Coming Out Of Egypt

Part 3. Yesterday’s Manna

April 12, 2007

Ron and Karen Schwartz

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John 6:51, 58 KJV

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

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.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in the purity of the beginning of the end of all beginnings was the inauguration of the New Testament, and Jesus Christ was Lord of His Church. He was the heart, the soul, the song, and the mind. He was the essence of all it had become and what it was meant to be. But that was a very long time ago, a time that is all but forgotten, a time that is found only in the most ancient of writings. It was a time when Christ reigned in His church…

Okay, enough with the fairytales. Let’s get real.

Hebrews 1:1-2 KJV

1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds

The author of Hebrews makes a careful distinction between the Old and New Testament methods God used to speak to His people. When God spoke in the Old Testament, He did so through men. Men were His voice to His people. As a result, the relationship He had with His people was dependent upon the ministries of men. But this is not the way it is supposed to be in “these last days.” The author makes it clear in this passage that God now speaks to us “by his Son,” Jesus Christ. From this, we understand that there are NO other routes to God (i.e., Hare Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, etc.). People who choose to listen to and follow men cannot speak to or hear from God.

Christian leaders who have been influenced by institutional churches overlook this fact. They love to use the (“time past”) examples of Elijah, Jeremiah, and Moses to illustrate how Christian leaders should operate today. But those days are clearly over. Instead, God desires His relationship with His people to overshadow that which He had with Moses and Abraham. Let us make this clear: God does NOT want you, Christian leader, to come in between the relationships He has with His people any more than a bridegroom wants the friend of the bridegroom to come in between his relationship with his bride (John 3:29). You are not helping when you insert yourself. You are just in the way. God spoke through men “in time past.” Now He wants to speak through His Son.

Nevertheless, there remains one scripture that Christian leaders continue to point to as justification for their continual interference in God’s relationship with His Church:

Ephesians 4:11-12 KJV

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

The punctuation added to this verse clouds it’s meaning. By simply removing the punctuation, the meaning becomes clear. The gifts of ministry are “for the equipping of the saints for (i.e. “to do”) the works of the ministry for (i.e. “which is”) the edifying of the body of Christ.” Greek translators agree that the phases “the work of the ministry” and “the edifying of the body of Christ,” in this construct, are descriptions of the “saints,” not descriptions of what is popularly known today as “the five-fold ministry.” This becomes more evident in the scriptures that follow (v.16,”From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love”). But because today’s Christian leaders misunderstand this scripture, they have overstepped their purpose. They have come to believe that it is their “ministry class” that is called to “the work of the ministry” and to “[edify] the body of Christ.” As a result, for centuries now, Christians have flooded their churches in hope of receiving this promise of ministry and edification. But it is not so. Ministry and edification should not be coming to the saints but from them. If there is any one thing that is broken within the institutional church, it is this. The tools of ministry and edification have been stripped from the saints and given to an elite class, a “clergy” class. Therefore, the body of Christ currently possesses no means of edifying itself (growth).

Today the function of the church is completely backward from how it once was and how it is meant to be. Christians are told that apostles and prophets will bring the church into perfection. But in reality, the presence of apostles and prophets in the church is directly proportional to the spiritual maturity of the local churches. It is not apostles and prophets that bring the church into spiritual maturity, but the spiritual maturity of the church that brings about apostles and prophets.

The church began as a dynamo of spiritual power that caused people to be “saved” by the thousands and the power of God to manifest itself in awesome splendor. But as the church sank into carnality and compromise, the apostles and prophets once known in the church slipped quietly away into obscurity. And that is where they have remained for centuries. If the church is ever to see apostles and prophets as it once did, they will not come from today’s depraved, immature, carnal, and compromising fellowships. They will be among saints who direct their attention and relationships to God, not to men.

What’s Wrong With The Bread Of Life?

Exodus 16:15-21 KJV

15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating.

18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.

21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

Manna was meant to be new every morning. It was not meant to be saved. Try to imagine a certain group of men who decide to make a business of packaging and shipping the manna to the other end of the camp. “It saves you the time of having to gather it yourself,” they proclaim. But there’s only one thing wrong their plan: by the time it reaches the other end of the camp, the sun is up, and the manna is rotting. But in time, the people become so used to eating this rotten, foul smelling, worm-infested manna that it all seems perfectly normal. Even though there is fresh and tasty manna lying just outside their tent, they sit at their tables and await the arrival of their stinking breakfast of worms. Don’t laugh. This very scenario describes exactly what has been taking place in our institutional churches for centuries. Many house churches have also embraced such a practice.

What could be better than Jesus? Wasn’t it He who saved you? Didn’t you feel the cleansing power of His Spirit as He washed your sins away? Why, then, do you so quickly abandon Him? Paul asked the Galatians this very question: “Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh (Galatians 3:3)?” If your Christian leaders can get their manna from God, why do you feel that you must get yours from them? And why do you attend your church with the intention of being fed there? It is like getting your manna through the mail. The scripture simply does NOT support the current model that has Christians receiving their daily bread through men.

Verse 18 tells us that “he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.” In other words, God customized their manna according to their individual needs. When you ignore the manna God has for you and choose to listen to others for your daily bread, you are choosing to ignore God’s customized manna in favor of the generic brand. It is generic because some people don’t like sweet manna, and some people don’t like it too cold or crunchy. Those in the manna marketing business must make a “one-size-fits-all” type of manna. As a result, it has hardly any taste. Is that really what you want? Most Christians have become so used to their generic, worm-infested manna that they cannot tolerate real manna.

Remember an important characteristic of manna: “when the sun waxed hot, it melted.” Manna cannot be stored away for future use. It is customized uniquely for you in accordance with your present situation. But that fact does not prevent Christian leaders from recording their sermons, publishing their books, and drawing people to themselves instead of to God. These leaders are actually competing with God for the attention of His people. They strive to make their manna more appealing and more easily accessible than the manna from God. But what are people getting? They are getting yesterday’s manna. It is manna that someone has collected days or years before, eaten and regurgitated, and now made available for you. How does it taste?

Most of today’s so-called ministries are simply warehouses for yesterday’s manna. They have huge barns full of manna that God gave last year, or last decade, or even last century. They eat and regurgitate this same old manna over and over again. They have nothing for today. You will know this old manna because it continues to sell wares such as covenant relationships, the law, the five-fold ministry, interpretations of the book of Revelation, revival/renewal, etc. There is little or nothing that is original. Don’t you ever get weary of hearing from so-called “ministries” that talk about the same old thing year after year? They continually talk about the coming revivals and renewals, they talk about the great prophets and apostles who will be at their meetings, they talk about the inspiring messages that will be taught, but once you get there, you find that it’s the same old line that they have been peddling for years.

There are some people who try to live on other peoples’ manna. Okay, Luther did find his manna, and it was good, but that was over four centuries ago. Has not any new manna fallen since then? Nevertheless, a whole denomination has tried to live off that manna for centuries.

We must take the manna that God provides for each generation, year after year, day after day, and keep going on. Don’t stop with the piety movement, the reformation, or Azusa Street. Let’s go on from the Charismatic movement, the discipleship and faith-based movements. Find what He is saying today. It WILL NOT be yesterday’s manna. It will be new and relevant for NOW.

When God Is Not Enough

Numbers 11:4-9 KJV

4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

6 But our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

8 And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.

In this passage, the people tell Moses that they “remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt.” There was no manna in Egypt, so the people of God got a taste for foods other than manna. If you don’t have manna, you will need to find something else to keep the people fat and happy. Similarly, institutional churches are all but barren of the bread of life that comes from heaven. So they offer other things to satisfy the longing that people naturally have for the bread of life. They offer sermons, special music, inspiring stories, worship bands, special classes, video/audio stimuli, etc. - anything and everything to stimulate a worship experience, to keep people from becoming bored - that is, everything but the bread of life. The meetings are built on hype and end as abruptly as they begin. People attend with plastic smiles and artificial holiness that exists just for the meeting then quickly dissolves once the car door slams and they are on the road home. The smile fades and the robe of holiness is stored in the closet until next week. Everyone knows how artificial they are, that they are pretending to be holy. It’s all a facade. To speak such things out loud would bring down their house of cards.

Egypt has offerings that appeal to the senses. Egypt has fish, melons, cucumbers, and garlic. God’s offerings appeal to the heart. If you can no longer be satisfied with the artificial Christianity you find in your institutional church, then perhaps you do have a taste for heavenly things. But beware. All those delicious amenities that appeal to the senses will be lost when you leave Egypt.

True Christians cannot be satisfied with the hypocrisy of religious bondage. They see Egypt and all it offers as the tyrannical institution it is. But not all people coming out of Egypt are of a true heart. Many are leaving because of hurts and offenses or maybe just because their spouse and friends are. But in their hearts, they cannot give up the cucumbers, melons, and garlic of Egypt. They need their senses stimulated. So they whine and complain about the lack of music and teaching once they are out. They complain about the lack of friends and social programs. They need and need and need the artificial Christianity they once had in Egypt. These are the tares among the wheat, planted to incite dissatisfaction with God’s provision.

As a result, many who have left the institutional church take their bread of life and grind “it in mills,” “beat it in a mortar,” and “bake it in pans.” They try everything to get it to resemble that with which they were familiar in Egypt.

Rather than try to imitate Egypt, why not just go back? Clearly, that is where your heart is. Don’t bring down the spirits of the true pilgrims with your “lust” for the pleasures of Egypt.

The Bread Of Life

Deuteronomy 8:3 KJV

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Manna did taste good, but it was far from completely satisfying. So is Christianity. We all know that there are pleasures in the flesh that work contrary to our spiritual lives. God allows this conflict to exist so that we can learn what activities benefit which areas of our lives. We quickly learn that engaging in ungodly conversation and activity with the unsaved has devastating results in our spiritual lives, and conversely, engaging in spiritual activity and worship has devastating results in our carnal lives. Now God could have caused onions, melons, and garlic to grow in the desert, but satisfying their hunger would never cause them to wonder for what they are really hungering.

People write us every week about how lonely they are in institutional churches, and others write us about how lonely they are since they left. But they just don’t put it together. The reason they feel lonely in a crowd and are still lonely when they are on their own has nothing to do with people. They are hungering for something that only God can fill. These people need to learn what God tried to get the children of Israel to understand: “Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” If you are lonely, then thank God for it! Thank Him for driving you to the brink of insanity. Thank Him for causing you to come to the understanding that you do not desire the bread of man but the bread of God.

John 6:31-58 KJV

31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

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.

You will not find the bread of life in all of the hype at your church. You will not find it in the sermons that are preached. You will not find it in the books you read or the Bible studies you attend. The bread of life is waiting for you just outside the door of your tent. But it won’t last long. As you quickly spin into all the chores and obligations that need to be met, it slowly melts away. The inspiration that you so desperately need, the renewal of heart that you earnestly desire, the revelation that God has customized for you and you alone will soon be lost forever. It will not be there tomorrow or ever again, for the bread of life is new every morning.

Conclusion

Only by ignoring the meaning of Ephesians 4 has an elite class of Christians known as “clergy” been able to elevate themselves and strip God’s people of their purpose. As they teach it, God’s people no longer have a function. Their purpose is to become perfect through attending church as spectators and listening to sermons. All Christians intuitively know that is wrong.

Many contemporary ministers truly believe they are great men of God. The truth is that the majority of these men are simply preventing the saints from developing spiritually. And it is this lack of this development among the saints that is preventing these same ministers from developing into great men of God like the original apostles and prophets. That which most ministers earnestly desire to develop in their own lives will never be realized because their own actions prevent the people of God from developing into what they ought to be. By protecting their own turf and holding back others, they are also preventing their own development.

There is nothing wrong with the bread of life. The wrong is in our own hearts. Is Jesus really enough? Institutional churches have so many wonderful things. They have great praise and worship teams. They have articulate and educated preachers. They have wonderful social programs for our families. But where is the bread of life in all these things? Their programs are designed to stimulate our senses. They captivate our attention. They add to the boatload of useless knowledge we already have, but they cannot transform us spiritually. The only way for this to happen is if we get hungry, hungry for something that institutional churches are determined never to allow. If you get hungry, you will soon realize that you are alone in a crowd, that the people who surround you are shallow, and that the preachers are fake. You will find yourself hungering for something that cannot be satisfied in their entertainment. You need Jesus. You need the bread of life.

If church is something that you attend dutifully, then just remember your family will feel the same way. Do they go out of obligation? Then something is wrong. Stop looking to churches and pastors for answers and spiritual fulfillment, because it’s waiting for you at your very own home. Your manna, the manna that God has designed specifically for you, is waiting for you. It is found, not in a crowd of people, but in the intimacy of your relationship with Him. What you miss today will never be again, so don’t let a single day escape. Look around. It’s within reach. But grasp it quickly before it melts away.

Amen.

kmsrjs@triton.net (use the same address for MSN Messenger)

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