Chapter 57
A MESSAGE FROM THE FEEDING OF 4,000 MEN
Matthew 15:32-39
We begin this study with the following prayer,
Dear Heavenly Father,
We come before You in the Name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father, as we read and study Your Word, please open our eyes to see the things You are teaching us. Please open our ears so we can truly hear Your instruction and please move upon us to receive and act upon Your teaching.
Amen
INTRODUCTION
To appreciate and understand what Jesus was teaching the people then and now us, when, in addition to the women and children, He fed 4,000 men, we will,
1. Review some Old Testament background material.
2. Explore the time when, in addition to the women and children, Jesus fed 4,000 men.
3. Prayerfully read the message or teaching to be taken from this study.
With the above introduction in mind we now begin with some,
BACKGROUND MATERIAL
Throughout the Old Testament there are numerous accounts of how God miraculously cared for His people. For this particular study we will only review two examples of them.
The first example is that of,
ELIJAH AND THE WIDOW IN ZAREPHATH
As we read the Old Testament we discover that at this point in time of Israel’s history, Israel was divided into two nations. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin became known as Judah, whereas the remaining ten northern tribes became to be known as Israel.
Ahab succeeded his father, King Omri, and became king over Israel. During Ahab’s reign he did more evil in the sight of God than all who were before him. Finally, through His prophet Elijah, God pronounced judgment upon Israel and brought forth a very severe drought. To see this, we begin by reading from,
1 Kings 16:29-30
[29] In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. [30] Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
To read what Elijah said to King Ahab we go to,
1 Kings 17:1
[1] 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.”
To preserve Elijah from the ravages of the drought, God told him to leave and go to the Brook Cherith. This is recorded for us in,
[2] Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, [3] “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. [4] And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” [5] 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. [6] The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. [7] And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
After the Brook Cherith dried up, God told Elijah to go to the city of Zarephath in Sidon. To read what happened let us now go to,
[8] Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, [9] “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” [10] 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.” [11] And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” [12] 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.”
Let us notice the following verses,
9a … According to “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible1” Sidon was not part of Israel or Judah. Therefore, one can safely assume the widow was not Jewish but a gentile. This is another example how, in the Old Testament, God was not only concerned about the Jewish people but He was also concerned and had compassion for the Gentiles.
9b … God had commanded the widow to provide His prophet Elijah with the food and drink.
10-11 … When Elijah came to the widow, she was gathering wood to bake her and her son’s meal.
12a … The widow said it was Elijah’s God who put her in this difficult situation of only having a little bit of flour and oil to eat.
12b … Thus, they were about to finish eating all that remained of their food.
Let us now read Elijah’s response as recorded in,
1 Kings 17:13-16
[13] 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. [14] 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.’” [15] So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. [16] 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.
Let us notice the following verses,
13a … Elijah told the widow to not worry about eating the last of the food.
13b … Elijah also told her to make him the first small cake.
As a side note, as we will see later, since Elijah was at this time a representative for God, this was an illustration of the importance for God to be our first priority.
14 … Elijah told the widow that God said that throughout the remainder of the drought, they would not run out of flour or oil.
15-16 … The widow obeyed God’s command and through the drought, neither the flour nor oil was used up.
The second Old Testament example is that of,
ELISHA AND THE WIDOW’S OIL
To read what happened with respect to this account of God’s provision for His people we go to,
2 Kings 4:1-2
[1] A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” [2] So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
Let us now read Elisha’s instruction to the widow in,
2 Kings 4:3-6
[3] Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. [4] And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” [5] So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. [6] Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased.
Let us notice the following verses,
3-4 … God, through Elisha, told her to go throughout the neighborhood and borrow as many oil vessels she and her sons could get.
5 … After they had the borrowed vessels, God performed the miracle of filling them with oil.
Let us now read Elisha’s second command to the widow, as recorded in,
2 Kings 4:7
[7] Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
In other words, from the proceeds of the oil, the widow was to pay the debt and she along with her sons were to use the money to live on.
With the above Old Testament examples as a background, let us now read the account when,
JESUS FED 4,000 MEN
To do this let us read from,
Matthew 15:32-33
[32] 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.” [33] Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
Let us notice the following verses,
32 … The multitude, without any food or nourishment, were with Jesus for three days. However, Jesus did not want to send them away hungry.
33 … In response to Jesus’ statement, the disciples asked Jesus; “Where could they find enough food for them”?
According to Thomas Robinson’s book titled; “The Bible Timeline,” this event occurred during the summer of 29 AD. It is interesting to note that only a couple of months earlier, in the Spring of 29 AD Jesus, in a similar circumstance, fed 5,000 men in addition to the women and children.
With this in mind, it is surprising that none of Jesus’ disciples assumed Jesus was about to perform the same miracle that He did with the 5,000 men. Instead they asked the question as to where could they find enough food.
To read Jesus’ response to His disciple’s question, we go to,
Matthew 15:34-36
[34] Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” [35] So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. [36] 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.
Let us notice the following verses,
36a … Jesus took the only available food, which were seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. He blessed the food and gave them to His disciples.
36b … His disciples gave the food to the multitude.
To read exactly how the disciples did this, we go to,
Mark 8:6-7
[6] So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. [7] They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.
The disciples placed the food before the people. Thus, we have the following scene before us. The seven loaves of bread and a few small fish were set before the people. Then, as one would do in a buffet, the people came and took pieces of the bread and fish. It was not until the multitude had their fill did the broken loaves of bread and a few small fish run out.
Let us now return to Matthew and read from,
Matthew 15:37-39
[37] So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. [38] Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. [39] And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
Let us notice the following verses,
37 … After eating, the apostles and the multitude gathered up seven large baskets of crumbs. Thus, they did not leave a mess.
38 … In addition to the 4,000 men, there were also women and children that were fed.
As we reflect upon the above account of Jesus and the 4,000 men, we come to realize the multitudes were following Jesus Christ, listening to His teaching and seeking after His Kingdom. At this time, they were not worried or fretting about food, drink or what clothes they were wearing. No, for three whole days the whole focus and concern of the multitude was Jesus Christ.
This brings us to
THE MESSAGE OR TEACHING FOR THIS STUDY
Actually there are three important points to be made.
The first point is presented to us in,
Matthew 6:24-34
[24] “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. [25]“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? [28] “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; [29] and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ [32] For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. [33] But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. [34] Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Before we misinterpret what the above Scriptures are teaching us and think that just because we are seeking God and His Kingdom, we can just sit around, do nothing, and expect God to miraculously provide for our needs; or, we can partake of the food from others, we must consider the whole counsel of God.
This brings us to the second point of this study,
Specifically, we must not forget that while we can and the circumstances permit, God expects us to work for our food and drink. To see this we return to the Old Testament examples and recall that:
1. It is implied that prior to the drought, the widow in Zarephath did work and toil for her and her son’s food. In addition, even now, she had to gather wood for a fire needed to bake cakes of bread. In addition, she was told to give Elijah the first cake.
2. The widow in Elisha’s example, after her husband died, lost her source of income. Thus, she did not have the means to pay the debt or to purchase food and drink. Before God would bless her for her rent and food, she and her sons had to go throughout the neighborhood and borrow as many empty vessels as they could. Then, in order to pay off her debt and have food to eat, she had to go and sell the oil
With these observations, let us now read what the Holy Spirit wrote through the Apostle Paul in,
2 Thessalonians 3:7-10
[7] For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; [8] nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, [9] not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. [10] For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
Let us notice the following verses,
8 … Paul and his companions did not eat anyone’s food free of charge. Instead, they worked and labored so they could purchase the food they ate.
9a … Being an apostle and minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul had the rightful authority to ask the church in Thessalonica to provide them, free of charge, their food and drink. However, Paul did not exercise this authority. Why? The answer to this question is given in,
9b … Paul was setting an example for them and us that we are to work or labor for our food, drink and our other needs or desires.
10 … Hence, the following command: “If the circumstances permit, every able body person is to work and labor for their food, clothing, shelter and other material desires.”
The third point of this study is that,
No matter how strange God’s command may sound, after we made sure it does not violate or conflict with the Scriptures, we, by faith in Him, are to obey and do it.
To read another example of following Jesus’ command, we go to the incident at the lake of Gennesaret. To do this we go to,
Luke 5: 1-4
[1] So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, [2] and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. [3] Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. [4] When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Let us now read Peter’s response in,
Luke 5: 5-10
[5] But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
Notice, even though Jesus’ command to Peter did not make sense, Peter obediently did it.
Let us now read what happened, as recorded in,
Luke 5: 6-7
[6] And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. [7] So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
To read the response of Peter, along with those who were with him, we go to,
Luke 5: 8-10
[8] When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” [9] For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; [10] and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”
CLOSING
With all we have covered in mind let us close this study by reading the teaching from,
James 2:17-26
[17] Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. [18] But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! [20] But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? [22] Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? [23] And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. [24] You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. [25] Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? [26] For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Shall We Pray?