Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: manna

  • Unless the Father draws you – Bread from Heaven

    Unless the Father draws you – Bread from Heaven

    Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life…

    John 6:35a

    A group of hopeful Jews has begun following this Son of Man from place to place looking for signs that He IS the Messiah of the One God. Now we turn to a sign Jesus shows to five thousand followers in a remote place where He provides bread and fish from the lunch packed for one young man.

    Miracles & Signs by Jesus

    • The Lord once again makes clear His purpose in Jerusalem.

    John 5:

    “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. – John 5:39-40

    What Scriptures? The Jewish Scriptures, of course. And the proofs religious leaders demand will undermine their own earthly authority if Jesus produces such convincing miracles.

    Yet like the Prophets the Jews recognized, including John the Baptist, Jesus also points to our natural disobedience of God from these same scriptures.

    45 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.

    Once again Jesus offers us a choice between obedience and turning away from God, not between signs or disbelief.

    46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

    Exodus 16:

    2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

    וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־יֹ֣ום בְּיֹומֹ֔ו לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתֹורָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃

    Exodus 16:4 WLC

    4 Then said the LORD unto Moses,

    Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

    Note the significance of the sign of the bread:

    Genesis

    In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. – Genesis 3:19 KJV on consequence of man’s sin of disobedience to the Lord God

    And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. – Genesis 14:18 KJV

    And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

    Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

    Matthew 26:24-26 NKJV

    Communion – Bread from Heaven

    The Apostles will later understand a communion with Jesus witnessed after they depart from Jerusalem with Jesus a second time.

    A mountainside overlooking the Sea of Tiberias, Galilee

    • John 6: 2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. 3 Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

    The men numbered about five thousand. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated.

    14 When the people saw the sign [the feeding of 5000 with five loaves of barley bread and two fish] he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

    John 6:14 CSB

    How would we follow the Messiah?

    15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king…

    These disciples of the big crowd of ‘believers’ were no different from us. We prefer to lead the Lord, to have Him follow us our way. Jesus perceives how some would make Him an earthly King of the Jews. (Even the Apostle Judas had hoped for this.)

    The Lord walks away from the crowds and the next day miraculously reappears on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

    Capernaum, Galilee on an opposite shore of the Sea

    relief map of seashore surrounding Sea of Galilee with towns noted from Tiberias on west shore to Bethsaida in hills to the north & Kursi on eastern shore
    • John 6: 23 Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

    26 Jesus answered [those who crossed the sea and found Him in Capernaum],

    “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled…

    “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”

    30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

    We have already rejected the signs

    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.

    For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

    John 6:32-33 NKJV

    It’s nearly the Gospel of John 3:16 restated, but here Jesus clearly states that some of the Jews have rejected the Messiah just as most of the world will reject eternal life.

    And Jesus said to them,

    “I am the bread of life.

    He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

    John 6:35 NKJV

    “… 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day…

    57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”

    Bread from Heaven – מָן

    When we encounter the miracles of God, when our eyes open to see the Son of God come down from heaven we still ask, “What is it?“

    58 “This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.

    He who eats this bread will live forever.”

    59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

    60 Therefore many of His disciples… [followers, that is, in addition to some of the Apostles] questioned Jesus and many later turned away.]

    More signs to the Apostles

    Some of the Apostles witnessed signs privately away from the crowds. One of these had already taken place between His sign of the bread to the five thousand and preaching about it in the synagogue at Capernaum.

    On the Sea of Galilee

    יַמּא דטבריא; גִּנֵּיסַר
    Lake Tiberias – Rome’s name for Kinneret [Sea of Galilee]
    • … Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

    Do you fear the Living God?

    Do you honor the Son?

    20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

    What next?

    Jesus concludes this current teaching about the Father sending the One Son by asking the Apostles about the Spirit of God.

    What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?

    It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.

    The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

    John 6:62-63 NKJV

    They will see the ascension of the Son of Man, risen from Sacrifice of crucifixion and death!

    The Apostles, some who had witnessed the Voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, will receive the Spirit. They witness Jesus’ words of life.

    Will you with ears to hear and a heart open to receiving the life of the Spirit receive the Word – the truth and the life of Jesus?

    For He IS the bread which came down from heaven to satisfy forgiveness of our sins and fill us with the Good News of eternal life.

  • The Time Is Near For Our Church – Pergamum

    The Time Is Near For Our Church – Pergamum

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ

    John to the seven churches

    Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

    “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, … to Pergamum…

    16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

    “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

    20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

    Christ, our risen Lord and Savior holds in His right hand the angels of the churches. Christ, our returning Lord and Savior stands in the presence of His golden churches – the believers to be taken-up along with those who have gone before us.

    Yet each letter to the churches is specific to a group of believers: praise for faithfulness and call to continued faith. For not all who say, “Lord, lord,” will be taken-up. Not all who say, “Lord, lord,” will stand as a light of witness as a lampstand on His right. For some will be separated to the King’s left and He will say of those who did not glimmer with the light of Jesus, “I never knew you.”

    And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. – Matthew 25:46 KJV

    Therefore: The warnings for the seven churches are addressed to the saints of every generation until the last.

    You with ears to hear, let the scripture of Revelation speak to your eternal soul.

    the_seven_churches_of_revelation

    City of Science … and Satan?

    pergamon hill

    Pergamum
    Pergamum

    Pergamon’s strategic location along both land and sea trading routes contributed to its prosperity. Pilgrims from all over the Mediterranean region would flock to the city to engage in commerce or to visit the famous Ascelpion, a center of medical treatments.

    Perched atop a windswept mountain along the Turkish coastline and gazing proudly—almost defiantly—over the azure Aegean Sea sit the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Pergamon.

    The modern visitor approaches the site from the steep and winding road that leads from the modern Turkish city of Bergama just a few miles away. Upon reaching the ruins, the commanding panoramic view from Pergamon’s 1,000-foot-high perch makes it easy to understand how this city once dominated the entire region.

    Antipas, a Christian bishop of Pergamum, was believed to have been martyred here at the end of the first century A.D., around the time when many scholars believe the Book of Revelation was composed. The execution of their bishop certainly would not have endeared the city to its Christian inhabitants, and the Biblical reference to the city is reflective of the general tension between Christian and pagan communities at the end of the first century A.D. – 7/16/2013 article excerpt- Sarah Yeomans

    Revelation 2:12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

    Mention of this “sword” occurs only once outside of Revelation.  It is a very large sword.

    1. properly a long Thracian javelin, also a kind of long sword wont to be worn on the right shoulder

    Simeon, after having dedicated the baby Jesus said: “For my eyes have seen Your salvation .” – Luke 2:30

    Then Simeon turned to Mary and also prophesied: “yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also…” – Luke 2:35a

    13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

    Pergamum theatrePersecution of first century Christians, familiar to us by fictional accounts of actual incidents in Rome, were common throughout the Roman Empire.

    The martyrdom could have taken place at this famous pagan temple or in their large amphitheater.

    Pergamum or Pergamos is just one city where Christians were persecuted and killed for cruel sport.  (Ephesus, as you may recall from Paul’s later letters, is another.)

    14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent.

    John 15:19 [The words of Jesus:]

    If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

    Jesus expects the church to be different from the world. We are NOT like the worshipers of idols and unbelievers.

    Christ reveals through John “some there who hold the teaching of Balaam.”

    Do you recall the donkey speaking to the Prophet to preserve his life from the sword of the angel?

    Numbers 22:23 And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand…

    IF a Prophet of God may risk execution for disobedience, surely a Christian in a faithful church may also be warned for standing too close to sin.

    Once again the issues are idol worship, sexual immorality, and false teaching.

    Has anything changed from these temptations up to this 21st century, dear faithful believer?

    Yet, be encouraged that our All-Powerful risen and returning Lord may wield a large sword in your defense against the world, IF you remain faithful.

    * In verse 15:

    • 1. Notice that the church in Ephesus hated the “deeds” of the Nicolatians (2:6)
    • 2. Now in this church in Pergamos, (the infiltrated church), it has become “doctrine” = teachings!
    • 3. Ephesus hated their deeds as the Lord hated their deeds. Now Pergamos allows what God hates!
    • a) The Lord has always hated when anyone “lords” over His people but Himself!!

    Revelation 2:16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

    Repent! But IF NOT, come I to you without delay, indeed to war against the same with the edge of the sword of my mouth. {see concordance}

    * Verse 16: 

    1. Repentance is not mere “I’m sorry!” It must be a change of heart and actions!

    2. If we, as the Lord messengers and servants, do not admonish and stand for the truth, HE WILL!!!

    * Commentary of John Brown

    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.’

    * b) A white stone with a new name!

    (1) No one knows for sure what this allude to but there used to be a custom of voting for an accused criminal with a black and a white stone.

    (2) If the white stones outnumbered, the criminal was set free!

    (3) Through our faith in Jesus as Lord as Savior, the white stone has been cast, we have been set free!!

    (a) And along with that freedom as slaves to this world, we have been given our FATHER’S name! It will be written in the Lamb’ Book of Life!!!

    NEXT: Thyatira