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What the Bible says about God's Word as Spiritual Food
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Exodus 16:16-18

The recommended daily amount per person was an omer (about a large bowlful or two quarts). In the same way, ministers often recommend a certain amount of daily Bible study as a guideline. This guideline serves as a motivator to help a person study God's Word, which in the end is the important thing.

Of the Israelites the Bible says that those who gathered little did not lack, and those who gathered much did not have any wasted. In the same way, some days even just a verse or two carefully pondered is adequate to sustain us for that day. It could be exactly the thought we need. On the other hand, an intensive three-hour Bible study session does not leave us feeling we have overfed. You cannot overindulge on God's Word. Nor does a long session today eliminate the absolute need for fresh Bible study tomorrow! The Israelites could not store the manna over from day to day, as it would breed worms (verses 19-20). God made sure they went out every day for their manna to teach us we need to study the Bible fresh every day.

No wonder Jesus teaches us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). The same is true physically: We can gorge ourselves one day and still need to eat the next. God wants us to learn from the physical here: A hearty feeding on God's Word over the Sabbath, for example, is simply not enough to last the whole week. The very next day, and each day thereafter, we must gather fresh manna and eat it.

The only exception is the Sabbath (Exodus 16:22-26). We are not to earn or work for our physical bread on the Sabbath, and even considering this spiritually, it is often true that we have less time to do intensive personal study on the Sabbath. Yet God still feeds us His Word, does He not? We are fed by the sermonette, sermon, songs, and fellowship at church!

Staff
Have You Had Your Manna Today?

Judges 6:13

Invaders were infiltrating the country and destroying Israel's food. Notice the attention that God draws to this. What is the food of a Christian? The Word of God—the teaching, the doctrines, what we are fed from the pulpit. What God is showing is that, when the general character and spirituality of the people within the Body of Christ begins to deteriorate, the whole Body begins to weaken. with what? Instead of Midianites or Canaanites, the church begins to be invaded by false ministers who bring false doctrines—and a Christian cannot live on falsehoods. They will not strengthen or nourish him.

We are strengthened by the truth. We must have faith in the truth. It takes truth to keep a Christian headed in the right direction and strong enough to resist the wiles of Satan, who is invading—infiltrating—the church with deception and lies.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Unity (Part 1): God and HWA

Matthew 4:4

There is a dimension to life apart from food and water, and that dimension is given life by the Word of God. God's Word provides it strength and the ability to grow. The Word of God adds an absolutely vital dimension to a person's life—if he wants to live the abundant life and eventually have eternal life.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Freedom and Unleavened Bread

Luke 2:40

Even Jesus, though He was God—Deity—had to increase the same way that we do. He had to study God's Word, to question, to grow.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Nineteen)

John 6:47-51

Verses 47-51 reinforce the strategic role eating—listening to and believing in—God's living Word, Jesus Christ, plays in producing everlasting life. The knowledge that one gains by listening to and applying God's Word results in the greatest of all possible blessings: everlasting life. Remember, eternal life is quality of life as God lives it, as well as endless life.

Notice also that those who believe already have this life. It is the gift of Jesus Christ. Those who have believed have "eaten" Him, and thus He calls Himself the Bread of Life. This Bread does what no other bread, even manna, can do. It works to impart spiritual life and banish spiritual death. He adds that He is the "living bread," implying that He lived in the past, is living in the present, and will live in the future. He will always be there to provide nourishment. Further, we must not just taste this Bread. Once the process begins, we must eat it continuously so that we can assimilate Him into us and begin living life in Him and He in us.

Up to this point, Jesus has insisted that He, not manna, is the true Bread of Life. Now, He adds a new thought: This Bread will give His life in the flesh so the world may also live. He means that we cannot have everlasting life without also "eating," believing, accepting, assimilating, His voluntary, vicarious death by crucifixion for us. The Father gives the Son, and the Son gives Himself. Apart from this sacrifice, Christ ceases to be bread for us in any sense.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part Four)

John 6:62-63

Jesus' answer to their incomprehension is to point them to His authority, saying in effect, "If you see the Son of man ascending to heaven, will this not prove where He came from, as well as the authority of His words that you just heard? My flesh cannot benefit you. Stop thinking that I was literally asking you to eat My flesh or drink My blood. It is My spirit, My person in the act of sacrificing Myself, that bestows and sustains spiritual life, even everlasting life. The words that I have spoken to you are full of My spirit and therefore My life." Unbelief lay at the root of their problem, so they could not understand.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part Four)

Revelation 2:17

The manna that fed Israel was spread on the ground for all to see and gather (Exodus 16:4, 35). Hidden manna, symbolizing God's Word, is concealed from the rest of the world. It is special insight from God that feeds the soul and sustains spiritual life.

In the ancient world, a white stone was given to one under judgment as an absolution from guilt, and a black stone to the condemned. A white stone signifies innocence through forgiveness and grace to enter the Kingdom of God.

The new name reflects the holy character built by the repentant overcomer. These gifts, though certainly special and wonderful, are available to every true child of God.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Seven Churches (Part Five): Pergamos

Revelation 10:8-10

This little book is the Word of God. When we first hear the truth—when we first eat it—it is marvelous and exciting to us, and we try to devour even more of it. But as we begin to make it a part of our lives, begin to assimilate—digest—it, we find that putting it into practice is not always easy. Sometimes it is downright painful!

Jesus says it is "the strait way, the difficult way, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). In addition, we find that the Word of God contains things within it that are very bitter indeed in terms of what it says in Revelation—terrifying, painful, oppressive, horrible things described in symbolic language. God is not at all pleased that such things must happen.

And, of course, Scripture can bring upon us a great deal of sadness as well. It may taste good going in, but once in, we find it can be very bitter in application to our lives.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Revelation 10 and the Laodicean Church

Revelation 10:8-10

The eating of the little book is critical to understanding the message'what it is, how it works, and what it produces. Actually, Revelation 10:8 through Revelation 11:2 should be one section because the eating of the little book and the measuring of the Temple are tied together.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part One)

Revelation 10:8

Who is the "angel" holding this book in his hand, who stands on the sea and on the land? It is none other than Jesus Christ. The symbolism of verse 1 proves it cannot be anyone else.

We see a time element begin here: The Angel speaks first, roaring, then the seven thunders take up from where He left off and utter their message in turn after Him, in succession. The seven thunders, then, are sequential, not contemporary.

Now, who in the Bible gives the words for His ministers? Jesus Christ. He is the Word! He is the Logos. And the Bible is His authoritative message, which He gives to His prophets and to His apostles to teach others.

So the Head of the church, the original "Lion that roared" (Amos 3:8; Revelation 5:5), the original "thunder," as it were, gives to His servant, John—who was both an apostle and a prophet—a book—His words—to eat, to ingest.

I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. [Who went up in a cloud?] And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun [Whose face is like the sun?], and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. [Who is the lion of the tribe of Judah?] When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part One)

Revelation 10:8-10

Ezekiel 1:26 through Ezekiel 3:27 is the Old Testament version of the "Little Book Prophecy" of Revelation 10, though it is called the "Scroll Prophecy." There is little difference between a scroll and a book. Both of them are full of words. Both of them are made into a delectable food for the prophet to ingest, and both Ezekiel and John have the same reaction. Ezekiel's prophecy helps to fill out the details of what happens to John.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part One)


 




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