SHOW US A SIGN
Thursday – January 3, 2019, Tevet 26, 5779
Greetings and welcome back to this stimulating Bible Study from the Book of John. The featured picture is of the Israelites picking up manna from the ground in the wilderness. If you are getting this teaching on Facebook please hit the “like” and “share” buttons so that more people may benefit from this Word of the Lord. Now, let’s turn our attention to our primary Bible text reading it aloud.
John 6:29-35 (KJV)
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
The people have followed Jesus home to Capernaum and He has told them that they came for their bellies to be filled not for the bread of life (everlasting life). Finally, they catch on and ask about what they must do to do the works of God. Jesus tells them that the first step is to believe upon Him (Jesus) whom God has sent. What they did not know and did not yet understand is that the work of Jesus was work only He could do. Jesus came to be the Lamb of God, establish the Kingdom of God, be the first born from the dead into that Kingdom, and bring all peoples into one new man who would receive Him as Lord and Savior. Now, Jesus did demonstrate in part the work they and we are to do and the greater works are spelled out in Scripture.
Next the people are asking for a sign, a reason to believe upon Him, upon Jesus. Now keep in mind they have witnessed 5000 plus people feed out of a boy’s box lunch, they wanted to make Him king, they have seen Jesus go miraculously across the Sea of Galilee, and have heard no doubt of many other things that is why they are here in the first place. All of that is not enough and now they want some sort of special sign. They go on to tell Jesus about how God had feed their fathers in the desert forty years with manna, so they want something of that magnitude before they will believe. They thought the bread (manna) came from Heaven (abode of God) but Jesus sets them straight in just a moment. This manna was left with the morning dew (Exodus 16:14-15), it was a gift of God, not so much for that disobedient generation, but to sustain the generation to follow who would believe God and enter the Promised Land. Again, they are talking about something to sustain the physical body not the spiritual body. Things of the physical are temporal and very temporary whereas things of the spirit have eternal consequences and give rise to all physical manifestations.
Jesus referring to Himself tells them plainly that the bread (manna) that God gave the children of Israel in the desert (wilderness) was not Him, was not the true spiritual bread that gives eternal life, it was a temporal sustaining the physical body, but for a moment. Bread in the Bible times was a major sustaining food. We find bread in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle and Temple called Shewbread (Exodus 25:23-30) which sat upon a table. The shewbread (bread) was prophetic of the Messiah, Christ Jesus, to come. It is also prophetic of Jesus coming and becoming our High Priest for it is before the veil which is before the Ark of Covenant and the Mercy Seat. Consider the following verse.
Exodus 25:30 (KJV)
30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway. (Bold added by Dr. Wood)
Christ Jesus, our High Priest seated at the right hand of the Father as King is also always before God (the Father) at the Mercy Seat interceding for us as our High Priest. At the Mercy Seat is the whole of the Covenant and the Precious Blood. This bread that came from Heaven, Jesus, gives and sustains eternal life. The High Priest Aaron and the High Priests to follow wore a breastplate. Meditate upon this verse.
Exodus 28:30 (KJV)
30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.
Urim is fire (Holy Spirit) and Thummim is truth (Word) and these are over the heart of the High Priest who is now Christ Jesus. Jesus bore our judgement and He stands continually before the Father on our behalf as High Priest reminding the Father that He has born our judgment. Oh, thank you Jesus, thank you Father!!
Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will pick up right here and our discussion of the “bread of life” and never thirsting.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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