Living Manna

On the third day of God’s creation, God gathered the water and let the dry land appear. And secondly, He made the earth sprout vegetation with seed in them. Let us think about this more specifically on how the third day foreshadows God’s work of redemption and salvation.

1. Water was gathered and dry land appeared.

On the first 3 days of creation, God was making a framework where He brought order from the chaos. There was confusion, darkness and chaos. From there, not only God created something from nothing, He put everything in its own place, where it was supposed to be. He put everything in organized form according to His order. God created an environment upon which living things can live and mankind can survive. And through this, God created time and space. We see separation of land and water on the third day, and this event also took place in the History of Redemption in the Bible.
a. Noah’s time
After the flood God allowed water to abate, that signifies the end of God’s judgment and salvation work is finished. And a dove bringing back the olive leaf signifies a sign of hope, that a seed has sprouted forth and bears seed. It foreshadows a time in the future in History of Redemption, where the soil of the heart will receive the seed (Genesis 8:11, 13).
The water represents the judgment of God, sinfulness, and corruption of the world. In Matthew 13 and Luke 18, Jesus refers to the soil as the heart of the people and God clearing the sinfulness away so the soil of our hearts is ready to receive the seed (Matthew 13:23-24). The Word of God is like a seed that lands on the soil, and Jesus is the seed who is coming down from heaven to the people of this earth.

b. At the Red sea
God moved the water away and Exodus 18 says the land was dry. That separation of water and land, separating Israelites and Pharaoh’s army.

c. The Jordan river
God stopped the water and the water dried up, so the people of Israel can cross over. This is a separation of the people who will enter the land of Canaan versus those who will perish in the wilderness.
Let us pray that God will bless us with the blessing of the land, so we can cross over the water and come into the land God has promised us. The water of corruption and sin, sickness, worries and concerns will finally move away. And dry land appeared and there is hope of life now.
Seed in Hebrew is “zerah”, meaning planted seed or human seed. It is referring to something that contains life, and has a covering to protect life. It carries life to where it is supposed to be. It represents descendants, offspring or sons. Zerah is a very important word in the Bible, referring to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. When there are people with seed, with the word and covenant of God, He leads them to a land. He is promising us the seed of God’s word and He will lead us to a land, the new Jerusalem (Genesis 2:8, 15:18). In the year 2023, may we cross over the water so we can finally come to the land God has promised us.

2. Seed, lands yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed

Once the land is prepared, it needs to receive the people of God and seed of God to produce. The concept of Zerah (seed) is closely related to the concept of ‘Toledoth’ in the Bible, which means generation of mankind. We first receive the seed and then we become the seed. In the Bible, trees represent people (Isaiah 5:7, Psalm 80:8-9, Mat 21:19, Luke 13:6-9). Let us ask ourselves and reflect upon our lives, am I a tree with seed in it? Let us pray that we may have seed in us so we will be fruitful.

Seed is good for continuing the genealogy and it is also good for eating. Adam and Eve were given different kinds of tree to eat and eventually they were to eat from Tree of Life. According to Proverb 3:16, ‘she’ in this verse is referring to wisdom, tree of life to those who take hold of her. May we receive the blessing of this fruit. This wisdom is the word of God, God created heaven and earth with this Word. After receiving the seed, we need to become the tree and branches that will bear this fruit. This fruit refers to the word that comes out of our mouth (John 4:33-34). May the fruits of our lips, lives and acts become beautiful fruits for our God.

3. Land, seed, tree, and fruit in the Gospel of John

Branches need to stay on the tree and receive what the tree provides to bear fruit. If the branch receives nutrients and enough sunlight, it will bear fruit. Am I attached properly to the tree of life, Jesus Christ (John 12:24)? May we be branches that are grafted on Jesus who is the tree of life (John 15:1-5). We need to take in His seed and Word for us to grow and bear fruit. Let us pray that God will move the water away and we shall become the dry land that bears fruit.
In conclusion, let us be trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind. For the seed to grow and bear fruit, it needs light (day 1), water (day 2) and soil (day 3). God provided everything for the tree (us) to be fruitful. He became the light, He says receive my Word and I will give you water, the holy spirit and word of God. God sent Jesus to cultivate the ground and He came to do that through the cross and provided all the necessities for us to be able to bear fruit. May we be trees planted by streams of water, streams of God’s blessing (Psalms 1:3, Jeremiah 17:8). Even when the whole world lost faith, this tree will not become dark and lose faith and not be tempted by the influence of the world. May Zion Church be full of trees of life, planted by the waters of God’s blessing and His words (Revelations 2:1-2). May Jesus say ‘you are of your Father God’ and may we become part of that tree of life and receive the blessing of the land and seed (John 8:44).
AMEN.