Giving Testimony
What does it mean?
The first time in the Bible the Hebrew word for “Testimony” is used is in Exodus 16:34. Let me give it to you in a little context:
Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations.”
As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.
The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
Exodus 16:32–35 (ESV)
The Hebrew word for the English word testimony is
עֵדוּת
Pronounced ʿēdût or ay-DOOT.
It is also translated witness as well.
The word “testimony” as it comes down to us in English is “a formal written or spoken statement, especially one given in a court of law.” Whenever we talk in terms of courts and obeying the law, we are actually talking about truth and righteousness or right living.
To give one’s testimony is to tell the truth, the complete truth, and nothing but the truth about who God is in your life. We all have a testimony. It is revealed primarily in how we live day to day. It is the expression of our character, the fruit of our life.
How does this connect to the passage in Exodus when this word is first used? God through Moses instructs Aaron his brother who is also the first High Priest of this new nation of Israel to collect some Manna and put it in a jar and seal it. One day after forty years it will no longer be present in the world and so this jar of the stuff will be a witness that it once existed in abundance. It will be placed into the Arch of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle where God at that time chose to dwell among his people. My point is that God saw the Manna as evidence of his glory. Unfortunately the Arch and the jar no longer exist, and yet there is still proof of their existence even today. Keep reading.
Now I happen to have a brother who is a forensic pathologist and he studies evidence. In addition, he understands how evidence works in a court of law. This makes him a unique fellow to give testimony about evidence from both a scientific and legal perspective.
He has told me that Manna is the greatest evidence for the existence of the Jewish Nation. And the reverse is also true.
So let’s think about it.
The Israelites come out of Egypt. They have been slaves for four hundred years, and they enter the desert. There is nothing there. No water. No grocery stores. Nothing.
And of course they begin to complain that this isn’t right. Why would God spring them from slavery in Egypt just to dump them in the desert to die? How twisted is this? But God provides Manna. (He also provides water, but that is another story).
The Manna just shows up six days a week for forty years. And all the people in the camp had to do was go outside, pick it up, and put it into jars. They then would take it home and used it like flour. They cooked it like unleavened bread. Because they were given Manna they were able to survive in the desert for forty years! It stops when they finally move into the land they were promised.
Were they grateful?
Not really.
They complained.
It was boring.
That’s how people are.
You save their lives in an incredibly miraculous way and they complain that you forgot to provide dessert.
So how do we know this actually happened?
Do you know any Jewish people?
What makes them Jewish?
The answer is they were raised Jewish. For the most part this means their parents were Jewish as were their parents . . . all the way back to a forty-year stretch in the wilderness eating manna. Now back then it was estimated that there were four million people by the end of their time in the wilderness, but let’s just say there were two million. My point is, we are talking about a lot of people. How do you get this many people to tell the same story about a miracle they all participated in that lasted forty years?
If you don’t believe in manna, then please explain who these Jewish people are and where they really came from. Other nations and civilizations have come and gone. Where are the Babylonians, or the Hittites and the rest? They assimilated themselves out of existence, but not the Jews. They are a unique testimony.
Now, do you recall a few days ago my question about what your most important possession is? Take a look at this passage from Exodus.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Exodus 19:5-6 (ESV)
