The Bread & Fishes
(Food for All)

Pro 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. 

Luk 9:10  And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 
Luk 9:11  And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. 
Luk 9:12  And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. 
Luk 9:13  But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. 
Luk 9:14  For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 
Luk 9:15  And they did so, and made them all sit down. 
Luk 9:16  Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 
Luk 9:17  And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. 

Nothing is in the word of God by there by accident. Every letter, word, number, name and place has a significance.
Each of these studies has its own names. Letters: Orthography. Words: Etymology. Numbers: Numerology. Names: Onomatology.  Places: Toponymy.

The Jewish study of numbers and letters and meaning of words is called Gematria.
Each letter has its own number and picture and from this certain truths of scripture can be made clearer.
This causes a reader to question, Why 5000 people and why 4000 people? Why 5 loaves and 2 fishes and why 7 loaves and 2 fishes?

It is interesting that both these accounts are recorded in scripture, so it must mean something different.

If you consider the places that the miracles were performed.
The feeding of the 5000 was Bethsaida, close to the Sea of Galilee. The other was the feeding of the 4,000 which took place in the region of the Gerasenes, in the area around the Decapolis.

The feeding of the four thousand and the feeding of the five thousand, while similar, are two separate events. A comparison of the details prove that this is the case.

The feeding of the 5000 was a Jewish area.

Luk 9:10  And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 

The name Bethsaida means 'House of the Fisherman' in Hebrew.
It was the biblical hometown to disciples Andrew, Peter and Philip — was reputedly where Jesus performed a number of miracles.

The feeding of the 4000 was Gentile area.

Mar 7:31  And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 

The Decapolis was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the south eastern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. They formed a group because of their language, culture, location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous city-state dependent on Rome.

Matthew 14:15-21 presents the feeding of the 5,000: 

15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.” (Parallel passages are Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:5-15.)
 

Matthew 15:32-39 features the feeding of the 4,000: 

32Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
34  And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. 38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.” (Parallel passage is Mark 8:1-10.)

Not only do the facts show two separate events but Jesus Himself says they are two different events.

In Matthew 16:9,10 Jesus refers to them as separate incidents and not the same one repeated.

(Brackets Mine).

Matthew 16:9,10 “Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets (Greek – kophinous) ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets (Greek – spuridas) ye took up?”

The word used for baskets (kophinoi) was considered typical of Jewish commerce, a small hand basket.
The other word for basket was (spuridas) from speiro (as woven); a hamper or lunch-receptacle – a larger basket used by the Gentiles. The same kind that Paul, in Damascus was lowered down a wall.

Act 9:25  Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket (Spuridas). 

A brief look at these two events, reveal some interesting points.
 

1. Feeding of the 5,000.

In this miracle, Jesus takes five loaves and feeds five thousand, which is symbolic of the five books of the Jewish Law (Torah). Not only that, but when everyone had finished eating, twelve baskets of left-overs were collected, not only was the five books of the Torah given but they were given to the twelve tribes of Israel. Represented by twelve Patriarchs.

The Jews would have known the Old Testament stories of Elijah and Elisha.
One greater than they was here.
Elijah had multiplied flour and oil to save a widow and her son from starvation. Elisha did a bit better than his master, multiplying 20 barley loaves so as to feed 100, with some even left over.
However in this account, Jesus multiplies 5 barley loaves and feeds 5,000, leaving 12 baskets left over.

So here’s one clear message: Jesus is someone greater than even Elijah and Elisha.
 

2. Feeding of the 4,000.

In this second miracle, seven loaves are used and seven baskets are collected. The number seven is symbolic of completeness (i.e. not just Jews received the bread of life but the Gentiles too) and the number seven is a reminder of the seven days of creation when God created all humanity, not just Jews.

The Gospel is for all people, both Jews and Gentiles.
The law, (the Torah) was God's Revelation to the Jews, (The Bread of life). God’s provision, as was the manna in the wilderness.
The Gospel, is the fullness of God's word and is meant for all.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ who is the Bread of Life to all.
 

What about the fish?

Jesus is also represented by a fish. The fish was a secret sign of early Christians.
Both bread and fish represent Christ.
The ichthus symbol in Greek letters spells out 'Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour. ' The word is also a monogram , as ichthus is the Greek word for 'fish'.
In the early Church, when Christians were being persecuted, Christians would use the fish symbol as a secret sign symbolising to others that they were Christians.

Anciently, water was considered “other worldly,” a symbol of the divine world, or heaven. So a fish that lived in the water and could live for a short period of time outside the water (in the mortal world) would be considered a symbol of a divine being come to earth.
Jesus left His divine element to minister in mortality for a relatively short period of time before returning to His native element, heaven.
Christ left His home environment to come to earth to pay the price of sin.

Jesus was meeting the needs of people here. He was feeding them with bread and fish.
He used this as an analogy on another occasion when He said “if a child asks for bread, would his father give him a stone or if he asked for a fish, would he give a serpent”.
God is a good Father who would never give evil or emptiness when asked for good.

The most common foods eaten in this time and place near the Sea of Galilee was bread and fish.
Jesus came to feed the poor and that is all men.

What of the numbers?
5000 + 4000 = 9000
Used 49 times in Scripture, the number 9 symbolizes divine completeness or conveys the meaning of finality.
Christ died at the 9th hour of the day, to make the way of salvation open to everyone.

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is the only one of God's annual Feast days of worship that requires believers to fast for one day. This special day, considered by many Jews to be the holiest of the year, begins at sunset on day 9 of the seventh Hebrew month (Leviticus 23:32).

This is not the only significance of 5 and 4 but it is interesting.

This is what is known as PaRDeS. Multiple layers of meaning to a text.

PaRDes is an acronym.
P = Peshat (The plain meaning) As in straight, historical, literal meaning.
R = Remez (A Hint)
D = Derash (Devotional) the application.
S = Sod (Secret) a mystery.

In Ecclesiastes 2:5 PaRDeS  is the word for orchard.
It means a set apart place, a place of delight. A place of many fruit and many tastes.
It is like searching for the many different tastes and flavours that can be found in God’s word.
Sometimes literal, sometimes analogy, motif, type, allegory, sign etc.

Pro 25:2  It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. 

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