Name Game: Believer in Christ (Insert Name) to ???
Revelation 2:17 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
These words come from Jesus Himself. The audience is the “churches”, believers in Christ. In the Bible, the “church” is not a building. This is the Greek word ecclesia. Per Strong’s Concordance, it means: the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth; a company of Christians, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order’s sake.
The believers are encouraged to listen to their indwelled Spirit.
Three things are promised: hidden manna, a white stone, and a new name.
Manna is… Psalm 78:24 He rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them food from heaven. The Hebrew word for manna is “man”. It literally means: “What is it?” Manna is a bread from grain from Heaven. Numbers 11:7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. Coriander is also known as cilantro. The seed is like a little pellet and its color is yellow/brown. Exodus 16:15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
The manna is concealed or hidden. Likewise, manna is concealed in an urn in the Ark of the Covenant. Hebrews 9:4a having a golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna…
Manna is the food of angels. Psalm 78:25 Man did eat the bread of angels; He sent them food in abundance.
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. As manna came from Heaven, Jesus is the bread from Heaven.
White stone… The Greek word for stone is psephos. Per Strong’s, it is a small worn smooth stone, a pebble; in the ancient courts of justice the accused were condemned by black pebbles and the acquitted by white.
As believers in Christ, we are acquitted of our sin by the bloodshed and work of Jesus on the cross. He is the payment for the crime. We will be given a small white stone. Jesus Himself is telling us this in the verse.
Jesus promises believers in Him a name change and it is personal…and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.
And for good measure, Jesus will have a different name, and it is personal. Revelation 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
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