"For The LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations." [Psa 100:5]

The LORD’s truth, “endureth to all generations.” From the beginning, when The Lord opened His mouth and “said, let there be light,” [Gen 1:3] unto the latter times yet to come, when He shall “smite the nations” with the two-edged sword from His mouth, [Rev 19:15] from beginning to end, first to last, as God is so too is His word: it shall endure to all generations. As it is written elsewhere, “the word of The Lord endureth for ever.” [1 Pe 1:25] Yes, “forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” [Psa 119:89] There is neither jot nor tittle that shall be anything less than eternal, but The LORD’s words, and all of His words, shall last forever. Whether it be His counsel, His statutes, His law, His testimonies, or His truth: all of them shall likewise endure. Past every galaxy and every mountain; past every king and every servant: The Lord’s “truth endureth to all generations.”

For most of us, this is not a truth uncommon, nor a word that is sluggishly accepted. Our very salvation is founded upon the fact that God’s word is everlasting: for if His word were not, what confidence may we have in anything He has said, whether it be related to the gospel or some law? But may we take this truth today, and look at it anew, seeing afresh its great power.

Let us first be particularly reminded of how Christ Jesus is The Word. In Revelation Jesus’ name “is called the Word of God;” and in John, we read of Jesus that, “In the beginning was The Word…[and] The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” [Rev 19:13, Jn 1:1, 14] Jesus is The Word, and The Word is Jesus; even as Jesus speaks through the Psalmist in reference to God’s word, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.” [Psa 40:7, Heb 10:7] If we must choose just one topic that God’s word is about, we must say emphatically: Jesus Christ. And regarding Jesus, who is The Word of God, we are given a promise. In Jesus’ letter to the churches, He says, “…to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna…” [Rev 2:17] Regarding the manna, Jesus says, referencing Himself, “this is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.” [Jn 6:50] Yes, Jesus is that manna: it represents Him: and for those who eat of Him, they shall inherit and experience both in this life and the life to come, everlasting life. As it was with the manna so too it is with Jesus, and God would say to us, “this is the bread which The LORD hath given you to eat,” [Ex 16:15] very similar to what Jesus expressed at the Last Supper, “take eat; this [bread] is my body.” [Mt 26:26] And as we have been relating God’s word to Christ, and now the manna to Christ, we should also expect to see manna related to God’s word, and in fact we do. For it is written,

“And [The LORD] humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna…that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that is proceeding out of the mouth of The LORD doth man live.” [Deut 8:3]

And so, now that we have seen the connection of God’s word, manna, and Jesus, we can understand what Jesus means when He promises that He shall give us “to eat of the hidden manna.” Back in Moses’ day it says, “as The LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid [the manna] up before the testimony, to be kept.” [Ex 16:34] Some of the manna was stored up in a jar and put before The Ark. This is also spoken of in Hebrews:

“And after [the first holy place, there was] the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all…wherein was the golden pot that had manna…” [Heb 9:3-4]

This is the hidden manna: that manna which was stored up in the jar and then laid before The Ark. It was located in the Holy of Holies, a place which was off limits except for once a year, and then only by the High Priest. In effect, the manna was hidden: out of reach and out of view – and this was much like Christ in the Old Testament, even as it says regarding Christ and His glory to the Jews who are still under the law today: “but even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.” [f.f., 2 Cor 3:15] But now, through Jesus, we have access to His word and to Him. We have the hidden manna, and we are able to eat of Him; to experience Him, to fellowship with Him, to learn of Him.

But how does all this relate to our verse for today? It relates in that we have read, “His truth endureth to all generations.” Think of that manna: that manna, which God said, (and which was proved to be true), would be eaten of worms and become worthless if stored up greater than a day. The manna had to be gathered daily and could not be stored up except for the sabbath day. And so how then could manna be stored up in the jar before The Ark? Would it not grow stale and stink, as the other stored manna did? Ah, but thousands and thousands of years after, Jesus promises us “the hidden manna.” That manna which was stored up represents Christ; and Christ shall never grow stale. For the Word of The LORD endures forever, and Jesus is The Word. Therefore, that hidden manna never doth spoil. No, but forevermore it remains: each generation, each millennia, each day, for eternity of eternities, shall be accessible and fresh: as fresh as it was the first day it was placed there. The Jesus which was powerful in His resurrection, or last week, or at your salvation, is the same Jesus today. He doesn’t grow old nor fade, nor spoil: both He and His word are eternal, and ever available for us to enjoy and receive from. Have you yourself a promise, dear reader? Have you encouragement and exhortation from The Lord? Have you a remembrance of some account in scripture regarding the work and power of The Lord? That promise and that word, that display of God’s character, is still good today. Do not think that it has grown stale and lost its effectiveness. As it touched you then, may it touch you afresh today and grant strength.

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