BREAD FROM HEAVEN

PROCLAMATION

“And The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel; speak unto them, saying, ‘At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread;’ and ye shall know that I am The Lord your God.’  And it came to pass, at even the quails came up, and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.”  Exodus 16:11-13 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  When Moses then led the children of Israel into the desert, they soon they forgot about the miracles they had just witnessed, the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, and the changing of the bitter water of Marah into sweet water that was fit to drink.  After they left Elim, the people again began to murmur against  Moses and Aaron. (Exodus 16:2-3)  The Lord God told Moses He heard their murmuring.  Then He rained down bread, manna, from heaven for them to eat in the morning (Exodus 16:4-5 and 16:31) and provided them with meat, in the form of quail, in the evening. (Exodus 16:13)  He did this for them daily, except on the Sabbath. (Exodus 16:21-27)  They wandered about in the desert for forty years, from place to place as The Lord God directed them. (Exodus 16:31-35)

 

APPLICATION

Oh, how soon we forget what The Lord has done for us.  We treat The Lord God like the worldly people treat each other by asking, like the Janet Jackson song, “What have you done for me lately?”  The people of God should not ask Him that question.  We know that our very existence, waking up, each breath and heartbeat are all blessings from God.  Not to mention that we are blessed to have some material things, our family and friends, and those who love us.  The Lord God has provided us an abundance of blessings, blessings upon blessings. (Proverbs 28:20)  We may not have or ever get all that we want, but He will supply all of our needs. (Philippians 4:19)  Jesus, The Christ, said, ‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever …” (John 6:51)

 

THE LORD JESUS THE CHRIST IS ALL THAT WE NEED

Proclamation:

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish … Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.  He did the same with the fish.”  John 6:9-11 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle John under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter, John records the feeding of the five thousand men, plus the women and children; (John 6:10, also recorded in Matthew 14:21, Mark 6:44, and Luke 9:14) Jesus walking on water; (John 6:19 and Matthew 14:26) and the first of the great “I Am” self declarative statements made by Jesus, the Christ. (John 6:35)  Here, John records the fourth miracle performed by Jesus, The Christ.  Jesus used a poor boy’s lunch, He blessed it, gave it to His disciples who distributed it among the people, and they fed five thousand men in addition to the accompanying women and children. (Matthew 14:21)  When all of them had eaten what they wanted, the disciples gathered up the left-over food and collected twelve baskets full of food. (John 6:13)  That was much more than they began with.  They collected that which was left over so that nothing given from God would be wasted. (John 6:12)

Application:

The Lord Jesus has the power to provide all that is needed.  A little in the hands of The Lord Jesus is more that a lot in the hands of others.  Everyone in the crowd of five thousand plus was not a true believer (John 6:66) but He blessed them all.  He fed this group physically then later declared that He was the bread of life (John 6:35 and 6:41, 48, 51, and 58) in order to feed them spiritually.  We need to believe and partake of His body and His blood. (John 6:53-58)  We can do this by partaking of The Lord’s Supper, Communion, when it is offered in our local church.  We do this in remembrance of Him until He comes again. (1 Corinthians 11:24-25)  The Lord God has all power.  Not only did Jesus, The Christ, feed the five thousand, He walked on the water across the Sea of Tiberias in the midst of a storm, and He also allowed Peter to walk on the water. (Matthew 14:26-32)  Just like Peter, we will do fine as long as we keep our focus on Him.  We will only start to sink when we focus on our situations and not on Him.  He is truly all that we need.

The Bread Of Life

"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty.' "  John 6:35 (NIV)

The Apostle John recorded these words of Jesus as He spoke to the crowd.  This is the first of the seven great "I AM's" which Jesus spoke referring to Himself and His purpose.  Jesus is "the bread of life", The Living Word of God.  Jesus was using a metaphor and He was speaking of a spiritual implication, while the people could comprehend Him literally and physically.  Remember, "I AM" is how God referred to Himself when He spoke to Moses through the burning bush. (Genesis 3:14)

When Jesus taught His disciples and the people, He frequently used parables and metaphors.  He knew that those who did not believe would not understand. (Matthew 13:13, Mark 4:12, & Luke 8:10)  We know that wisdom and understanding come from God. (Psalms 111:10, Proverbs 2:6 & Proverbs 9:10) 
As we come to Jesus, and accept Him as our Savior, we take of Him, we consume Him, we begin to digest His Word, and His Holy Spirit indwells us and we become a part of Him.  When three times He told the Apostle Peter to "feed My sheep", He meant for Peter to share The Word of God with the people of God. (John 21:15-17)   We need to be fed "the bread of life", and we need it on a regular basis.  That will sustain us and The Lord will provide all that we need.  We need to eat "the living bread" (John 6:51) and drink "the living water (John 4:10-11) as part of a healthy diet for our soul.