In this message we will continue to consider Christ as the Priest who trims the lampstands, the churches.
In Revelation 2:17 we see that Christ as the Priest is the hidden manna for the overcomers to enjoy. “To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna.” Here to overcome is specifically to overcome the church’s union with the world, the teaching of idolatry and fornication, and the teaching of hierarchy. The Lord promised the overcomers in Pergamos the hidden manna for their support and supply. In the local churches Christ is the hidden manna for the overcomers to eat and enjoy. Just as the tree of life is “good for food” (Gen. 2:9), the hidden manna is also good for food.
Manna is a type of Christ as the heavenly food that enables God’s people to go His way. A portion of manna was preserved in a golden pot concealed in the Ark (Exo. 16:32-34; Heb. 9:4). The open manna was for the Lord’s people to enjoy 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 being fulfilled today in the proper church life and will be fulfilled in full in the coming kingdom. If we seek the Lord, overcome the degradation of the worldly church, and enjoy a special portion of the Lord today, He as the hidden manna will be a reward to us in the coming kingdom. If we miss Him as our special portion today in the church life, we will surely lose the enjoyment of Him as a reward in the coming kingdom.
The hidden manna mentioned in Revelation 2:17 was hidden in a golden pot in the Ark within the Holy of Holies (Heb. 9:4). Gold signifies God’s divine nature. Thus, placing the hidden manna in the golden pot signifies that the hidden Christ is concealed in the divine nature. The open manna is for all the people of God, but 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 the divine nature. This is deep. It is not outward but absolutely inward. It is so inward that those who eat of the hidden manna are actually in the divine nature enjoying the hidden Christ. Today we must enjoy the hidden Christ in God’s golden divine nature.
In Exodus 16 Jehovah commanded Moses to take a portion, one-tenth of an ephah, of the manna that He had given the children of Israel and to place it before His testimony (vv. 32-36). This portion of the manna was for God. The open manna was the people’s portion, but this offered, hidden manna in the pot before God’s testimony was God’s portion. Manna signifies Christ, whom God has given to us as a gift. While we are enjoying Christ as our manna, we must take the best portion and offer it to God, offering Christ to God.
Once the manna had been presented to God, it was no longer the open manna; it had become the hidden manna because, after being presented to God, it was placed in a golden pot and hidden in the Ark in the Holy of Holies within the tabernacle. Originally, the manna was under the sky in the open air. It was open to anything and anyone. But after the top portion had been presented to God and placed in the pot, it was hidden within the innermost part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, where it was placed before the Testimony of God. Among the children of Israel was the tabernacle, within the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies, within the Holy of Holies was the Ark, within the Ark was the golden pot, and within the pot was the manna. Hence, manna was altogether hidden. In this way the top portion of manna became hidden.
If we would eat the hidden manna, we must first eat the open manna. If we do not experience the open manna, we will have no manna to offer to God as the hidden manna. The hidden manna is the manna that we experience, enjoy, and then offer to God. We enjoy manna, and out of the manna we enjoy, we offer a small portion to God, saying, “God, I offer to You the Christ whom I have been enjoying. You have given Christ to me as my portion, and now I give the best of Him to You as Your portion.” God will then invite us to come into His Holy of Holies and enjoy this portion with Him. This is the hidden manna. Enjoying Christ as our hidden manna is not a sudden experience; it must have a history behind it.
Christ as the hidden manna is not the manna in the wilderness but the manna in the Holy of Holies. It is not the manna displayed but the manna hidden in a secret place. The hidden manna in the Holy of Holies corresponds to the bread of the Presence in the Holy Place. The difference between the two, however, is that the bread of the Presence was exhibited on the table, whereas the manna in the Ark was hidden in the golden pot (v. 33; Heb. 9:4). In the wilderness the people of Israel enjoyed the manna, but the manna they enjoyed was public manna—the manna that had fallen to the earth, not the manna hidden in the heavens. We need to experience Christ as the hidden manna, a Christ in the secret place, a Christ in the heavenlies. This is the Christ mentioned in Hebrews 7 as the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not according to the order of Aaron (cf. 5:6, 10; 6:20). Aaron ministered in the outer court, offering sacrifices on the altar; Melchizedek ministers on the throne of grace in the heavenlies (4:16; Rev. 4:2). We may experience Christ as our food, but this enjoyment may be only in the Holy Place; whatever we experience of Christ is immediately known by many people. This is but the experience of the open bread of the Presence. We need to press deeper to enter into “the secret place of the Most High” (Psa. 91:1) in order to touch the heavenly Christ Himself.
The way to overcome all kinds of degradation in the church life is to eat and enjoy Jesus as the hidden manna, the private manna, for the inner life and life supply. In Christ as the Ark, we can enjoy Him as the hidden manna, as a particular portion for our life supply, to overcome the worldliness of the degraded church. We should get away from all persons and distractions to have a personal time with the Lord, in which we can enjoy Him in a hidden way. We can enjoy Christ in a public way with all the saints, but we still need a time apart from everyone to enjoy Christ as the hidden manna. We need to be in a private place to contact Him, to praise Him, and to enjoy Him in the holy Word. Many believers may eat only an open, public Christ, but we all need a time to eat a private, hidden Christ. Our experience of Christ should not merely be open in the meetings but hidden in the Holy of Holies, even in Christ Himself as the Ark, the Testimony of God.
Today Christ as the Ark is in our spirit, which is joined to the Holy of Holies. In our spirit we have the Holy of Holies; in the Holy of Holies we have Christ, the Ark, and within Christ we have the golden pot, the divine nature. Today God’s divine nature is in our spirit. Although we have the golden pot, the problem is that often we are far off from our spirit. We need not be quarreling or fighting with others in order to be out of the spirit. Even when we joke with the brothers, we are outside the spirit. Also, being religious is much different from being in the spirit. By being religious we are carried out to the wilderness. The golden pot is in the Ark, and the Ark is in the Holy of Holies, and the Holy of Holies is joined to our spirit. If we continually touch Christ in our spirit, we will enjoy Him as the hidden manna. The open manna was food for all the people who were outside the dwelling place of God and were wandering in the wilderness, whereas the hidden manna is for the person who is remaining in the innermost part of God’s dwelling place, no longer wandering in the soul but abiding in the presence of God in the spirit.