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He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)
In this we see inferences to concepts that relate both to things commonly practiced in Pergamum as well as how Jesus defeats the lies of Satan that keep us trapped in fear and dysfunction. Jesus says He will give hidden manna or bread to those who are overcomers. Jesus already identified Himself as the manna who came down from heaven, and the words that He spoke and His flesh are the bread that we must eat in order to live. So what is hidden about this manna and what does it do for us?
He who has ears to hear, let him hear." The disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He answered them, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn't have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don't see, and hearing, they don't hear, neither do they understand.
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 'By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive: for this people's heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and should turn again; and I would heal them.' "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn't see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn't hear them." (Matthew 13:9-17)
Notice the strong links between these two passages. This usually indicates an explanatory link from Revelation to elsewhere in Scripture to bring clarity to the unfolding story that Revelation is intended to unmask for us, the narrative of the back story here that gives context for all the rest of Scripture.
The hidden manna--the heavenly food of Israel, in contrast to the idol-meats (Rev 2:14). A pot of manna was laid up in the holy place "before the testimony." The allusion is here to this: probably also to the Lord's discourse (John 6:31-35). Translate, "the manna which is hidden." As the manna hidden in the sanctuary was by divine power preserved from corruption, so Christ in His incorruptible body has passed into the heavens, and is hidden there until the time of His appearing. Christ Himself is the manna "hidden" from the world, but revealed to the believer, so that he has already a foretaste of His preciousness. Compare as to Christ's own hidden food on earth, John 4:32,34; Job 23:12. The full manifestation shall be at His coming. Believers are now hidden, even as their meat is hidden. As the manna in the sanctuary, unlike the other manna, was incorruptible, so the spiritual feast offered to all who reject the world's dainties for Christ is everlasting: an incorruptible body and life for ever in Christ at the resurrection. (JFB commentary)
He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
What do we find here in these words from Moses? A direct connection between the manna that sustained the life of millions of people in the desert and what comes out of the mouth of Yahweh. And what do we find in Revelation in the mouth of Jesus who is Yahweh? The sword of light and truth that exposes everything that tries to hide in the dark. This directs us right back to the words of Jesus that came out of His mouth while sharing light and truth with Nicodemus about the nature of judgment.
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God. (John 3:19-21)
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it. (John 1:4-5)
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. (John 6:48-51)
If anyone listens to my sayings, and doesn't believe, I don't judge him. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me, and doesn't receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day. (John 12:47-48)
Once we come full circle through these links connecting what comes out of the mouth of Jesus, we see clearly how judgment fits into all of this and how different it is from how we imagine judgment to be. The sword of judgment is not an accusing spirit within God as most imagine. Rather, it is simply truth spoken by the Son of God while on earth and left with us to relate to according to our disposition toward truth as revealed by Jesus. How we choose to relate to the revelation of God through the words of Jesus, along with how willing we are to see the same in the actions and disposition of Jesus in relation to sinners, becomes the determining factor in judgment. God will not impose His opinions on anyone in the judgment – that is how the enemy judges and how we do it in our perverted 'justice' systems here on earth. The way God judges at all times is simply to bring the light of truth to expose whatever is hidden in darkness and the rest is left up to our reaction as we are exposed to reality by the words of Jesus. (see 2 Thessalonians 2:10)
Everyone will be found in one of two categories of people according to the words of Jesus. We will either hate the light because we prefer the ways of darkness and refuse to come to the light, or we will choose to be exposed by the light now (1 Timothy 5:24) by coming to Jesus to be exposed by His words no matter how uncomfortable that may make us feel. But in coming to the light we make the choice to come to the very Source of life itself and be saved from the deadly effects of the lies of darkness that are strangling the life out of us while deceiving us into thinking otherwise.
So, how does all this fit into Jesus giving us the hidden manna which is His flesh? What is the important thing to learn from this in a way that actually changes our lives in the way that we need?
Jesus says we must eat His flesh which is the bread from heaven in order to have eternal life. This parallels eating manna in the desert, though Jesus pointed out that eating that manna did not keep them alive, a very important alert for us. But maybe what we need to focus on most is the meaning of eating. What does it really mean to eat the flesh of Jesus in order to experience eternal life? And keep in mind that Jesus defines eternal life as knowing the Father and Jesus. So whatever it means to eat involves entering into an experience of knowing something at a deeper level than simply head knowledge.
What is impressing me at this point is our desperate need to move from a head knowledge of truth to having the spirit of Jesus percolate the truths we are learning about God deep into our heart, our psyche, our subconscious where our roots and motives originate. I believe this is referring to the part of our makeup where real intimacy takes place which is very different than amassing head information. This is about a heart work, a heart transformation, a heart experience where the true life of Jesus assimilated into the other part of our being that has long been buried, damaged, wounded and fearful can experience a resurrection and new life we have never known before.
To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna,
This is an invitation of Jesus to enter into the deepest level of intimacy beyond anything we can yet imagine by embracing His words as true for us, not just so much theology or instruction. It is to move far beyond what the Israelites experienced in the desert because they refused to enter into the real rest of knowing God intimately and trusting in His heart being displayed to them so ravishingly. This is another invitation to embrace what so many before us have rejected, and plunge into the wild joy and coming alive in the ocean of God's love and abandoning everything that has kept us hesitant and resistant for so long. It is choosing to absorb the love of the entire godhead into our heart by taking the words of Jesus seriously at the heart level and let go of all our quibbling, doubts and haggling over the letter of the law so that we may come alive and enter into the joy for which we were designed.
With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don't let me wander from your commandments. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, Yahweh. Teach me your statutes. With my lips, I have declared all the ordinances of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways. I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. (Psalms 119:10-16)
What is the purpose of hiding the manna of God in our heart? What does this involve, to ingest the words of Jesus and the testimony of Jesus both from His words as well as how His body language in relating to everyone around Him? What is the most needed change in our perceptions that keeps us stuck spinning our wheels but making very little progress in our spiritual growth?
We are coming to see that one of the core issues being fought over in this war is the truth about identity. God's identity and trustworthiness is at the very center of the controversy, but caught up in that is the identity of every human being who by design are reflectors of God's identity. So without addressing the reflectors of God, the reputation and credibility of God cannot be effectively vindicated. Thus how we perceive our own identity is intimately linked to the salvation of our God.
