The hidden manna and the white stone

[Agape]

What are the "hidden manna" and the "white stone"?

Revelation 2:17
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."

 

[reba]

He is the Bread of Life ...

 

[Agape]

He is the Bread of Life ...

but why hidden? And hidden from whom?

 

[reba]

The church is a mystery?

 

[Sparkey]

but why hidden? And hidden from whom?

To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.
Shhhhh.... it's a secret....
It is hidden from those who refuse to overcome sin. We are all given the power to become Sons of God. Overcomers are given the hidden manna.

 

[John 8:32]

As I have posted before, this is not the only day of salvation and God is not standing around in heaven, wringing His hands, desperately trying to save everyone at the moment...

Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

There are those whom God has called now...

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

and there are those whom God has not called now...

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

These are those who will be raised in the second resurrection to have an opportunity to choose life...

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

 

[gr8grace]

the Lord Jesus Christ says five times to five different churches to metanoeo, to change one's mind and recover, as in REV 2:16-17, "'Repent therefore; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes [the winner believer], to him I will give some of the hidden manna [escrow blessing for time and eternity]1 Cor 3:14, and I will give him a white stone [votes were cast with colored pebbles in the ancient world; this is God's vote of approval for the winner], and a new name [a royal title in the eternal heraldry] written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'" Both in time and eternity, believers are classified as either winners or losers. Winners are believers who live in the predesigned plan of God, pass the tests, advance to maturity, and glorify Jesus Christ. Losers are Christians who fail in time, but they never lose their salvation 1 Cor 3:15. They have no impact on history and therefore a lower rank in heaven and no authority in the Millennium. Winners are described in Rev 2-3 by the present active participle of nikao (he who overcomes), as in REV 2:7,11,17,26, 3:5,12,21.

At the Rapture, all winners will receive a "white pebble," a resurrection body with a new name of knighthood, REV 2:17. These believers have the greatest of all fame for eternity. The winner has phenomenal impact and blessing in time as well as reward in eternity. Mature believers have a tremendous influence on every facet of life. Blessing in time is a guarantee of blessings in eternity.

 

[Eugene]

What are the "hidden manna" and the "white stone"?

Revelation 2:17
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."

I'll just give the following excerpt of the study of Revelation I transcribed from CD's by Gene Hawkins; I hope they help.

Revelation 2:17. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." When we get into the parables we're going to find out that Jesus basically said exactly the same thing. The reason He spoke in parables is to find out really who hath an ear to hear the mystery. Well this seventeenth verse is the key to any overcoming, and this is the key to any growth. These of Pergamos receive a certain reward, and why? Notice; "Will I give to eat of the hidden manna." Manna was the baby food that Israel ate in the wilderness, and these saints here at Pergamos are still in the babyhood state. They have never grown out of it and never will so they're not going to have the old corn of the land that God intends.

Then we read where Jesus says I "Will give him a white stone." The white speaks of purity of the holiness "And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." The name is actually "New Creation" and the only person that can know it is the one that becomes a new creation. You can't know what the new birth is until you have experienced it, and so the one that has been given this stone is the one is the one that knows that he has it. We read there in Romans 8:16 that "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." We and God are the only ones that really know that. Some people may think they know whether someone is saved or not, and I've heard people say oh Lord; there's no way he's saved. Well, I don't think you can say that because we can't look on their hearts; it's the secret of this one knowing with the new name written which no man knoweth saving he that received it. He's the only one that knows that he has had this new creation experience with the Lord.

 

[Agape]

He is the Bread of Life ...

Amen! Jesus Christ is the hidden manna and to the question "why hidden", John MacArthur gives the following explanation:

Why does He say hidden? Well, according to Exodus 16:33 when they traveled, they took the ark of the covenant and inside the ark they hid some...what?...some manna. What did that represent? Oh I think it represented the bread of life. Who's that? Jesus Christ. Just as Israel received manna from heaven as its food, for the true believer He says I'll give you Jesus Christ. I'll give you the true bread, the spiritual bread from heaven which the world doesn't see, I'll give you that bread which will sustain you. Go back to John 6:51 and hear Jesus say, "I am the bread of life." I'll give you Christ. I'll give you all that is in Christ. I'll give you all the benefits of knowing Christ. You're an overcomer and I'll give you all you need to sustain your life forever.
source: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/66-8/pergamos-the-church-at-satans-throne

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

What are the "hidden manna" and the "white stone"?

The 'white stone' noticed in Revelation 2:17 has been variously regarded as referring to the pebble of acquittal in Greek courts; to the lot cast in elections in Greece: to both these conbined, the white conveying the notion of acquittal, the stone that of election; to the stones in the high-priest's breastplate; to the tickets presented to the victors at the public games, securing them maintenance at the public expense; or lastly to the custom of writing on stones. (Dr. William Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," 1872)

As for the hidden manna, some of the manna was placed in the Ark of the Covenant by Moses. John has just quoted Jesus as having "a few things against" the church at Pergamum, one of which is eating food sacrificed to idols. Now, as we know, Paul had said that if eating meat sacrificed to idols was not against your own convictions, it was acceptable, as long as you did not make someone stumble.

That is precisely why Jesus has this against Pergamum. Obviously the church was giving others an excuse to sin, or causing them to sin by its bad example. The "hidden manna" represents the very presence of Christ, "hidden" from the world but revealed to the believer, just as the manna in the Ark was hidden. The church at Pergamum is not a false church. It believes. Therefore, Christ, through John urges them to "eat" of Christ, spiritually, the same challenge He gave the multitudes He fed at Decapolis, those who sought Him only for His feeding them. They hoped it to be a daily occurrence. But in the case of Pergamum, Jesus' letter through John challenged them to turn back to Him.