The 3M's-Manna, Milk and Meat

We have had an incredible season of revival at my church. Over the past several months, we have seen souls come into the house of God to find freedom from the chains of bondage and addiction, souls who have found repentance and been filled with the Holy Ghost as well as backsliders finding their way home. 

This season was one where I have personally walked through some of, it not the absolute toughest times of my life. It's no secret that I lost my husband of almost 18 years in September. The writings I have shared from that time to now have been a reflection of that season; from the acceptance of it all the way through the season of doubt I walked till now, the words were raw and much unedited because I just had to capture what was being said in my spirit. But I do believe my writing is about to take on a different type of composition.  

As I drove home from service on Wednesday evening, I had the phrase of the 3Ms in my mind: manna, milk and the meat. Pastor had spent a good amount of time speaking to us about the manna that had sustained the Children of Israel was they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. He had then transposed that manna into milk for infants. While he didn't explicitly speak about the meat, I feel it is relevant to what the Lord was showing me. 

Context for this message was found in Joshua 5 beginning with vs 12, but let's back up a little bit. In the days of Abraham, the covenant of circumcision had been given. Of the Children of Israel, scripture says that all the men of war that came out of Egypt had been circumcised but those who had been born in the wilderness had not. The Lord had Joshua make sharpened knives to circumcised those born in the wilderness. This signified the renewing of the covenant between God and the Children of Israel. Once healing had taken place, the children of Israel celebrated the passover. It was at this point where we picked up in the teaching. Verse 12 says "And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Cannan that year." 

To understand some of this, we have to go back to the beginning:to before the wandering, before the Red Sea, before there were plagues, before there was a Passover to when it was just a man named Moses having an experience at a burning bush.  What was expected in that moment? Had Moses went looking for this encounter? Moses had no expectation but God who spoke to him certainly did. He had found the one He chose as the deliverer of His people from the bondage of slavery they were in. Exodus 3:8 is where the Lord is speaking about the land He has prepared for His children to reside in once free from the captivity. It says " And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand if the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaannmites, and the Hittites, and the Perezzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites." 

The Lord told Moses they would be going to a land flowing with milk and honey. But what did that mean? Were there actual rivers of milk and honey? No, it meant the ultimate state of abundance, prosperity, and the fertility of the Promised Land. It was the means by which the Children of Israel would possess the land and prosper once again, no longer being enslaved but rising as the favored people of God.  But what happened?

As soon as they crossed the Red Sea and the ability to reach out to touch Egypt was gone, the murmuring and complaining started. Even with the promise of the abundance that lay ahead of them, they complained that they were hungry. Enter manna to the scene.

Exodus 16 introduces us to this manna for the first time in scripture.  Manna is literally interpreted as "What is this?", since no one knew exactly what it was.  It was said to be like coriander seed and was sweet like honey when eaten. It could be ground into flour or eaten as it was but it was only good enough for one day.  Every chid of Israel: man, woman, boy and girl, had to go out each day to gather for themself what it would take to sustain them for the day. If any was tried to be kept for the next day to keep from having ro go out and gather, it would mold causing it to stink and produce meal worms. The only day that could be doubled was the 6th day as preparation for the Sabbath.They could gather one omer, which was between 2.2 and 3.6 liters, for each man and double that on the Sabbath. 

But as I was thinking about this as I drove home from church, a thought struck my mind. I haven't been able to prove it Biblically so it is only my thought and hypothesis at this time. But the manna was like God's grace and mercy. Lamentations 3:22-23 " It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." 

Just as the manna came new every morning, so too are the mercy and grace afforded to us by Jesus Christ. In this light, I saw manna as our salvation experience in a way.

What do I mean by this? Back up to where I posted pastor's key verse of Joshua 5:12. It said that the manna ceased. When we submit our lives to Christ in true repentance, followed by baptisism in Jesus name and the subsequent infilling of the Holy Ghost, the need for that daily provision or measure ceases. You have now entered into the promised land, that land flowing with milk and honey. Do I think that the pull or need for repentance left? Absolutely not. But a daily provision provided to you for no reason is no longer needed when you are now in the land of abundance.

Imagine that you had just come out of this wilderness that you've wandered in for 40 years after eating nothing but this manna. You are looking forward to the biggest, juiciest steak you can get your hands on, right? Oh I know you are, but you are not ready for that steak just yet. You have to build yourself up in strength and nutrition before tackling something like that. Think about it in the natural: you are not going to bring a newborn baby that has spent 9 months having every nutrient, every ounce of hydration that it needed to grow and develop being funneled into it via that umbilical cord straight home to start giving it solid foods. It's not ready. There are so many reasons but lack of teeth certainly is a huge #1. But we will get more into that upcoming. 

Coming off the manna (umbilical cord in the natural/repentance spiritually), you have to continue to gain nutrients. You do this by moving to the milk. Milk is a nutrient-rich liquid from mammals. It is a key source of protein, calcium and vitamins. It also helps to produce strong bones, muscles and develops nerve function. 1 Peter 2:2 says it this way: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk or the word, that ye may grow thereby." 

Once you cross the Jordan into Cannan Land (repentance unto salvation), you have been born. As a newborn cries for milk to be fed, so too must these young babes in Christ cry out for the Word. You have to study. You have to pray. You have to attend services where you can be fed the Word by your shepherd. As the "milk" allows you to grow, the fellowship of other believers around you begin to shape and mold you. Just as a baby learns from parents, grandparents and siblings, you learn from your church family. 

As you progress and grow, food is introduced to your diet. At first it is soft food, easy to chew and digest as you learn to chew and not just swallow down everything that is put in your mouth. The soft food is that which is fed to you by your pastor. You eat upon that Word as you learn a little more and a little more. You become involved in Bible studies where you begin seeking out more that just the simple, easy food. You start looking for a little meat.

Meat is something that some disdain because it is flesh, muscle and tissue of an animal.  But as you feast upon the meat of the Word, you are devouring the very essence of Christ: His body, His blood, His sacrifice which He made for you. But how many of us get stuck on that bottle wanting everything to be fed to us? We don't want to do the work required to become mature in Him. Hebrews 5:12-14 says "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

So why are we not seeing the 3Ms today? We have a lot of people gathering manna day in and day out because they are wandering in their own wilderness.  They are getting just enough to get them by day by day without ever making it to their promised land. If they would just open their eyes and look before them, the land of milk and honey is right there within their reach. Every sustenance they would need to help them grow and be sustained in Him from the milk to the meat is right there. But they would rather have a hand out without having to do anything or they do reach across and such on a bottle forever drinking the milk.

It's time for us all to get off the milk and start eating on the fat of the meat that was bought for us at a high price. It's truly is a delicacy if we would just let our teeth sink in for a big bite.