Plainer Words since 1968
July 26, 2012
PLAINER WORDS … FEEDING OF THE 5000
INTRODUCTION: The Feeding of the 5000, as told in the Four Gospels, was a foreshadowing of the miraculous feeding of the Jewish Remnant that will take place during the last three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation. The Remnant’s sustenance will be supernaturally supplied while they are hiding in caves from the armies of the Antichrist.
The timing will be that of the consummation of the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God—the Day of Jesus Christ. Centuries after the ushering-in of Christ’s Day, there will be “a falling away” (2 Thess. 23). The “falling away” will take the form of rebellion:
“Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness [the Antichrist] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction” (2 Thess. 2:3) NIV.
FUTURE REMNANT’S SURVIVAL DURING THE TRIBULATION
The miracle of the FEEDING OF THE 5000 has tremendous dispensational significance as it is described in all four of the Gospels. The account of this miracle is first recorded in Matthew 14:15-21, again, in Mark 6:35-44, then, in Luke 9:10-17, and finally, in John 6:1-14. It is most unusual that all four Gospel writers describe the same event prior to the Passion Week. Since the miraculous feeding is so described, it must carry with it significant lessons for the Bible believer. The context of this event was a foretelling of the miraculous provisions which Jesus Christ makes for the Jewish saints who are in hiding from the forces of the Antichrist.
Your attention is called to the fact that the place of the “feeding of the 5000” was in a “desert place” (Matt. 14:15). This “desert place” was not a desert of sand, but rather, a grassy place (John 6:10). Therefore, the word, “desert,” has the meaning of being “deserted,” or “empty, void, or barren of any person.”
The “desert place” has a reference to the “wilderness,” and the thoughtful student is now conscious of a reference to a, yet, FUTURE event which will take place in “the wilderness” during the GREAT TRIBULATION. The miraculous feeding of the 5000 is a scene indicative of the FUTURE supply of food which Christ provides for the REMNANT OF ISRAEL during the last three-and-a-half years of THE GREAT TRIBULATION.
“And the woman [the Remnant] fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there [in the wilderness] a thousand two hundred and threescore days [three-and-a-half-years]” (Rev. 12:6).
A reading of the 12th Chapter of Revelation shows that Satan is the “great dragon” (Vs. 9), and he begins to persecute “the woman.” “The Woman” is the faithful Remnant of Israel, and as the “woman” begins to be persecuted, she is given “two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the WILDERNESS, into her place, where she is nourished (i.e., fed) for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the Serpent” (Vs. 14). The thousand two-hundred threescore days, and the time, and times, and half time equal three-and-a-half years that the REMNANT is in the Wilderness where there is a place prepared for Her. It is in this place that God will feed the REMNANT while the Antichrist desecrates God’s Temple in Jerusalem. The nourishment will be supernaturally provided for them during the last half of the Tribulation in which she is hiding from the face of the Antichrist.
The Gospel of Matthew makes reference to this in 24:15-22. It is, also, learned that the Lord told His Disciples that when the Antichrist commits the abomination of desolation in the Temple’s Holy of Holies, that it will be the cue for them to flee Jerusalem. They will remember the Lord Jesus’ words when they live, again, in resurrection during the Day of Christ.
“For then shall be GREAT TRIBULATION, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake [the Remnant] those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:21-22).
Now, here is what we have so far. Keep in mind that the “woman” of Revelation 12 is the REMNANT, and she goes to the WILDERNESS to be FED. A study of the Old Testament references of the “wilderness” reveals that Israel will go into the “wilderness” and will be provided for “as in the days of her youth, and as in the day she came up out of the land of Egypt” (Hos 2:14-15). We learn, then, that God is going to deal with these Jews just like He has done before. The “woman” escapes from the Antichrist and flees to the wilderness. She goes there after the “abomination” is committed during the GREAT TRIBULATION to be fed “AS in the days of her youth,” and “AS in the day she came up out of Egypt.”
Micah 7:14-15 speaks of two places where the Jew is to be fed during the Tribulation Period for three-and-a-half years. Notice, it says in Bashan and Gilead that they are to be fed, “… AS in the days of old. According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvelous things.”
It is now apparent that the Lord will provide for Israel, once again in the way of nourishment, as He did the first time. Please notice what is said in Psalm 78:17-25:
“And they (Israel) sinned yet more against Him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, He smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can He give bread also? can He provide flesh for His people? Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation: Though He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down MANNA upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man (i.e., Israel) did eat angels' food: He sent them meat to the full.”
What we learned in the passages, quoted above, was that Israel was supernaturally fed “angels’ food” in their wilderness wanderings, and that God was, indeed, able to “furnish a table in the wilderness.” Thus, it can be seen that He was planning to do this, once again, since He said He would feed Israel as in “the days of her youth,” and “as in the days she came up out of the land of Egypt.”
Further reference is made to the REMNANT being fed in Bashan and Gilead during the GREAT TRIBULATION:
“And I will bring Israel again to his* habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead” (Jer. 50:19).
*The words, “his, he, and his,” are references to the nation of Israel being fed during their persecution.
Jeremiah 50:20 shows you that “In those days, and in that time” are emphatic references to the Great Tribulation Period—“those days and in that time.”
In Revelation 12, “the woman” (i.e., the Remnant) flees from the wrath of the dragon (Satan) because of the tremendous persecution. Verse 14 states that “the woman” flies to the WILDERNESS, “into her place, where she is nourished” for 3 ½ years. The REMNANT will be fed MANNA, just like the Hebrews were when they were delivered from bondage out of the Land of Egypt.
SUMMARY—In the Tribulation when the Bible believing Jew learns that the Antichrist has committed the “abomination of desolation,” he is to flee to the mountains; there, God will have prepared a place for him to hide.
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Dan. 9:27), stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains” (Matt. 24:15-16).
This prophecy and its warnings will come to the mind of the saints in Judaea at the time when the Antichrist unveils the abominable idol in the Holy of Holies. This idol, when first mentioned in Scripture, is stamped with a special hatred of the LORD [ Yahweh ]. The Bible refers to this idol as that of Asherah. It is the symbol of a Phallus. It was banished from the land of Israel and, then, later banned in the land of Judah.
According to Appendix #43 in the “Companion Bible”, Pages 35-36, we read, “It is still preserved in veiled language in secret fraternities , Freemasonry, Theosophy, and in the Roman [Catholic] Church; language so conceals it that probably those who use it today have little idea of what they are perpetuating; while the ancient symbols I O proclaim ‘sex as the true God of Hosts,’ as the Kabbala* declares. A recrudescence [a break out again after being inactive] of this is more than hinted at; and will be better understood when “the abomination” of the Antichrist shall stand once again in the Temple at Jerusalem (Matt. 24:15).”
*The “Kabbala” or “Kabbalah” is a book of Jewish Mysticism.
“Let him [the Jewish saints] which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!” (Matt. 24:17-19).
The Jewish saints run to the wilderness and, there, they hide from the armies of the Antichrist. There is no evidence that the Jew will have hid any provisions in the caves of Petra. The indication is that the satanic forces do not want to venture into the mountainous regions of Petra for fear that Israel’s God will do them great harm. Be that as it may, the Runaways will have a hard time finding things to eat, but, alas, the Lord hath prepared a place for them. The Lord had foretold them in Scripture and in the persons of those who had heard Jesus Christ teach “the Sermon of the Mount,” when they lived during Christ’s lifetime, that He would prepare a place for them in the wilderness. He was to furnish them a table in the wilderness. Their table would be set “in the presence of mine enemies” (Ps. 23:5). Notice:
“We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword (i.e., of the Antichrist) of the WILDERNESS” (Lamentations 5:9).
The indication is that every time individuals of the REMNANT run out of the caves to gather the Manna, they run the risk of being discovered.
Now, we ought to see the real significance of the “Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord Jesus told His disciples to pray for their daily bread—“Give us this day our daily bread” which will turn out to be Manna from Heaven. During the severe troubles they endure during the 3 ½ years of Tribulation, the Lord will supernaturally feed them as He did in the wilderness in the days of old. He will do it with “stuff” which the Old Testament called “Manna.” It comes down from heaven. It comes down like snow, it will be white, and it will melt (cf. Ex. 16:14, 19-21). Each morning, the Jews will gather it up before the sun gets hot and melts it. They will gather it with their lives in peril. It’ll be gathered and hurriedly carried back into the caves, and they will give thanks for their “daily bread.”
The FEEDING OF THE 5000, in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh, points to the miraculous feeding of the Jewish REMNANT in the Wilderness of Judaea. He will feed them for 3 ½ years with Manna, just like He did in the Old Testament. All of this is, yet, future—it will be during the consummation of the Pre-Millennial Day of Christ.
The reminder is that true students of the Word must “rightly divide.” The PAST and the FUTURE must not be read into PRESENT TRUTH. We must appropriate each Truth to the particular Dispensation to which it belongs. Unless this is done, we shall not “grow in Knowledge;” for we are to “grow in Knowledge,” as well as, in “Grace.”
CONCLUDING REMARKS THAT PERTAIN TO US—In regards to our learning, we should always attempt to determine, “What about us?” We know what the role of our Calling will be during the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God. Tribulation Truth is found in many Old Testament prophecies, as well as, New Testament prophecies. Therefore, we are able to place certain people, or groups of people, or nationalities on the world stage when the forces of Satan gang-up on Israel during the consummation of The Day of Christ.
Truth of the Church, which is His Body (Eph. 1:22-23) was a secret throughout the Old and New Testament Times. In fact, the Church of the Mystery did not appear on the world scene until after “The Acts of the Apostles” were concluded. The Hope of Israel was set aside, and, THEN, Christ Jesus revealed the Revelation of the Mystery to the Apostle Paul. Sometime between the end of Acts and the writing of Ephesians and Colossians (63 to 64 A.D.), did the Church, which is His Body begin to be formed. Today, in the year of 2012 A.D., it is still being formed and is, therefore, not, yet, complete. But, we know what the “good works” are going to be when we are called upon to perform them. We will enter into these works when Titus 2:13 and 2 Timothy 4:1 become a reality. We will be an integral part of the Government of Jesus Christ when He rules the world FROM HEAVEN. As Ministers of His Government, many of us will be stationed on earth in the Capitals of the nations.
The Members of the Church [ Ecclesia ] over which Christ Jesus is the Head will have been serving as His Ambassadors to the nations when the rumors of war begin. The Ministers of State to the nations, who are part of the insurrection, will be called back to the Heavenly Capital—the Seat of Divine Government. The vacating of their stations of Divine Service is to be a show of Heaven’s readiness to declare War on the nations who are in rebellion.
~~THE END~~
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