as the Jews by trying to attain our righteousness through our dead works. We have nothing on which to brag. Jesus, and Jesus alone, fulfilled all of the work required to make us righteous according to God’s Law.
Moses was commanded to put a jar of this manna in a pot and place it inside the Ark of the Covenant for a memorial. The book of Hebrews tells us this jar was made of gold. Memorial!? Remember? Jesus, when speaking of His manna (bread) said, “Do this in remembrance of me? (Luke 22:19). Comparing the two terms is rather interesting. Memorial speaks of death, which is what the Mosaic Law came to do, that is to kill us. Moses did not bring them into the Promised Land. He also, as head of this contingency, died and was buried on a mountain overlooking the Promised Land, but not in it. However, when we come to the True Bread of Heaven, we do not hear the word of death (memorial), we hear “remembrance,” as in “reminder!” “Remember the few loaves of bread with which I fed thousands. Remember, I am the Bread of Life, not I was!”
Moses’ manna was hidden in a gold pot that was hidden in the Ark of the Covenant, which was hidden in the Most Holy Place. It was hidden and useless, except as a memorial of times past and as a type. Christ the True bread from heaven is also hidden. Christ in you, the hope of glory! However, this Word hid in you is not a “memorial.” Oh no, this is a living Bread, a living Word, a life sustaining walk of works prepared by God our Father in which we should walk! The will and the work of our Father Himself dwell in you richly! It is abundant life!! Christ’s work was and is a glorious work, the redemption of mankind. Yet it was through humiliation, suffering, becoming a “worm” of a man, acquainted with grief, a man of sorrows, despised and rejected of men, that He was found worthy to be exalted above all.
You too shall taste of His cup of suffering, if you desire to eat of the Bread of Life. Remember, this Bread is the Bread of the New Covenant. All of God’s covenants were sealed with blood. However, our subject in this study is not the wine, but the bread.
Bread in Covenant
Let us look at bread in the Bible from another aspect. We have seen that bread represents the very Word, work and will of God. Bread also speaks of covenant. The expression “There is bread and salt between us” expresses the idea that the parties were one in a solemn agreement. A vow invoking these terms spoke of the highest kind of commitment. We see such a scene when Abraham was greeted by Melchizedek in the Book of Genesis. It is in this light we must read passages as in the forty-first Psalm “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” They didn’t just have a good meal together. They made a sacred covenant of which the breaking of bread was to be a reminder of that covenant. This is what Jesus was referring to at the Lord’s supper. Jesus was making a sacred oath, a vow, a covenant, a legal contract. He was expressing a sacred oath with all of His disciples, including Judas. He did not bring in a lawyer and a notary when He did this. And what is our part of this covenant? Eat, remember, and receive full provision because Christ dwells in you richly!
It is sad to say, but true, that the Western culture with its hundreds of thousands of laws and contracts and its hundreds of thousands of lawyers who are always trying to find loop holes for their clients, have caused us to lose the sacredness which the Bible attributes to a person being a man or woman of their word. We back our words with lawyers and not a spirit of commitment and integrity. Everywhere we turn we see lies; the advertisers lie; businesses lie; the government lies; church leaders lie, etc. We have gotten so good at lying, that we have managed to lie to ourselves and believe we are true to ourselves.
But Jesus’ Word is true. He will perform the Word sent forth from the foundation of the world. The Word went out and will return having accomplished absolutely everything it was to accomplish even though men, especially Christians, have proclaimed His Word will fall short. (He who has an ear, let him hear.)
Abraham Rihbany in The Syrian Christ summarizes for us the significance of the bread of the Bible and its importance in understanding the true meaning of the Scriptures.
“Thus from the simplest conception of bread as a means to satisfy physical hunger to the loftiest mystic contemplation of it as a sacramental element, the Orientals have always eaten bread with a sense of sacredness. Bread and salt,’ bread and wine,’ Christ the bread,’ For we, are one bread,’ Give us this day our daily bread,’ these and other sayings current in the Bible and in Oriental speech all spring from the deepest life of the ancient East.
And the sacredness of this common article of food has been of most inestimable value to Oriental peoples. In the absence of other means of social cohesion, and the higher civil interests which bind men together, it has been a great blessing indeed to those much-divided Orientals to find peace and security in the simple saying, There is bread and salt between us.ʼ”
“Scrip,” God With Us
Rihbany, in another section of his book mentions that a person would never go on a trip of any distance without scrip. For a woman to send her husband or son off on a trip without scrip would be equated to going without God. No Semite woman would ever send them off without preparing scrip. It simply wasn’t done.
With the above understanding in mind, many places in the Scriptures begin to glisten with new light and greater understanding. For example, do you remember when Jesus sent His disciples out in two’s commanding them not to take money, scrip, extra clothes, or stave with them? (Matt. 10:10). The command for them not to take scrip (bread) with them was at great odds with their deep rooted and sacred traditions. It was like telling them to go without God! This scrip was the very “symbol” of God with them on their journey!
When they returned, he asked them if they lacked anything. They said “nothing.” The message Jesus wanted to leave them, and us, is that Jesus Himself is the reality of the symbol of the scrip, the bread. Their scrip, their traditional symbol of “God with them” was no longer needed. The reality (Immanuel, God with us) behind the symbol was with them! He was the True Bread in whom is no lack.
“Turn These Stones To Bread”
As I mentioned before, we could write a book just on bread in the Bible and still not cover the subject fully. So we must skip over many places that hopefully the Holy Spirit will illuminate to you as you begin to see the Scriptures with new light. There is one more passage dealing with bread I think it is vitally important for us to look at. Many Christians have become slaves to traditions of men rather than become servants of Yahweh because of the slight little twistings of Scriptures like the one with which I am about to deal. Note that Satan is involved in this Scripture. Today, Satan still seems to do what he does best, twist the truth ever so slightly, thus turning it into a lie. His main instruments in performing this feat are sometimes those who claim to be “authorities” in God’s word.
We find the account in Matthew 4:1-11. I will not write out the whole passage due to lack of space. Please go to your Bible and read it for yourself. Jesus had just finished His forty days in the wilderness living literally off His Father’s words. He then was tempted by Satan. We will only look at the part of the story that deals with bread.
Satan’s first temptation was, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” He answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'” (Matt. 4:3,4).
Usually we have been taught that since Jesus was hungry, Satan tempted Jesus in His belly. I think there is much more here than that.
Remember, Jesus came to do the will and work of His Father. When Adam was cast out of the garden, the earth was put under a curse which would make it difficult for mankind to sustain himself.
“Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:17-19)
Oh, how I wish the church would wake up and hear that the curse was FOR OUR SAKE!!! God also cast us out of the garden FOR OUR SAKE!!! (Again, we can only glean a few kernels of truth here because our study is limited to “bread.”)
Being cast from the Garden of Eden speaks of coming out from the authority of God, His “covering,” His glory so to speak. When Adam lost that “covering” he was given a covering lower than the nature of God! That is why fallen man always gravitates toward a “beast” nature. “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” Here is the mark of the beast, sweat covering Adam’s countenance instead of the glory of God!
The sweat speaks of Adam’s work to sustain himself apart from intimacy with God. Adam would experience lack under his own authority. He would always fall short of the glory of God. His works would always become rotten, empty, shallow, selfish, wasteful, vain, showy, all the things the works of carnal man produce. “Dead” would be a summation of the works of man apart from God.
Man, apart from God’s covering, will live in fear — fear of lack, fear of others stealing his own, etc., and so will establish ways to care for himself and his own. He becomes a hoarder and a thief. Look around you and see the many thousands of ways Adamic man has tried to “watch out for himself” at the expense of others.
Man, under the influence of the Adamic, carnal, short-sighted selfish mind subject to the senses of the body rather than being subject to the mind of Christ and sensitive to the spiritual senses, will always behave like an animal. Watch a few birds around a bird feeder and see a sample of mankind in miniature!
Satan understood perfectly what the curse had produced. Satan, knew that Jesus Christ, the last Adam, if He was the true Messiah, would deliver mankind from the curse! “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread!” (Matt. 4:3). In other words, if you the true Son of God, reverse the curse! Jesus just spent forty days in one of the most desolate regions of the world! No wheat can grow there! There is no bread there. This was the perfect example of the curse on Cain. This ground produced nothing! Satan knew there would come One who would roll back the effects of the curse. He tried to use the same technique on Jesus which he used on Eve. He spoke words and tried to get Jesus to act on them. Eve listened and responded to Satan. As a result, she produces the fruit of those words she allowed to be planted in her. Her offspring Cain became a murderer and a liar. In other words, she produced death.
But Jesus did not act on Satan’s temptation, his “seed,” which was his words. They fell to the ground. There was no room for them in His heart because it was full of life. His heart had no room for obedience to two authorities. He was obedient only to His Father’s words and to manifest His works. There was no room for thorns and thistles (mixture) nor death (barrenness). He was sustained by the true Bread of Life, that is, “every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.” Unlike Adam, Jesus clearly knew who He was and His purpose. Obedience to Satan’s suggestion or command would have brought about the same results that set Adam’s race on a death course.
It grieves me to no end how poorly this passage of Scripture has been taught in most of the churches I have attended. I have heard numerous times this Scripture used to justify memorizing part of the Bible and in so doing “eating the word of God.” No, No, No! We are to be so one with Him that we know Him, His character, His will for us, and our true purpose for being on this planet. Then death will loose its hold on us.