"And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness...." Genesis 1:26

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!" Luke 2:10-11,13-14

"I have also spoken by the Prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the Prophets." Hosea 12:10

"And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: and the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you...." Exodus 16:2-4

Greetings, my dearly beloved, and may this day be a day of great joy in your life! Joy? Of course it should be truly joyous: that is, to all who have been born into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and who live as the sons and daughters of God. Is it not written that God created man in His Own image and after His Own likeness created He him (Gen. 1:26-27)? Therefore, we are members of the household of God.

It is true that because of Adam's rebellion he became exiled and driven out from God's presence. But just so certain as a good and normal parent here on earth wonders how he may accomplish the restoration of an estranged son or daughter, so certain is it that God went to work on the same problem. So, when infinite wisdom was concentrated on how to restore man to his first estate, we must realize that a perfection plan was contrived. Immediately God set to work in preparation for the implementation of that plan.

Some of us might be prone to feel that God took a long time to accomplish that objective, but we should bear in mind that one thousand years with man is but as one day with God (II Pet. 3:8; Ps. 90:4). Thus, when viewed in its proper perspective, God has been going in high gear! For, on the basis of a thousand years to one day, we see by the ancient Record how God decided He would clean house at the end of one and a half days – we read about that as Noah's Flood. All the rebels that had been born since the exile and arrived at that time, were drowned. Noah only, and his household consisting of eight persons, were saved alive (Gen. 7:13,21-23). The name Noah means "rest." Are we not told that there is no rest for the wicked (Isa. 48:22, 57:21)? The name of "Noah" was God's way of telling us he was a righteous man, who through his righteousness had found peace with God, and thus rest within his own soul. Through him God wrought a prophetic pattern.

Three hundred years after the Flood (which was still on the second day with God), He chose Abram to father a new nation to become separate from the world and thereby become His instruments, or key people, to implement the plan of His redemption for humankind.

Seven hundred years later, which was still in God's third day since Adam's sin, He sent Moses to take the descendants of Abraham out of bondage in Egypt and lead them to the land of promise. There were a great many reasons for this maneuver on the part of God, but its outstanding one was that of preparing His people to bring forth the Messiah: that is, an Anointed One so filled with the Spirit of God that He could live a perfection life – enabling Him to become an all-sufficient sacrifice, or redemption-price for His Own people, as well as for the world at large (that is, for as many as would receive Him).

With God, only the fourth day had closed; the fifth was opening. Five is the number of grace, or of God's freedom-setting power. In less than one week the morning had dawned when man could begin to sing and shout and laugh! In fact, such a wonderful day had dawned that God sent an angel to announce to the shepherds tidings of great joy of marvelously good things. So great was the joy of this morning on earth, that it reached right into heaven and brought forth an angelic choir to sing as man never heard before: a song of great joy (Lk. 2:10-11,13-14)!

Should we be glum and miserable? I should say not! The Son of God stood in the Temple and cried, "Come unto Me...ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). That was the substance of Christ's joyous message unto the world: that He had come to give rest unto man. That rest could not be realized by man until peace had been established with God; and that is precisely what Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary – that we are told in the clearest of words (Col. 1:20; Eph. 2:13-17; Rom. 5:1). And later His well-beloved and inspired Apostle wrote, saying, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil" (I Jn. 3:8).

We can trace the works of the Devil back to the Garden episode, which resulted in the exile of Adam and Eve and the judgment which fell upon them. That work of the Devil came the Son of God to earth to undo for man, in order to accomplish the restoration of His estranged children. How could a good and loving Heavenly Father remain happy with His children perpetually estranged? Impossible! Therefore Calvary.…

So here we are back to where we commenced, with greetings of great joy to one and all who hear the Voice of Jesus Christ (which is The Voice of Tomorrow), and follow His footsteps. On June 22, 1965, God spoke to me saying, "Call My people together." After a brief pause the same words were repeated for emphasis. Which means that there are great events impending on the near horizon, and of such a nature as to be good reason for even greater rejoicing. That is what I am perpetually trying to put across to you: that for the children of God, life can be like a song, and our rejoicing should be perpetual from morning to night because Christ our Lord has fully redeemed us!

If your Bible is convenient you may open it to the 16th chapter of Exodus, which is the second book in the Bible, from which I will quote. In the meanwhile, may I remind you that the Old Testament is just as much for the Christian of today as is the New Testament: both are the Word of God. And clearly are we told that God wrought through His people similitudes for us (Hos. 12:10): that is, His dramas of ancient events constituted silhouettes to lead, guide, inspire and to show us of things to come. Now turn to verses 12 through 15 of Exodus 16:

"I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoarfrost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat."

In order that we should derive the intended good from this, we must first form a mental picture, or draw a background for this setting. Over half a million grownup men, together with their wives and children, constituting a total number of perhaps close to three million people, were travelers, and their herds wandered in the wilderness. There was some grass for the herds to eat, but the people could find next to nothing for themselves: that is why they murmured against Moses and talked about returning into Egypt where they could have plenty to eat (Ex. 16:2-3). Just imagine yourself as the head chef unto a multitude of three million people, and all of them located in the wilderness hundreds of miles and thousands of years distant from any great supermarket. I dare say that would be enough to give any chef a headache. So Moses cried unto God. But bear in mind that these people were still under the judgment and curse which had come upon Adam and his children: that through the perspiration of the face they might eke a subsistence from the ground. But when traveling in the wilderness, this was out of the question.

What I want you to see is the stark reality and grimness of the situation which confronted an approximate three million Jewish people in the wilderness. I repeat: they were still under the curse which descended upon Adam and his descendants. Since those days, have we not seen plenty of people starve to death? Yes, hundreds of thousands at times. So why should we suppose that God would resort to what we call a miracle – in fact, a great number of miracles – in order to feed and sustain those people in the wilderness? For the simple reason that they were to be a similitude: a silhouette, or a shadow-picture of that which was to be. Moses was the great deliverer, and thus a type of Jesus Christ; Israel were the descendants of a "Prince of God": that is the meaning of the word Israel. The Christian who has been born anew into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is, therefore, the offspring of this Prince of God; that is, we are endtime Israel. And because Moses typified the great and true Deliverer Who was to come – that is, Jesus Christ – God was willing and prepared to perform an abundance of what we term "miracles," in order to make the picture true. That is, to show by example what He would be willing to do for end-time Israel who would hear and truly follow the Great Deliverer.

The wilderness was a picture of this world after we have been delivered from its "Egypt" of bondage to Lucifer through God's great Passover: that is where you and I are living today. Therefore, as we stand in precisely the same place as Israel of old in the wilderness, so can we also likewise look unto God to mightily deliver us on every occasion, and that He does when we have and use the Keys to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ for the here and now.

Come back to this manna: what does the word mean? It is but an expression of that very question. Israel looked out upon this manna which covered the ground; they had not seen it before, they knew not what it was, and so everyone said, "What is it?" or, "What is this?" That question they put has come down to us in its original form, that is, "manna."

So here you and I find ourselves in the "wilderness" of this world today: we know not what the morning or nightfall might bring. But all of a sudden something crops up, and sometimes it pops up with a bang. It is something we have never come across before. To us as individuals it is a new situation, and so with Israel of old we can rightfully say, "Manna?"; that is, "What is this?" Well, what is it? Hear my astounding answer, even the voice of truth which all people shall know tomorrow: this dumbfounding situation that makes your eyes pop, this problem or difficulty, this new thing that has never befallen you before, is intended for you to be God's bread from Heaven. It is for you to eat in order to appropriate its full good. The manna of old looked like hoar frost; and so with this new experience that you suddenly behold – it may chill you to the bone, it might even "freeze" you in your tracks. But when you hear the Word of God, and know that it is His bread unto you, you pick it up, and in your mouth find it is sweet and oily. The oil reduces friction and produces light and warmth, while the sweetness of honey is just that.

I have shared before so I shall not repeat the details now, but the greatest and most staggering experience in all my life (which floored me, and made me unfit for work for a full nine months), turned into the greatest blessing that had ever come into my life. For, already I had come close enough to God to know that two broken wrists constituted God's "bread" from Heaven unto me. It was but a blessing in disguise. With two broken wrists, to meet my great responsibilities was indeed enough to "freeze" me in my tracks. But believing in God and His goodness, like Moses I called upon Him, that I too might get the oil and honey out of that "manna"; and that I did. Blessed be His Name forevermore!!

That is my message to you this day: when God's manna confronts you, be not dismayed: only ask Him for strength and wisdom to lift it, that thereby God may bless you as He has never done before. It is not for us to wail at every little difficulty, nor yet to faint when the raging Red Sea roars before us. Neither is it for us to dread and freeze in our tracks when we see the great powers of this world at our heels. As yet the day has not dawned, nor the occasion ever arisen, to which Christ our Lord has not been fully equal! To establish peace between man and God came Christ from Heaven, and went all the way to Calvary in order that we, like Noah, might be fully at rest through the absoluteness of the righteousness of Him Who paid the price to its utmost iota! Therefore, regardless of the situation that arises in your life, refuse to worry, refuse to get concerned, refuse to get faint at heart. Just shout "Manna!" – to which you may add in your heart, "You can't fool me, for I know that this shall be God's honeysweet bread to give me strength and carry me on the way."

IF and when "manna" comes your way, REJOICE and praise the Lord; then watch His grace and glory increase youward!