"Hidden Manna"
ZADOK PUBLICATIONS - Dr. C. R. OLIVER
October 1, 2011

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ZADOK PUBLICATIONS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

October 1, 2011

"Hidden Manna"

Introduction:
While writing Solomon's Secret, I was quickened by this focal passage. I was writing and dwelling in the right place to receive hidden manna and I was also awarded, at the conclusion of the work, a white stone upon which was written special things revealed and meant only for my eyes. It was then that I realized the great grace afforded me during this pursuit and how many times I fell to the floor and repented and wept at the understanding that was flooding my soul and spirit. The writing of that book changed my life forever because I learned from Him the greatest lesson of the Christian walk---that in His Presence alone come gifts that forever form a special bond between us. Yes, I have an inheritance from Him, but there are treasures with Him that are limitless. From these Treasures, He wants to surprise and bestow them upon His Bride. Hidden manna is just one. Hidden manna is that which supplies a satisfaction and sense of care that cannot be garnered by any other means than from His hand.

The Pergamos Church:
The Pergamos church, which is dubbed as the "compromising church," is addressed as one among seven churches appraised by the Lamb. It was promised "hidden manna," if it would repent. That particular church, in the body of Christ, had some problems that only repentance could rectify. Pergamos had allowed the doctrine of Balaam to exist in its ranks. The Doctrine of Balaam included any form of seduction of God's people. Yes, that included relaxing standards to a point so low that accommodation of idolatry, sexual immorality and unscriptural doctrines (Nicolaitans) was tolerated.

Nicolaitanism: A belief that is based upon the recognition of the mercy of God as the ground of salvation, but man can freely partake of sin because the Law of God is no longer binding. It held the truth on the gratuitous reckoning of righteousness; but supposed that a mere intellectual "belief" in this truth had saving power.

The problem in the early church was its incorporation of paganism into its ranks, thereby bringing pagan practices and its adherents into the fellowship of the saints. (I do not have to take time to illustrate, because the reader already is aware of more instances than imaginable of such ideology.) Nicolaitan belief is alive and growing in church circles of today---it must addressed and repentance must come forth.

Jesus said that if repentance came forth, He would not fight against them, but rather offer them hidden manna and a white stone (representing forgiveness).

The First Manna:
Because manna was first introduced as provision for a wayward covenant people and their families, reference to the event should be explored. From the beginning, manna was a gift from God. The people of God had sinned; they had evoked God's wrath, but His love and care did not cease. Manna was all about God's daily provision for the needs of His children. Its daily existence was living proof of His Presence and power. No wonder it was gathered, placed in a container and set alongside Aaron's rod in the Ark of the Covenant.

Review some of the adjunct elements of the first Manna:
(1.) It was for the health of the people. The whole nation was fed a nourishing substance from heaven itself and it provided every vitamin, mineral and nutrient for nourishment of a sick free life.
Exodus 16:35-36
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.
(2.) It provided all of the above in a wilderness environ. The people of God would have been decimated, with no method of survival without it.
Deuteronomy 8:3-4
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.
(3.) Its continued production was assured and expected. One could count on its being there.
Nehemiah 9:20
20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,
(4.) It offered pleasure and assurance. It filled the person and assured them of God's daily presence.
Numbers 11:7-9
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. 9 And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.
(5.) It had to be gathered under certain conditions: time of day, certain days and under strict adherence to the command of God.
Exodus 16:15-19
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 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.'

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.'

The Hidden Manna:
Now that the Scriptures surrounding the focal passage have been addressed, let us move to the main subject of the newsletter, the Hidden Manna. Two things are evident: (1) it is Manna (2) it is Hidden.

Comparison of the First manna to the Hidden Manna:
How different is Hidden Manna from the first kind. To the wilderness Israelites, it was available to everyone and comprised a universal provision for their daily needs. The hidden manna is not universal and is not based on need, but rather as aggrandizement for repentance. The first manna was exposed to the elements and covered the earth; the hidden manna is hidden from view and is private in nature. The first manna was gathered by everyone, while the hidden manna is only available to whom it is given. The first manna required labor on the part of the recipient, while the hidden manna requires a specific action-- repentance from compromise. The first manna was specific to a nation of people, while the hidden manna is specific to individuals in the kingdom. The hidden manna is the product of the "secret place," while the first manna required no such knowledge. Both types of manna had their source in God. The first manna satisfied physical hunger and gave a sense of goodwill from God, while the hidden manna satisfies the spirit and nourishes the soul.

Jesus made similar comparison when He addressed the Temple-ites:
John 6:32-40
32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Jesus, when He addressed the church at Pergamos, modified some things. Based on their repentance, He would give them Hidden Manna. Look at the word hidden.
NT:2928 krupto (kroop'-to); a primary verb; to conceal (properly, by covering): KJV - hide (self), keep secret, secret [-ly].

The NKJV interjects a qualifier: "some of the Hidden Manna." (Whether there is a larger quantity in Jesus' store of treasures, I do not know.) What is known, is Hidden Manna is in a secret place, and there it is stored for His distribution only. The treasure trove of our Lord is laden with gifts for those who humble themselves and repent at His prompting. We even can be hidden with it. The prophet Zephaniah said that we can be covered and secreted away, just like the hidden manna, if we seek the Lord.

Zephaniah 2:3
3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the LORD's anger.

The hidden manna is more than a prize for obedience; it is a place of provision. When Jesus said, "I have meat to eat you know not of," He may well have been eating the hidden manna. How necessary at this point to differentiate between Hidden from and Hidden for. Many times in the Scriptures, Jesus or others would comment that matters were hidden from certain people or groups. Below is a case where Jesus revealed why this must be.

Luke 10:21-24
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

Paul also spoke powerfully throughout his writings about the hidden things of God being reserved for the church and the true saints.

1 Corinthians 2:6-16
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written:

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

The hidden manna is spiritual nourishment, not available to the nonchalant and casual "believer."

Much of the modern church knows nothing of searching the deep things of God, let alone acquiring the hidden manna. Ready repentance from a heart toward the Lord is an absolute requirement. Paul was not making a suggestion; he was laying out the format for a life filled with revelation of the "mystery."

Colossians3:1-4
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory

The hidden life is not distant from the hidden manna!

Paul also spoke of hidden treasures being available to the saints, just as portrayed in the Song of Solomon.

Colossians 2:1-3
For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

It is right to acknowledge there is a fellowship of the mystery. Those who have obtained Hidden Manna are not your "run of the mill" Christian. They are not concerned with elitism or self- adornment. Most of the time, one would never know these saints have the white stone or the hidden manna. But in these saints' hearts, the gifts flavor every action and color every moment. Such cannot be taken away once given, for they are a treasure of the highest rank and cause the recipient much assurance. Oh, it is all about the kingdom within.

Ephesians 3:9-13
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Jesus taught it this way:

Matthew 13:44
'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.'

Peter referred to the "hidden man of the heart" and adjudicated that righteousness and holiness should characterize it. How better to nourish it than with Hidden Manna!

Until Next month,

Dr. Cosby R. Oliver, PhD.

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