197 - Taking Jesus as Food for Comprehensive Restoration#
197 - Taking Jesus as Food for Comprehensive Restoration
(JP Text Group - Organized by the Little Prince of Heaven)
Sharing Topic: Taking Jesus as Food for Comprehensive Restoration
Psalm 105:37-42
37 He brought out His people with silver and gold, and there was none among His tribes who stumbled. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen upon them. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. 40 They asked, and He brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river. 42 For He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant.
Let us first pray:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You! You have prepared this opportunity for us to share Your words together, supplying us again through Your words, so that we may receive Your strength in this new week, just as You supplied the people of Israel, ensuring they lacked nothing each day. You also supply us, renewing our strength, so that we may bear good witness for You in our lives, blessing the brothers and sisters who seek You. We completely surrender this time to the Holy Spirit. Help each one of us to be renewed. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen!
The topic we are sharing is Taking Jesus as Food for Comprehensive Restoration. It just happens to be the Lantern Festival, which should be the last festival we celebrate. After the first month, we return to normalcy, and the Lantern Festival is also very important. When the people of Israel left Egypt, it was on the night of the fourteenth of the first month. Many may not know why we celebrate the fifteenth of the first month; we need to find the answer in the Bible.
Psalm 105:37 says, "He brought out His people with silver and gold, and there was none among His tribes who stumbled."
Many may ask, "Why do we give red envelopes on New Year's Eve?" It is because we have slightly mixed up many principles from the Bible. When the people of Israel left Egypt on the night of the fourteenth of the first month, they received a lot of gold and silver treasures from the Egyptians. Perhaps due to some oral traditions, it has become that on New Year's Eve, when welcoming the new year, we receive red envelopes as lucky money. The actual timing should be on the night of the fourteenth of the first month.
Today, I want to share with you that when we take Jesus Christ as our food, we are not only restored in terms of wealth but also in our bodies, and in other aspects, we must receive God's supply.
Here it tells us: He brought out His people with silver and gold, and there was none among His tribes who stumbled. Not a single one was weak.
Weakness, in Hebrew, has the meaning of stumbling or walking unsteadily. The people of Israel, over two million of them, left Egypt, and there was not one weak among them, meaning they walked with great strength. We might think: among these two million people, were there no elderly? Elderly people should walk slowly, but the Bible tells us that not one of them stumbled, meaning none were slow or weak; they all walked vigorously. Why was there not even one sick person? If we randomly called two million people today, would there be no sick among them? Surely there would be some limping or having difficulty walking.
But here we see a miracle: when they left Egypt, not one was weak. What happened? Was it because Egypt had strong medical conditions at that time? That is not the reason; they had been slaves in Egypt, and if they got sick, would they receive immediate medical attention? No, they would not. So surely many among them had illnesses, but what happened? God healed them.
First, God healed their feet because they needed to walk; their feet were the first part to be healed. After eating the lamb's meat, they had to walk in the wilderness, and God healed their feet so they would not stumble, restoring their knees and ankles, giving them strength, for not one was carried, and not one stumbled, meaning no one walked and said, "I really can't walk anymore; my legs hurt."
Isn't it true that older people can only walk a short distance? They walked in the wilderness for how many years? Forty years. Walking is a long time. Let’s not mention anything else; just consider people over sixty; how far can they walk compared to young people? Perhaps they can only walk for an hour. But they walked through mountainous terrain. There were armies pursuing them. The Bible tells us: there was not one weak person, meaning not even one lame person; there was no one lagging behind. The Bible does not say that someone walked too slowly and was caught by the Egyptian army; such a thing did not happen.
People may have some notions that at a certain age, certain diseases appear, but that is just worldly thinking. We do not need to follow the world; we do not reach a certain age and naturally develop certain diseases. If you hear such information, just delete it. What you should believe is the word of Jesus Christ, Amen! That is taking Jesus as your food.
Because those who do not believe in Jesus still live under a curse, but we are under Christ, under grace. The Bible promises us: "As your days, so shall your strength be." Hallelujah! The world may say that as days go by, strength diminishes, but we are different; as we age, our strength increases. The most important thing is to believe that Jesus Christ is your strength.
Caleb gave us a great testimony. Forty years ago, when Caleb went to battle in Canaan, he was very strong. When he was over eighty, he said to Joshua, "Give me that land; although there are enemies there, I am not afraid of them because my strength is as it was when I was young." Hallelujah! Caleb was indeed a person who took God's word as food, just as we shared last time when Caleb said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it."
He believed in God's continual supply and help; he did not look at himself. Even at eighty, he still believed he was full of strength. It is important to believe that you are in Jesus Christ. Do not say, "I have reached this age, and my body is failing; I am failing in every aspect." Do not make such declarations; instead, make positive declarations.
Let’s look at verse 38: "When they went out, the Egyptians were glad, for the Egyptians feared them."
When they went out, the Egyptians were very glad, and they did not go out empty-handed; they came out with gold and silver. It was not just one person; over two million people came out with gold and silver. For several generations, about four generations, they had been oppressed by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. I have always told everyone: Christians will not suffer losses because God will not let you lose. It may seem like a loss now, but God will surely compensate you later, Amen!
Do not focus on the losses you see now; it does not matter. God will give you more later, just like the people of Israel. At first, Pharaoh made them work without pay, but when they came out after four hundred years, God made sure they were fully compensated at once. In other words, the Egyptians were merely holding their money temporarily; when they needed it, they were paid back in full.
This is what we mean: do not focus on immediate gains and losses; believe that God's supply for you is the best, Hallelujah! God will allow you to receive comprehensive restoration in Christ! With so many people, not one was weak, so something must have happened, and this event occurred the night before they left Egypt. Because they were slaves in Egypt, it is impossible that there were no sick or weak among them. What happened that night before?
Exodus 12:5-9
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its entrails.
How big was this lamb? One year old. This lamb was not just taken and eaten directly; how many days did it stay in the house?
Look at verse 3: "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.'"
On the tenth of the month, the lamb was already prepared; it was one year old. A one-year-old lamb is very cute and has no aggressiveness. This lamb stayed in the house for five days. Generally speaking, five days is enough to develop feelings, but on the afternoon of the fifth day, at twilight on the fourteenth day, they had to kill this lamb themselves. A very cute lamb, after spending five days with us, we developed feelings, but the lamb had to be killed. This gives us a slight understanding of the Father's reluctance towards His beloved Son.
God giving up His beloved Son actually came at a great cost. Because He loves us, He let His only Son die for us, Amen! The story of Abraham offering Isaac is also a foreshadowing. Abraham loved his only son Isaac very much, but God said, "Offer your only son to me." The journey was relatively short, but Abraham walked for three days, and when he reached Mount Moriah, his heart was very reluctant. This tells us something: you should understand how much Abraham loved this son, and you should realize how much our Heavenly Father loves His only Son, Jesus, but God did not require Abraham to sacrifice his only son.
The lamb is actually a foreshadowing of our Jesus Christ! When we spent time with this little lamb, seeing how lovely it was, without any blemish or defect, after five days of bonding, we had to kill it ourselves, which was a bit hard to bear. This reminds me of when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden; perhaps that animal was a lamb, and Adam might have seen this lamb, which was non-aggressive and very cute. But one day, our God had to kill it and skin it. The Father might have said to Adam, "This lamb should not die, but it died in your place because you sinned; it will cover your shame and shed its blood for you." That should have been the very first sacrifice.
Here we think of something: God also told the people of Israel to take a one-year-old lamb, one for each household, and then on the afternoon of the fourteenth day, kill this lamb. But do not eat it raw; "You shall not eat it boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its entrails." Why did God not allow them to eat it raw? God did not allow them to eat it raw or boiled, but required them to eat it roasted because roasting represents God's judgment; God's fiery judgment fell upon this lamb.
Think about it: it is because we have sinned that Jesus went to the cross in our place. When the people of Israel roasted this whole lamb, this lamb was actually meant to supply them, Hallelujah! The reason they had needs was that perhaps at first, the people of Israel had various problems; their eyesight was poor, their bodies were weak, and they lacked strength when walking. But God wanted to supply them through this lamb so that they could receive comprehensive restoration, Amen! Before this, something was also happening outside the door, which was that the blood of the lamb was on the doorposts and lintels, meaning the blood of this lamb was applied to the doorposts and lintels.
Exodus 12:13 "Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."
What did the blood of the lamb prevent? It prevented God's fiery judgment from coming upon us. Amen! In other words, through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's fiery judgment and punishment will no longer come upon you because Jesus took our punishment, Amen! The blood applied to the door is not for us to see; it is for God to see. You might say, "I cannot see the blood of Jesus flowing for me." The blood was shed two thousand years ago when Jesus was on the cross; it was not meant for you to see but for God to see.
When God sees this blood, He will pass over and no longer judge the firstborn of this house with punishment or death. Jesus died on the cross for our sins; when we believe in Jesus, God also passes over your punishment. In the future, when God begins to judge the world, He will look to see if you have accepted Jesus, if the Holy Spirit dwells in you. If not, you will surely be punished and go to hell; your end is already determined. Just like in Egypt, as long as there was no blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels, the firstborn in that house would surely die, regardless of how good their behavior was, because God looks at the blood of the lamb! Hallelujah!
Through the blood of Jesus Christ, all your sins have been wiped away; the blood is applied to the door, and what about the lamb's body? Inside the house, its body is being roasted, becoming our food. Is this food something the people of Israel could physically touch? In other words, Jesus gave us His words (the Bible), He also gave us His body (the Holy Communion), and similarly, He gave us His blood through this cup. Applied to our lives, it means: the body of Jesus is roasted by us, referring to the bread of the Holy Communion.
When making the Holy Communion bread, many people say to buy some dumpling skins and roast them over the fire; is that okay? Yes, it is. But I would prefer everyone to make it themselves; the dough itself symbolizes our Jesus Christ. In Leviticus, there are five offerings, one of which is the grain offering. Fine flour actually symbolizes our Jesus Christ's body, ground very finely. After adding water, we begin to knead the dough with our hands, repeatedly trampling and crushing it, symbolizing what?
Jesus Christ suffered humiliation and disgrace for us, being made into a loaf of bread, becoming our food. Do the unbelieving people of the world make bread in this way? They also make steamed buns in this way, right? They put the dough inside and press it to make food to supply the body's needs.
After the bread is made, it is placed over the fire to roast. Unleavened bread means it has no yeast, it is not leavened, it is that kind of dead dough, placed in a pan to roast, and this dough must be turned over and over. Sometimes, to cook it faster, they poke holes in it with a toothpick; this actually symbolizes Jesus Christ bearing our punishment on the cross, as God's fierce wrath was falling upon Jesus. When you make the Holy Communion yourself, you can reflect on this process. When the bread is almost done roasting, it is turned over; it must be thoroughly cooked. After it is cooked, the fire is turned off, symbolizing what? The end of God's wrath, the end of God's punishment. Amen!
After the punishment ends, the dough can be eaten. We know His body was broken, becoming our supply, becoming our food, Hallelujah! This is what they ate during the Passover; they ate the real lamb, while we, in making the Holy Communion, are also symbolizing Jesus Christ, just with different elements; they roasted a lamb, and we roast the Holy Communion bread, Amen!
They may have had other offerings among the five offerings, such as burnt offerings and others, but we use the grain offering; our purpose is the same, as all these foreshadow our Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! All must be roasted, and when His body was roasted, it became the supply for the people of Israel. No matter where you have needs, you can receive supply here. Amen! So the Bible says to eat it roasted with its head, legs, and entrails, meaning that the entire body of Jesus Christ is your supply, Hallelujah!
Exodus 12:11 "And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover."
What does this mean? After dinner, everyone usually rests, but on New Year's Eve, very few people eat and then go to sleep. It should be pushed to the evening of the fourteenth of the first month to be correct, which aligns with the Bible. That is to say, that night many people finished eating and stayed up, staying up until midnight, not sleeping, as they were celebrating the New Year, not knowing what to do; many do not understand where this principle comes from. In the beginning, God told the people of Israel, "You shall have your waist girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; after eating, what should you do? You must leave Egypt." Amen! Just like on New Year's Eve, after you finish eating, you wait to welcome the new year, while the Israelites, after eating the lamb, had to leave Egypt. After receiving the supply, they had to leave the land of bondage, leave the land of past curses, leave their place of oppression, and a new life was about to begin, Amen!
This mentions the Holy Communion, which is related to us. We cannot roast a lamb like the people of Israel; what does it tell us now? What kind of people cannot receive the Holy Communion? What kind of people are not qualified to eat the Holy Communion? Through this passage, I will explain this part of the Holy Communion. The tradition says: those who have not been baptized cannot receive the Holy Communion, those who are physically unclean cannot receive the Holy Communion, and those who have not confessed all their sins cannot receive the Holy Communion. There are many rules. Let’s return to the Bible and see what kind of people cannot eat the lamb's meat.
Exodus 12:43-44
43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 But every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it."
What are the conditions? Foreigners cannot eat, but there is one condition: if a foreigner is circumcised, he may eat the lamb's meat. Why circumcision? It does not mean cleanliness; circumcision means the covenant God made with Abraham, because this covenant is established in the flesh of Abraham. God said that as long as your children are like this, they are people who have a covenant with Me. When we believe in God, have we made a covenant with God? If there is no covenant, there is no relationship with God. Let me explain another issue: when God found Moses and told him to bring His people out of Egypt, on the way, the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Let’s read together,
Exodus 4:24-26
24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet, and said, "Surely you are a husband of blood to me!" 26 So He let him go. Then she said, "You are a husband of blood because of the circumcision."
What happened here? It is related to circumcision. Moses, as a descendant of Abraham, taught the people of Israel about God's covenant; your children must be circumcised. If your children do not keep God's covenant, how can you teach others? How can you teach God's people? God places great importance on this covenant. If someone has not made a covenant with God, God is not responsible for you. Why did God want to kill Moses? It was because Moses had not circumcised his son. God places great importance on the covenant; God wants to bless the descendants of Abraham, and God made a covenant with Abraham.
Genesis 17:9-14
9 And God said to Abraham: "You shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised. And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male child who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
Now you understand why God wanted to kill Moses, right? Perhaps for Moses' child, the child was too young to understand, but you must understand. So God said, "According to the covenant I made with Abraham, you must have your child circumcised." Because at the beginning,
Moses asked, "Who are You?"
God said, "I am the God of your father, Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
Since this God is mentioned, it tells Moses, "I am the one who has a covenant with your ancestors. I am here to save you not because you are good, but because of the covenant I made with Abraham." When God made a covenant with Abraham, what was the obvious characteristic? It was circumcision. If Moses did not obey God's word, he should not teach others.
For us, if you are not saved, how can you lead others to salvation? Isn’t that absurd? Many people preach, saying, "Believe in Jesus, and you will enter the kingdom of heaven."
If someone asks, "Can you enter the kingdom of heaven?"
They say, "I don't know."
If the gospel is preached like this, how can you have the confidence to tell others? Just like Moses, if he had no covenant with God, how could he teach others? God places great importance on this covenant. God wanted to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt, not because this group of people was devout enough to move God, nor because they prayed long enough (for four hundred years), but because of the covenant made with Abraham, those within the covenant can enjoy God's blessings, Amen!
So when they cried out to God, God sent Moses to save them. Some may say, "Did they not cry out before?" The Bible does not record that; it only tells us that their cries reached God's ears, so God sent Moses to save them. Our God also has a covenant with us, but can you live however you want? Yes, you can. When you want God to help you, can you live like that? Yes, you can.
You can pray to Him; we call it prayer! Prayer is actually asking God to help you, to guide you, to supply you; this is our life. So prayer is a way of life, not "We must pray because we are Christians; we must pray even if we have nothing to say." No, that becomes a legalistic approach, and over time, it can turn into a ritual.
True prayer is knowing that you have a covenant with God, and God is willing to bless those within the covenant. For the people of Israel, only those who were circumcised had the right to receive this lamb, Amen! Not just anyone can casually receive the Holy Communion. Only those who believe in Jesus are qualified. Our relationship with God is also a covenant. It is just that it is not the old covenant, not the covenant of circumcision; we have established a blood covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ, and this covenant is everlasting.
For the Jews, they take pride in circumcision, saying we are descendants of Abraham, God's people. But for us, you also have a covenant with God, because of the blood of Jesus Christ; this is the covenant established between you and God. When you lift the cup of Holy Communion, that is the evidence of your covenant with God, Hallelujah! If a person does not even believe in Jesus, how can they lift that cup? How can they take that bread? Because there is no covenant, there are no obligations or responsibilities; first, you must enter into the covenant.
For example, in business, do we not sign contracts with clients? Once a contract is signed, there is an agreement. If there is no contract signed with you, is there any agreement? No. No matter how much you talk to them, it is all meaningless; you must sign a contract with this person to establish some rules. It is the same with God; we have an agreement with God established through the blood of Jesus Christ. All are within this covenant, so you are fully qualified to eat the lamb's meat. In other words, you are fully qualified to receive the Holy Communion. Amen! There are no other conditions.
Because God made a covenant with Abraham, when they cried out to God, He sent Moses to save them, and they ate the lamb's meat, so they must be people of the covenant; otherwise, they have no qualifications. The Holy Communion is the same; it must be those who believe in Jesus Christ; otherwise, they have no qualifications to receive it. Some say, "I really want to eat." You can eat! But it has no effect. Just like if we signed a contract, if someone on the side says something, they can say whatever they want, but does what they say have any effect? No. If you have not accepted Jesus, eating the Holy Communion will not work because you are not in the covenant and have not believed in Jesus Christ.
After they left Egypt, God did not tell them to gird their waists, wear shoes, and hold a staff, and eat in haste; after eating, they had to start a new life. After the fifteenth of the first month, a new life begins, Hallelujah! I wish for you to receive God's power and begin a new life with His supply. A completely new life has begun; do not live like you did in Egypt. A completely new beginning has started. From the night the people of Israel left Egypt, they began to live a life fully relying on God's supply.
Psalm 105:39 "He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night."
Before this, did the people of Israel enjoy such treatment? No. Did they have such treatment in Egypt? No. The cloud spread for a covering means the pillar of cloud by day, and the fire to give light at night means the pillar of fire at night. Every day in the wilderness, God supplied them like this. When you accept Jesus, God begins to give you this kind of supply-oriented life; you must look to His supply and live with a grateful heart, facing your new life, Amen!
Psalm 105:40 "They asked, and He brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven."
Did they want to eat meat? For them, they wanted to eat meat instead of manna; this manna had no taste, and they wanted to eat some meat. God said, "Okay, I will give you." Do you see God's supply? Although this group of people seemed not to have grown spiritually and still complained, when they wanted to eat meat, they asked, which is prayer. I hope brothers and sisters, no matter how you lived in the past, now begin to ask Him in everything, whether big or small, pray to God. Did the people of Israel ask for some small things in life? They wanted to eat some meat, and God said, "Okay, then I will give you meat."
He brought quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
He did not just let them eat a little; He satisfied them. Had they eaten meat in Egypt? But could they be full? Not necessarily; they were slaves. How many bosses today say, "Eat as much meat as you want, eat as many vegetables as you want"? Are there such bosses? Yes, but very few, because as a businessman, they seek profit, giving the least while gaining the most. That is fine, but God is not like that; God's supply for them was completely different from their situation in Egypt. People may give you some benefits, but God gives you something better, Hallelujah! God wants you to be satisfied and to satisfy you with the bread of heaven.
41 "He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river."
In the wilderness, there was no water; God opened the rock, and water gushed out. Who does the rock symbolize? If my business, my family, or my work encounters some bottlenecks and I do not know how to proceed, just like there is no water in the wilderness and no well, what should I do? Pray to God, and He will let you see water flowing in the wilderness, Amen! In your current problems, pray to God, saying, "Lord, open a way for me, give me Your wisdom to solve this." He opened the rock, meaning when you pray, God will give you guidance; water gushed out, and in dry places, water flowed like a river. This is God's supply for you.
God's supply is not just a little; it is not just a bowl of water flowing from this rock, but a river of living water gushing out. Amen! What does this mean? God is not saying, "You are hungry; I will give you a fish." God gives you the method to catch fish; God gives you wisdom, gives you insight, allowing that insight to generate endless wealth, Hallelujah! We need to see this; it is not about saying, "Lord, give me a fish, give me a fish..." You should not be asking for that fish every day; God gives you an idea, gives you a thought, and you can instantly create endless wealth. This is what God wants to give us, but we need to abandon the past ways and rely solely on Him! Amen!
You see, verse 42 says, "This was because He remembered His holy word and His servant Abraham."
Why did God supply them like this? Was it because of their piety? Was it because they prayed enough? At that time, God had made a promise to Abraham, so God said, "Because I promised, I will surely fulfill it." Do you know what God has said to you? Do you know the promises God has made to you? They are all recorded in the Bible, over 1500 promises written in the Bible. Go read the Bible and see what kind of promises God has for you, both earthly and heavenly, present and future; you must remember that since God has spoken, He will surely fulfill it.
God, because of the promise made with Abraham, now allows His promise, His holy word, to become a reality. This was because He remembered His holy word and His servant Abraham. He made a covenant with Abraham, and you are also a descendant of Abraham; you are a person who has a covenant with our Heavenly Father through Jesus. God has written the covenant between us and Him in the Bible.
If you believe in Him and are willing to live according to His ways, you will receive many blessings that will manifest in your life. Through the covenant made with Abraham, God first restored the bodies of the people of Israel, no matter how poor their health was, but now God wants to restore their bodies through this covenant. Secondly, He restored their finances.
At first, they had no money because no one was paid. God, through the ten plagues, caused Egypt to be completely ruined, so in the end, the Egyptians saw that the people of Israel were safe and sound, not harmed at all, while they themselves were in terrible shape. At that time, the Egyptians said, "You people, hurry and leave us; stay away from us; we are too afraid of you."
What did the Israelites say at that time?
"I will not leave unless you give me some travel expenses; give me your best!"
They said, "We only have this little gold; we will give it all to you."
"No, give me more; otherwise, I will not leave."
The Egyptians thought, if they did not leave, our entire country would be finished, and everyone would die; what should we do?
"Okay, okay, I will give you all I have; just hurry and leave!"
At that time, they had this mindset; when the Israelites asked them for gold and silver, it was not, "Please, I want to leave Egypt; can you give me some travel expenses?" They boldly said, "If you want us to leave, fine; give us our wages!" The Egyptians were so afraid of this group of Israelites that they did not dare to act against them. The Bible says that even dogs saw the Israelites and tucked their tails between their legs and ran away; how much more the people? They were already terrified to that extent. So God used this situation to repay them fully for what was owed, restoring their finances.
I want to tell you: although the devil is a destroyer, a thief, and a murderer, in Jesus Christ, God wants you to have life and have it more abundantly! What the devil has destroyed in the past, today Jesus wants to compensate you again. You may say, "In the past, I lived a chaotic life on my own." It does not matter; from now on, you must believe and rely on Jesus Christ, and everything will be turned around for you. Hallelujah!
So as I said earlier, God first restored their bodies, giving them strength through the lamb, with not one sick person; secondly, He restored their finances, giving them financial freedom; thirdly, He restored their freedom. In the past, they were slaves, their status was lowly, but now, because of God's redemption, they became God's people, and they are free. Amen! They are precious, God's people, and so are you.
When you believe in Jesus, everything changes. After they regained their freedom, God provided them abundantly every day. Did the people of Israel no longer have to worry in their lives? They had needs; they just prayed to God. When there was no water, they prayed to God, and God gave them water; when there was no meat, they prayed to God, and God gave them meat. This is the life of us Christians. Verse 42 clearly tells us: the reason God granted them such grace was not because this group of people was pious or determined; it was because of the covenant He made with Abraham.
So you must take Jesus as your food, take His words as your food; you must believe in the covenant God made with you through Jesus on the cross, and God will supply your needs every day just as He supplied the people of Israel. God will first restore your body, restore your finances, restore your relationships, and grant you abundant supply every day, as long as you are willing to pray to Him, willing to pray to Him in everything, and willing to rely on Him in your life. Everything will be better than before. Amen! After God blesses you, He also hopes you become a channel of blessing, a blessing to all people.
Let’s look at a verse, Genesis 12:1-2,
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing."
God hopes that after you receive blessings, you also become a blessing to others because our Lord hopes that everyone repents; He does not wish for anyone to perish. When you understand salvation, share this salvation with others. When you receive blessings from God, pass this blessing on to others, Hallelujah! After understanding Jesus' love, you receive Jesus' love and give that love to those around you who are in need. The more you give, the more God is willing to give you. Just like Abraham, Abraham was a person who was willing to give. So what about God? He is also very willing to give more to Abraham. Amen!
So our Lord is particularly generous; God wants you to accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, and even more, He hopes our Lord Jesus becomes the food of your life. Just like the lamb the people of Israel ate at home, we are not just saved; God hopes that every day you receive His words. God wants to restore your body, restore your finances, restore your joy, and He wishes to crown you with grace. Let you know that He is willing to bless you, and you are also willing to become a blessing to others, Hallelujah!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You. Thank You for helping us again through these words. On the night of the fourteenth of the first month, the people of Israel, as a family, ate roasted lamb at home, because that foreshadows our Jesus Christ. His body was given to us, and the blood of Jesus Christ was seen by God on the door, but the body of Jesus was given to us, becoming our supply in our lives, becoming our help. God, You restored the bodies of the people of Israel through the lamb.
I also believe, Lord, that You will restore my body through the Holy Communion; You will restore me through the Holy Communion, bringing comprehensive restoration, total restoration. I thank and praise You for this. I also believe that You will not only restore my body but also restore my finances, making me a blessing to others, a blessing to the world; You will restore my joy, restore my relationships, allowing me to be a bold evangelist proclaiming Your gospel among the people. Many are still in Egypt, still under bondage, still under oppression; Jesus Christ can break their bondage, and You are doing this through us.
Lord! Please help me, give me strength, so that more people can understand Your gospel. Hallelujah! May all glory be to You. Lead us in our lives this week, keeping the brothers and sisters willing to pray to You in everything in this new week, for when we call, You will help us just as You helped the people of Israel. Thank You and praise You; all glory be to You! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!