The Hidden Manna - The Divine Words of the Holy Spirit Incarnate (Part 1) by Danilo T. Nacua

Revelation 2:17 states: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no knows except him who receives it.” To understand what is meant by the “hidden manna” as mentioned in Revelation 2:17, you have to first investigate the background story why God describes this as “hidden manna”. The Bible mentions the word “manna” in Exodus 16:1-36, TEV and what good it will do for those who are allowed to partake of it. If you read the whole chapter sixteen you’ll learn that the food God gave to the people of Israel while they were wandering in the desert was called “manna”. The food was heavenly in the sense that it was God Jehovah who sent it to them and they ate that food (manna) for forty years in the desert. There was only one hitch to that food. If you keep more than what is required, it will rot. Psalms 78:3-25, RSV translates manna as the “bread of angels”. This clearly explains that “manna” is “bread” and vice versa and the purpose in sending it was to save – remember that. But the Bible did not end its allusion of “manna” or “bread” in the Old Testament.

When Jesus Christ came to earth He declared in John 6:51,58 that “I am the living bread which came down from heaven…not as the Fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever”. Listen to this. The first manna or bread was “literal bread” which came down from heaven and saved Israel from famine while they stayed in the desert. The second “manna or bread” was a metaphor but with the same purpose – to save. Christ claimed that He was the “bread that came down from heaven” and invited everyone to this bread! Are we to eat Him literally? Of course not or we will be charged with cannibalism. It was metaphorically stated by Christ for the purpose of saving the world because that’s the whole idea of the manna or bread principle used by God. How do we go about by eating this “bread” (Christ) that came down from heaven? In John 12:49-50 Christ said that “…I have not spoken of my own authority, but the Father who sent me has commanded me what I must say and speak. And I know that his command is eternal life…” There you are! The way to eat or partake of this “bread from heaven” which is Jesus Christ is to obey what He says! Therefore from the above arguments we can say that the “hidden manna” mentioned in Revelation 2:17 pertains not to Christ but it means something else. Even though Christ was called the “bread from heaven” he was clearly not the “hidden manna”.