Young People’s Blog

“He hath chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself” (Ephesians 1:5).

“He hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).

“We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).

Yesterday we spoke about our being “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,” and perhaps you are asking yourself, What are these blessings of which the Apostle Paul speaks? We do not have an exact list of them, but some of them are found throughout the first two chapters of Ephesians. However, some of them are found in the verses I have quoted above.

All our blessings are connected with heaven; none are earthly. All of them are connected with Christ, and our union with Him. All of them are so rich that even God Himself could not go beyond what He has done for us. Finally, all of them can be enjoyed now by faith.

Why does God give us these blessings? It is because His heart so overflows with love to His beloved Son, and with love to us, that He wants us to enjoy everything He has given to His Son. God has purposed that the Lord Jesus must inherit all created things, and have the highest place, yet God wants you and me to share all that with Him. Such blessings overwhelm us, if we realize what they really are.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan … . and Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan … . and they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff” (Numbers 13:2,17,23).

The time had come for the children of Israel to enter the land of Canaan, and the Lord directed Moses to send twelve men to spy out the land. They went out and looked at the land for forty days. Finally they came back with one bunch of grapes that was so big that two men had to carry it on a pole between them. Have you ever seen a bunch of grapes that big?

On the farm where I grew up we used to grow grapes, and so did a lot of other farmers in the area. Yet I never saw a bunch of grapes like that! How wonderful and productive that land was in those days!

That bunch of grapes is a picture of the heavenly blessings the Lord has for us. In one sense we look forward to them when the Lord comes and takes us home. Yet, in another sense, the Lord wants us to enjoy those blessings now, for they are already ours. According to Ephesians 1:3, we are already “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Just as that bunch of grapes was far bigger than anything the Israelites had seen before, so our heavenly blessings are far better than anything this world has to offer. Are we enjoying them?

“There was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice…I know Thee who Thou art; the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:33-34).

“And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God … . for they knew that He was Christ” (Luke 4:41).

The nation of Israel rejected the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, and would admit only that He was a great prophet. To this day most orthodox Jews say that while Jesus was a prophet, He was not the Son of God, or the Messiah.

However, it is most significant that every time the Lord Jesus came into contact with devils (demons), they always knew instantly who He was. They were not slow to confess Him as the Holy One of God, and the Son of God. They not only knew who He was, but they knew that they had to obey Him too. Yet the Jews of that day were amazed when He cast out demons with authority and power.

God never provided redemption for Satan and his demons; there is no opportunity for them to come and be saved. However, they readily admit who He is, and recognize His power. Yet mankind—the ones the Lord Jesus came to seek and save—refuses to recognize Him for who He is. How sad this is!

“And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses…there is no bread…and our soul loatheth this light bread” (Numbers 21:4-5).

Here is one last meditation on manna. Towards the end of their wilderness journey the children of Israel actually got tired of the manna, and complained about it. They called it “light bread,” and they wanted something else. As a result, the Lord allowed fiery serpents to come among the people, and many died. You can read about this in the first nine verses of Numbers 21.

It can be the same way with us. If our hearts get away from the Lord, we can actually become tired of feeding on Christ, and our old sinful nature takes over, wanting something different. Then we become unhappy Christians, and the Lord may have to allow difficulties in our lives. It is a serious thing when this happens, for there is enough in Christ for us to enjoy forever. It is only Satan that gets us discouraged like this, and complaining about Christ as our spiritual food.

When the people repented of complaining, the Lord had Moses make a serpent of brass, and anyone who had been bitten by a serpent, if he looked on the brazen serpent, could be healed. The Lord was gracious, just as He is to us, and provided a remedy, as soon as they repented. He will restore our souls too, if we get away from Him, as soon as we confess our sin to Him.

“Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord…that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning … . and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein … . Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none” (Exodus 16:23-24,26).

The sabbath was the day of rest for Israel, and it is a picture of God’s eternal rest for us, with Him in heaven. During all eternity we will surely learn more of Christ, but there are some things about Him we cannot learn up there. We cannot learn Him as the One who can comfort us in every problem, for there will be no problems up there. We cannot learn Him as the One who can guide us in difficulties, or the One who provides for all our needs, for we will not have any difficulties or needs up there. We can learn those things only down here. But the memory of them will be with us for all eternity.

In the wilderness, the children of Israel learned more about the Lord in times of trouble than when everything went smoothly. When they got into the land of Canaan, they could remember all the way the Lord led them. It will be like that with us. We learn Christ down here through the problems along the way, and we will have those memories for all eternity. It makes it all worthwhile to go through trouble, when we learn more of Him! In that sense we are “gathering manna” that will never go bad.

“And Moses said, Let no man leave of it until the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank” (Exodus 16:19-20).

The manna was the food that the Lord had provided for the Israelites, and it was good food that nourished their bodies perfectly. They lived on that manna for forty years. Yet if they kept some of it overnight until the next day, they could not eat it, for it “bred worms and stank.” They were not allowed to “eat leftovers!” Why not?

As we saw yesterday, the manna speaks of Christ as our spiritual food, and just as it was important for the Israelites to gather the manna every day, so it is important for us to feed on Christ through God’s Word every day. To be practical about it, we cannot read two chapters of the Bible today and then forget to read it tomorrow. We must read it every day. We know this is the same even in natural things. We cannot eat twice as much breakfast today and then skip breakfast tomorrow. We must eat it daily, and we need to feed on God’s Word daily too.

However, there was one day in the week when they could keep manna until the next day. We will see tomorrow why this happened.

“Him [the Lord Jesus], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23).

Here in today’s verse we find God’s side of the cross, and man’s side. From man’s side, man is guilty of the murder of God’s beloved Son, for as our verse says, they took Him by wicked hands and demanded that He be crucified. Instead of welcoming the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, the nation of Israel rejected Him.

However, from God’s side all this was necessary in order for you and me to be saved. For this reason our verse tells us that all this was by the counsel and foreknowledge of God. It was necessary for the Lord Jesus to go to the cross and suffer for sin, not only for us, but also for the glory of God. This does not lessen the guilt of man in crucifying Him, but it shows that God’s plan of redemption was already there. It was not a “second thought” with God when the Lord Jesus was rejected.

“Behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing…and…they said one to another, It is manna…and Moses said…This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat” (Exodus 16:14-15).

“And when they did mete it [measure it] with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack” (Exodus 16:18).

Here is something else that the Lord provided for His people. Can you imagine how much food would be needed to feed the children of Israel every day in the wilderness? We know that there were more than 600,000 able-bodied men, and probably the same number of women, plus children, so that there were likely more than two million people to be fed. That is as many people as live in a large city!

The Lord provided manna for them, and they had to gather it in the morning, before the sun was hot. But it seems that they helped one another, for some gathered more, others less. Yet when they measure it, there was enough for all.

The manna speaks of Christ, and it takes effort to learn more of Him. How good it is if we are like the Israelites, who gathered it early in the morning. In John 6 the Lord Jesus compares Himself to the manna, and it is through His Word that we learn more of Him. It is also nice when we can share what we have gathered, as the Israelites shared the manna.

“And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters” (Exodus 15:27).

When you read the verses and the comments on the last two days, perhaps you got the idea that the Christian life was all tribulation and difficulties. It may seem that all through the desert pathway, we will just find bitter things. We see in today’s verse this is just not true. The Lord delights to give us happy times too, where we can rest and have some comfort.

Here we find that when they came to a place called Elim, they found twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees. The water speaks of refreshment, and the palm trees speak of rest and peace. Notice, too, the numbers involved. Perhaps twelve would speak of twelve months in a year, and seventy would speak of the number of years God has now allotted man for his lifespan in this world. To see this, read Psalm 90:10, and note that this psalm was not written by David, but by Moses—the same man who wrote the book of Exodus. The Lord allows problems in our lives to test us, but all through our life, and every month too, He gives us refreshment and rest.

“And he [Moses] cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet” (Exodus 15:25).

When there was no suitable water to drink, we notice that God did not supply different water for them. No, He showed Moses a tree, and when the tree was thrown into the water, it became sweet. What can we learn from this?

The tree is a picture of the cross of Christ. But how could it turn the bitter water into sweet water? When we walk through this world, we find that it is bitterness to us as Christians, for this world has rejected Christ. However, when we go back to the cross, we find that our blessed Savior has also gone through all the suffering from this world. He was rejected and crucified, and He can say, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Walking in fellowship with a rejected Christ gives us more joy than if we found this world a pleasant place. It is His cross that has separated us from this world, and that same cross turns the bitterness of this world into joy for us, as we enjoy His company.