Patrick Hoelscher

The reason why he divided them in groups of 50's has 2 meanings:
1) mentioning the number 50 he is hinting to the year of jubilee, the favorable year of the Lord, which points us to Luke 4,18-19, where Jesus preaches / cites from Isaiah 61:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me......to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
2) Dividing that many people into groups, what do you see from above? It is an army! Jesus is illustrating an army like a roman legion, in formation. These had about that number of persons, but varying between 5000 - 10000 and their subdivisions was also different, but that is not important.

Now armies need weapons. There is the sword hidden, it is in the 2 fish, long, silvery, TWO-edged sword, two fish symbolize the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

How do I know that it is a sword? Because it is a pattern throughout the bible of bread and sword, where both is the word of God, the bread is the word you "eat" (hear), the sword is the word of God you "strike" (speak):

Gideon and the dream of the enemy (Judges 7:13-14), one said he dreamed of a bread, the other answered that must be the sword of Gideon. Bread and sword.

Judges 9:53: A certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Abimelech's head, and crushed his skull. Here a millstone, which is to process corn to produce bread illustrates the bread, then in Verse 54: Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’" Bread and sword.

Then in David and Goliath, where 5 "smooth stones" from the river are bread, then he kills Goliath with his sword. Watch the similarity with the woman of Thebez, first millstone / smooth stone, then finish with the sword. And the illustration of Genesis 3:15, the seed of the woman will crush your head.

Then in 1 Samuel 21:3 David says to Ahimelech (notice, Ahimelech/Abimelech similar names connects these stories), "Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here." Notice, why did he ask for 5 loaves of bread? There is no hint to the number 5 from that story. Conclusion, the Holy Spirit placed the number 5 there.

In verse 8: “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand?" So he asks for bread and a sword. And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me." Wrapped in cloth, a sword? Jesus Christ, the Word of God, wrapped in cloth hints to His birth AND death.

So the sword of Goliath connects this story to the killing of Goliath and thus the "smooth stones" represent bread symbolically.

Then one hint to what 5 bread can mean, you have Jesus in the synagogue in Luke 4, where he mentions 5 "salvation items". The Spirit of the Lord is upon because He has anointed me:
1) to preach the good news to the poor
2) to release the captives
3) recovery of sight for the blind
4) to set free who are oppressed
5) to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And in verse 22: All wondered at the gracious words (5 - number of grace) which proceeded out of his mouth."Out of his mouth" hints to Revelation
1:16: "and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword" So you have 5 "bread" and the sword.

And in the armour of God in Eph. 6 you have:
1) girdle of truth
2) breastplate of righteousness
3) preparation of the gospel of peace (as shoes)
4) shield of faith
5) helmet of salvation
+ sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

All these stories are connected, and I am only scratching the surface.

February 06 2024 • Report