MODERN MANNA

In 1 Kings chapter 11, we learn that King Solomon had a servant named Jeroboam, who was a mighty man of valor. The king saw that this young man was industrious, so he made him ruler over all the affairs of the house of Joseph. Solomon sinned against God and did some things that God had said not to do, so God told him that he would take the kingdom from his house and give it to his servant. He would leave Solomon’s son one tribe for David’s sake. So God sent the prophet Ahijah to tell Jeroboam that he was going to make him king of Israel.

Then King Solomon decided to kill his faithful servant to keep the whole kingdom for his son. To avoid this death sentence, Jeroboam fled to Egypt and remained there until he was told that King Solomon was dead.

In chapter 12, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, became king of Israel, and Jeroboam returned from Egypt. Then, he and the people of Israel went to talk to the new king. They asked him to make their labor lighter than his father, Solomon, had, but he refused. In fact, he told them he was going to make things tougher for them than the former king had.

So, Israel decided to rebel against King Rehoboam, and they made Jeroboam king over the ten rebel tribes. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David, just as God had said. The ten tribes continued to travel back to Jerusalem to sacrifice in the temple there, but after a while, Jeroboam began to worry. He was afraid that if the people of his kingdom continued to go up to Jerusalem, to sacrifice in the house of God, they might rebel against him, and return to the house of David.

In order to prevent such a thing from happening, Jeroboam offered Israel some options. He set up two different places of worship in his kingdom; one at Bethel, and one at Dan. He set up a golden calf at each location, and encouraged the children of Israel to come, and worship at one or the other, instead of continuing to journey back and forth to Jerusalem. He told the people, “It’s too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” The people bought it. They started going to the place of worship at Dan. The Bible says this became a sin. Then, Jeroboam made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the tribe of Levi. Remember, God had given the Priesthood to the Levites.

1 Kings 12, verse 32, tells us that Jeroboam held a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast they have in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar to the calves that he had made, and he burnt incense as well.

Then in chapter 13, God sent a prophet from Judah with a message to King Jeroboam. God was not happy with the things he had done since becoming king. The prophet said a child, named Josiah, would be born into the house of David, and he would destroy the idols, and the groves, and the priests that Jeroboam had made.

When Jeroboam heard this, he stretched out his hand and gave the command for the prophet to be restrained. When he did this, his hand shriveled up and he couldn’t move it or pull it back to him. So he asked the prophet to pray and ask God to heal his hand. So he prayed for Jeroboam, and God restored his hand back to the way it was before.

The king was pleased, so he invited the man of God to come to his house and clean up and refresh himself, and he offered him a reward. The Prophet refused the offer and said, “If you would give me half your house, I will not go in with you, neither will I eat bread, nor drink water in this place. The LORD told me I should not eat bread, nor drink water, nor go back the same way I came.” So he left and went a different way than what he came.

Now, there was an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told him what the man of God had said, and done to Jeroboam. After finding out from his sons which way to go, he headed out to catch up with this messenger and found him resting under an oak tree. He invited him to come to his house and eat bread, but the man of God told him what the LORD had said, and refused to go back with him. Then the old man said, “I’m also a prophet, just like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, and said, Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread, and drink water.” But he lied to him.

Notice that the man of God had the word of God. God had told him exactly what to do and what not to do. Why would he ever listen to someone telling him something contrary to what God had already clearly told him?

Look at Paul’s instructions in Galatians 1:8-10.

8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be cursed. 
9 As we said before, so I say again now, If anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be cursed. 
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Friends, we have the word of God in our hands today, but unfortunately, many are still deceived by the lies of the enemy. Wake up, before it’s too late. Look in the Bible for instructions from God, and hold firmly to his words. Don’t be deceived by listening to the many things that contradict what God has already told us in his word.

So what do you think this man of God did when the old prophet lied to him? Look back at 1 Kings 13:19.

19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

He disobeyed God. This reminds me of Eve in the garden of Eden when the serpent told her something different than what God had said, and she believed the lie. God had given her and Adam specific instructions, but the serpent came along with something new and different, and even though it contradicted the word of God, they still did it and disobeyed God. Now, this prophet of God has been lied to, and he believed the lie. Let’s continue reading on with verse 20.

20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet that brought him back: 
21 And he cried out to the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus says the LORD, Because you have disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and have not kept the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, 
22 But came back, and ate bread and drank water in the place which the LORD did say to you, Eat no bread, and drink no water, your carcass will not come to the tomb of your ancestors.

The man of God saddled his donkey and left, but he didn’t get far before a lion met him and killed him. Then, the lion and the donkey both just stood there by the dead body.

So Sad. This account shows that there are consequences to disobeying God. Look at all Adam and Eve lost by disobeying God, all because of a lie. Look what this prophet of God lost by listening to a lie. We have a lot to lose if we listen to lies. Eternal life is at stake if we don’t obey God. We have to be on our toes and refuse to listen to lies.

How can we recognize a lie? By knowing the truth. Jesus said, “God’s word is truth” (John 17:17). The word of God is a “lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).

We have the word of God recorded in the Bible. If anyone tells you something contrary to God’s word, don’t believe them. How will we know if they’re lying or not? We have to know the Bible. To know it, we have to prayerfully read it, and study it every day. It should be our daily bread. It’s like the manna that God sent down to feed the children of Israel in the wilderness. This is manna from heaven for us. Modern Manna. Heavenly food to nourish our spiritual bodies.

God has protected and preserved his word for thousands of years so we can have it today. Satan has always attacked God’s word, and he will never stop. He’s always trying to get us to disobey God’s word. He’ll try anything, but he seems to favor lying to get us to disobey God. Many of the modern Bible translations are full of lies, in addition to deleting many entire verses. We need to be very careful about which versions we read. Do some research on your own and see where each translation originated from.

Satan not only uses these false Bibles to deceive people, but he uses those who read them to sow seeds of doubt in others. Only by knowing the truth can we be sure we won’t be deceived. If you just listen to some Christians talk, you’ll notice that there are many contradictions in their beliefs.

Many are starving because they never even pick up God’s word to read it. Many are only eating this modern manna once or twice a week as the preacher feeds it to them. We do need that, but we also need to learn to feed ourselves. We need it daily. How long can our physical bodies live without physical food? Not long. The same is true of our spiritual bodies. They can’t live long without spiritual food.

In like manner, if someone puts poison in our food we will most likely die. When we receive spiritual food that is laced with poison we will most likely die, spiritually. If you’re one of those who think there’s no way a preacher will lie to you, then you are very mistaken. The Apostle Paul said they would (2 Corinthians 11:2-4). The Bible also says that Satan has ministers pretending to be ministers of God (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). That old prophet lied to this young man of God, and yes, there are preachers today who lie. Again, we can only spot a lie if we know the truth.

Isaiah 8:20 says, “if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Our creator has prepared this manna for us, and we need to fill ourselves with it every day and know the truth so we won’t be deceived. It’s the only way. Know the truth, and you will recognize a lie when it comes along.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show yourself approved to God, a worker that does not need to be ashamed, RIGHTLY dividing the word of truth.” So, does that mean God’s word can be wrongly divided? Sure it can, and it often is. Many Christians believe the old testament is irrelevant, and many even refuse to read it. That’s not “rightly dividing” the word.

Isaiah 28:10 says, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:..” That’s the way to rightly divide the word of God. Reading the Bible is fine, and very important, but we must also study it. Meditate on it. The best way is to study subjects. If you want to know what the Bible says about grace, first, use a concordance or Bible software, and find out the definition of grace. Then, search for the word grace, anything that relates to grace. When you have finished, you will know what the Bible actually says about grace. That’s how you rightly divide the word of truth. It’s very dangerous to build a doctrine on one verse of scripture. Many have done just that and have led others astray because they didn’t study the Bible for themselves.

1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you.” We have to know the word of God in order to properly obey God, and teach our children to obey him. How will we know it if we don’t study it? Acts 17:11 says the men of Berea were noble and received the word with all readiness of mind, AND they “searched the scriptures daily,” to see if what they were being told was true. That’s what we must do. We need to be sure what our preachers and teachers are telling us is true. That’s the way we benefit from this modern manna; this daily bread that feeds our spiritual bodies.

1 Corinthians 3:18 says, “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this world, let them become a fool so they may be wise.” When we study God’s word, we need to put away our preconceived ideas and be open-minded so we can see what the Bible really says. Then, we need to be willing to reject what we thought was the truth when we discover we were wrong. That’s how we grow and become wise in the word. Holding on to preconceived ideas has kept many people from understanding the truth. Jesus said God’s word is Truth (John 17:17).

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, 
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 
6 Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will direct your paths.

Trust the Lord. Trust his word. Don’t trust your own understanding. Allow the Holy Spirit to help you understand his word. We have to get our doctrine straight from the Bible.

Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”

Jesus quoted this scripture when Satan tempted him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4) and we need to be able to do that as well. We need to fill our minds with God’s word because we won’t always have a copy of it with us.

In conclusion, God's Holy Book, the Bible, is Modern Manna, sent down from God out of heaven. It is spiritual food for our spiritual bodies. We need to eat it daily. Learn it. Memorize it. Get to know it so you won’t be deceived. Pray without ceasing. Invite the Holy Spirit to help you understand his word, and read it AND study it EVERY day. Your life depends on it.

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