The Beauty of the Word, The Glory of the Scriptures

He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.

In my last blog, we found a lesson in the wilderness helping us visualize the consequence of rejecting the Bread of Life – the bread sent from Heaven by the hand of God.  We found that this rejection ultimately leads to death.  Rejecting physical bread leads to physical death, but more importantly, rejecting spiritual bread leads to the loss of eternal life.  Bread plays such a key role in the scriptures that it seemed right to expand on the topic.  Let’s look at a couple of stories of Christ showing love to his disciples through the giving and breaking of bread.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”   Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”  Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”  And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”

So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Matt 15:32-38 NKJV

Remember what we learned from the first mention of bread in the Scripture?  We saw that where (by implication) bread had been a blessing before Adam’s sin, it would only come as a result of hard work and sweat after the fall.  We then read how God removed that curse temporarily through providing his people bread from Heaven (manna) as they wandered through the wilderness.

Do you notice the similarity in our passage here? This is one of two instances where Jesus fed thousands of followers by greatly multiplying a small amount of donated bread.  In both cases, the multitudes had followed Jesus fairly far from home.

In the Old Testament, we see God provide daily bread to His people as they wander through the desert.  In the New Testament, we see God the Son (Christ Jesus), providing – and enjoying – bread with His disciples as they follow Him.  Did you notice Jesus’ heart when he gave them the bread?  Let’s look again:

[Jesus] said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.”

He had compassion on the multitudes.  Why?  Because they followed Him.  Jesus knew their needs.  And He knew that they had invested in His words.  I find personal comfort in knowing that the God of the universe is personally interested in the needs of those who follow Him.  And He finds unique ways of meeting those needs.  In this case, he multiplied bread that was already available.  Let’s take a look at a triad of incredible stories showing the heart of God in providing for the needs of His servant.

These stories relate to one of the greatest prophets to walk the Earth – the prophet Elijah.  To set the stage, we see a battle brewing between the most evil ruling couple to ever reign over Israel (wicked Ahab, and his evil wife Jezebel) and the Lord God Himself.   God will fight them through the work of His servant Elijah.  Let’s pick it up in the book of 1 Kings.

…And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”  Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

1 Kings 17:1-7 NKJV (italics added for emphasis)

Wow!  It’s one thing for God to rain bread from Heaven or for Him to multiply it with His hands!  But using the birds as delivery creatures?  This is indeed the first recorded instance of overnight airmail!  In this first instance, God used his creatures to serve and sustain His servant.  Let’s see how the Lord provides from here:

Then the word of the LORD came to [Elijah], saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread , only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.  For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.‘”

So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:8-16 NKJV (italics added for emphasis)

Once again, the Lord commanded one of His creatures to serve His servant.  But in this case, the creature He used was a fellow human – a needy widow.  Did you notice that she was ready to eat her last meal?  She was as needful as the man that she was called to serve.  Yet the widow listened to the word of the Lord and provided that “last” cake of bread to Elijah.  And in return, the Lord miraculously kept her flour bin and oil jar full.

So God has now used both simple birds, and fellow human beings to provide for His servant, Elijah.  What could be next?

The third and final story is one of my personal favorites, because it shows that even the most powerful and Godly men can get discouraged in their service – and that, after a great victory!  But God is faithful to look past our weakness and provide what we need.  Let’s take a look.

We pick up the story right after one of the greatest and most miraculous victories in the Old Testament.  Elijah has just had a showdown with hundreds of prophets of the idol Baal, and won it in a spectacular manifestation of fire falling from Heaven.  He follows this mighty victory with a great slaughter of all Baal’s prophets.  To cap it off, he prays to the Lord, and finally ends the long drought by bringing about a tremendous downpour.  And he’s tired.  Very tired.

… And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.  And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

1 Kings 19:1-8 NKJV

Have you ever been used in service to the Lord?  Have you felt the joy of following His guidance to minister to others or to speak into their lives?  Having done so, have you ever then found yourself falling into a bout of discouragement that seems as deep as the joy was high?  If so, then you’re in good company.  Because that’s where Elijah found himself immediately after his mighty victory.

And yet, God did not respond by scolding him for lack of faith.  Or by sending him into retirement.  Instead, He sent His holy angel to provide strength and sustenance for him.  And if the story ended there, we would have more than enough encouragement to help deal with discouragement in our own lives.  But the amazing thing is that the story does NOT end there.  Let’s take a second look at this last story:

…So he ate and drank, and lay down again.  And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

Let me introduce you to the “Angel of the LORD”.  While it is not completely clear in this particular passage, this term is generally used as a title for none other than a pre-birth manifestation of our lord Jesus Christ!  In theological parlance, this is called a “Christophany”.

Maybe this just broadened your mind.  Or maybe you find yourself shocked to be confronted with such a strange thought – “Jesus appearing on the Earth before His birth?”  If so, look at it this way: Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity.  He is God – the Son.  And we know that God is eternal.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  He existed before the dawn of time, and will ultimately dispense with time itself.  So is there anything keeping our Savior from visiting His creation prior to coming in human form?  Absolutely not!  And He did so several times, as recorded in the Scriptures!  Someday, I may make this the subject of a series of blogs…  But let’s get back to the amazing subject at hand.

It wasn’t just any angel that God sent to feed Elijah.  It was the Lord Himself.  In Elijah’s time of greatest need – in his time of deepest discouragement; at a time when Elijah wanted to simply lay down and die, Jesus came to serve him.  Did you get that?  Jesus came to serve him!  He gave him bread – the sustaining Bread of Life!

Did you notice the progression?  God provided through use of His creatures.  Then He provided through His servant.  And finally, when needed most, He provided through the Savior.  God spares NO expense to come to us and meet our needs!

So if God knows and cares about our physical needs, aren’t our spiritual needs much more important?  Yes.  And that’s why he gives us a beautiful picture of caring for those needs as well.  Let’s take a look…

When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Luke 22:14-19 NKJV

My friends, I am looking forward to sharing the fruit of the vine with our Lord!  He has given us His body as Bread for our souls; and His blood to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   Let us not forsake the Bread broken for us and the “blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins”!  Selah.

In my next blog, we will examine one more gift of bread and wine – from a very unusual benefactor.

God bless you in your study of the Word!

YouJi