Hidden Manna – Chapter 8 – (The End)

Hidden Manna
Hidden in Plain Sight

(1)In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.
(2)And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters.
-Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning, even before the earth was formed and light was created, there was darkness. Darkness came before light. This was the order God used in His method of physical creation.

(3)And God said, Let there be light:
and there was light.
(4)And God saw the light,
that it was good:
and God divided the light from the darkness.
-Genesis 1:3-4

First there was darkness and then God created light.

And God called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening
and the morning
were the first day.
-Genesis 1:5

God followed this pattern of creation when He named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night” and makes it very clear that the evening came before the morning.

Therefore the first day began with the darkness of the evening and was followed by the light of day.

The blessing of the Word of God is always found in the details. God created us and built into our inner most heart, the love of playing detective and unraveling mysteries. After we came into the world, this is how our hearts would find the way to Him, in spite of all that would be against our ever coming to the knowledge of the truth.

(14)The great day of the LORD is near,
it is near, and hasteth greatly,
even the voice of the day of the LORD:
the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
(15)That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of wasteness and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
-Zephaniah 1:14-15

While Genesis gives us the picture of darkness in the beginning—Zephaniah gives us an end time scenario beginning with darkness.

It is interesting to note that the “beginning” begins with darkness and the “end” also begins with darkness. Thus we get the saying, “It is always darkest just before the dawn.” This promise and message of hope is built right into God’s order of creation.

(16)A day of the trumpet and alarm
against the fenced cities,
and against the high towers.
(17)And I will bring distress upon men,
that they shall walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the LORD:
and their blood shall be poured out as dust,
and their flesh as the dung.
-Zephaniah 1:16-17

Contributing to the darkness is man’s own blindness. This is not physical blindness, because the Word tells us that men will be walking “like blind men”—as if they are unable to see. They will not realize where they are going because they will have become blinded by their sin and the error of their ways (own philosophy) which has carried them in the wrong direction. They have willingly gone down a path of self-destruction.

They will ultimately be like "dung" (excrement), void of any real value themselves and have no one to blame but themselves, because they have rejected the most valuable things in life.

Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
in the day of the LORD's wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured
by the fire of his jealousy:
for he shall make even a speedy riddance
of all them that dwell in the land.
-Zephaniah 1:18

Those who value the things of this world above the things of God will perish quickly. God is a jealous God. He alone deserves first place in our hearts.

(3)But if our gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost:
(4)In whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
(5)For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord;
and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
-2 Corinthians 4:3-5

Yes, the Manna has been hidden…and yet it really has not been hidden at all. It has been hidden only from those who will reject it anyway and those who do not want to see the value it really has. This is the true Gospel which has been hidden right in plain sight—the message of Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High God.

Notwithstanding in this
rejoice not,
that the spirits are subject unto you;
but rather rejoice,
because your names are written in heaven.
-Luke 10:20

The world, the flesh, and the devil war against God’s agenda by confusing His determined order and priorities for man. When man forgets God’s priorities, he not only gets confused about the most valuable things in his physical life, but he also gets confused about the most important spiritual things.

Thus religious worldlings are trained by the world to focus on belief systems that promise to help them develop their own spiritual power and agendas, instead of submitting to the specific will of their Creator and focusing on every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of the One True God, who is the source of all power—even the power to grant eternal life.

(21)In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit,
and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
that thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes:
even so, Father;
for so it seemed good in thy sight.
(22)All things are delivered to me of my Father:
and no man knoweth who the Son is,
but the Father;
and who the Father is,
but the Son,
and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
-Luke 10:21-22

Those who consider themselves to be wise and prudent do not have any place in God’s Kingdom. He has chosen “babes,” those who have not been influenced by the agenda and lies of the world and the devil. These are the ones who have been given the Hidden Manna.

(6)Howbeit we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect:
yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor of the princes of this world,
that come to nought:
(7)But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,
which God ordained
before the world unto our glory:
(8)Which none of the princes
of this world knew:
for had they known it,
they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.
-1 Corinthians 2:6-8

Those who crucified Christ did not know what they were doing. They had no time or attention to spend on discovering the hidden wisdom. This was the wisdom of the Creator of all that exists, carried on the very voice of God via His Word—the Hidden Manna. This eternal blessing was hiding in plain sight, but they did not have ears to hear the voice of God, eyes to see the value of it, nor an appetite to feed on it.

(25)Whereof I am made a minister,
according to the dispensation of God
which is given to me for you,
to fulfil the word of God;
(26)Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages
and from generations,
but now is made manifest to his saints:
-Colossians 1:25-26

What is a true minister of God?

According to this Word from Colossians, a true minister is one called by God to first of all serve the “saints” (believers in Christ) by bringing forth God’s hidden message. This message reveals the only hope mankind has of obtaining eternal life (“glory”).

This is the message the good seed has been created to receive. By fulfilling this Word, the sheep are drawn to the Shepherd to feed on this Word. Since Jesus is this living Word, it becomes an illustration of the True Sheep feeding on the very flesh and blood of Christ and explains the following very strange command Jesus makes in John Chapter 6:

54--"Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

55--For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56--He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

57--As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

58--This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."

This is how Christ in us becomes our “hope of glory”—our only hope of eternal life.

To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
-Colossians 1:27

God desires that the true value of the mystery and the message will be revealed now to those who really belong to Him. The Hidden Manna is their only hope and will help them endure to the end as the system of this world passes away. Speaking of the end of the system of this world, Jesus confirms this in Matthew 24:

(33)So likewise ye,
when ye shall see all these things,
know that it is near, even at the doors.
(34)Verily I say unto you,
This generation shall not pass,
till all these things be fulfilled.
(35)Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away.
(36)But of that day and hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels of heaven,
but my Father only.
-Matthew 24:33-36

Perilous times are coming. One day even the heavens and the earth shall pass away, but the Word of God will never pass away. Therefore, when we cling to the Word of God, it will carry us into the arms of our Redeemer at His appearing…and bring us safely into the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. 

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness,
and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee,
and give thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles;
-Isaiah 42:6

History declares just how unstable the system of this world is. It is like a boat with holes, afloat in a violent storm. However, when we hunger for the righteousness of the Word of God, He will honor His covenant with us.

He compares the relationship He has with His people to that of a protective Father holding the hand of His child, keeping him safe, and giving him the privilege of carrying God’s light into a very dark and hopeless world.

To open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house.
-Isaiah 42:7

God is calling His ministers (which we all are if we belong to Him) to let the light of Christ shine in our lives as we seek those He has created to be His sheep, to open the eyes of the blind and bring them out of the darkness and bondage of sin.

Our mission is to put the food out, bring the Word of God to the lost sheep so they can feed on the Hidden Manna and find freedom through Jesus Christ.

I am the LORD: that is my name:
and my glory will I not give to another,
neither my praise to graven images.
-Isaiah 42:8

According to God’s Word, idolatry is anything in our life that takes the place of God. It is the sin from which all other sins originate because the One True God must first be rejected in order to establish man as the god of his own life. In this way, the focus of our obedience is removed from God’s will and placed on our own will.

Once this takes place, man consults only himself regarding any other idols he desires to worship. God hates idolatry, whether it is in our heart or something tangible we call our “god” or “image of god” or “relic” or “reminder of god.”

Idolatry is an offense against God because in order to submit ourselves to something else, we must first deny His existence, that He is alive, involved in our life, and is perfectly capable of participating in a relationship with us without any other religious trappings of any sort.

He alone—Himself—is God and will not share His glory with anyone or anything else.

Friends, please receive this most serious warning from Isaiah 42:8 and avoid the wrath of God by rejecting any type of idolatry. Your eternal life depends on it.

(16)Repent;
or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will fight against them
with the sword of my mouth.
[the awesome power of the Word of God]
(17)He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches;
To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna,
and will give him a white stone,
and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth
saving he that receiveth it.
-Revelation 2:16-17

~The End~
. . .and The Beginning