At the end of the age, some Christians will not be faithful to God, and as a result they will face a famine of God’s word (Amos 8:11). When God’s people face a famine of his word, they become spiritually weak.
The word of God is the spiritual food that we need in order to be strong and move forward with God. Jesus said that we need this spiritual food of God’s word more than we need natural food (Matthew 4:4). It is more important to feed our spirits than it is to feed our bodies. If our spirits are strong, then we can overcome challenges.
Throughout the Bible the word of God is compared to food. God’s word is like milk (1 Peter 2:2). It is like honey (Psalm 119:103). Jesus will lead us to the Promised Land full of milk and honey, which means we are going to a spiritual place full of the riches of God’s word.
The word of God is compared to bread. We need to pray for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). Every day we need a spiritual provision of God’s word.
One Omer of Manna Every Day
God gave the Israelites manna every day. Manna was supernatural food that gave the Israelites strength. It was angels’ food (Psalm 78:24-25). It tasted like honey wafers (Exodus 16:31). Every day the Israelites gathered an omer of manna for each person to eat (Exodus 16:16). An omer was a unit of measurement containing several cups.
Manna represents our daily portion of God’s word.
Manna was tasty, but the Israelites soon grew tired of it. They were bored with the daily routine of gathering manna and eating it. After a few months of eating manna, their enthusiasm waned, and they began to complain (Numbers 21:4-5). They wanted variety like meat, garlic, leeks, and melons – the food of Egypt. But this Egyptian food would not get them through the wilderness, only manna could do that.
We need God’s pure word. We don’t need food from Egypt. We don’t need worldly podcasts, videos, or other shows that feed our souls. We need God’s basic word which is found in the Bible.
2 Omers for a Loaf of Showbread
Each week in the tabernacle, the priests baked 12 loaves of bread and put them on the table of showbread. These loaves were the priests’ food. Each loaf was made of 2 omers of flour (Leviticus 24:5-9). Each loaf was big enough for 2 people to eat, and it took twice as many ingredients to make one of these loaves (2 omers) as the daily allotment of manna (1 omer). This double-quantity shows that these loaves were made to be eaten by more than one person, and it took the supply of more than one person to create one of these loaves.
This is an example for us (1 Corinthians 10:11).
The shewbread represents the word of God for the church. Each week, when the church gathers together, there is a supply of the spiritual food of God’s word created by the ministry of the body of Christ. This weekly ministry in church is represented by a loaf of showbread which is made with two omers – twice as much as the daily allotment of manna for one person. This teaches that church ministry is to be done by more than one person.
In addition, church ministry produces a larger loaf of spiritual bread than what one person can eat, which means that the word of God for the church requires a body of people to implement.
12 Loaves of Showbread Every Week
The same 12 loaves sat on the table of showbread each week. It was the same recipe. It was the same food. There was no variety. No cinnamon bread, no banana bread, and no Nutella on top.
It was the same 12 loaves again and again, week after week, year after year.
These 12 loaves represent the apostle’s teaching. This is what we need. The early church continued steadfastly in apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). We must do the same. The same apostolic teaching will continue to presented to the church until she becomes the holy and spotless bride of Christ.
The church must eat all 12 of these loaves. She cannot leave any of them on her plate uneaten, and she cannot replace them with any man-made concoctions no matter how yummy they may appear. Like an obedient child, the church must eat what God has set before her.
A Healthy Spiritual Routine
Daily, we get manna for ourselves.
Weekly, we eat the bread of God’s word with the church.
This is a routine, but it is a good one. There may be some repetition in our spiritual lives, but repetition can be healthy. The Holy Spirit will make this routine lively and powerful to give us supernatural strength. Even though we keep reading the same 66 books of the Bible and keep listening to the same truths, we know that this is healthy spiritual food.
God’s word is infinite, like God himself. It is deep and wide, and we can spend an eternity exploring its riches and feasting upon it. It is more valuable than gold.
Overcoming Satan’s Attacks
Satan wants us to face a famine of God’s word so we become spiritually sick.
He will attack our hearing of God’s word. He will distract us from reading the Bible and hinder us from going to church or having fellowship with God’s people.
He will attack our understanding of God’s word, so that even if we do hear God’s word we don’t understand it. Maybe we space off when reading it or hearing it.
He will attack our obedience to God’s word so we don’t do what God says. We shouldn’t put off obedience. We are not yet the glorious bride of Christ, so we must obey in new things. This requires effort.
We can overcome these evil attacks by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see how great God is. We understand how much we need him. We recognize that he is accessed through his word. We expose ourselves to God’s word so our minds are renewed. Then we do what God says because we know this is our life.
Sometimes our ears itch and we want to hear something new. We think the new thing will scratch our itchy ears (2 Timothy 4:3). But we must not scratch our itchy ears with false prophecies, extravagant interpretations of the Bible, or baseless theories about current events. We need to stick to the healthy diet of the basics of the apostles’ teaching.
God’s word is the only spiritual food we need.
Let’s cultivate an appetite for this healthy spiritual food. Let’s keep eating it. This is the only pathway of victory. Nothing else will get us through.
Lincoln House Churches 