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. . . . . . . Well, good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Mountain Baptist Church. Make your songbooks and turn to song number 85. Song number 85 in your songbooks. We'll sing Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And if you would stand, we'll sing song number 85. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sing aloud the name, till it softly, slowly sets all hearts aflame. Jesus, Jesus, cleansing, washing all our stains. Jesus, name of healing, balm for all our pains. Jesus, name of boldness, making cowards brave. Name that in the battle certainly must save. Jesus, name of victory, stretching far away. Ride across earth's war fields to the plains of day. Jesus, be our joy note, endless veil of tears, till we reach the homeland, the eternal years. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just want to thank you, God, for tonight. I pray, Lord, that you would just bless our service. Fill our pastor with your power and spirit, for it's in Jesus' name we ask all, but amen. All right, you may be seated and turn in your songbooks to song 109. Song 109, we'll sing Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us. Song 109. Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, much we need thy tender care, and thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use thy folds prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast bought us thine we are. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast bought us thine we are. We are thine, do them befriend us, be the guardian of our way. Keep thy flock from sin, defend us, seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear, oh, hear us when we pray. Thou hast promised to receive us, poor and sinful though we be. Thou hast mercy to relieve us, grace to cleanse and part of free. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast promised to receive us, poor and sinful though we be. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear, oh, let us turn to thee. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, early let us turn to thee. Early let us seek thy favor, early let us do thy will. Lord and only Savior, with thy love and bosom fill. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast loved us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast loved us, love us still. Amen. So welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening. And as you can tell, we're testing out the backdrop. And so at first I saw him like a little wrinkly, but obviously it's not permanently installed yet. But we're going to see how it works, the glare and everything. But when you look at the camera though, it looks like we're in a forest. So that's all you can see. You don't see anything else around it. But just general church announcements. As far as the service times and all that this week, everything should be normal. We should be this Sunday dealing with the normal schedule. We do have Mother's Day coming up. And so I'm not going to be preaching on something like, well, who knows. I don't want to promise anything. So we'll see. But be in your places on Sunday, of course. And then the soul winning time is here. We'll have our normal soul winning time at 1 p.m. on Sunday. And then our regional times as well should be normal next week. And then Colossians Chapter 4 is our memory chapter for the month. And so it's a shorter chapter. So we should be able to get through that. I know some are getting through there and all that. So it will be nice to cap off that book. If there's a book after Colossians that you're wanting to memorize, or maybe you're wanting to take a break after the Colossians, I don't know. But if there's a chapter, maybe we'll do like a psalm, and kind of break it up a little bit as far as our chapter memory for next month. But Proverbs 20, verse 1, that's our memory verse for the week. Remember, wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging. And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. There's a lot of verses memorized, obviously soul winning verses. But that's a good one to have memorized, especially in the world we live in with all the alcohol and everything that's around. Just remember that verse right there. And then upcoming events, we have the men's prayer meeting at the end of the month and the women's prayer meeting on June 4th. This isn't really something to put on our upcoming events, but I'm actually going to be preaching at Pastor Burson's church on June 5th. So just to give you a heads up on that so you're not like, where did Pastor Robinson go? So their anniversary is like mid-June, but it falls like on Father's Day. Anyway, that being said, I'm going to go out there. And so I'm excited about that. I love Pastor Burson's. I've got to meet some of his church members, but I haven't got to be at his church building. So I'm excited for that. And so I'm just going to give you a heads up on that. And then being in prayer, we're going to be... When did we say? Did we say that weekend? When did we say we were going to try to do the Charleston thing? I bet it was at the same exact weekend, wasn't it? I just put two and two together. I literally was just figuring it out. I'm like, man, that's a perfect weekend, you know? Yeah. Can you change your anniversary? We'll have to talk about that as far as when we go on that. The 19th will be a good weekend to June. We can do it in May, too. We can bump it up to May. Anyway, we'll discuss that. Anyway, being in prayer for the Charleston marathon that we're going to be doing here soon. And then being in prayer for all the ladies on the pregnancy list, and particularly for Ginger Jones as her due date is coming up in like ten days or something like that. And so just being in prayer for her and obviously that everything goes well with the delivery and the babies healthy and all that. And then being in prayer for all the other ladies on the list there. And being in prayer for all our mothers. And so like I said, we're going to have Mother's Day coming up this Sunday, so we'll be celebrating that. And General Church announcements, offering boxes in the back. Mother's Baby rooms for the mothers and babies only. That's about all I got for announcements. Who's reading tonight? Okay, Brother Wade. So Brother Dave's going to sing one more song. And then Brother Wade's going to be reading Exodus chapter 16 for us. All right, take your song books and turn to song 115. Song 115 will sing, No one ever cared for me like Jesus. Song 115. I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus Since I found in him a friend so strong and true I would tell you how he changed my life completely He did something that no other friend could do No one ever cared for me like Jesus There's no other friend so kind as he No one else could take the sin and darkness from me Oh, how much he cared for me My life was full of sin when Jesus found me All my heart was full of misery and woe Jesus placed his strong and loving arms about me And he led me in the way I ought to go No one ever cared for me like Jesus There's no other friend so kind as he No one else could take the sin and darkness from me Oh, how much he cared for me Every day he comes to me with new assurance More and more I understand his words of love But I'll never know just why he came to save me Till someday I see his blessed face above No one ever cared for me like Jesus There's no other friend so kind as he No one else could take the sin and darkness from me Oh, how much he cared for me Alright, take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter number 16 Exodus chapter number 16 And we'll have Brother Wade come and read that for us Exodus 16, if you found your place, say amen And they took their journey from Elam and all the congregation of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of sin which is between Elam and Sinai on the 15th day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and the children of Israel said unto them, would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the flesh of pots And when we did eat the bread to the full For ye have brought us forth to this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger Then said the Lord unto Moses, behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you And the people shall go out and gather at a certain rate every day That I may prove them whether they will walk in my law or no On the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel That even when they shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt And in the morning then shall see the glory of the Lord For that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord and what are we that ye murmur against us And Moses said, this shall be when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full For that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him and what are we Your murmurings are not against us but against the Lord And Moses spake unto Aaron saying unto all the congregation of the children of Israel Come near before the Lord for he hath heard your murmurings And the Lord spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel that they look toward the wilderness and behold The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud and the Lord spake unto Moses saying I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel speak unto them saying That even ye shall eat flesh and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God And it came to pass that even the quails came up and covered the camp and in the morning the dew lay round about the host And when the dew that lay was gone up behold upon the face of the wilderness There lay a small round thing as small as the hoar frost on the ground And when the children of Israel saw it they said to one to another It is manna for they wish not what it was And Moses said unto them this is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded gather of it every man according to his eating And omer for every man according to the number of your persons take ye every man for them which are in his tents And the children of Israel did so and gathered some more some less And when they did meet it with an omer he that gathered much had nothing over And he that gathered little had no lack for they gathered every man according to his eating And Moses said let no man leave it of it till the morning notwithstanding they hearken not unto Moses But some of them left of it until the morning and it bred worms and stank and Moses was wroth with them And they gathered it every morning every man according to his eating And when the sun was waxed hot it melted and it came to pass that on the sixth day They gathered twice as much bread to omers for one man and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses And he said unto them this is that which the Lord hath said tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord Bake that which ye will bake today and see that ye will see And that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning And they laid it up until the morning as Moses spayed and it did not stink neither was there any worm therein And Moses said eat that today for today is the Sabbath unto the Lord Today ye shall not find it in the field Six days shall ye gather it but of the seventh day which is the Sabbath in it there shall be done And it came to pass that there went out some of the people of the seventh day for to gather and they found none And the Lord said unto Moses how long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws See for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days Abide ye every man in his place let no man go out of this place on the seventh day So the people rested on the seventh day and the house of Israel called the name there of manna And it was like coriander seed white and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey And Moses said this is the thing which the Lord commanded fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations That they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness that when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt And Moses said unto Aaron take a pot and put an omer full of manna therein and lay it up before the Lord to be kept over your generations As the Lord commanded Moses so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years until they came to the land inhabited They did eat manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan Now an omer is the tenth part of an eppai Let us pray Dear Lord please be the pastor let us get something from the message today and let us hear your word In Jesus' name I pray Amen Amen So you're there in Exodus chapter 16 and we are continuing our study through the book of Exodus And this is that famous story where God rains bread from heaven And obviously they call it manna and so this is the manna that comes down from heaven And so in chapter 15 remember we had just to kind of recap because I know it was a couple weeks ago But we had that song that they sang that Moses sang and then all of Israel sang about the Red Sea and they crossed the Red Sea And then you know literally three days journey and then they're murmuring against them and then there's that bitter water And then they basically put a tree into the water and then it's sweet and they can drink it And then we come here and notice that it actually tells us a timeline as far as where we're at So that bitter water story happened three days after they crossed the Red Sea And then in Exodus 16 verse 1 here it says they took their journey from Elam And all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin which is between Elam and Sinai On the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt So this is literally one month later from when they came out of Egypt So remember that the month Abib was going to be the first month unto them right And it was the fifteenth day, remember that they killed the Passover at the eve of the fourteenth day and the fifteenth day They went out, so we're one month out So from when they got to, when they were taken out of Egypt to when manna starts raining down from heaven We're talking a month in between there So and you're like what's the meaning, no meaning I'm just telling you The timeline so you can kind of wrap your mind around it's not like this happens like within like a two day period or three day period That all the stuff is going down There's spaces in between this as far as what's going on but not like years going on And then keep reading there in verse 2 it says And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness And the children of Israel said unto them, would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt When we sat by the flesh pots and when we did eat bread to the full For ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger Okay so again just murmuring, murmuring, murmuring and there's going to be a Basically in the law and I believe it's in Deuteronomy it says these ten times have you tempted me or it's in numbers It's in numbers actually where they don't end up going to the promised land And they're going to wander for forty years but the idea like these ten times have you tempted me And you know provoked me you know and so you can think about you can start adding these up right The bitter water they're here right after that and just down the line they're going to be tempting the Lord And that's why it says forty years you know I was grieved with you in the wilderness And there's you know a famous phrase that's stated about provoking the Lord and all that But so you kind of get a timeline here as far as where we're at We're a month out from where they come out of Egypt so not that long you know As far as like they had a journey to this point but they're getting into the wilderness of sin where Sinai is at So we're getting close to where we're going to get to Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb which is the same mountain Where the Ten Commandments and Moses is going to go up to this mountain and all that So we're getting really close to that they're in that vicinity But look at Exodus chapter 16 because they're murmuring against Moses and Aaron And do you keep noticing that they keep murmuring to them right And a lot of times they're just like why are you murmuring who am I you're like why do you keep complaining to me You know and that's kind of the idea of Moses the leader everybody's obviously going to blame the leader And what's going on with that but honestly their murmuring is more so against God And God regards it as murmuring against him when Moses and Aaron are obviously just doing what God told them to do So when they're murmuring against Moses and Aaron you can point it at somebody And if you're going to point murmuring and complaining to a preacher for example But they're just preaching you the word of God you're really pointing that at God And whether you want to say that it's true or not but there's a lot of people in the world that will point and just complain And be like I can't believe you said that I can't believe you preached that And it's like I just quoted a verse so your problem is not that you despise me as much as you despise you know the commandment right Or the word of God and so but Exodus chapter 16 verse 4 here we see that God's going to rain bread from heaven And it says in verse 4 it says 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 And it shall come to pass that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel at even when ye shall know that the Lord had brought you out from the land of Egypt And in the morning then ye shall see the glory of the Lord for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord Notice how they point that back at the you know like you're really murmuring against the Lord And what are we that ye murmur against us and Moses said this shall be when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat And in the morning bread to the full for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him And what are we your murmurings are not against us but against the Lord So like I was saying you know this whole idea of pointing it at Moses and Aaron they're just messengers they're just the ones they're just doing what God told them to do But in this story you know it's famous for the bread coming down from heaven but at evening he's actually going to send like fowl and quails and stuff like that for them to eat in the evening So morning you get the bread, evening you get the flesh and God's not vegan apparently you know And he wasn't expecting them to be vegan okay Brother Wade at the first, he's like Israel's going vegan he's like another reason that they're going you know like going to Satan or something like that I forget what you said I don't want to misquote you but it was something like that but can't argue with that I mean that's just straight up sound logic and rationale right there But that being said is that in this story he's more so focusing on the manna but at the same time this is happening he's basically bringing these quails and he's bringing this flesh if you will like meat in the evening Now go to Psalm 78 because Psalm 78 actually gives you a little more information as far as it's recounting this event but it kind of gives you a little more language as far as what God's doing here And then we'll get kind of into the description of the manna as far as what it looks like what it tastes like and everything I mean you got to think about how cool this would be you know as far as the fact that God is literally giving you bread from heaven And notice what the Bible says about this in Psalm 78 just to kind of get a full sentence here I didn't want to go into the middle of a sentence but it says in verse 21 It says therefore the Lord heard this and was raw so fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel so it's kind of talking about Israel being judged But the reason it's bringing up this story is like you know God gave you bread from heaven you know but yeah you're rebelling against him and all this In verse 22 it says because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation though he had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven When it says it rained bread down from heaven I believe it actually rained bread like rained like it fell from heaven it didn't just appear right it actually rained down like out of the clouds if you will Then it says he opens the doors of heaven it says he rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven Okay so it's kind of giving you an idea as far as like what kind of bread you're going to be dealing with here as far as that goes And it says in verse 25 it says man did eat angels food okay I mean we're talking about heavenly food like stuff that's coming from heaven and coming down here for them to eat It says he sent them meat to the full and here's where it gets into the quails or gets into the meat in the evening it says he caused an east wind to blow in the heaven And by his power he brought in the south wind he rained flesh also upon them as dust and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea and he let it fall in the midst of their camp round about their habitation So it's basically just bringing them food in different manners from raining to just blowing in you know like the and you think about like the plagues right It talks about how with the locusts how he like basically with the wind brought him in then with the wind he took him out and so just how God works with you know his earth that he created with the wind with the clouds the rain and all that So we see here that it's stating it's kind of giving a little more information as far as this manna that they ate and basically they're eating angels food okay So to me that means they that angels eat that food right I mean I take that literally I mean I guess you could look at it just as a poetic thing that obviously angels are in heaven and this food came from heaven But I take it to mean like angels are eating this food you're eating this food kind of thing and so definitely an interesting passage there in Psalm 78 about God raining down this manna Now let's look at the description here a little bit. Verse 9 of Exodus chapter 16. Exodus 16 verse 9 It says, And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord, for he hath heard your murmurings. And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. So you're talking about the pillar of the cloud and so it's daytime. So when you see the cloud you know it's day, when you see the fire you know it's night. It says in verse 11 it says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread, and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. So all this has been stated, here's where it's coming to pass, when it actually happens. And it says, And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, and said one to another, It is manna, for they wished not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. Okay, I want you to remember that phrase that Moses says there. This is the bread which who gave? The Lord hath given you to eat. Okay, that's going to be important when we get to another passage as far as what the Pharisees say about this. And just how they're not obviously even seeing that it's the Lord that gave it, not Moses. But go to verse 31. Verse 31 gives us a little more information as well. So it's like the hoarfrost. Now hoarfrost, you think about a rising through the hoary head. Or as far as H-O-A-R is like white, like the color white, like frost is white, or like ice can look white, you know. So the hoary head is talking about like the gray, like white kind of hairy hair on the head, you know. So it's like, yeah, anyway. So I don't have to, I don't know why I'm describing that so much or like why I'm getting that far into it. You know what I'm talking about. So basically it's just basically saying it's like when you see the frost or you see the dew that's on the grass. That's how small it is. But notice what it says here in verse 31. It says, And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white. And the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Okay, so basically it's small and it's like a seed. Okay, so if you looked up a coriander seed, you know, you could just Google this. Not right now, but you can do it later. And you can see how small it is, but it's white. It's like basically a round thing, like a coriander seed. Which, by the way, it's funny because the Bible says it's round, but it's not a perfect circle, flat earthers. So when you're talking about the earth being round, you're like, it's really a pair. You know, like it's not really the shape of a pair, okay. Anyway, but it kind of gives you the idea of what they're looking at. And they would gather this, okay. Now what I believe, I don't believe they just ate it, like handfuls of it. I think they probably cooked it. Kind of if you were to think of, if you were to take like corn or wheat or something like that, and you were to gather it, and then you take that and then you make bread out of it. Okay, that's what I believe is going on here. Because if it's that small, I don't think they're eating it like great nuts, okay. Like where they pour milk on it and then they just eat it like cereal, okay. I think they're actually making it into bread. But they had to gather it first, okay. And so, and it says that it was, the taste of it was wafers made with honey. So it doesn't sound like it tastes bad, okay. I mean, honey bread doesn't sound bad to me as far as food. And they're going to murmur later, like this light bread that you've given us, and murmur about it. But that being said, it's something that, you know, is, I think would probably taste pretty good, okay. Now go to Psalm 19, Psalm 19, because when you think of like wafers with honey, and this is the bread that came down from heaven, you probably know where I'm going with this as far as how the word of God is likened unto bread, is likened unto honey. You know, tasting like honey. And so, and then the famous passage we'll be getting into is John chapter 6, where Jesus says he is the bread that came down from heaven. And how this correlates with being the word of God and all that. So I kind of just want to show you this, some verses here. So in Psalm 19 or verse 7 it says, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise and simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. So we're talking about the law of the Lord, the statutes, the testimony, the judgments of the Lord, the word of God, okay, is sweeter than honey in the honeycomb. Psalm 119 and verse 103, if you want to turn there you can, but it says in Psalm 119 and verse 103, it says, How sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. So go to John chapter 1, John chapter 1, and I want to just show you this obvious correlation between this bread, this physical bread that came down from heaven that they were physically eating and Jesus, okay. And Jesus, in John chapter 1, we're told that he is the word of God. And John 1,1, which is a great passage to show that he's God, and show the trinity, is John 1,1, it says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Now, couple this with 1 John chapter 1, but before you go there, you look down at verse 14, it says, The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So the word was made flesh, the word was God, the word was with God, and it says that in him was life, and it says the life was the light of men. 1 John 1,1, very similar, you know, dealing with John 1,1, but 1 John 1,1, it says, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life. So, you see the word of life used here. Now, the Bible also talks about holding forth the word of life, that it may rejoice in the day of Christ, that it may not run in vain, neither labored in vain. And so, the idea of holding forth the word of life, and obviously we're talking about the word of God, but Jesus is called the word of life. He's called the word of God. His name is the word of God. So not only is he the word of God, but his name is the word of God, and that word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and it says, For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, was manifested unto us. So, John 1-1, and John, or 1 John 1-1, those passages are just like, just hand in glove. Just fit perfectly together. And you notice that the word and the life, dealing with life, and obviously we're going to be dealing with the fact that Jesus is the bread of life. Okay? And go to John chapter 6, John chapter 6. So if there's any two passages of the Old Testament and New Testament that should come together, it's Exodus chapter 16 and John chapter 6. Okay? Because this is explicitly talked about. I mean, they're literally bringing up this story about the manna and the bread sent down from heaven, and how Jesus is saying, I am that bread that came down from heaven. And obviously he's talking about the fact that that's what that represented. Right? Because God could have given them bread a different way. I mean, he chose to do it this way for a purpose. Remember, everything in the Bible was for a reason. And, you know, all these things that are going to happen, from the water that was bitter that was turned sweet by the tree, to the manna that comes down from heaven, to the water that comes out of a rock, just everything that's being done from Genesis on, in the Old Testament, is a picture. It's a figure of the true. It's a picture for a time then present. It's a shadow of good things to come. And this one, no doubt, is that. And it's showing you that picture. But in John chapter 6 and verse 26, it says, Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. So, this is right after he fed the 5,000. Okay, does it give you context? He feeds the 5,000 and he's saying, it's not because you saw the miracles, it's because you were filled, you're hungry. You know, and you're just following me around just for like a free lunch, essentially. They just want food, okay? Verse 27, it says, Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. You know what's interesting, too, about this story, which I was just kind of noticing just with reading that verse right there, is the fact that the manna literally will perish after a day. Like, except for, obviously, the Sabbath day. There's that exception that's there. But it's just like, you know, it doesn't last. It's bread that perisheth. It's something that you eat and then it's gone and it's done with, right? Whereas Jesus is saying, you know, this is the bread, this is the meat that endureth unto everlasting life, okay? Keep reading there, verse 28. It says, Then said they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. And people take this out of context. This isn't a part of the sermon. The work is that people would believe, right? It's not that believing is a work. It's like people are completely missing the whole point that he's making here. He's like, you know, what are the works that we should work? He's like, this is the work that you would believe, meaning that people would believe on him. And then he's going to go on this tour de force about people, you know, believing on him and giving everlasting life. But he's not saying that believing is a work. He's saying that is the work, right? I mean, the work that Jesus was sent to do was to seek and to save that which is lost. The work of a Christian is so that, you know, and like it says in Hebrews 4, Let us labor lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Right? The idea is that let us labor to enter into that rest. Lest any man fall from the example of unbelief. Meaning this is that it's not about you not believing. It's about other people not believing. And that's why you're laboring. Tangent, I know, but when I read these verses, I just know that people are always nitpicking that stuff and they're missing the whole point of what's being said there. But let's keep reading there. In verse 30 it says, They said therefore unto him, What signs showest thou then, that we may see and believe thee, what dost thou work? And even in that verse right there kind of proves the point, right? He's like, you know, what sign, what are you going to work that we see? Right? So the work is that you believe, and you're like, alright, what are you going to work? What are you going to do so that we believe? Right? It's kind of proving that point. Alright. Now onto the point that I'm trying to get to here. So in verse, any time you're in the book of John, I could probably just get lost in it and just talk about it. But in John 6 and verse 31 it says, Our fathers did eat manna in the desert. As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. So notice that he's saying, you know, Moses didn't give you that, but on top of that, my Father, He's going to give you the true bread from heaven. And what he's going to be talking about there is not that bread that came down, you know, in the wilderness, but Jesus, you know, His Son, the Word of God. Okay? And it says, For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven. This is very clear, right? He's not saying it's a loaf of bread. He's stating that He is that bread of God that's coming down from heaven. And it says, Which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. So this comes into the idea of, you know, in Him was life and life was the light of men, you know, and in John 1 just through and through there. You just go down the line with that. But then it goes on to say in verse 34, It says, Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I say unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not. So He's obviously not talking to believers here, but He's stating that, you know what, if you believe on me, you'll never thirst. And, you know, if you, He that cometh to me will never hunger. And in verse 37 it says, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will know wise cast out. Grace is total security verses here, okay. This passage that I'm showing you here in John 6, I mean, just so many different ways that God is stating that you have everlasting life and you'll never lose your salvation. He's saying, you know, that, you know, I will know wise cast you out. You'll never hunger. You'll never thirst. Right? And then it goes on to say here in verse 38, For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing. So He's going to lose you, right? You know, people are talking about losing your salvation. And it says, But should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the last day. Go down to verse 47. It says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Now is there anything that's confusing about what he's stating here? As far as what he's stating that you need to believe on him, you'll never thirst. Come unto him and know wise cast you out. The will of the Father is that you may see the Son and believe on him, that you may have everlasting life, right? And that I'll raise him up at the last day. And it's just like, if you believe on me, you have everlasting life, right? It's like very clear what he's stating. And it says, I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. He's making a very clear point. Okay, they ate that manna, but they're dead. They all died, every single one of them. Even Joshua, Moses, every single one of them, they died and they ate that manna that came down from heaven. This is the bread which coming down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. He's literally stating that if you eat this bread, you won't die. Do you see how many different ways he's stating it? Keep reading there. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Now, look at what it says. He's talking about the bread is my flesh, but then that's where they get choked up, like the Pharisees are like, Oh, you're going to eat your flesh and drink your blood? He's like, Well, if you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. I love that passage, but I'm not going to go into that right now. But ultimately, in verse 63, he explains what he's stating here. It says, It is the spirit that quickened it, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. So we're talking about him being the bread of life. What are we talking about? He's the word of God. He's the word made flesh. And obviously, he's going to give his flesh. Because it talks about how his flesh is the veil that's been rent. And obviously, his body was broken. Not his bones, but his body. His flesh was broken. And obviously, his blood was shed. And that's why we do the Lord's Supper to represent that to save us. So that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life. This all works in tandem there. And just over and over again, you see, okay, you believe on him, you'll never thirst. You'll never hunger. He'll in no wise cast you out. You'll have everlasting life. And then it says that you will not die. Right? It says, what does it say? That a man may eat thereof and not die. And then it says that if you eat thereof, you shall live forever. Right? Just so many different ways that he's stating this. How could you ever come out of reading John and think that it's not eternal life? Right? I mean, after you get past, like, John 1, but if you get past John 3 and you're like, I don't think it's eternal, then you must not know how to read. You must not know how to understand what you're reading. Like, you're just not understanding, like, the language or something. But when you get to John chapter 6, it's just over and over and over and over again. And it's just saying it in so many different ways. I mean, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth is out of this. It says you'll never die. It says I give unto thee eternal life and they shall never perish. And just every different way you can think about it, I'm not going to lose any. I'm not going to cast any out. Right? So, there's just so many different ways. And you'd almost look at it and be like, we did it. Right? I get the point. But then, you as soul-runners know, you're like, I'm glad he said it that many different ways. I'm glad he said it in so many different angles. Because some people are like, well, you'll live forever, but it doesn't say you're not going to die. What? But you know how people are. Right? They'll somehow be like, well, you'll live forever in hell. Right? Or something stupid like that. Right? But it's just like, it gets so many different ways, you're just like, no. No. There's just no way that you can say anything other than the fact that you believe on him, you're saved forever, no matter what. Can't be cast out. Can't be lost. You're never going to hunger. You're never going to thirst. You're never going to die. You're going to live forever. Just over and over again, it's the same thing. And this manna that's coming down from heaven is representing Jesus. Coming down from heaven. Being born of the Virgin Mary. And obviously walking upon the earth in the flesh to save us from our sins. And just a great story, obviously, this show. And the fact that he's raining it down on people that are murmuring against him, you know. It's kind of the idea of like, but God commends his love toward us in that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. And it's just so true. I mean, literally he's raining this bread down and he's giving it to a bunch of murmurers and plainers. And, but it just really shows you that God really does love the world that much. And even though they're just murmuring, complaining and just spiting him, he's just like, I'm still going to do it. I'm still going to come. And if you put your faith in me, you'll be saved. And this really shows you the love of the Lord right there. Now go to Exodus chapter 16 and verse 16. Now this passage right here could be a sermon, a whole sermon in itself. But I kind of want to explain it a little, just quickly here. Because this is brought up actually in the New Testament. When they'd gather all this manna, if you will, they would gather it and they would basically get an omer of it, which is the 10th part of an ephah apparently. You know, whatever that measurement is, right? But in verse 16 there it says, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded. Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man according to the number of your persons. Take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so and gathered some more, some less. Okay, so what you have to understand is that some people were gathering it and when they were gathering it, some people got more than an omer. Because they're not measuring it out in the field, right? So you kind of get the pictures out in the field and they're just gathering this up. Some people had more than an omer, omer, not homer, omer. And then others had less. So what happens here? Okay, well look at verse 18 there. It says, And when they did meet it with an omer. That means like to measure it, right? So you're basically measuring it. Like you would measure any ingredients, right? You know, like you need a cup of this or you need whatever, right? And so when they did meet it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. So what happened here? Basically people are gathering all this stuff together and when they were measuring it out, basically whatever was over on the one person went to the person that had less. And everybody just had an omer, right? There was equality, if you will, in it. And so it's basically not, someone's not just going out there and they just can't go out there and just grab it all. And then everybody is just like, ah, we don't have anything to get now because that guy's greedy over there with all the manna. No, you measure it out and then basically the idea is that everybody's getting an equal amount, okay? Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 8, 2 Corinthians chapter 8 because this is brought up. Now this is brought up in probably the most famous missions giving passage of all time, okay? If any time I've ever heard a sermon on giving for missions, it's always been in 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9, okay? And so this is, these two chapters are a lot about giving to those that are in need, okay? So that's the premise of this whole passage is basically giving. But I want to state this. Before I get into this passage right here, it talks about those that have a willing heart, right? And a willing mind. And the idea here is that the whole passage is talking about you need to do this willingly. And not only willingly, but of a cheerful heart, you know? God doesn't want you to just be like begrudgingly giving to somebody. He wants you to do it because you love Him, you care about Him, and you want to give it, okay? The Lord loveth cheerful giver, okay? So in case you think this is teaching communism, it's not, okay? This is teaching what we should do, okay? As far as, you know, a church is concerned, we should be doing this. Now what it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 13 here, or 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 13, it says, For I mean not that other men be eased and ye burdened, but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want, that there may be equality. As it is written, he that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered little had no lack. So that's calling right back to the manna, right, where they meted it out with an omer, okay? So what it's stating here is first of all, it's not stating to give beyond your means, okay? This is not biblical. It's not biblical to basically give something to somebody and it's taking away from what you literally need. You're like, all right, I want to help this person pay this bill, so I'm not going to pay my bill. Like my electric bill. Like this person needs their electric bill paid, so I'm going to just take what I was going to put towards my electric bill and put it towards theirs. That's not what the Bible is literally stating, don't do that, okay? Because he's like, I don't want them to be eased and then you're like in need now, okay? What it's talking about is your abundance, okay? You have abundance, you have more than you need, and someone is in need. But I want you to recognize here that everybody that was meeting out an omer was out in the field gathering the manna, okay? This does not teach that we have to give to those that aren't working, okay? The Bible says if you don't work now, they should eat, okay? So those panhandlers that are out there, you know, like at the intersections, I never give them a dime. They're a bunch of shysters. They're not even from our area. And they're just basically trying to get money off people and most of those people aren't even disabled or even, you know, they're just getting money. And so when it comes to this, I'm not talking about people that are con artists and just trying to play the part or are drug addicts that don't work or anything like that. I'm not going to enable those people. I'm talking about people that are working hard, they're going out to work, but they're just struggling financially. Right? They're just getting hit with everything. You know, maybe the job isn't paying them like they should or maybe there's just a lot of things that have happened. Their car broke down, you know, whatever, their furnace broke, their air conditioner broke or whatever, right? Just things happen to people. But then there could be someone over here that's just like, you know what, I just have an abundance. Just everything is kind of going well right now and I just have an abundance of, you know, savings or whatever. I feel like it's getting some feedback there. And what it's teaching is that the idea is that in a church you're going to have that happening. And it doesn't even state that like this person's always up here and this person's always down here. What it's stating is that when you're up here and you have this abundance and this person's lacking is that you try to help that person out and to kind of level it out, right? So that when it's the other way, right, and now they have the abundance and you're in need, that it comes to you, right? Because that's what it's stating is like, it's stating that, it says by inequality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, right? So at this time, you know, your abundance is supplying their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want. Okay, so the idea is that we're all going to have lows and highs when it comes to this. And, you know, when it comes to this, and this is another sermon for another day, but when you have families in our church that are, you know, faithful members to our church, they're out working hard, listen, we're going to do everything we can to help them out. I'm not going to force it though. I'll say this, I'm not going to be like, alright brother Anthony, I need you to help out brother, you know, brother Chris or something like that, I'm just using that as an example, you know. I'm not going to force that, that has to be willingly, but you know what, me, maybe I personally do it. Or maybe as a church we're just like, you know what, we have a lot of funds right now and that person needs to help on their electric bill, they need help on this, they're working hard trying to do what they're doing, you know what, we're going to take care of that. And what it means is that there's some people that are doing better than others, and I'll say this, when it comes to the church funds, I believe that it can very well be used for helping out the church members. I don't see why it couldn't be, and you know, that's just my stance on it. That's another term for another day, but it's kind of, this passage here about meeting it with an Omer and equality, it's not teaching communism, it's not teaching like you can just come here and not do anything and not work and just sit on your rear end eating chips off your chest in your basement and then expect us to just pay your bills, expect someone to just pay your bills and help you out. Everybody's just working hard, some people are down on their luck, if you will, pardon the phrase, but things are just not going their way, we help out. And that can change, that can vary, right? Because there could be times where I'm just like, man, just everything hit me. My truck broke down, the furnace went out, and I'm just strapped. It's beans and rice for the next month. And it's just, you know what I mean, like, of course, I would just eat the rice because you know how I feel about beans, okay? So, I guess it's ramen noodles for a month. But that passage there is just kind of showing that, but going back to that, you kind of see what you're dealing with there. Everybody's gathering, some people have more, some have less, and what you do, the idea is that it kind of equals out when you're dealing with the congregation, when you're dealing with the church there, okay? Now, go back to Exodus chapter 16, Exodus chapter 16, and it's interesting because they get a commandment and then they just don't listen. There's always someone that's just not listening, they just don't care, they're just going to do. And there's two things that are stated here, okay, when it comes to the manna. It says, don't let it stay until the morning. So, you gather it in the morning and you make your bread, right, but it says don't basically leave it until the morning. If it leaves until the morning, it's going to stink, it's going to have worms in it and all this, okay? This is where we kind of get that phrase, you know, give us this day our daily bread. And honestly, most bread that's actually good, that has all the nutrients that you want in it, it's not going to last that long, okay? So, that bread that we usually get at the store that's there for like a month and it's still good, there's a reason for that, okay? But, that being said, you know, this idea here is that it states here, what does it state in verse 19? Moses said, let no man leave of it till the morning. So, what do they do? It says, notwithstanding, they hearken not unto Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning. And guess what? It says, and it bread worms and stank and Moses was wroth with them. So, it's kind of like this thing, you know, it's like, I told you not to do that and you're just like, wow. You can imagine and be like, well, I just want to see what happened. See if that was actually true, right? But, when it comes to the commandment, you just need to believe it. You don't need to see the repercussions and it comes to the commandment as far as like, think about like, flea fornication or thou shall not kill, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not steal. Like, these commandments that God is giving us, we don't need to do it to be like, all right, that was bad. You know, or you see the consequences that the Bible lays out, the judgments that are laid out for breaking commandments. You know, do you really want to find out that that's definitely true? Or do you just want to say, you know what, I believe that that's true and I'm going to keep that commandment, okay? And so, they break that one and then in verse 21 here, it says, and they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating, and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. Well, there was a short period of time where they could go out and get this and if they didn't go out in that period of time, it melted. So, you think about the frost, if you think about the dew on the ground, when that happens, that's early in the morning, okay? So, early in the morning when the dew is on the ground, I would liken it unto that. When it's warm enough that the dew leaves, that's when the manna would leave. So, they'd have to go out early and get this and I liken this unto reading the Bible, okay? I think you could read the Bible any time of day, but I'll say this, early in the morning, I believe is the best time to read the Bible, okay? Because, one, it starts the day off right, get your mind on the right thing. I think you should read it before you go to bed too because then it will help you with your crazy dreams that you have or if you have crazy dreams, you know? Like, why did I have this dream about this bear chasing me? It's like, well, because you watch that like National Geographic thing on bears, I don't know, you know? You're obviously dreaming about what you think about, but that being said is that reading the Bible in the morning, like early in the morning, there's something about that that just kind of sticks with you the rest of the day. You can chew on it, you can just think about it, and a lot of times you're thinking about that stuff that's early in the morning. Before you get to all the craziness that's going on in your life, you just get into the world. Instead of checking Facebook, checking, you know, Twitter now, I don't know, I haven't got my Twitter yet. And so you check all your emails and check all the stuff that's going on, you know, read some Bible. I'm not saying it's the only time you read, but that time right there is a precious time that I think fades away real quick. There's like a window there of like reading to where it's going to be really effective, okay? Reading the Bible is always going to be effective, but at the same time, like that moment is going to be a really good time to do it. And so, you know, just something to think about there and how this obviously applies to the Word of God and how there's a window of opportunity there to really get that manna. And you think about, even in 2 Peter it talks about the more sure word of prophecy until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. You know, the idea of talking about the morning there when you're dealing with the Word of God and just, you know, that it shineth in a dark place and all that. I digress off that. The point I'm trying to get to here is there's two things that they disobey. One, they disobey the fact that they're not supposed to leave it until the morning because it bred worms and it stank, okay? Verse 22, now they're going to not obey the fact that they're not supposed to get it on the Sabbath day, on the seventh day of the week, okay? Verse 22, it says, And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And it says, and said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Bake that which ye will bake today, and see that ye will see, and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. So, bake, obviously baking the bread. I believe seething is talking about the quail, the, you know, the quails, the, you know, the meat, right? So basically on Friday, if you will, on our Friday, you would basically just bake the bread that you're going to eat on the next day. And then you basically cook the meat that you're going to eat the next day. And normally it would stink, normally it wouldn't last, but there's an exception that happens every single week, okay? And imagine that God is, if you notice that, like, oh, okay, it stinks every day of the week that I, every other day of the week you can't leave in a day except for the Sabbath day. And then you're just, do you see how that kind of just should show you, like, God's proving you through this and showing you, like, hey, I'm doing what I said I would do over and over and over and over again. And verse 24 there, it says, And they laid it up till the morning as Moses bade, and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath unto the Lord, today ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, here we go, there's always that one person, right? There's always people that just can't take, just doing what they're supposed to do. And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. Oh, shocker. It's just like when the bread stank that, you know, after you left it till the morning. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? I understand where He's coming from. You know, like, the Lord's just like, how long is it going to take before you listen? It is frustrating when you read this, you're just like, what are you doing? He told you not to go out there. But it's just like, people can't take it, they're like, I gotta see if this is true. They can't just take it by faith, but the idea here is that we walk by faith, not by sight, and they are constantly saying, I need to see that. I need to see whether it's really out there. I need to see if it's actually going to stink, if it's actually going to do what He said it's going to do. And they're just like tempting the Lord and not actually believing what He said that He would do. And the big thing that I see here, too, is that it says, tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath. And it talks about that, you know, six days you shall gather, and on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath. The thing I want to point out here, look at verse 29, is that they're already regarding the Sabbath. You say, why is that important? When did the Old Testament start? And the Sabbath is an Old Testament commandment. It's an Old Testament ordinance. And we see here that they're already commanded to keep this Sabbath. They're already doing this. That they're resting on the seventh day, and they're getting rebuked for not resting on the seventh day. And notice what it says in verse 29, it says, Now, this isn't a sermon to really get into what the Sabbath represents, but the Sabbath represents that we are to rest. As God rested on the seventh day when He created the earth, right? The heaven and the earth, that He for six days created the heaven and the earth, but then on the seventh day He rested. That gives you that model for that seven day week. But it says that He gave, that the Lord had given you the Sabbath. Do you notice that language there? He's not saying, basically, let me just use the Bible to explain this. In Mark chapter 2, it says this in verse 27. Mark chapter 2 and verse 27. It says, Sabbath was made for man. Meaning that God did it that way because He gave us a day to rest. Right? I mean, think about it. Is having a day of rest horrible? Or is that probably a good thing to do? And in the Old Testament, that was commanded. It was commanded, and it had harsh punishments if they didn't do it, but it's not like some horrible commandment. You think about the commandments, and you're like, God's just trying to be mean. Yeah, He's so mean that He's giving you a day of rest. He's giving you a day where you're saying, just take a break. Right? That's horrible. But, when you understand that the day of rest represents the fact that salvation is by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works. Let any man should boast. Then when you understand that it represents that, and that if you're doing any work on that day, you're messing up the picture of salvation. Then that shows you the gravity of why there's such harsh punishments, and why they're getting rebuked so hard for doing stuff on the Sabbath day, because every day of the week they're being reminded, I'm not supposed to work on this day. Because that day is supposed to represent resting from all your labors, which represents salvation and how it has nothing to do with your labors, and it's all on God. Okay? But Hebrews chapter 8, and you don't have to turn there, but like I said, the thing that kind of sticks out to me with this Sabbath day thing is that it's stating that tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Already, they're regarding the Sabbath day. They haven't gone to Mount Sinai yet. They haven't got the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai. But they're getting these commandments already, right? They're already regarding this stuff, and that really shows you that this is true, what it says in Hebrew chapter 8 and verse 9. It says, So it's talking about making a new covenant, but it says, not as the covenant that I made with them in the day when I took them, you know, by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. So when they left, that 15th day of the first month, the Passover was killed. That's marking, that's the start of the covenant. Just as much as when Jesus died on the cross, and his blood was shed, and he gave the ghost, that marked the start of the New Testament, or the new covenant. And it really just shows you that, yeah, they are in it. They're in it right now. When they came out, they're in it. And when you get down to chapter 19, when he's kind of explaining that to them, this is where it's really kind of all being laid out, right? He's kind of giving them, if you look through these chapters, it's kind of interesting how he's kind of giving you little snippets of this covenant that they're keeping. But when you get to chapter 19 and 20, it's where it's just kind of getting all laid out. It's like, all right, here's everything that's going on here and what you're supposed to be doing. So I just think that's interesting to kind of notice that. That's not like in chapter 20, it's like, all right, boom, now it's time to do. Because you think of like chapter 20 as being like, this is where the Old Testament is kind of starting. You kind of feel that way because the Ten Commandments, which is that covenant, it even says that the Ten Commandments, that's the covenant that he made with them. But at the same time, it started when they came out of Egypt. Now go to verse 32, Exodus chapter 16 and verse 32. Almost done here. There's two more things that I want to mention here. And one is this pot that they were to put this omer full of manna. And you kind of see, why is it an omer? Because it kind of represents each person had an omer, right? Or whatever that's worth, you know, as far as that goes. But in Exodus chapter 16, verse 32, it says, And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, fill an omer of it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. Okay, so he's basically saying, fill an omer, and this is going to be kept. Okay, so this is kind of special bread here, where this bread is not going to stink and breed worms and all that. It's going to be kept. Okay, but where is it going to be kept? It says, And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations. And the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept. Okay, so it's interesting, he's talking about the testimony. He's like, what is that? Go to Exodus chapter 25. Exodus chapter 25, this is talking about the Ark of the Covenant. Okay, now at this point, the Ark of the Covenant has not yet been made. Okay, but what you're going to see is that the Ark of the Covenant is actually called many times the Ark of the Testimony. But why is it called the Ark of the Testimony, right? That's the question that you may have asked yourself. What does that mean? Well, in Exodus chapter 25 and verse 21, at this point, he's already come off of Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, all that, you know, and he's given these judgments and all this, but we're dealing with the Ark of the Covenant here. But it says in verse 21, it says, Thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. Okay, now that's talking about the Ten Commandments. Now if you remember, Moses broke the first ones, right? Or, I'm sorry, he hasn't got to those yet. He breaks them, then he has to go back up, get them again. But the idea here is that he's like, I'm going to give you these Ten Commandments and the testimony, which would be the testimonies of the Lord. You know, this is a term that's used a lot. But basically that's why it's called the Ark of the Testimony because keep reading there in verse 22. It says in there, I will meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat from between the two cherubims, which are upon the Ark of the Testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. Now what's interesting about this, go to Hebrews chapter 9, because it's going to explicitly state that the pot of manna was put into the Ark of the Covenant. Okay, it's just going to say that clearly. But what's interesting is that the Ark of the Covenant hasn't been made. He hasn't gone up to get the testimony as far as like the Ten Commandments. But yet, it states here that in Exodus 16 that he laid it up before the testimony. Because, guess what, there was word of God before he went to Mount Sinai. To think that there wasn't anything written of God's word before that point is ridiculous. Before Moses, because obviously I believe that Genesis through Deuteronomy was written down and penned down in the time of Moses. I've preached sermons on that dealing with Jehovah and how that would make sense with the all-caps Lord and all that stuff in Genesis. But at the same time, to think that there's nothing written before that. Before Moses, just nothing was written down. There was no Bible. There was nothing at all. And I believe that they literally had scriptures, if you will, and they're like lay it next to that. And then you get the Ark of the Testimony where he literally puts the words of God that were written with the finger of God, the Ten Commandments that were put into it, and you say, how do you know it was put in there? How do you know the Ten Commandments were put in there? How do you know the pot of manna? Because of Hebrew chapter 9 and verse 3 here, it says, And after the second veil, the tabernacle which he called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein, so wherein means like inside of it, right, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded in the tables of the covenant, and over it the cherry beams of glory shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot now speak particularly. And I believe that to be the case because the Ark of the Covenant had been long gone since then. Like when he's writing Hebrew, he's like the Ark of the Covenant wasn't, like no one knew where it was, it wasn't a thing. You know, they didn't have it in the temple, and they still don't know whatever happened to it. But that doesn't matter because the Ark of the Covenant that's in heaven is what matters anyway. So that was just a picture, that was just a shadow, that was just a figure of the true, right. But you can see here that it's just different things pop out to me with that is the fact that, well, one, this calls back to Hebrews 9, yeah, they put that pot of manna in the Ark of the Covenant so that later on they could be like, yeah, this is the manna that came down from heaven. It's just a reminder. And then the tables of the covenant or the testimony that he's going to get from Mount Sinai is going to be put in there, which is why it's called the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of the Testimony, right, and going into that with Hebrews 9. Last thing here is Exodus 16 and verse 35. This obviously shows you that this was written after they've gone into the Promised Land. If there's anything to show you that they weren't like, you know, this was written basically while this was going on is this right here. It says in verse 35, And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years. Okay, we haven't got the numbers where they go in and spy out the land and God's angry with them and they don't, and then they're in the wilderness for forty years. So it's calling back obviously and stating they did eat manna in forty years until they came to a land inhabited they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah. Go to Joshua chapter 5 and I'll show you exactly where this happens. Now if you know Joshua chapter 5, you're going to know that what happens in Joshua chapter 6? The walls of Jericho fall down. That's like the first thing they take out. When they get across Jordan, Jericho's first. So literally they just get across Jordan and what happens? In verse 10 it says, And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn in the south same day, and the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land. Neither had the children of Israel manna anymore, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. So it just shows you that from that point in Exodus chapter 16, up till when they're literally over there in Jericho, getting ready to take out Jericho, they had manna that whole time. It also talks about how their garments and their shoes didn't even wear. They didn't fall apart. God literally just kept them nourished, kept food and raiment, having, therefore, food and raiment be there with content, and God took care of them all the way through that. And so Exodus chapter 16, dealing with the manna coming down from heaven, it's a great story, and you can just spend a whole bunch of time talking about all the different things you can pull out from that. But like I said, John chapter 6, there's no way you can go through this chapter and not talk about John chapter 6 and the fact that Jesus is that bread of life, that bread that came down from heaven, that true bread that came down from heaven, and showing that picture, and obviously it's a great picture. And dealing with the word of God, every time I think about the manna and it being in the morning, I just think about reading the word of God in the morning and just how important that is. So I can't stress that more or enough, that read any time of the day, but make sure you read in the morning, because that's going to be a time, that's going to be a special time to get with the Lord and the word of God. So let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today, thank you for your word, and just pray that you'd be with us throughout the rest of this week, and just thank you for the story with the manna that came down from heaven, but we just thank you for you that came down from heaven, to die for us, to save us, to give us everlasting life, and we just thank you for that, and we just love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So Brother Dave will come and sing one more song, and that will be dismissed. All right, song 119 in your song books, song 119. And if you would stand, we'll sing Till a Storm Passes By, song 119. In the dark of the midnight Have I offed my face While the storm howls above me And there's no hiding place Mid the crash of the thunder Precious Lord, hear my cry Keep me safe till the storm passes by Till the storm passes over