EXCERPTS FROM THE MINISTRY

THREE STAGES OF EATING
IN THE TABERNACLE

In the tabernacle there are three stages of eating: eating the sacrifices around the altar, eating the showbread in the Holy Place, and eating the hidden manna in the golden pot in the Holy of Holies. Enjoying Christ at the altar ushers us into the Holy Place, where we enjoy Him in a finer way. The showbread on the table is much finer than the sacrifices on the altar. This is not merely a doctrine; it can be proved by our experience. As we enjoy Christ as our showbread, we experience something still different and say, “I am in the Holy of Holies eating something which I have never experienced before.” This is the hidden manna.

THE HEAVE OFFERING

In the Old Testament there were two special offerings—the wave offering signifying the resurrected Christ and the heave offering signifying the uplifted, ascended Christ (Exo. 29:26-28). The tenth of the tenth which was offered to God for Aaron was a heave offering (Num. 18:28). As we experience Christ in the outer court and in the Holy Place, we enjoy not only the wave Christ but also the heave Christ, not only the resurrected Christ, but also the uplifted, exalted Christ. This means that eventually we shall be in the Holy of Holies enjoying the special portion of Christ hidden in God.

HIDDEN IN THE DIVINE NATURE

We have seen that Revelation 2:17 says that the Lord will give the overcomers to eat of the hidden manna. Colossians 3:3 says that our life is hid with Christ in God. Christ is hidden in God. The hidden manna mentioned in Revelation 2:17 was hidden in a golden pot (Heb. 9:4). In the Bible, gold signifies the divine nature. Hence, the hidden manna in the golden pot signifies the topmost portion of Christ hidden within the divine nature. The divine nature is in the ark, and, as we have seen, the ark is just Christ. This ark today is in our spirit, which is joined to the Holy of Holies. In our spirit we have the Holy of Holies, in the Holy of Holies we have Christ, the ark, and within Christ we have the golden pot, the divine nature. Here, within the divine nature, is the hidden manna. What is the hidden manna? It is Christ as our special portion of food hidden in the divine nature. When we are in the place where we touch the golden pot, we are absolutely outside the world, our self, and our natural man. We are touching the divine nature, and in the divine nature we partake of the hidden manna.

I ask you to check with your experience. After joining a service group, you were ushered into more of the church life and you began to experience something finer. Eventually, you were close to God and became intimate with Him. On some occasions, you were so close to God that you were beyond the world, your self, and even your natural being. You were another person with God in His nature. As you touched the divine nature, you touched the golden pot and enjoyed the manna hidden within it, enjoying Christ as your hidden portion in the divine nature.

As we shall see, the budding rod comes after the hidden manna, and the law of life follows the budding rod. These three crucial items, the contents of the ark, are arranged in such a sequence. Firstly, we must enjoy the hidden manna. Then out of our enjoyment of the hidden manna our rod will bud, and after that we shall have the law of life. Because so few Christians experience the hidden manna, their rod does not bud, and we very rarely find one who lives by the law of life. They do not understand the record in the Bible concerning the hidden manna, the budding rod, and the law of life because they lack experience. However, in the Lord’s recovery, all these riches are being recovered among us.

When we partake of the hidden manna, we are not experiencing a Christ on the altar, nor are we partaking of a Christ on the showbread table. We are enjoying a Christ who is in the golden pot within the ark. Here we are beyond the world and every situation. We are beyond ourselves and our natural being, touching the divine nature and partaking of it. Second Peter 1:4 says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” Unless we touch the golden pot, it will be difficult for us to partake of the divine nature. The divine nature is here with the golden pot in the ark. In the golden pot, that is, in the divine nature, there is the hidden manna as the special portion for our enjoyment. It is here that we enjoy the hidden Christ, the Christ who is hid in God with us and the Christ with whom we are hid in God. The Christ hidden in God is the manna hidden in the golden pot. Here Christ is the hidden manna, and here we also are hidden with Him in the divine nature.

If we are in the wilderness far off from the tabernacle, we can, by God’s mercy, still enjoy the open manna as a normal experience in the wilderness. But this is too shallow, too outward, and too far off. God wants us to enter into the Holy of Holies and to be so intimate and close to Him, touching the golden pot. The hidden Christ as the heavenly hidden manna is here in God’s divine nature. We cannot find Him in any other place. Today God’s divine nature is in our spirit. Although we have the golden pot, the problem is that often we are far off from our spirit. You need not be quarreling or fighting with others in order to be out of the spirit. Even when you joke with the brothers you are outside the spirit. Also being religious is much different from being in the spirit. By being religious we are carried out to the wilderness. The golden pot is in the ark, and the ark is in the Holy of Holies, and the Holy of Holies is joined to our spirit. I like the hymn which says,

In my spirit deeper still
I would touch the Lord I love,
Touch Him in His hidden depth
And His hidden manna prove.

Within the Holy of Holies is the very Christ who is the ark of God containing the golden pot. This Christ comprises the divine nature and contains the hidden manna, for the hidden Christ is within the divine nature. In order to touch this special portion, this topmost portion, of Christ, we must touch the divine nature. In principle, everyone who enjoys this portion is in the Holy of Holies.

Everyone who enters into the Holy of Holies is with the High Priest. Christ, our High Priest, is in the Holy of Holies, and we also must be there. We must not only be the priests in the outer court or in the Holy Place; we must also be the priests where the golden pot is—in the Holy of Holies. If we would be in this place, we must be beyond the world and every kind of situation. We must be beyond being bothered by people. Sometimes we are offended by a small, unpleasant word. Some are troubled to such an extent that they cannot sleep well for months. If we are troubled in this way, we are far off from our spirit, and thus it will be difficult for us to be in the Holy of Holies. When we are beyond all situations, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, then we are in our spirit touching the ark and the golden pot. I say again that in this golden pot is the hidden manna, the hidden Christ, as our special portion. If we would partake of the hidden manna, we must constantly be in our spirit touching the divine nature. May we all go on and enter into this experience.