Wonder Bread

Have you ever thought why bread is mentioned so often in scripture? What brought this to mind was  my last trip to the market ….. there were at least forty types of bread or bread products ….. maybe more if you count the donuts! As I remember, the first bread  mentioned in scripture was the unleavened bread used in the first Passover in the book of  Exodus (Exodus 12) ….. The people were told to make their bread in haste without leaven, because they had to leave quickly before the bread would rise and then  baked.

Then the manna that God sent to the desert wandering Hebrews after they left Egypt (Exodus 16).  It is called the  “bread of heaven” (Psalm 105:40),  so I guess it must have been a type of bread which was wonderfully designed to provide complete nourishment. On a table in the Tabernacle there were twelve loaves of bread which were to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. When on the run from King Saul, David and his men entered the tabernacle and ate that bread (Matthew 12:1-8; cf. 1 Samuel 21:1-6). Apparently, God forgave him. Hunger and survival were more important than those twelve special loaves of bread.

Our Lord himself, said. “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48) or again ….. in His special prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). As in most Jewish writings, there are layers of meaning in everything. Bread can mean sustenance, assurance of life, and food for our souls.

The Book of Leviticus contains no fewer than fourteen mentions of bread, yet the theme of bread in this context seems to have more to do with developing and maintaining closeness to God; first by means of purity (Leviticus 21-22), then festivals (Leviticus 23), and finally by rule of law or the Torah (Leviticus 24). And yet another meaning might be that bread is associated with wealth or work ethic. “He who works his land will have enough bread“ (Proverbs 12:11)

In Scripture “bread” can mean money just as it does in colloquial slang: “Got any bread?” “Can you lend me some dough?” or “what field are you in?” Again and again in the Bible, the word bread plugs us into reality. Bread reminds us to keep our feet on the ground. We are grounded on our faith, we are supplied spiritual bread for our souls, physical bread for our bodies and we are told to work for our bread.

Yes, it’s Wonder (ful) Bread. —Barbara Hyland, elder's wife, Montana Street.

Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

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