The Hidden Manna, A White Stone - New Name.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Jesus’ outline of Revelation:
What was seen: Jesus Glorified - Revelation 1:9-20.
What is: the Seven Churches - Revelation 2-3.
What will be: Jesus’ judgement in the seven seals, trumpets and bowls. Revelation 4-22.
Revelation 2:17.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’
What is so special about these gifts from Jesus?
The Hidden Manna
Exodus 16:15-19.
15 When the people 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, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’ ”
17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.
18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.
19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.”
Manna - What is it? “Man” in Hebrew
It is bread from heaven.
Exodus 16:31-35.
31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so 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 jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.”
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.
35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
Where is the manna placed?
It is placed before the Lord.
Why is it placed there?
It is to be kept there in memorial of God’s provision.
Numbers 11:7-8.
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium.
8 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil.
Joshua 5:12.
12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
What was the purpose of Manna in the Wilderness?
God’s sustenance in a barren land.
Hebrews 9:3-4.
3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,
4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
Where is the physical manna placed?
In the ark of the covenant, which is before the Lord.
2 Maccabees 2:4–7.
4 And it was contained in the writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded that the tabernacle and the ark should follow with him, when he went forth into the mountain where Moses went up and beheld the heritage of God.
5 And Jeremiah came and found a chamber in the rock, and there he brought in the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense; and he made fast the door.
6 And some of those that followed with him came there that they might mark the way, and could not find it.
7 But when Jeremiah perceived it, he blamed them, saying, Yea and the place shall be unknown until God gather the people again together, and mercy come:
Where is the manna hidden?
Manna is hidden on Mount Sinai, but unknown till the gathering.
2 Baruch 29:8.
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 1 Chapter 29
And it will happen at that time that the treasury of manna will come down again from on high, and they will eat of it in those years because these are they who will have arrived at the consummation of time.
What is seen as the food of heaven?
Manna is seen as the food of heaven.
John 6:30-35.
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave 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.”
34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4.
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17.
16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
Who is the embodiment of manna?
Jesus embodies bread from heaven.
What do you guys think Jesus means by hidden Manna?
The physical manna in a pot, hidden away by Jeremiah.
The partaking of relationship with Jesus, who is the bread of life and the bread of communion, in which we now partake partially, but in heaven believers will partake of it fully at the marriage supper of the Lamb. It will be fully revealed at that time. This is in contrast to the feasts to idols.
It is in reference to the marriage supper of the Lamb and the food of heaven being our sustenance at the consummation of time.
I think John and Jesus may have all of these in mind, but since this is the revelation of Jesus, I think they would give preference to number two.
What is the gift of the white stone?
There are no biblical reference points for white stone other than Revelation 2:17.
What is the rule when we do not have a lot of biblical data?
We look at the cultural context.
What is the cultural context of the white stone?
White stones are used for voting for acquittal, or a black stone to indicate guilt, (the term “black balled” comes from this) in both the Hebrew, Greek and Roman cultures.
So, it is the symbol that God has forgiven you all your sins.
White stones were also used for admission to special occasions.
So, it is an invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
According to Jewish tradition, precious stones fell with the manna. The High Priest has precious stones with the names of the twelve tribes engraved on them.
The “white stone” also enforces the idea of the “manna” as a heavenly reward, since the LXX in Numbers 11:7 describes the heavenly manna as resembling rock crystal or clear ice. (G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary)
It is tied to our relationship with Jesus being fully fulfilled.
White also represents Jesus’ righteousness shared with us, a theme that is repeated 13 times in Revelation.
A New Name no one knows except you and God.
This phrase drips of intimacy with God. Only you and him share a name. This is way cool.
The name will probably have to do with God’s presence with you. I think it will be personalized to each individual.
Number 6:22-27.
22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Revelation 3:12.
12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
Naming also denotes ownership. We do this with our things - put our name on tools, books and toys. God puts his name on people! An example is Toy Story, when Andy writes his name on Woody. It is explicit in Revelation 14:1.
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Satan, who is always making counterfeits, wants to name his own as well.
Revelation 14:9-11.
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
Who’s name do we bear?
Revelation 22:3-4.
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
We will also have a special name, which we share only with God.