Tag: Jesus

And then the bread ran out…

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn InspirationLeave a comment

Why does Moses record the date of the children of Israel’s exhausted food supply?

“The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron (Ex. 16:1-2).

Israel departed Egypt with unleavened bread. They had prepared for the journey, as they were instructed; yet, the prepared supply ran out.

Several rabbinic commentators suggest that the date, included by Moses, was the date when the Lord intended to do another miracle for Israel, just before the Sinai revelation. To show them, He was still there.

As the supply ran out, Israel cried out, “The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death” (Ex. 16:3).

The point of departure, with the crushing harshness of slavery, began to look good: “at least there was food!”

Still, why this miracle at that time? God knew. He knew their supplies would run low, and ultimately they would have nothing. So God orchestrated a miracle:

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you” (Ex. 16:4).

Now, not the unleavened bread they carried, but bread from heaven would rain down. “מָן הוּא,” “Man-na,” they would ask, “What is it?” To which Moses would answer: “It is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat” (Ex. 16:15).

In the exact moment of need, when the bread was gone, on that exact day, when the grumbling began, the Lord announced His supply: “I will feed you with a miraculous bread that neither you nor your fathers knew. My bread from heaven.”

There yet remains a living bread from heaven that satisfies the weary soul: “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (Jn. 6:32-33).

Often we are worn out and weary along the way, our supply is running low, and we need provisions. It’s hard to ask for help, and to acknowledge that we are in a place of need. Yet, as with Israel, the Lord knows the exact time of our need, and has prepared a miracle supply. We just have to open our mouths.

The apostle Paul wrote, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

At the moment of the need, when we are out of our prepared provision, the need will be supplied through the bread from heaven, Yeshua/Jesus. He knew your need before you set out, so the supply will be there when you arrive at the need.

The message is simple: reach out. Reach out to heaven, reach out to others, and what is supplied, you may not immediately be able to identify. “What is it?” Heavens answer.

Be well. Shalom.

The Bread of the … Wow!

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn InspirationLeave a comment

The Torah, the Law of Moses, commands three feasts of ingathering, when Jewish men were to appear before the Dwelling Place of God (Ex. 23:17; 34:23).

Exodus 34:23 usually reads in a fashion similar to: “Three times a year all your men shall appear before the Lord God of Israel.” The text is saying, “Three times a year all your men shall see the face of the Lord God of Israel.” Notice the difference?

To read this in English, one would assume that they simply appeared before the presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle, or Temple in Jerusalem. Yet, there was a practice adopted for the three feasts of ingathering in the Second Temple period that is well documented, but not well known, described below.

The Lord commanded, among other things, that bread be included in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary: the Bread of the Presence. In Hebrew: the Bread of the Face(s).

This was a memorial bread of twelve loaves, only consumed by priests on Shabbat, each of whom received about an olive sized piece. It was offered as a bloodless sacrifice at the Brazen Altar before it was set in the Holy Place.

The Bread of the Presence was the memorial of God’s presence in the place of light, Menorah, and prayer, the Golden Altar. While only one priest ministered at a time in the Holy Place, kindling the Menorah morning and evening, God was always present in that light (cf. Luke 1:5-23; Jn. 8:12).

The priest had to be ever mindful of the Lord’s presence, set as the Bread of the Presence, and as wine.

According to the Babylonian Talmud, Menahoth 29a, a practice developed, but not specifically commanded by the Torah, that was preformed by the priests. Before the assembled pilgrim men at the Holy Temple, the priests would lift up the bread, displayed on the Table of Shewbread, and recite, “Behold, God’s love for you.”

The Bread of the Presence, a memorial of the miraculous heavenly bread (manna), of which the Talmud records this miracle: “for at its removal it was as fresh as when it was set,” was evidence of God’s love for Israel.

The men were commanded to go, and see the face of the God of Israel, there in the bread; and this hidden bread, ordinarily seen only by a priest, was revealed and elevated.

Then, the Bread came down from the heavenly Tabernacle, and there in the feasts of ingathering, Yeshua/Jesus met His people face to face; and before His elevation He gave us a remembrance of bread and wine, a memorial of His presence and salvation.

So many Scriptures in the Apostolic Writings attest to the fact that Yeshua is the fullness of God manifest in the tent of human flesh, given by God’s love for His people, succinctly, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16; cf. Jn. 1:1-4, 14: 6:33, 35, 48, 51).

To behold the Son, is to behold the One who sent Him, and in His lifting up, we see the greatest love displayed, and His abiding love for us; and now, every believer, called as a kingdom of priests (I Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6), shares in the Bread of His presence, His face, and in the rest He secured for us.

Be well. Shalom.