Manna

Wayne Matthews

April 23, 2022

Welcome, brethren, to this seventh-day Sabbath.

Most in the western world have heard the story, the true story about God providing His people, the physical nation of Israel at that time, manna in the wilderness. The truth is only those with God’s holy spirit can learn the spiritual lessons and understand spiritually the events that took place. Because a lot of people would think, “Ah, well, I’ve heard the story about manna, about feeding the children of Israel in the wilderness.” But it actually wasn’t about that, really. It was actually about the seventh day Sabbath.

So, here we are in (we’re going to turn there) Exodus 16, which is before the codified law in Exodus 20. God is pointing Israel to the seventh day Sabbath before it was in a codified law. And the way people think is, “Oh, yes, it was about manna in the wilderness, food for the children of Israel,” and that’s true. But in actual fact it was actually spiritual in nature, and it’s meant for us because it’s pointing to something which mankind (if they read the story fully) would understand. This is actually about the seventh day Sabbath. It’s not about a Sunday, it’s about the seventh day Sabbath.

God’s motive for giving Israel manna was based on what His motivation is, which is love. For the first component, look at it physically, yes, giving physical manna for them, food to eat was based on love. But there’s another part which is about the Sabbath, and the Sabbath is based on love. Because we understand the seventh day Sabbath was given for the purpose of us and our spiritual growth, to grow on a Sabbath. That’s when God’s word is poured out. That’s when the spiritual manna is given, on a Sabbath, God’s word.

The title of todays sermon is Manna. The purpose of the sermon is to look at what spiritual lessons we can learn (because there is more than one) from the time when God provided Israel, physical Israel, physical manna.

We’re going to start in Exodus 16. Now, this is after the bitter waters were made or healed. They were made sweet. They were healed, and that’s done by God. There’s lessons in that but that’s not the purpose of todays sermon. We’re going to look at what manna is really all about.

Exodus 16:1—And so they journeyed from Elim, which means “place of strength,” and all the congregations of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which means “place of clay,” which is between Elim and Sinai. Now, this is Sinai in Arabia not Sinai in Egypt. A lot of people get confused and think that it was in Egypt. But it’s not, it was in Arabia.

…on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. So, here we have it, it’s one month after they left Egypt, which we understand was on the fifteenth day of the first month, first day of Unleavened Bread.

Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained (murmured). This sounds familiar doesn’t it? The whining started pretty quickly. They’re whining about the water, now they’re complaining about “We don’t have a lot of food to eat.” They complained against Moses and Aaron.

So, there’s a spiritual lesson there. Here we have God who has chosen Aaron and appointed Moses to do a particular role in serving the children of Israel, which is leading them, taking them out of Egypt. Well, we’re the same. We look at now, we have leadership within God’s Church and it’s about us coming out of Egypt, taking them out of Egypt. Along the way there’s lessons to learn. Because we are first called, we don’t learn straight away all of the things that we need to learn. There’s a lifetime of learning. Never stops; there’s always something to learn.

So, here we have the children of Israel, they’re complaining against Moses, the leadership, because they really don’t (they’re physical), they haven’t understood what it’s about. It’s like us complaining today about the ministry. You think, “Oh, well, they don’t do ‘this’ and they’re not doing ‘that,’ and this person is doing ‘that.’” Well, there’s big warnings there. Be very careful.

It’s about going back to God’s government, the fourth truth that we have, but it's also, there’s another aspect to this, it’s about “complaining about another man’s servant.” You know, God’s not a man, but the servants of God, be very careful, because there’s warnings in the Bible everywhere about complaining or talking against another man’s servant. The lesson in that of course, we understand, is spiritual. We have to be very careful about the way we think toward others in government structures.

Verse 3—The children of Israel said to them, Oh, that we would have died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt. So, this is pretty negative thinking. “We’d be better off dead than being here, than being delivered out of Egypt. We’d be better off dead.” …when we sat down by the pots, because they used to have pots of meat, and when we ate bread to the full.

They’re looking back now and they’re forgetting what it was really like being in captivity, being in slavery, and just remembering the one component which is this pot of meat and the bread. You know, “We used to eat it and those were the good old days.” But they’re forgetting all the other parts, the slavery and what it was like to be in slavery at that time.

Continuing on there, For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. So, it’s a physical focus about food.

Then the Eternal said to Moses, Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota everyday. Why? So, we see now, one, yes, there’s manna going to be given, and God explains why. That I may test them whether they will walk, which is to live in My law or not. So, it’s a spiritual test. You think, you know, manna, what is it really? Well, manna was actually given as a test to see.

Well, it’s exactly the same today. Spiritual food is given, particularly on a Sabbath, to us by the power of God’s holy spirit, and it’s a test. Because, yes, we can hear words spoken but the issue is will we walk, which is to live “in My laws or not.” Will we follow the instructions? Will we live what we’re told.

Now, we’re told often about overcoming self and you know, to be awake, to be aware. They’re all warnings to say, well, are we walking in Gods ways? Are we living it? Are we implementing it? Because it is so easy to hear things and then just come to the next Sabbath without doing anything because we’re not implementing it. We can hear it, sound’s good, yep, I agree with that, but do nothing in our own physical life. Now that’s the challenge.

Israel was now being tested. Are they going to follow the instructions or not? The manna was provided as a test. That same test exists today only it’s spiritual. The Sabbath is a test commandment. The test is, will we keep the Sabbath by living it? Because there’s a lot more in that statement, will we keep it?

I’ll reminisce. There was one time when I felt reasonably secure when I was looking for employment and I had to go to a job interview, and I went to what would be considered a Jewish company. The mistake I made was thinking because they’re Jewish that they would be Sabbath keepers, which they said they were.

I went to the interview and in the interview the managing director at that time turned around and said to me, “Well, yeah, you know, you know we’re a Jewish company and we keep certain rules and that.” I said, “Yep.” He said, “But we work Saturdays in head office. Being part of management, we work between eight and twelve every Saturday, then you can do what you want.”

That sort of blew me away a little bit. I think, “You’re expecting me to work between eight and twelve when you’re a so-called Jewish company and keep the Sabbath.” I said, “Oh.” They said, “So, you know, you’d be required.” I said, “Well, I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t do it.” Because it’s a test commandment as we know. I said (whether I was wise or not), I’m not sure now. I’d done it, said, “Now, if it’s a mandate, you require it, I’ll do it on a Sunday. I’ll do eight to twelve on a Sunday.” And he said, “Okay.”

Because I thought that I needed the job at that time, and I thought, that’s what I’ll do. Well, I did that for it was a couple of years I think, I did that. To go to work sometimes at 7:30 in the morning or sometimes even 6:00 in the morning so that I could, you know, fulfill those four hours that they required. There were many other things that were quite amazing that in the end, in a lot of the meetings, they’d turn around and say, “What’s the Day of Atonement, again, Wayne?” Because their idea of fasting on the Day of Atonement is completely different than what the Bible says.

They, in the end, they were deferring to me, asking me questions about, you know, “When is this day?” “What Holy Day is this?” But they never kept them, but they’d still ask when they were because they had certain rituals that they would have a meal, a particular meal on that night, then they’d go to work.

The Sabbath is a test commandment. Although many people say that they keep the Sabbath, it’s a test to see whether or not we’re going to implement what we hear into our life or not. That’s what the test really is because it’s a spiritual matter.

We prove God’s word by living it. We’ve heard many a sermons about this, about testing things. So, it’s not about studying the Bible and looking and see whether what’s said is right or wrong and all that sort of thing according to our opinion. This is about what we hear given by God, whether we actually implement it and then live it, whether we actually do it. Because that’s what it’s about.

Manna is spiritual food. Really, it’s the word of God. Truth. Now, as we know, God says His word is truth. So, the issue really comes down to God’s word. The manna, the spiritual component, is about God’s word and whether we’re going to implement it into our life.

Now, manna, spiritual food is provided by God. It’s provided through an apostle, and we prove it by the power of God’s holy spirit. Because out of all of this nobody can consume spiritual manna without the gift of God’s holy spirit. Absolutely impossible.

The question boils down to: Will we walk in God’s law or not? Which is spiritual. The test today is about obedience to God, and will we follow the instruction that God provides in His Church? That’s the real crux of the matter.

Verse 5—And it shall be on the sixth day… Now, we understand the sixth day is a Friday. We understand that. It’s a preparation day, what’s known as a preparation day. Now, remember this is before Exodus 20, which is before Mount Sinai, the giving of the law. Here is the implementation of letting Israel know about a day. Because it was known by others, but Israel here didn’t know what this day was, they never kept it. But here God is letting them know it was required.

…that they shall prepare what they bring in. So, they’re going to be provided so that they go out and get it. In other words, on that day, the sixth day. And it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. On day six they were to go out and they were to work to pick this manna, but they were to pick double so that it lasted for the seventh day.

Then Moses and Aaron said to the children of Israel, At evening you shall know, which is prove, the proof that will be provided by God, that the Eternal has brought you out of the land of Egypt. Now, this we understand on a spiritual level is about us being called out of spiritual Egypt. We understand that the only one that can draw us out of Egypt, spiritual Egypt, is God, Yahweh Elohim. We know that because we know. We know that it’s all about the gift of God’s holy spirit because we’ve heard it come out and start to think differently.

Now, if we’d used our natural carnal mind we might be called out and stick to our natural carnal mind. Well, it’s not going to work because we will soon turn around and disagree with God. We need the power of God’s holy spirit to be able to enable us to view things of what God says and go, “Ah, yes, that’s what I will do.” It’s about proving our calling, which is about listening to God. It is God that calls us out of this world’s way of thinking. The truth that is provided by God is the proof.

Now, we have 57 Truths and there’s many more truths that are not documented as truths, but we understand, so the knowledge we have is really quite incredible. Sometimes when going back over different aspects of things you realize how different in the way of thinking that we are. The longer a person is in the Body of Christ and has access to God’s holy spirit the more powerful that knowledge is because we realize we just are completely different.

We often talk in the car that Chris and myself, we don’t fit anymore, in the sense that we don’t fit in this world. Like you, we just don’t fit. We don’t belong. We’re just outcasts. Everything that’s going on and all, we just realize we don’t fit. We just disagree with so much the world is doing so we don’t fit anymore.

Well, that’s a good thing. That’s a good thing that we don’t fit because we don’t fit into the world’s system. We don’t want the world’s system; we want a new system. We often talk about there’s going to be a lot of people that aren’t going to like God’s way. Because unless you’ve got God’s holy spirit, and we’re given that gift from God, we can’t think differently. We’ll just think naturally. A natural carnal mind will be our view and our opinion.

There’s going to be a lot of people that aren’t going to like what’s coming. They, you know, see the change, but when they start to implement all of these changes that are going to take place (because you’re so used to this whole system), they have to come to a point where they’re like us, you don’t fit in the old system, but you’ve got to fit into the new system.

It starts with Sabbath keeping. That’s the first thing, keeping the Sabbath, and if you don’t keep the Sabbath there’s going to be a penalty to be paid. Because if you don’t keep the Sabbath you’re not going to learn or grow spiritually, which is what today is about for us.

Exodus 16:7—and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Eternal; for He (Yahweh Elohim) hears your complaints against the Eternal. Now, they would have been a bit shocked about that because when they were thinking about complaining, they were complaining against Moses and Aaron, and now it’s said, “Ah, you’re complaining against God.” “What do you mean complaining against God? We’re complaining against you.” Because that’s the same on a spiritual level.

It’s about government. It’s God’s holy spirit. It’s a way God works is through a structure, therefore, when you complain against the structure you’re really complaining against God. They would have probably been taken back a bit by that because it was something new to them in their thinking. Even though they’re physical, carnal people it’d still be difficult to comprehend.

“He hears your complaints against the Eternal.” The lesson there that we can grasp is that nothing, nothing is hidden from God, absolutely nothing. So, when a person thinks a certain way even though they don’t say anything or act it a particular way, but they think it, God is fully aware of it. Nothing is hidden from God. That’s why we need to be very careful, because all our thoughts are known by God, and therefore, there comes a time when negative thinking comes in or wrong thinking comes in there’s a time to shut it down, to cry out to God to shut it down. Because it’s natural that you’ll have particular thoughts. We all have those thoughts and it’s just normal, and think something, be aware of it, and shut it down. Understand, in other words, what’s really going on.

But what are we, that you complain against us? So, Moses now, and Aaron, are saying, “Well, who are we that you want to complain against us?”

Verse 8—Also, Moses said, This shall be seen when the Eternal gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full. It shall be seen that God, and it should be seen by others that God is transforming our thinking. Now, that’s something that should be seen. Here God is going to perform a miracle, but really, if we’re called into the Body of Christ there should be evidence provided that our thinking is being changed.

Now, it starts with the Sabbath. That’s the first evidence that you’re a bit strange, we’re a bit strange because that’s the evidence. Because our thinking’s now changing and we realize, ah, there’s a requirement to keep the seventh day Sabbath, but not only that, we understand why we are to keep the seventh day Sabbath.

The seventh day Sabbath is about spiritual growth. It’s about the explanation of the word of God. The word of God is poured out to us by the power of God’s holy spirit, and therefore, that’s how we grow, because God teaches us on this day. When you look back how God created the Sabbath and He created it by resting, which was the example, to rest, well we’re to rest physically, but there is this big spiritual component to it. Resting physically is only one component. The main component of the Sabbath is about the power of God’s holy spirit and God’s word where we then have the power to grow to think differently.

So, this transformation of the mind should be seen by others by the way we behave towards others because we’re growing in love. Because our own love is useless, but God’s love is different, so it should be seen by others that we are different. We would respond differently than we did before we were called. So, things happen in our life, but the old person that we were would respond a particular way and people would see it. That’s the evidence. Now they would see it as something different; we respond differently and they go, “That’s not the person I knew before,” because we’re responding differently than the way we did.

Moses says, Who are we that you would complain against us? But you’re actually complaining against God. So, the spiritual principle is about Church government and don’t judge another man’s servant, because what really is happening when we start to judge another man’s servant—we’re judging God’s servant, for example—we’re actually elevating ourselves up to be as powerful as God is because we become the judge.

The main focus that we can learn out of that, the most important thing if we’re going to make judgments, is to judge self, to look at self, look in the mirror and just look at our own thinking to make sure that we’re examining ourselves on a regular basis so that we see self.

Verse 9—Then Moses spoke to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Eternal for He has heard your complaints, your murmuring, your finding of fault. Now, it came to pass as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel that they looked towards the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Eternal appeared in a cloud and the LORD spoke to Moses, or the Eternal spoke to Moses saying, I have heard the complaints (the grumblings, the complaining) of the children of Israel. Speak to them saying, At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.

Now, naturally what would you think? You’re complaining about meat and bread, you are thinking, would be natural, you’re not thinking manna. You’re thinking, “Hmmm, meat and bread!” Because that’s what you’re used to and that’s what the pots and the bread to the full is all about. It’s a different way of thinking.

Well, they can’t think anything different. They’re not thinking about this manna that God’s going to provide. They’re thinking, “Ah, bread! That’s good. This is good news.”

And you shall know that I am the Eternal. In other words, it’s all coming from God.

Now, we understand that we need to have God’s holy spirit to be able to comprehend what God feeds us. It’s a spiritual principle of proof. Now, the greatest proof other than the truth is our calling. There is no way that we can come out of Egypt without a calling where we see differently, where we see the Sabbath and the importance of the Sabbath.

It’s an incredible thing that we should remind ourselves, brethren, that we are here keeping the seventh day Sabbath because God called us to do this, but the reason we are here is the more important thing. Why are we here? Why the Sabbath? Not just a physical rest, it’s a spiritual matter because it’s about spiritual growth.

Verse 13—So it was that quails, which we understand is small birds, came up at evening, that night, and covered the camp. And in the morning dew lay all around the camp. So, now God has fulfilled what He said He would do.

And when the layer of dew lifted there on the surface of the wilderness was a small round substance. Now, of course, they’re thinking bread not thinking “small round substance.” …as fine as frost on the ground.

Verse 15—So when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is it? We would do the same. Being carnal, you’d say, “What is it?” It’s obviously not bread because bread is cooked in an oven and what’s this, it’s like a fine substance. For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, This is the bread which the Eternal has given you to eat. Now, the reason, of course, they don’t fully understand it yet, but it’s actually going to be a test. But they didn’t understand it.

The spiritual food that we can eat is the word of God, the truth. That’s what we should be consuming on the Sabbath. Christ, we understand, is the bread of life. If you say, well, that’s easy to say, “Christ is the bread of life.” Well, what’s that really all about? Well, we understand that the Word of God was made flesh, so the bread of life, what we can consume, is the word of God, things that he said, that he expounded on a spiritual level. Because we need God’s spirit to be able to understand it. That’s why he said, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” People go, “Well, I…” Still thinking physically.

Well, we understand that we have to consume the spiritual component of God’s word. The very word of God is our bread. We are to live by the very word of God.

If you’d like to hold your place there and look at Deuteronomy 8 we’re going to look at a particular principle that just confirms something.

Deuteronomy 8:1—Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply. Which is for us, to multiply, what’s to multiply? Well, they’d be thinking physical, physical multiplying. Well, of course, this is about spiritual growth. We are to multiply in the knowledge of the truth, we’re to multiply things in our mind. Because when we start out we know very little. We know a few things. Well, we multiply that thinking. In other words, we grow spiritually.

…and go in and possess the land. What’s that about? They’re thinking physical, we’re looking spiritual. So, if we obey God in the spiritual intent of the law we will possess the land. It’s spiritual. We will possess Elohim, something that’s incredible that we can’t fully comprehend at this time, but we know it’s going to be amazing.

Like, if we ever sit down and think we’re going to live forever, what does that mean, forever? And never to sin? It’s difficult from a natural carnal mind to understand that. Forever? What does forever?

It’s often like the same thing as when we turn around and say God has eternally existed. The mind just can’t go there, to be eternally existing. We will never know as much as Yahweh Elohim, ever, because He’s existed forever and we’re in this little point of time, and God willing we will go on to the next forever. But it’s still a point in time which is before then, if you know what I mean. We’ll never know what God knows. It’s never going to be possible. We won’t have enough time to catch up, if you understand what I mean, because it’s the continual existence.

…we go to possess the land which the Eternal swore to your fathers. Yahweh Elohim has sworn to us that He will give us life everlasting. It’s something we can have if—we won’t go into the “if” today—but it points to eternal life with Yahweh Elohim.

And you shall remember that the Eternal your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness—Why?—to humble you and test you. Well, that’s what our life is about, brethren. At some point you can understand there was a calling, and at that point there’s a level of humility that God can work with, and it’s at all different degrees within us.

I can reflect on what happened to me. I used to be a heavy gambler and I used to bid a lot of money. I used to win a lot of money and I used to lose a lot of money. But I was a gambler. Before I was called, I was brought down to think…and in the end for me to bet $5 on anything was a nerve-wracking experience because I couldn’t afford to lose $5. It was stressful.

I realize then, and after now I look back at it all, I realized what was happening to me to humble me so that God could call me. Then God could test me to see what I would do when He revealed through a calling the truth to me, what I would do. The first thing for me was to learn about tithing, would you believe? That’s the first thing, more so than the Sabbath. The first thing I learned was about money. I think back and hmm, that’s interesting, because I loved money! It’s a gamble. That’s what it was all about; I wanted to get. That was my motivation then.

So, once I was humbled then God was able to test me to see what I would do. Well, I was brought so low that tithing was a big challenge. It’s a challenge, really. If you’re a gambler and you’ve got to tithe, “What do you mean 10%.” “What do you mean 20%?” Then it was in gross. It wasn’t on net; this was on gross. A third tithe year was still in existence, which I found out the third year about that. That was my test. It was a test that whether I would obey God or not.

…to know what is in your heart, whether you will keep His commandments or not. So, we’re tested from truth to truth.

I look back at those tests that I’ve been through, which is tithing and Sabbath keeping, they were all tests, and I realize that’s what they really were to see what I would do. Well, we’re often tested now, brethren, in this particular time of God’s Church. It’s about the truth. That we can be tested in the truth. Because when a new truth is revealed by God through an apostle there is a decision to be made. Just like Israel, a decision to make. What are you going to do? How much are you going to pick? Are you going to pick enough or too little? What’s going to happen?

Same thing. When a truth comes out it’s a test because it tests the mind. Now, with the power of God’s holy spirit we can get through it by making the right choices with the understanding that this is God’s true Church, and the truth enters the Church through an apostle. And if we’ve got that grounding no matter what happens we will move forward, we will continue to grow. But we will be tested from truth to truth, that’s just the way that it is today.

Deuteronomy 8:3—So He humbled you, talking about God humbled them, Israel, allowed you to hunger, which is a physical food, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your father’s know. So they knew nothing about it; this is something new. …that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread only... In other words, we have to live by the word of God. That’s what it’s really pointing to. This is something physical, that “man shall not just live by physical bread alone,” but man shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Eternal.

So, it’s not just about man cannot live with just bread alone, we need God’s word, the bread of life. That’s what we need. Because God’s word is life, if we consume it that is.

Luke 4. Now this is Luke 4:4. I’m just going to touch on this. This is when Satan was challenging Christ. There were different points of it and Luke 4:4 says, But Joshua answered him (Satan) saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone—so, we need bread to live physically—but by every word of God. So that’s us, brethren, because it’s spiritual. Remember Christ came to expand that we need the bread of life. We need the bread of life. We need the word of God. That was Luke 4:4.

Today we’ve been called for a reason. We’ve been called for a reason, and it’s spiritual. So, we’ve been called today, and it is all about our intent. It’s about our intent, the spirit of the law. As we’ve talked about before, someone can give money to somebody else and people say, “Oh, that’s good.” Was it? Because the intent of why they gave it could be wrong, therefore, it was actually sin, selfishness.

We have to examine our intent. Now, it’s a difficult thing to do. It’s a difficult thing to do on a regular basis all the time, to say, “What was my intent when I said that?” or “What was my intent when I did that?” Because that’s what the law is about, the intent of the law, the spiritual intent of the law. We strive today to live by every word of God. That’s what we strive to do.

Back to Exodus 16:16—This is the thing which the Eternal has commanded, Every man gather it according to each one’s need. Now, we often think, oh, this is about, one omer each person... So we’re going it, “Well, this is the command.” Well, this is about gathering. So, if you didn’t go out, what happened? You went hungry.

So if we don’t keep the Sabbath, keep it holy, keep it separate, and we don’t listen to what God is giving us, what will happen? We’re going to go hungry because we’re not gathering on this particular day. Well, here they are, they’re told to go out. This is during the week, of course, not on the Sabbath. But for us it’s about the Sabbath, about gathering.

Now, an omer there is about 3-4 litres if you want to look at it in quantity. …according to the number of persons; every man shall take for those who are in his tent. So, if there were two you would gather more, if there was four you would gather more, because it’s three to four litres per person, in other words.

Verse 17—Then the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. According to the household. So when they had 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. So, that’s a good thing that the first time that they gathered as they were told to gather it.

Verse 19, which is a test, And Moses said, Let no one leave any till the morning. So, it’s clear governmental instruction. Notwithstanding—I love that word—Notwithstanding… In other words, hey, hey, they’re going to do the opposite. …they did not heed. They didn’t listen. They didn’t heed Moses, but some of them left part until the morning. Now, we understand when we’re given instructions we should yield to those instructions and not do what we think is right in our own eyes.

…and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry at them. Because they didn’t follow the instructions. Because really, this is physical, but for us, it’s spiritual. It’s this typical human nature. Disobedience brings a curse and negative outcome. This is what’s going to happen. They’re not going to obey God, there’s going to be a consequence for it; there’s going to be a negative outcome. Because everything God does is based on love. It’s for our benefit.

We take that on a spiritual level. On a Sabbath, it’s for our benefit. Not a physical rest (which it is), but a spiritual growth opportunity because we hear what God said. We’re going to live by every word of God, we’re going to implement it into our life, not just listen to it. We go, “I’ve got to change. I’ve got to change something. This is what God says. Even though I don’t fully understand it all on why this is the right way at the moment, but I’m going to implement it because that’s what I’m going to do.”

Verse 21—So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot it melted. It was something they had to do every morning, go out and pick it and in a quantity, and it was a number per household.

And so it was on the sixth day, which we understand is preparation day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. “This is what we’ve done. We’ve followed it.”

Then he said to them, This is what the Eternal has said, Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest. Now, I find it quite fascinating that they’re being told this about the Sabbath before it’s a codified law. Because a lot of people would think, “Ah, the 10 Commandments is about, that’s when you start, the Sabbath was revealed.” But no, the Sabbath has been revealed before this time, but here to Israel it’s being revealed. Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Eternal. Bake what you will bake today and boil what you will boil. So, they had to do all their preparation, their cooking, and lay it up for yourselves, all that remains, to be kept until the morning. In other words, for the Sabbath.

So they laid it up until morning as Moses commanded and it did not stink, nor were any worms in it. So, obedience brings a blessing. That’s another lesson that we can learn from that. Following God will bring a blessing. At the time that instructions might be given we may not fully comprehend the consequences of it all because we may not just think that particular way because everybody thinks slightly differently. But obedience to God brings a blessing even though we may not see that blessing immediately. It may be years down the path that that blessing is poured out.

As we know, there is an example in scriptures. Sometimes it can be a long time down the path that that blessing is poured out on that particular one, if not even a generation later that that blessing for obedience is given on to another family.

Then Moses said, Eat that today for today is a Sabbath to the Eternal. Today you will not find any in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day there will be none. So, it’s a day of rest.

Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather and they found none. In other words, not following instructions. But there’s nothing there. So, what we can learn from this? Understanding God’s word is where the truth is poured out and any outside of God’s Church there is none. It’s no use going somewhere else or disobeying God’s directions because there is nothing there. This is where we will find it. This is the day to consume the manna, the word of God. This is, we understand, God pours out more of His spirit on this particular day than any so that we can consume. Now it’s a matter of what are we going to do with it once we’ve consumed it.

Verse 28—And the Eternal said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandment and My laws? Because there comes a time that, you know, God doesn’t want to bring a curse on a people. It’s a law that He’s put in place. He knows what is best for all. He knows what’s best for us. He knows when to give a truth and when not to, remembering that giving of truth is a blessing, but it’s also a test. It’s a test for us to see what we will do.

Verse 29—See, for the Eternal has given you the Sabbath, therefore, He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place and let no one go out of his place on the seventh day. Because there’s a rest that should take place on that day.

God created the Sabbath by resting. We are to rest physically on the seventh day of the week. Today we rest and listen to what God is providing. It’s spiritual food. It’s manna. It’s spiritual manna that we are consuming. What God gives us each Sabbath is for the purpose of spiritual growth, the transforming of the mind by the power of God’s holy spirit.

Verse 30—So the people rested on the seventh day. Which is, you know, one thing that comes out of this is, we should actually be excited about the Sabbath. Now, when being in isolation, sometimes when the Sabbath is much later, it is more difficult. We find it a little bit more difficult because it just seems so much longer. But we should be excited about listening to the sermon each week that comes. I know, speak on behalf of my wife and myself, we are. We really look forward to what is said because we understand where it’s really coming from. We understand this is about God, it’s about God feeding His people spiritual manna, and whether or not we’re really excited to consume it, whether we really want to take it in.

Verse 30—So the people rested on the seventh day. And the house of Israel called its name Manna, and it was like white coriander seed. If you don’t know what a white coriander seed is you can look it up on the internet and see a photo of a small little seed. …and the taste of it was like wafers, which we would understand, made with honey. That’s what it tasted like to them. So, manna was the physical bread that came down from God that fed Israel for 40 years in the wilderness, and the word “manna” is “what is it?” “What is it?”

One point to remember – that without food we soon become weak physically. Without the bread, physical bread, what happens? Without physical food we become weak physically. When we fast we know what that’s like. The same principle applies with the spiritual. Without God’s holy spirit that enables us to consume spiritual food, which is the word of God, we become weak spiritually. There will be no growth. We’ll become weaker and weaker because we’re not consuming it because we may have cut off the flow of God’s holy spirit because of unrepented sin.

Verse 32—This is the thing which the Eternal has commanded. Fill one omer with it, which is actually a pot, to be kept for your generations that they, so it’s something now that really it was put in, you will see that, where it was put, where they kept some, but it was for future generations to talk about this. Well, here we are, how many hundreds and hundreds of years later we’re talking about it. Because it’s for us, this generation that we are in now. …that they may see the bread which I fed the children of Israel, you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.

So, we’ve been brought out of the spiritual Egypt, and we are now consuming the same manna. Only now we understand it’s spiritual.

Verse 33—Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot, which we understand is a golden pot, and put an omer of manna in it and lay it up before the Eternal to be kept for your generations.

Hold your place in Exodus 16. We understand that, verse 34, Aaron did it.

Hebrews 9:1, we’ll see that Aaron followed the instructions that he was given. Hebrews 9:1—Then indeed even the first covenant had ordinances and divine service, and the earthly sanctuary. Physical. For the tabernacle was prepared; the first part, in which was the lamp stand, the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, which we understand is the Holiest of Holies, and part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which, so inside that was where the golden pot that had the manna.

So we can see that they followed the instructions, Aaron did it, and the priesthood was to look after the manna that was there. …Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Now, you think, well, why are those things in there? Well, we understand it’s for something futuristic, but it was really these three things revealed the very power of God. Because God provided the manna. When Aaron’s rod budded it was God. You can’t have a wood rod, a dried-up wood rod that buds. God has to do it. So, God is all powerful. The tablets of the covenant, which is about God’s law, the law of love. So, this shows God’s power. It points to God’s holy spirit. The law is spiritual, as we understand.

Return to Exodus 16:35—The children of Israel ate manna for forty years until they came into an inhabited land, which we understand. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. Now, an omer is one-tenth of an ephah. Now, we’re going to look at that, the size of it, if we get that far when God provided the doves for them to eat and how they became obsessed with it and became glutinous, really.

If you’d like to turn to Numbers 11:1. I don’t know how far we’re going to get with a lot of this but Numbers 11:1. This is the people complaining again. Now, when the people complained again it displeased the Eternal for the Eternal heard it and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Eternal burned among them and consumed them in the outskirts of the camp. So really, we look at that spiritually and say, “What is complaining?” Complaining is selfishness. “It’s not going my way.” No matter what we complain about, it’s actually selfishness. It’s not the way “I” think, or it’s not the way “I” want it. It’s just an outward sign of selfishness really.

It's another sign of being unthankful, and you’ll see here that what the children of Israel did was actually selfishness and being very unthankful for what God had already provided them.

Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Eternal the fire was quenched, it was extinguished. So he called the name of the place Taberah, which means “burning,” because the fire of the Eternal had burned among them.

Verse 4—Now the mixed multitude, which because it was Israel and there were gentiles there as well, who were among them yielded to intense cravings. So, this is an interesting. It’s about lusting intently. In other words, it’s in the mind and it consumes the thinking where that’s basically all you can think about because it’s this desire and it’s just so intense that it consumes the thinking and that’s all that’s really there anymore. That’s what you want, you have to have it, and it just consumes everything you’re thinking.

So the children of Israel also wept again, which means they’d done it before, and said, Who will give us meat to eat? So, you can see it’s overtaken them, that they now are very unthankful about what God has done. Israel joined in this attitude with the gentiles. They’re all involved in it, and really it goes back to our motive.

One of the things we have to be very careful that our attitudes and the things that we say and do don’t affect others. Because this is what’s happening here. When somebody gets an attitude about something we have to be on guard ourselves. We don’t have to worry about all the others, we’ve got to worry about self first, that we don’t take it all on. Because this is what’s happening. Someone’s got an attitude, and someone starts, you know, carrying on about a particular thing, yielded to their intense cravings, and it affects others, and it affects others.

That’s what happens, we understand, in the Church. Someone’s attitude can affect someone else and actually take them out of the Body of Christ. Because we might have an attitude about something and it’s best to just keep it and deal with it and fight it ourselves. But if we then give it out to someone else we may conquer what we’ve done and repent of it and move on. The other person may not. We may have, because of our attitude, caused them to think a particular way and they’re just not strong enough to overcome it. Yet we’ve repented and moved on and they haven’t.

It's a dangerous thing when we have an attitude, that we spread that attitude, if it’s a negative attitude, anything against God’s way of life for example. We should always try to reflect and strive to reflect a spirit of unity and not be in disagreement.

If a person has an issue that they’re thinking about, they need to take it to God and deal with it. If we have to go to a brother alone, for example, that’s fine, but first of all we need to go to God and try to work out what condition we’re in because people can go to their brother alone in the wrong attitude—history has shown that—and it’s a self-righteous attitude. So, we need to be very careful. The main focus is worry about our own attitude first, then we can deal with it once we’ve worked out our attitude, why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Our example is noted by others, good or bad. Now, we don’t often think that. I know I fail in that area often. Where our attitude can be reflected and seen by others, yet we can’t even see our own attitude, but others see it. We need to be careful what attitude we are in and how we reflect it.

Now, this can be out of the world. Others note our attitude and as we were talking here before, one of the greatest dangers that, you know, we’re yielding at the moment of scanning, having tick codes, injections, and all the rules. We follow all the rules, because the last thing we would need was someone to come in here as an inspector and find that we haven’t followed the rules and we’re having a meeting in a hall. Because what would it do? “Who were you again?” “Church of God….” “Church of God—PKG.” We represent God. So, that’s why we follow the instructions because we want to reflect out that we are obedient to governments unless it contradicts God’s word. So, our example can be noted by others.

It's interesting in Victoria at the moment, that unless you’re double-vaxxed you can’t get your hair cut. Whereas other people in other countries would think we’re all crazy people. But that’s true! You cannot go and get a haircut unless you’re double-vaxxed. And you think, we’re going to have a lot of long-haired people running around, aren’t we? I’m sure they’re going to buy one on the internet for $250 and get away with it.

The main point here that we need to take on is that when you see, read things like this and you think, “Oh, those Israelites and those gentiles, you know, whining, carrying on, and having intense cravings,” well, the issue really comes back to us spiritually we need to check our self. That’s what it’s really all about. Let’s check ourselves first before we do anything just to make sure our attitudes aren’t being reflected out or affect other people.

Then they go on and say, We remember… (this is verse 5) We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, and the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. So, they’re looking back. Now, time won’t permit me to do it but there’s a time to look back for a particular reason. The example that’s given in scripture is about Lot’s wife looking back and was turned into a pillar of salt. The issue there is it’s not just looking back. They were told not to look back so it was disobedience, but the issue for us looking back is looking back so that we can learn where we’re making mistakes. So, we’ve learned from it.

But looking back with a longing for something, that was sin, that’s the danger. When something in the world, we look back to and think, “Ah,” and there was a pleasure in that—there’s a temporary pleasure in sin—there’s a pleasure in that. To look back and think, “Oh, I miss that.” That’s the danger. But we should be looking back going, “Yeah, I remember the times I said that or did that and that was sin, and I don’t want that!” So, there’s a looking back but there’s a looking back.

So here the children of Israel are looking back and longing for something that was sin. They’re going, “Oh we’re unthankful. This is what we want. Look at all we had” to go “and look where we are now!” Now, “The whole thing is being dried up; the whole is being dried up. You know, we’re starving to death here.” There is nothing all except this manna. “There is nothing at all but this manna!” So, this is being unthankful.

If we ever get in this attitude where we become unthankful at all we need to stop, look at self, and look at the 57 Truths, and then realize our calling. How could you ever be unthankful for anything, the position we’re in, financially, whatever. We should never be unthankful because we were called out of the billions of people (now there’s over 7 billion, I think it is). We are so minute, but we’re important to God, so important to God. So, we should be so thankful about everything, and we should be monitoring self a lot, especially when it comes to the Sabbath, taking on what God says.

Verse 6—But now our whole being is dried up and there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes. So, they were very unthankful, and they didn’t have vision. This is something that we can take on board as well, about our vision.

The scripture talks about “Without vision, the people perish.” We have a vision, brethren. That vision is about enduring to the end, conquering self, overcoming self, the negativity in our minds, the carnal mind, and the vision is that at a point at time we will enter Elohim.

But between now and then there’s a lot going to happen. The most important thing is that we keep our vision. Why are we doing all this? Why are we going through this? All those out there aren’t doing any of this. They’re not checking self; they’re just letting self go like we used to.

No, we’re checking self for a reason, to bring ourselves into obedience to God’s word because we want to be transformed. We don’t want to be this way anymore. We don’t want to hurt others. We don’t want to disobey God. So, that’s what it’s really about. Whenever we get stuck in a particular environment we should just stop, take a deep breath, and remember our calling. There’s been sermons on that and scriptures about just stop and remember our calling. It’s unique. It is so unique. So, we have to be very careful not to lose our vision and become unthankful for the truth.

If you want to read Lot’s wife and about turning back, the looking back, it’s looking back to sin, desiring sin, in other words. That’s found in Genesis 19, which we’re not going to go to.

1 John 2:15—Do not love, which is to desire in the mind, the world, the system of get; to be well pleased with it is another way of putting it, to be well pleased with what the world’s offering. So, we’re not to desire those things, to be content with those things. …or the things in the world. So, the things in the world are all based on selfishness, the way of get.

When we say we don’t fit, we don’t, because our life is not about what we can get out of life. Our life is about what we can give to others. That’s our desire. We want to serve; we want to deny our own selfishness in life.

If anyone loves the world, or desires the world (which is about sin), the love (the agape) of the Father is not in him, not in them. It’s referring to God’s holy spirit. So, if we have God’s holy spirit, yes, we will be monitoring self and yes, we will be sacrificing self, what we desire.

Verse 16—For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, which is the desire, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. The carnal mind of selfishness, that’s what we have, that’s what we had to a greater degree. We still have it, but we now have God’s holy spirit which gives us the power to consume the word of God, which means the transformation can take place so we can begin to sacrifice self.

The spiritual scripture as that scripture talks about. You know, it says, “I desire of people that offer spiritual sacrifices.” What are they? We sacrifice every day – we should be. Sacrificing a component of something that we want, our selfishness. Maybe words we’ve said, later on we say, “Oh, shouldn’t have said it that way,” repent of it and move forward. Well, that’s sacrificing self. We’re just willing to destroy it, to give it up.

Verse 17—The world, which is this age, is passing away. It’s destroying itself, and we see that. …and the lust of it. All the desires of it are going to pass away. It’s only a matter of time.

But he who does the will of the Father abides forever. So, what is the will of the Father? The will of God is that we choose Him. It’s our choice whether we want to obey or not. It’s a choice—so that we can be transformed in our thinking and into Elohim. That’s what God really wants. God wants to have a family and He started with us. We understand there is more before us, a hundred and forty odd thousand, whatever it is. We know it’s 144,000. Well, we know it’s not quite complete yet otherwise we would have seen the first Trumpet. So, it’s still a work in progress, but that’s going to be fulfilled. It’s going to happen. We know what it’s all about. It’s about Elohim. It’s about a family.

So, that’s what our will is. Our will should be to deny self, to conquer self, to obey God, to listen to His word, to consume the manna we can on a Sabbath, implement it into our life and endure to the end so that a point in time God will say, “Now I know you, and enter My Family.” Then to be in Elohim forever and the things that we have no real understanding of, what we will be doing. One of the things that personally I look forward to is the ability not to sin, to not say the wrong thing. To me, you know me, a lot of you, for me not be able to open my mouth and sin, I just look forward to that because I know that I fail in that often. But that is just so exciting. It’s worth striving for, to be able to speak to others and not sin. Wouldn’t that be fantastic? I notice a lot of heads nodding there. I didn’t know I was that bad.

So, we understand the will of God is to give us His spirit so that we’re going to have life forever. That’s really His will, what it’s about. It’s a matter of whether we choose to obey Him or not.

Numbers 11:7—Now, the manna was like coriander seed, and its color was the color of [bdellium]. It’s transparent white in color.

The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones, and beat it in the mortar, which we understand is a small bowl and you still see them today, a small bowl and you have it, and you grind it, and you can pound it around. It’s a strong, deep bowl and you pour the substance in it, and you use a pestle, I think it’s called, and you grind it. Well, that’s what they did with the manna.

They cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it, and the taste of it was the taste of pastry prepared in oil. So, it had that sweet honey smell—smell—but taste, I probably should have said. And when the dew fell on the ground in the night, the manna fell on the ground.

Then Moses heard the people weeping outside their families. Now, this is a kind of about this attitude. When people weep, it’s quite incredible. How intense is the craving that a person would start crying out? That’s just staggering. Well, again, this is about how it affects others, which is all about self-pity. This weeping was about self-pity. …everyone at the door of his tent. Now you think, why would you stand at the door of the tent? Because you can see it, it’s obvious, isn’t it, that person over there is unhappy obviously because they’re at the door of the tent and they’re weeping.

…everyone at the door of the tent because they expose their attitude to others, which we understand is a dangerous thing. They expose their opinions, the way they feel, and it affected others. So, if this person is at the door of the tent weeping and carrying on, well, guess what? Others will join in and start wailing and weeping and carrying on because it affects others.

And the anger of the Eternal was greatly aroused; and Moses also was displeased. This is interesting, this area, because this can affect us as humans.

So Moses said to the Eternal, Why have You afflicted me Your servant? This is the burden of leadership, you know, the responsibility.

I must say this. I’m going to run out of time. When Ron talks about the evangelists, you know when Mr. Armstrong was not well and they wanted to take it on, honestly I sit there and think, “You’ve got to be crazy! You’ve got to be absolutely crazy to desire to be the leader of God’s Church on this earth, an apostle. You’ve got no understanding of what it’s really like! None!” Because if you seek that type of role you are actually nuts. You really are! Because why would you want that? Because this responsibility is an incredible burden. You might not think it is but it’s an incredible burden. With the amount of questions that are asked, and all the different matters that happen with spiritually-minded people, it’s quite staggering, but spiritually-minded people, there’s still issues in life in the Church. To take that responsibility, to want it? Well, it staggers me that somebody would want that role.

I don’t mean to speak badly of that role, but you know, it’s a responsibility, it can be a burden. Here is Moses saying, “Why have you afflicted Your servant?” “I’m trying to do the right thing and you’ve given me this people and look at them! They’re all whining and carrying on!” It’s a big responsibility.

…and why have I not found favor in Your sight, that you have laid burden (responsibility) of all the people on me? So there’s a little pity party going on here, you know, “Why me?” Did I, this is Moses talking, conceive all these people? Now, that’s like Ron saying, “Did I call all these people? Did I conceive them?”

Did I beget them and You should say to me, Carry them in your bosom... Oh, this is tough, isn’t it? …as a guardian carries a nursing child, to the land which You swore to their fathers? In other words, “It’s all Your fault. You’re the one who made all these promises.”

So, the thinking. We have to be careful of our thinking. Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? Now, that’s interesting because there’s many aspects to that to different degrees.

People may say, “Where does a person get a sermon from?” Well, if it’s coming from Wayne it’s a pointless exercise, absolutely pointless. Because it has to come from God. It has to be inspired by God’s holy spirit, otherwise, it’s just Wayne. And what’s Wayne? Natural, carnal minded person. But it’s God’s spirit that has to lead it.

This statement, really, can mean a lot to different people. Where am I to get meat (spiritual food) to give to these people? Well, I believe that the people that speak understand where they get it from. It’s got nothing to do with Wayne or others that speak. Absolutely nothing. It’s about God.

So at this point you can look at it and say, “Well, it’s something that people can learn.” It’s not about us, what we would do. Often, we may think you would get in certain situations and say “this” and say “that.” But scripture makes it very clear you’re best to be quiet, and if you’re inspired by God’s holy spirit to say something you will say it.

Remember when, I think it was Peter walking in and the man was healed, which Ron covered. But it’s God that gives it. “It’s not me that does it, that heals, it’s God,” so all the glory has got to go back to God. So, unfortunately here, Moses is, you know, the responsibility has got too much for him. Where’s he going to find the meat? It’s not his responsibility to find the meat, but he’s taking it personally that it’s him that’s doing it. No, it’s not. It’s God’s going to do it.

The lesson here is that the meat, the spiritual food comes from God and not from a human. Now, we either believe that or we don’t, and we either see that or we don’t.

Verse 14—I am not able to bear all the people alone, because of the burden is too heavy for me. It is a big burden to, you know, take the responsibility when there’s things going wrong all the time amongst the people.

If you treat me like this, please kill me here and now. It’s like, “I’d rather not take all this on. Just, you know, get rid of me now and then I don’t have to worry about it anymore. It’s just too big a burden.” I don’t think we’ve got to that point.

If I have found favor in your sight, do not let me see this evil. Because he knows where this is heading. The people are whining and complaining, and he knows where this is going, true? This evil, this sin they’re committing (because it is sin), he sees it and he’s “Oh, this is not going to be good.”

Anyway, we won’t go through that, but basically, God then appoints structure for Moses. He appoints seventy from the people so that there’s a structure there to support, so that as God works like that, in a pyramid, that’s what He’s done with Moses and Aaron. Now there is a structure for Moses to now have others that can communicate more.

Because imagine if you’re the only person and you’ve got all these thousands of people and their whining and complaining, and they want to get to the leadership to talk to them and it’s only Moses. Now at least it can be filtered and spoken through so that at least Moses had now seventy elders that would come to him with the issues of the people of Israel, the congregation of Israel. Because it’s about structure.

So, we can learn spiritual principles there about within a certain area where there’s an elder, we should table those issues through that structure. That’s what it’s there for. It’s there for a support, spiritual guidance and spiritual support rather than everything going to one person.

Drop down to verse 19. So the question was, who’s going to feed them? Well, Moses took it personally. It’s God that’s going to feed them. Verse 19—You shall eat not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days… In other words, you’re going to get a lot of this food you wanted so much you’re weeping and carrying on about. …but a whole month, until it come out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you. It’s like eating steak every day. The first steak is good, the second one is not too bad, the third one is okay, the fourth one, not too sure, the fifth one you don’t want it at all. Well, God said, “Well, you know, I’m going to give you the heap. We’ll see how you go. It’s going to become loathsome.” In other words, “You’re not going to want it anymore.”

…because you have despised, which is, the word is abhor or rejected the Eternal who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, Why did we ever come out of Egypt? Well, there’s lessons there, brethren. I’m not going to go into a lot of that but it’s about our calling and about being thankful Because here the people are being very unthankful using the carnal mind.

Verse 21—And Moses said, The people who I am among, this is Moses speaking, are six hundred thousand on foot, marching army. It’s a lot of people. Six hundred thousand. It’s a marching army. Yet You have said, I will give them meat, that they may eat for the whole month. So, one of the things we can take out of this is we should never limit God. Because that’s an inclination that we can have, we can limit God, that God can’t do it.

So, for example, when it comes to an injection, we understand there’s different principles and things that are due to it, and on a spiritual level we have to be careful we’re not thinking the injection is what will protect us. Because it’s God that will do the protection. But we’ve been given advice and direction on that so we should heed it. But we know that it’s about God. But if God decided that (we might have double doses, for example), but if God decided that time was that was enough at that point, that’s it, and we died from the virus. But we put our trust that God can protect us. Whether He will, that’s His decision. But we trust that He can and if we did get the virus and die it’s the best thing that could ever happen to us. That’s what we believe.

So here we have to be careful we don’t limit God. It’s God that can protect us from anything, and the virus may just be something minor compared to what’s probably coming.

So, verse 20 was the people said to God, they had said, “Why did we ever come out of Egypt?” So, they’re being unthankful. Moses said to the people, “The people whom I am among, the six hundred thousand,” which is verse 21, “I will give them meat.” Which is God saying, “I will give them meat that they may eat for a whole month.” So, there’s plenty there and we need to be careful that we’re not restricting God’s power, which is what was happening.

Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them? So, this is Moses saying, “How are we going to feed six hundred thousand marching men, an army? How are we going to feed them? We’re going to have to kill everything we’ve got, basically, to provide enough for them.

...or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them? In other words, taking it that we think that we can achieve it, that we can achieve these things. No, it’s God that’s going to do it.

And the Eternal said to Moses, Has the Eternal’s arm been shortened? In other words, limiting God: “Is this too hard for Me?” Are we limiting God in His power to protect and guide us? That’s what really is going on. Now you shall see whether what I say will happen or not.

Drop down to verse 31. So, what’s going to happen now is God is going to send the quails for them to eat. Verse 31—Now, the wind went out from the Eternal, and it brought quails from the sea, and left them fluttering by the camp about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side. So that’s a fair way. It would be a few kilometers I would have thought. …all around the camp. So, there is thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands of these birds there, and about two cubits. Now, two cubits is, a cubit can be different measurements that come to 17-20,” so it’s quite high. Two cubits is about 40”. So, it’s over a meter deep.

So, the quail are kilometers all around and they’re that high so you’re talking hundreds of thousands of quails above the surface of the ground. So, they’re about a meter deep or more. And the people stayed up all that day, all night, and all the next night… I don’t think that is what God intended. That just shows you natural carnal mind if we don’t grab a hold of it. …and gathered the quail.

He who gathered least gathered ten homers. Now, ten homers is about 1900 birds. So, each person gathered 1900 birds. Isn’t it staggering? …and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. They put them around where the camp was. Because remember, the birds were outside the camp and they would have put them out, probably, to dry.

But while the meat was still between their teeth—it implies something there—before it was chewed the wrath of the Eternal was aroused against the people, and the Eternal struck the people with a great plague. Now, we understand what that’s about, really. It’s an excess, true? It’s not balanced. It’s not measured, what the instructions of God were. But God says, “Well, I’m going to give you this much meat you’re going to be sick of it.” 1900 birds per the people? Our minds think how could you do that? Well, we have that potential on a spiritual level to be unbalanced on a spiritual level.

Joshua 5:10—Now, the people of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month. Pretty straight forward when the Passover is. …at twilight in the plains of Jericho. It happened to be actually a Sabbath that particular day and they were still eating manna. So, here we are they’re camped at Gilgal and they’re still having manna.

And they ate the produce, the new of the land on the first day after, the day after the Passover. So, now this happens to be a Sunday. It was after the wave sheaf. …unleavened bread, and roasted corn in the very same day. So, it’s the first day of Unleavened Bread and they’re eating the produce of the land.

Verse 12—Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. So, it’s the Monday morning they would have got up, gone out, and there’s no manna. And the children of Israel no longer had manna; but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

Now, for us the spiritual principle is while we have the breath of life and while we keep the Sabbath and have God’s holy spirit we can have manna, spiritual food, the word of God. We can. But it can cease in our life too as it did here. It ceased physically for a reason because they’d entered the promised land.

But entering the promised land for us is different because there’s scriptures that talk about there is a spiritual manna (which we’re going to end with), that we are going to be given. Isn’t that incredible? We’re going to be given spiritual manna forever. It’s going to be given to us because we’re going to have life everlasting in Elohim so we’re going to be the mind of God, which is what it is, the word of God, the mind of God. We’re consuming it now and we’re growing and developing to a point in time where we can have it forever.

John 6:26. Now, here we have Joshua speaking regarding the bread of life, which we understand is spiritual food, word of God. Most assuredly, I say to you, You seek me… He’s talking to the people that had followed. …not because you saw signs… In other words, they’re not giving God the credit for what had already happened. Because prior to that there was loaves and fishes and had fed thousands, and they didn’t give God the glory for that. They’re still wanting physical, something physical to see.

…but because you ate the loaves and were filled. So, they were physically satisfied.

Verse 27—Do not labor for food which perishes. Now, we understand that they wouldn’t have understood this. But we can. So, our work, our labor is not about physical things. Do not labor for food that perishes, but for food that endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you. Because God the Father has sent His seal or set His seal on him. So, here we have the Word made flesh. So what Christ is going to speak are the words of life, the bread of life. There’s something we’re to consume. Our focus must be on the spiritual. That’s the most important thing in our life, the spiritual component of our life. That’s the most important thing.

God’s word is the bread of life, the spiritual manna. Christ was the Word made flesh. So, everything that Christ said we should consume it on a spiritual level because it can give us life, because it’s the bread of life.

Verse 28—Then they said to him, they’re talking to Christ, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Well, what should we do to work, you know, what should we do? We should believe God.

So, what we’re taught by God’s Church, we should believe what we’re given. The word of God, we should believe it, because that’s the work of God, which is faith, and that’s accounted to us for righteousness. So the most important thing that we can believe is to believe God, to believe what God gives us, and that is our life. Believing God will end up in life. We’re to believe the words of God.

Verse 29—Joshua answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He sent. So, to “believe in him” really means “to believe what he says.” To believe the things of Christ, we believe that it came from God because Christ was the Word of God, the thinking of God made flesh. So everything he said to us we should believe it and implement it into our life.

Therefore, they said to him, What sign will you do? Looking for something physical. Now, it had already happened because he had the loaves and the fishes, and they’d already seen a physical sign. But they didn’t give glory to God. But now they’re saying, well, What sign are you going to give to us that we may see it and believe you? They’re wanting physical proof, which is useless. Physical proof is useless because the proof of that is when they went through the Red Sea, what more proof do you want, when the waters stack up on either side and you walk on dry ground, you go across there and all of a sudden it collapses? That’s physical proof. How long did it last? Few days maybe. So physical proof is nothing.

This is about spiritual proof. Spiritual proof is that when we implement it into our life and live that life we will have a better life, a happier life, and the end result will be life, true life.

Verse 28, they wanted to know, you know, What do you want us to do? And he answered and said, “You’re to believe him, believe Christ,” because he’d come from God the Father. Not that he came out of heaven, but he came from God the Father. He was God’s thinking.

Therefore, they said to him, What sign will you perform that we may see it and believe you? They wanted something physical. What work will you do? “Show us. Prove it.” They were looking for something physical, which Joshua had already done.

Verse 31—Our fathers, this is them speaking, Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Joshua said, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven. That’s pretty straight forward, isn’t it? Well, we know Moses didn’t because it was a miracle from God, it was God’s power that did it.

…But my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. Now, how blessed are we, brethren, that we can actually consume the manna? The work that we have to do is what? Keep the Sabbath holy, keep it separate. So that that is the work that we do. We don’t work physically on the Sabbath, but we work because we come here to listen to the word of God. That’s the work that we do. We listen to God. We believe God. This is what Christ said.

My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. Verse 33—For the bread of God is it which comes out from heaven. Now, Christ was created a human with God’s thinking. He was the Word made flesh and gives life to the world. The life was in his words.

Now, it’s interesting because the world rejects what Christ said in so many ways. The physical proof of the Sabbath, go back to the Old Testament and you’ll find out what day it is. True? Because it’s pretty straight forward. Six days and on the seventh. But man just overrules it all, and as is written in the new book we understand it’s just wrong, it’s in deception and everything’s been overruled, and they’ve started up their own way of thinking.

Verse 35—Joshua said to them, I am the bread of life. “I am the Word of God,” is another way to put it. He who comes to me, once called, shall never hunger. In other words, spiritual food will be provided. It is provided for us, brethren. And he who believes me, which we do, shall never thirst. In other words, living waters, referring to the holy spirit.

So, if we have God’s holy spirit, we keep the seventh day Sabbath, we have the bread of life given to us. It’s a matter of whether we consume it and whether we then implement it into our life, in other words, live it.

Verse 36—But I say to you, that you have seen me, the Word made flesh, and yet you do not believe. Well, we understand, brethren, that we have to have the very power to be able to believe.

You can finish off that yourselves. I’ll work to a conclusion here.

God gave the physical manna to physical Israel for food to eat and it was given as a test to see whether they would obey. The world doesn’t look at it as a test. They look at it as God provided them physical food. But it was a test. And what was that test? It was pointing to whether or not would they obey God and keep the Sabbath or not.

We see from physical Israel what they did is they ended up keeping a Sabbath, but they failed many times on the test, which is about following the instructions. On a spiritual level it’s exactly the same for us today. The test is will we believe God, the truth, the word of God, and will we implement it into our life and follow the instructions of God?

Manna was given as a test to see if they would obey God’s word, obey His voice, and keep His commandments. Manna pointed to the seventh day Sabbath. The manna given to spiritual Israel, the Church of God today, is spiritual food, the word of God to be consumed in the mind.

We need God’s holy spirit to be able to eat spiritual food, the word of God. So, people can hear this sermon, for example, and other sermons that are available on the internet, and without God’s spirit what will they glean from it? Nothing. Just talking a lot of gobbledygook. Because it needs God’s spirit to be able to understand God’s word, the word of life.

We need God’s spirit to believe God, which is what is required of us. We need God’s holy spirit to be able to eat spiritual food, the word of God. God’s word is still a test to see if we will obey Him or not.

That same test is here. People can come to the Sabbath and not consume the spiritual food, the manna, but still follow the physical rest. The seventh day Sabbath, when given by God spiritually, God pours out more of His spirit so that we can consume His word on that day.

We’ll close by looking at Revelation 2:17. Now, this is one of the promises that is given to the people that endure to the end and are blessed to be noted as “Now I know you,” and enter Elohim. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith to the Churches. So, it’s to us. To him that overcomes, which is to conquer self, which what it’s about, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it, because it’s spiritual in nature.

So, if a person conquers and enters Elohim, and is blessed to enter Elohim, the promise is that they’ll be given “some of the hidden manna to eat.” Now, it’s hidden because that’s what we talked about before, there are things in God’s word that we do not know today. Even as a spirit being we still will not know everything that is in God’s word because it’s going to be revealed to us over time. There’s not just an instant and now we know everything, but it’s going to take time. Everything is going to take time.

So the things of God’s word will be revealed to us when we enter Elohim, and it’s going to be progressive. But the beauty of it all, of course, is that we can consume now today and every Sabbath more of the manna, the spiritual manna, the word of God.