GLC presents Brought to you by the donations of our faithful partners Shalom in Yeshua. I am Eddie Chumney of Hebraic Heritage Ministries and we welcome you today to our study on the Hebraic roots of Christianity. We are doing a series in entitled Yeshua from Genesis to Revelation.
And this is our 11th session in this series. We are going to be looking at Yeshua. Yeshua's earthly ministry and his role to gather the exiles of Israel.
In this session, we're going to be looking at his miracle feeding of the multitude with loaves and fishes. When we're studying the Hebraic roots of our faith in Yeshua, we must remember to keep everything centered on him. In Psalm chapter 40 and verse 7 it says, Then said I, lo I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me.
This is quoted in Hebrews in chapter 10 and verse 7 speaking of Yeshua. That in the volume of the book, in the totality of scripture it is written of him. Look, Yeshua himself stated in Luke in chapter 24 and verse 27 the following in beginning at Moses that is the Torah and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself then in Luke chapter 24 verse 44 he said in them these are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Torah Torah of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. So Yeshua said that the Torah, the prophets and the Psalms or the Hebrew scriptures is all written about him.
So we are doing a study series in seeing how this is so. Yeshua from Genesis to Revelation. Let's look at it.
John in chapter 6. In John chapter 6, we have in this chapter, in the first part of the chapter, an account of Yeshua feeding the multitude, the number of which is 5,000. And he did it with five barley loaves and two fishes. And once the feeding was done, there were 12 bass.
that were left over in Matthew in chapter 15 in verses 32 through 39 we have another miracle feeding of Yeshua of the multitudes and this is the feeding of 4,000 and this was done with seven loaves and a few fishes and in this miracle there There were seven baskets that were left over. So in this session we are going to understand the meaning and the understanding of these miracles that it is actually a Torah object lesson that Yeshua was trying to communicate to his disciples. In Mark in chapter 8, Yeshua asked his disciples the following question, beginning in verse 19. He says, When I broke the five loaves among the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?
And they said 12. And when the seven loaves among the 4,000, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? And they said seven. So he makes them focus on what happened in the difference between the two miracles, that in the feeding of the 5,000, there ended up 12 baskets.
In the feeding of the 4,000, there were seven baskets, pointing out the difference. And then he asked him a question in Mark chapter 8, verse 21. Now, how is it that you don't understand? Do you understand the point that Yeshua was trying to teach to his disciples?
Well, we're going to learn the meaning of it in this program. That actually what Yeshua was trying to communicate is the 12 baskets represents the gathering and uniting of the 12. tribes of Israel and that Yeshua was teaching that in order to get the gathering of the 12 tribes of Israel you had to do it by feeding them five loaves the five loaves represents the five books of the Torah Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy well since Yeshua is the lawgiver James chapter 4 verse 12 he was instructing his disciples when he took the five loaves and he distributed it to his disciples. He was in doing this showing that he was going to take the Torah and teach it to his disciples. And then he told his disciples to take the loaves and feed the multitude.
That the Torah that Yeshua teaches his disciples, he's going to instruct his disciples to go out into the nations. who are referred to euphemistically as the multitudes. Now, this was a literal miracle, so there was a literal number of people who were being fed, but while this is literal, it also has a deeper meaning, which we are describing and explaining in this session.
Now, the seven loaves is going to represent... the seven laws of Noah and the seven baskets is going to represent those who are going to believe if you taught the seven laws of Noah in following the seven laws of Noah. You see, to the disciples, there wasn't any issue in their mind about whether you follow Torah or not. That is a given. Yeshua was teaching them that when they go out in the nations, how they were to teach the nations the Torah, because in their midst were the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
And the Pharisees and the Sadducees had a belief that those who were not a part of the house of Jacob, that they only needed to follow the seven laws of Noah. They didn't need to follow the Torah. of the God of Israel to be accepted by him in his family and to receive the benefits for believing in him that comes with doing this. Yeshua was teaching his disciples that you are not to have the viewpoint of those in the nations of the Pharisees and the Sadducees that you teach them that they're to follow the seven laws of Noah. No, what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to take the five loaves.
That is the written Torah of what I teach you regarding it. And you were supposed to go out in the nations and declare that I am the Messiah. I am the lawgiver, James chapter 4 verse 12. And that if you love me, John 14 verse 15, you keep my commandments.
Or you follow the Torah. That you can be in covenant relationship with the Messiah through the new covenant. And being in that covenant relationship, you can be adopted or you can be grafted in.
Romans chapter 11 verse 17. Romans chapter 11 verse 24. And when you get grafted into the family, you live according to the rules of the family. And that is to follow. the Torah of the Messiah.
This is the object lesson that Yeshua was teaching his disciples from these two miracles. Let's then look at it more closely. In John, in chapter 6, it says, In the Passover, the feast of the Jews was near.
The setting of the miracle is Passover. Why? Because the children of Israel came out of Egypt at Passover season, and the uniting of the 12 tribes of Israel in the future is associated as well with Passover. So Yeshua... was giving an understanding of the time of the year when the process to unite the 12 tribes of Israel would begin.
Now, how does this object lesson that Yeshua is given to his disciples relate and pertain today? Because the belief of the Pharisees is preserved today because the biblical Pharisees are the ones who wrote the Talmud, which is the oral law. And those who wrote the Talmud and identify with following the Talmud today are Orthodox Jews. And the faith is referred to as Judaism for following this belief system. And Judaism believes that those who are not of the Jewish people.
non-Jews who are living in the nations, that they don't need to follow the Torah of the God of Israel if they believe in Him. That they only need to follow the seven laws of Noah. So the issue isn't whether you should follow Torah if you believe in the God of Israel. The issue is whose Torah do you believe or how are you supposed to follow that Torah?
If you are a non-Jew, are you to just follow the seven laws of Noah? Is that what Yeshua taught? No, that is not what he taught, since he is the lawgiver, James chapter 4 verse 12, that you love him by keeping his commandments.
You follow the Torah of the Messiah, because Yeshua said in Matthew in chapter 11 verse 28, Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. The yoke is an idiom or a term which refers to following the Torah. Take my yoke, the Torah that I want you to follow, through the help and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Paul in Romans... chapter 7 and verse 22 stated the following for I delight in the Torah of God I delight in the Torah of God after the inward man this is the Torah we're to follow the Torah of Yeshua with the help and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who teaches us how to follow that Torah in spirit and in truth now let's go back and pick up in John chapter 6 where in John chapter 6 and verse 5 it states that when Yeshua then lifted up his eyes he saw a great company or a multitude and he said unto Philip where shall we buy bread that these may eat And in John chapter 6 verse 8 it says, One of his disciples Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto him, verse 9, that there is a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes. The five barley loaves represents the five books of the Torah. The two fish has one of several possibilities.
It represents the two houses of Israel. the northern kingdom known as Ephraim, or the house of Israel, the house of Joseph, or the southern kingdom known as the house of Judah, or the Jews. Or the two fish may also represent Ephraim and Manasseh, because in Genesis, in chapter 48, when the blessing is given to Ephraim and Manasseh, in verse 16, it states, The angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them in the name of my father, Abraham Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth, is what the King James says.
But the word grow is the Strong's number 1711. It's the Hebrew word dagah, which means fish. It literally says in the Hebrew, let them increase as fish do in the earth. But that doesn't make logical sense because fish don't increase in land.
Fish increase in the sea. So it wasn't translated literally as let them increase as fish in the earth. It was translated, let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. But the Hebrew word Degah is found in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 when it says, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea.
The word fish is the Hebrew word Degah. There's a prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 16 that fishermen are to be sent for the exiles of Israel. Jeremiah in chapter 16. And verse 14 says, Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, it will no more be said, the Lord lives that brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, but the Lord lives that brought the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he has driven them.
And I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers. How's he going to do this? Behold, I will send for many fishers, says the Lord, and they shall fish them.
That's the prophecy. is that fishers or fishermen would be sent to the exiles of Israel. And that is why in Matthew in chapter 4 and verse 19, when Yeshua called his disciples, he said these words unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Well, men is a term for the nation of Israel. as well as all mankind, because men in Hebrew is Adam. And in Ezekiel chapter 34 verse 31, in Ezekiel 36 verse 10, the nation of Israel is called men or Adam. But all mankind is called Adam. So who is the message of Messiah got to go to?
The exiles of Israel or the nation of Israel. But in doing so, it will be heard by all. mankind and so while the gospel is to redeem the nation of Israel whom the Messiah is in covenant relationship with going back to Mount Sinai that redemption or salvation is available to all mankind if they will receive it and then they enter into the new covenant and they're grafted into the new covenant that was made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah and they can participate in the redemption or the salvation. In John chapter 6 in verse 10, Yeshua instructed that the multitude would sit down. John chapter 6 verse 10, it says, Yeshua said, make the men sit down.
Sitting down is a Hebrew idiom for teaching them Torah. It says in Deuteronomy chapter 33 and verse 3, when the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, that they sat down at his feet and they received of his words. In Acts chapter 22 verse 3, Paul testifies that he sat at the feet of Gamaliel.
What does it mean that he sat at the feet of Gamaliel? It means that he learned or was taught Torah at the feet of Gamaliel. In Mark's version of the feeding of the 5,000, in Mark in chapter 6 and verse 39, it explains the following, where it says, He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass, and they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties. This is an allusion to Exodus chapter 18, wherein Jethro gave advice to Moses that in teaching the children of Israel, that they would be taught in groups, and there would be those who would be in charge of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens, as we're told in Exodus in chapter 18 and verse... 25. John in chapter 6 and verse 10 says, and there was much grass in the field.
Grass is a reference to mankind who is likened unto grass. Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 6. The voice said cry and he said what shall I cry? All flesh is grass. John chapter 6 verse 11. Yeshua took the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed it to his disciples. What does it mean he gave thanks?
Well when... You read from the Torah, you thank the God of Israel for his Torah. So he gave thanks and he distributed it to his disciples, meaning he taught them the Torah and then the disciples to them that sat down. The pattern is Yeshua's going to teach his disciples the Torah and he's going to instruct his disciples to teach the multitude or he's going to send them out into the nations of the world.
And then it says in John chapter 6 verse 12. And when they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain so that none is lost. Gather is a reference to gathering the 12 tribes of Israel. In Psalm 147 verse 2 it says, the Lord builds up Jerusalem. What is the definition of building up Jerusalem?
He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. Isaiah chapter 56 verse 8 says, The Lord God which gathers the outcasts of Israel. So in John chapter 6 verse 12, when Yeshua said, Gather up the fragments, he was making a reference or an allusion to the gathering of the exiles of Israel.
The multitude represent... The exiles of Israel are those in the nations of the world on a deeper level. The fragments represent the remnant of Israel because it's the remnant of Israel scattered in the nations who's going to return to the Messiah and his Torah. Isaiah chapter 10 verse 21 says the remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob.
Isaiah chapter 10 verse 22 also states, yet a remnant shall return. Isaiah chapter 11 verse 16 says, There will be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria. Jeremiah chapter 23 verse 3, And I will gather the remnant of my people out of all the countries. In John chapter 6 verse 12 it says, Gather the fragments so that none is lost.
This is a reference to... the northern kingdom or the ten tribes who were regarded as lost or assimilated in the nations of the world. In Ezekiel 34 verse 11 it says, thus says the Lord God, behold I even I will both search my sheep and seek them out. In searching out his sheep he says in Ezekiel 34 verse 16, I will seek that which was lost.
The lost is the lost sheep that gets away from the flock. And Messiah is going to seek the sheep that are lost. The sheep are the exiles of Israel.
They're lost because they don't know Messiah. They're lost because they're not following the Torah. We can see how Ephraim is regarded as lost or simulated in the nations.
From the book of Hosea. Hosea chapter 1 verse 4. From the marriage between Gomer and Hosea. Their child that was born. That stated in Hosea 1.4 is named Jezreel, which means God will sow or God will scatter. Hosea chapter 7 verse 8, Ephraim has mixed himself among the people.
And then Micah chapter 5 verse 7, that the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people. The result then in John in chapter 6 in verse 13, it says, Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. The twelve baskets represents gathering the twelve tribes of Israel. So even though this is a literal event that happened in Yeshua's ministry, there were literally the crowds that were gathered.
There was literally a lad that literally had five barley loaves and literally had two fishes and Yeshua literally did a miracle and literally fed the multitude that was there on a deeper level this is an allusion to taking the Torah the five lows the two fish represents Israel who is in the nation's Because it says in Jeremiah 16, verse 16, he's going to send fishermen to the exiles of Israel and will fish for them. He was instructed to have them sit down, sitting down. down as a reference to teaching them Torah to gather them up you gather the exiles of Israel so that none is lost and the result will be 12 baskets so in this session we are looking and seeing how that Yeshua's earthly ministry is related and associated with his role as the Messiah to gather the 12 tribes of Israel and how he is teaching these things to his disciples.
Remember always these words from 1 John in chapter 2 in verse 6. He who says he abides in him, that is he who says he's a believer in Yeshua as the Messiah, ought himself to walk. that means to live our lives even as he walked and how did you show a walker who lived his life he followed the Torah he said in John 14 verse 15 if you love me keep my Commandments keeping his Commandments is following the Torah Psalm 122 verse 6 pray for the peace of Jerusalem they will prosper that love thee