Chapter 13: The Manna

I stepped through the door. When I did, I was surprised that all of the glory in which I had been standing before was gone. It was dark and musty, like an old cellar. It was disconcerting, but I still felt the power of the words that the Lord had spoken to me, and they steadied me.

“What you feel is the anointing of the Holy Spirit,” a voice said from the darkness.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Must you ask?” It did not quite sound like Wisdom, but some other familiar voice. Even so, I knew that it was Him. Gradually, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I was surprised to see my old friend, the white eagle.

“He lives in you, and so you can abide in all that you just experienced here just as you did in His presence there. I know that you have become addicted to His presence, and this is right, but here you must learn to recognize Him in many forms. First you must recognize His voice in your own heart and then as He speaks through others.

“This you have known before, and have experienced from time to time, but not like you must know it now. He will never be far from you and can always be found easily. He will always lead you to the truth. Only by the Holy Spirit can you see and know anything or anyone the way they really are. In the times that are before us, we will perish if we do not follow Him closely.”

“I know that this is true because I hear Wisdom speaking through you. Are you here to show me the way? I can hardly see here.”

“I will come to you from time to time to tell you about the signposts that will let you know that you are still on the right path, but the Holy Spirit must lead you. I will also help you to understand how He leads you in different places, but first I must tell you about the manna so that you can live.”

“Manna! Do you mean like the manna that Israel ate in the wilderness? Is that what we eat here?”

“It is what all who have walked with God have lived on since the beginning. The manna that Israel ate while in the wilderness was a prophecy of this. The Lord will give you fresh manna daily. Just as He covered the earth with manna every day for Israel while they were in the wilderness, He covers the earth each day with truth for His people. Every way that you turn, you will see it. Even in the midst of the darkness and gloom, His Word will surround you, and you can gather it. Those who are cast into the inner prisons will awake to find it every day. Those who live in great palaces can also find it every day. But His manna is as gentle and light as the dew, and easily trampled. You must be gentle and light of heart to see it.”

Living Epistles

“The Lord speaks every day to each one of His people. They cannot live by bread alone, but must have the words that proceed from His mouth. These are not the words that He spoke in the past, but the words that He speaks to them each day,” the eagle continued.

“Many are weak because they do not know how to gather the manna that the Lord gives to them each day. They go astray because they do not know His voice. His sheep know His voice, and they follow Him because they recognize it. The manna is the bread of life that each of His people is given each day. You must learn to recognize it, and help His people to recognize this manna. When they taste it as you are tasting it now, they will diligently search for it each day. Do not be concerned about hoarding food or water, but learn to see and partake of the manna that He gives daily. This will preserve you when all else fails. “The Scriptures are the meat that the Lord gives to us, but His manna is found in His living epistles, His people. He will speak to you each day through His people. You must open your heart to the way that He is found in His people if you are to partake of the heavenly manna. Just as He said to Jerusalem, He is saying to us, “You shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” This spoke of Him when He walked the earth then, and it speaks of the way that He is walking the earth now through His people. As our love for manna grows, so will our love for each other. If you are growing in love, the manna which He serves will never taste old or stale to you, but will be new each morning.

“His manna may come to you through the words of a close friend or one of His people who lived long before you as you ponder their writings. He will also speak through those who do not know Him, but you will know that He sent them to you. You will discern His manna when you go beyond just trying to hear His words and seek to hear the Word, Himself. It is not just hearing His words, but hearing His voice that will lead you in the way in which you are to go. Many repeat the words that He has spoken, but His manna is the word that He is speaking now.

“We need the strong meat of the Scriptures to build ourselves up and give us the container for gathering His manna. Grow strong on the meat of His written Word, but also develop a taste for His manna. The meat of His written Word will build us up and prepare us for what is to come, but manna will sustain us through what lies ahead.

“The words that were spoken to you through the saints in the Hall of Judgment were manna from Him. His people are also His manna to the world. Manna is the bread of life— the living words which He speaks to His people daily and are spoken through His people. The Scriptures are set and cannot be changed. They are the anchor for our souls. However, the Book of Life is still being written. He writes a new chapter in the Book of Life with each soul that comes to Him.”

Victory Or Defeat

“The Scriptures are the blueprint for His dwelling place that He is building among men. They are the testimony of the way that He has worked through men and women to bring about their redemption. His people are the vessels of His living word and are witnesses to the world that His words are not just history, but are still alive and still give life. If you are to know His words, you must know both the Scripture and His manna. The Scriptures are His eternal plans that will not change which we must know to walk in His ways. His manna will give you the strength to walk each day. This is so that we might have fellowship. ‘If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,” the eagle said. “Many of His messengers do not even know that they are being used in this way. They often do not know when He is speaking through them. Those to whom He is speaking seldom recognize His voice. This must change. His people are called to be in unity with Him in all that He does, but few even know His voice. Therefore they seldom follow Him in the way that He wants to lead them. He now wants all of His people to know when He is speaking through them or to them. Just as the sure communication between a general and his soldiers can determine the outcome of the battle, the strength of His communication with His people will determine their victory or defeat in the days to come.

“He is now preparing many messengers who will go forth with His messages. They will also teach His people to know His voice and to know His ways. You must receive His messengers as if you are receiving the Lord, Himself. You must help them along their way. The success of their ministry will determine the rise and fall of many.”

For a moment I thought that if the Lord was sending them, surely they would not need my help. This brought a stern rebuke from the eagle, who could also discern my thoughts.

“Do not think that way! Many of His people fall because of that delusion! He could do all things without us, but He has chosen to do them through us. We are His provision for one another. He sent the Helper to live in His people; therefore, He intends for His people to receive their help through one another. Do not ever forget this. That is why He gives us our manna through one another. He has designed all things so that we must love Him above all things, but we must also love one another. We need Him above all things, but we also need each other. In this way, we are also kept humble so that He might trust us with His grace and power.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied. “I know all of that very well, but I tend to forget it at times.”

“The times that you have forgotten this have been more costly than you need to know at this time, but to forget this in the future will be more costly than you can bear. We need the Lord above all, but we also need all of His people. It is in His people that we will find the Helper, the One who leads us into all truth and the One who leads us to the Son.

“He is now sending forth His messengers. Some will be old and wise. Others will be young and little experience, but they will know His voice. The enemy will also be sending his messengers to sow confusion. This, too, is a part of our training. Some will be deceived by the messengers of the enemy for a while, and others will suffer loss because of them, but those who love the Lord and His truth will not be deceived by them for long. Those who love Him and His truth will know the truth. Those who have been deceived for a time will learn from this, and they will be used to expose the deceivers in the days to come.

“Some who have been the most deceived in the past will become some of the strongest in the truth because of their wisdom. Wisdom is to know His voice and to follow Him. These will not be easily distracted from Him again. Do not judge others because of their past, but by who they have become. Those who have followed Wisdom will have their weaknesses turned into strengths. No one is stronger or more trustworthy than those who know His voice and follow Him.

“We must not stop encouraging His people to know His voice. We must charge His prophets to confront and expose the false prophets. This message we must carry to the end. We are being sent to help build His lines of communication with those who will be His soldiers in the great battle to come. All of His people must know His voice. The time will soon be upon us when all who do not know His voice will be deceived by the darkness. Those who know His voice because they know Him will not be deceived.”

As the eagle spoke, his words continued to wash me just as they had when they came in the presence of Wisdom. I could not see Him, but I knew that He was present and that He was the One speaking to me. Though I could not see as much with my eyes in this place, I had great clarity of mind that enabled me to understand. I had always felt that I had a very poor memory, but although He now was saying much more than He ever had before, it seemed like I could remember every word He said, even when it came through someone else. I then knew that this was the power of the Holy Spirit Who brings all things to our remembrance. In Him, looking backward or forward was no different from looking at the present. As I was thinking about this, the eagle continued.

“This place seems musty and old because very little fresh air has been let in here for a long time. You have found the door and have entered. The same door that led you to this place also can now lead you back to the Hall of Judgment. What did you receive in the Hall of Judgment?”

“Wisdom and understanding,” I replied.

“In a single word, you received grace,” the eagle responded. “The Throne of Judgment is also the Throne of Grace. You can boldly go there at any time.”

When he said this, I turned to see the door behind me. Now I could see beauty in it that was greater than when I entered the Hall of Judgment. I opened it and stepped through again.

--- I looked at Wisdom, who then turned me around so that I could behold the Great Hall again. I was startled to see standing right behind me everyone whom I had previously met there. I was even more surprised by how much more glorious they now seemed.

“They have not changed,” Wisdom said. “You have changed. Your eyes are opened to see more than you could before. The more clearly that you are able to see Me, the more you will be able to see Me in others.”

I looked toward the Apostle Paul. He was regal beyond description. He had such great authority and dignity, but was at the same time so graced with humility that I am sure the lowest peasant or sinner would have felt completely comfortable approaching him. The desire to be just like that flooded me. I then looked at the others and felt as if they were all the closest family and friends I had ever known. It is impossible to describe how I loved them and how I knew that they loved me. No fellowship on earth could compare, but the best on earth was somehow a foretaste of this. There was no pretension, posturing or positioning. Everyone knew everyone else completely, and love was the source of every thought. Eternity with this family was going to be even better than I had ever imagined. I desperately wanted to take all of them with me, but I knew that they could not leave their present domain.

Wisdom again answered my thoughts, “They will be with you as I am with you. Remember, they are the great cloud of witnesses. Even when you do not see them, they are as close to you as they are now. All who have served Me from the beginning are one body and they, too, will be with you in what is to come, but I will be in you.”

I wondered how anything that we experienced in eternity could be better than what was to be found right here in the Judgment Hall. The judgment came from every thought being made manifest. It was not a judgment of punishment, but liberation, if there was no attempt to hide anything. Freedom came with everything that was illuminated so that there was a desire for every heart flaw to be exposed. The love was so great that I knew everything would be covered and made right.

“Everything that you feel in My presence is true,” Wisdom continued. “This love and closeness that you experience here with your brethren are real. You are all one in Me, and you will grow in this love as you grow in Me. As you do, this same love will help others to enter the freedom you have experienced here. When My people who now walk the earth embrace My true judgment, they will walk in a freedom that will enable Me to touch the world with My love.

“It is not My desire that any should perish or suffer loss when they come here. I desire for all to judge themselves so that I will not have to judge them. That is why My judgments are about to come to the earth. They are coming in ever increasing waves, so that the world may believe and repent. Each trumpet sound will be louder than the previous one. It is the job of My messengers to help the world understand the sound of the trumpets.

“Remember that those with who I must walk on earth are also members of My body. They have not yet been glorified, but you must see them as they are called to be, not as they appear now. You must love them and see the authority and grace in them that you now see in these. Remember that those with whom you walk on earth now see you as you see them. You must learn not to see according to their present appearance, but see who they are to become. “Only those who live by My judgments and abide with Me as their wisdom can see My authority in others. Even so, do not strive to have men see My authority in you. Do not be concerned by whether others see you as you are; only be concerned about recognizing others as they are and seeing Me in them. When you become concerned about how others see you, you lose your authority. When authority becomes your goal, you will begin to lose true authority. You know the ministry and authority that I have given to you; do not ask people to call you by your position, but by your name. Then I will make your name greater than your position.

“In My kingdom, authority comes from who you are, not your title. Your ministry is your function, not your rank. Here rank is earned by humility, service and love. The deacon who loves more is higher than the apostle who loves less. On earth, prophets may be used to shake the nations, but here they will be known by their love. This is also your call—to love with My love and serve with My heart. Then we will be one.”