All believer’s sins are forgiven, cleansed and sanctified by the sacrificial blood of Lord Jesus, leading to eternal life. We are thus blessed to be in His presence in us as also hereafter. The indwelling Holy Spirit while teaching us all things, provides us with the spiritual bread to guide and lead us onto righteous ways. Lord Jesus as ‘the Bread of heaven’ has started the inner transformation process in us and that continues here in our lives. We are thus prepared here in this life to be ready to live in the holy and mighty presence of the Lord forever.
Abraham’s blessings and a believer – As per legend, Abraham was born into a generation that loved many gods of their own choice. Terah, his father, used to make idols as a business and Abraham’s quest to know the Power that controlled everything led him to break all the idols his father had made. Before his father, He blamed the largest idol for having caused the destruction, to prove the futility of his father’s beliefs. God chose and commanded him, ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you’ (Genesis 12:2-3). This was his action to separate himself from the faith system prevailing in the family, to a different land. He was promised to be made ‘a great nation’, a great name and ‘be a blessing’. With this came the protection and a promise from God, ‘I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’. The first part of the command to Abraham was the move and separation from the old ways and move to follow the new, without being absolutely clear about the destination and the way also. Until and unless we start to do our part, God will not do His part, for the second is linked to the first. We tend to focus on the blessings without preparing ourselves, by emptying out the old. Also, in all this is included, ‘you shall be a blessing’, for it was less about his own self but more for others, who will come in his path.
Abraham offered hospitality to all who passed by his camp, during a time when this custom was very rare. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Jewish people, we are told, ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it’ (Hebrews 13:2). After a long wait of almost twenty-five years, he and his wife Sarah, who was barren, were blessed by God with Isaac, their only son. With that, one aspect of God’s salvation of mankind was revealed. God tested Abraham and said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will show you’ (Genesis 22:2-13). He moved with Isaac, who was agedbetween 17 to 30 years, andanswered his son’s question about the lamb for the burnt offering. Abraham told Isaac, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering’. The faith of both the father and the son was tested when Abraham bound Isaac to lay him upon the wood, and Isaac accepted that. The Angel of the Lord (Lord Jesus) stopped Abraham, when he had raised his hand with the knife to slay his son, confirming the acceptance of the offering. Then he saw a ‘ram caught in a thicket by its horns’, took it and offered that as the burnt offering in his son’s place. God ensured that, with no herd of animals nearby, the ram reached Mount Moriah voluntarily, trapped its horn in the thicket to be caught and offered to God. The Jewish people believe that they have received salvation in this sacrificial act of Abraham and even that Abraham watches over the door to hell to prevent any Jew entering there by mistake. The command to him ‘be a blessing to others’ is to reflect godly righteousness to others to lead them into faith.
Moses was on Mount Sinai with God for forty days to receive the Torah, the first Five Books of the Bible and the two Tablets with the Ten Commandments written by God Himself. His people were to live in obedience to God’s commands to reflect the righteous way of life to the rest of mankind. They rejected all of God’s efforts, depending instead on idols and gods of other nations around them. Apostle Paul specified the fulfilment of what was decreed about the ‘seed of the woman’ (Genesis 3:15), that ‘when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us’ (Galatians 4:4). He was born into a Jewish family to fulfil God’s promise to Abraham, ‘in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’. But this time, the Lamb of God was not in the thicket but walked into the hands of His Chief Priests and Jewish leaders ready to be offered on the cross as a sacrificial offering.
We know from the Scriptures, that the Lamb of God, His Son, ‘was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth’ (Isaiah 53:7). There was no substitute, for this was the offering to pay for our sins. The part that the Israelites failed to obey ‘be a blessing’ has come on us to reach out and witness to others about salvation through this sacrifice. The Jewish people still do not believe all the prophecies about the suffering Messiah but look for the conquering Messiah. As per them He will come and establish peace in the world through the conquering of all the kingdoms. Before the Tribulation period of seven years, the Church will be removed from the earth by Lord Jesus to be with Him for that period (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
During the Judgement of the Seals, the period of Tribulation, at God’s command, those who suffer tribulation, but chosen by God, were sealed on their foreheads (Revelation 7:4). Their number is ‘One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel’. They will witness to all the people on the earth and there will be a great revival, thus fulfilling the task to ‘be a blessing’. They will then be a blessing to all the suffering people on the earth. We have the blessings but with that we also have the task to reach out to others with the message of the Gospel. Salvation is not dependent on this but on faith alone, while we work to express His agape love before all of humanity.
Purpose of the Bread of heaven – Lord Jesus first declared Himself as the ‘bread of life’ and then told them about the Israelites eating food from heaven and yet died (John 6:48-50). Then He made a very strong statement, ‘This is the bread which comes from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die’. Adam and Eve were warned about not eating from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ for as a result of that ‘you will surely die’ (Genesis 2:17). This death was not physical death but spiritual death, which is separation from God and they were not able to be in the presence of God, without atoning for their sins.
After crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites were supposed to be in the wilderness for a short time to be given the Torah, the First five Books of the Holy Bible to live by that. Since they were not able to sow and reap any crop in this period, ‘the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not’ (Exodus 17:4). The aim of this provision was three-fold; first, to provide food for their bodies and sustain them physically. The second, to enable them to rest and recover from all their works of the past years of slavery in Egypt and worship God. The third, to test their faith and obedience to the Word of God and thus make them spiritually strong. The Israelites received that and called its name Manna. It was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey’ (Exodus 16:31). They called it ‘Manna’ meaning ‘what is it?’ They saw it as a mystery food but since it fell from heaven, they knew it was something special.
Apostle Paul has taught about their failure to obey the LORD, ‘But with most of them God was not well pleased’ (1 Corinthians 10:5). They were assured of the land of Canaan being given to them by God, for He had promised that to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Despite such wonderful blessings, they never stopped complaining and wanting to go back to Egypt. They were found ready by God to go and occupy the Promised Land after about a year since they left Egypt. The Twelve spies sent to see the land by Moses were all leaders of their tribes and must have been spiritually and physically strong. They confirmed the abundance of everything there but expressed their inability to go and conquer the inhabitants (Numbers 13:31-32). The first part of their statement is about its effect on the inhabitants, ‘The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants’. The second part contradicts the first, ‘and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature’.
As per Jewish sages the Ten leaders who said this were affected by the work required to care for such a productive land leaving little time for spiritual matters. They wanted to stay put in that area only, receive the Manna from heaven daily and rejoice in the worship and closeness of God the LORD. It is not that Joshua and Caleb were less holy but they had found a balance in life, for both spiritual and earthly matters. Most of us also get busy in life with the first part of the blessings to Adam, ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (Genesis 1:28). We remain busy in getting the maximum from the resources given by God and forget the second part, ‘fill the earth and subdue it’.
Our role is spiritual domination of everything on the earth with the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. This is the Great Commission to every believer by carrying the light into the darkness of evil in the hearts and souls of people (Matthew 28:19-20). Just before moving onto His final journey to the cross, through the Gethsemane Park prayer, Lord Jesus instituted the Holy Communion (Luke 22:19-20). Apostle Paul repeats this by saying, ‘I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you’ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The final clause in each of the two steps, of eating the bread and drinking the wine (Body and Blood of the Lord) is to ‘do this in remembrance of Me’. Apostle Paul clarifies about this part of remembrance, that each time ‘we who partake, proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes’. The relevance of this ‘Bread of life’ that comes from heaven is to live with full realisation that the Saviour Lord has borne our sins. Our Lord has promised, ‘their lawless deeds I will remember no more’ (Hebrews 8:12). The devil, ‘the accuser of the brethren’, keeps dragging us back into the past. We are then restrained from claiming what we have been given and remain stuck like the Israelites in Kadesh-Barnea.
Expected changes in a believer – Apostle Peter had experienced both sides of life, of being the closest to Lord Jesus and also being far away in denial to be restored again. He could boldly declare, ‘As His (God’s) Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust’ (2 Peter 1:3-4). By faith we become children of God while living our lives on this earth surrounded by forces of evil and darkness. Apostle Peter has shown us the work of God’s Divine power to bless us to live the life of abundance promised by Lord Jesus (John 10:10). Also to live a life of godliness even while facing all evil forces’ attacks.
We receive this and other ‘exceedingly great and precious promises’ of eternal life and His presence in us. All these come to us through knowing the Lord God, who has chosen and called us and we have been given ‘exceedingly and great promises’. These blessings are about life here on earth as also after this. The greatest blessing of all this is restoration of the Divine nature that was given to Adam and Eve at the time of creation through the breath of the LORD God. Lord Jesus, as Son of God, was fully Divine and fully human, God who put on humanity to be like us to redeem us from the darkness of sin and evil. We are fully human, with our sinful nature also active, but with this blessing from the Lord, we are now partly divine also. We have His Holy Spirit in us helping us be like Him, in facing the forces of darkness and evil. We also reach out to others with the same love, seeking God to touch them to turn to the Lord.
Apostle Paul declares this same nature as the light to shine out of the darkness of evil into our hearts. This is to ‘give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). Nobody deserves this on his own merits but it is through His mercy and grace. In this sinful state, ‘we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us’. When we receive the ‘Bread of life’ as our source of life, both spiritual and physical, He shines His light through His Word to fill us with that. We are transformed daily and after a while we start resisting all those acts that we rejoiced in doing earlier. The more we live with this awareness, the more He empowers us to be filled with His nature. Through our answered prayers, others are blessed and God is glorified, which is the purpose of our life on earth!
God has chosen us to be good to others and be a blessing to them in His. might and authority. We are a grafted branch of ‘The True Vine’, who suffered everything on earth as our Saviour, to enable us to be like Him and bear fruit for others. The more we give to others, the more is poured out on us like rain from heaven. With this New Life, we have been given His nature also andv with this only our lives become purposeful!
