In 2:17b the Lord says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna.” Manna is a type of Christ as the heavenly food enabling God’s people to go His way. A portion of that manna was preserved in a golden pot concealed in the ark (Exo. 16:32-34; Heb. 9:4). The open manna was for the enjoyment of the Lord’s people in a public way; the hidden manna, signifying the hidden Christ, is a special portion reserved for His overcoming seekers who overcome the degradation of the worldly church. While the church goes the way of the world, these overcomers come forward to abide in the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, where they enjoy the hidden Christ as a special portion for their daily supply. This promise is fulfilled today in the proper church life and will be fulfilled in full in the coming kingdom.
The promise to the first church concerns the eating of the tree of life, and the promise to this church concerns the eating of the hidden manna. The worldlier the church becomes, the greater is the need for some to stand up and testify and to maintain intimate fellowship with the Lord. These will be privileged to enjoy the Lord as the hidden manna.
The placing of the hidden manna in a golden pot signifies that the hidden Christ is concealed in the divine nature (signified by gold). Whereas the open manna is for all the people of God, the hidden manna is for those who are intimate with the Lord, those who have forsaken the world and every separation between them and God. They come into the intimacy of God’s presence, and here in this divine intimacy they enjoy the hidden manna in God’s nature. This enjoyment is so inward that those who eat of the hidden manna are actually in the divine nature enjoying the hidden Christ.
The Lord also promised the overcomer in Revelation 2:17 that He “will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.” A stone in the Bible signifies material for God’s building (Matt. 16:18; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:12). In our natural being we are not stones but clay. Because we have received the divine life with its divine nature through regeneration, we can be transformed into stones, even precious stones, by enjoying Christ as our life supply (2 Cor. 3:18). Those who do not follow the worldly church but enjoy the Lord in the proper church life will be transformed into stones for the building of God. As indicated by the color white, these stones will be justified and approved by the Lord. The overcomers will be justified by God and approved by the Lord. Therefore, they will be the materials for the building up of God’s temple according to God’s New Testament economy.
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