The Church Age Foreshadowed in the Feeding of the 5000
As I was reading through John recently, and the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand jumped out at me as a foreshadowing of the church age. May the Holy Spirit guide this exploration and make any necessary corrections. Let's reread the story.
John 6:1-14 (NIV)
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Let's unpack the major components, and see their prophetic significance.
Jesus said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35), which refers to His role as our Sustainer and the Giver of eternal life, and is also a reference to the Bread of the Presence in tabernacle.
The bread in John 6 is barley - the first grain to ripen. Barley is symbolic of the church, as seen in the winnowing process, which does not require being crushed under a tribulum like wheat. Barley is tossed up into the air, and the Wind separates out the chaff. At some point in the life of every believer, the Father will toss that person up in the air (perhaps via a painful set of circumstances), and the Holy Spirit will separate out all the hinders from a relationship with His Son, Jesus.
Jesus arose from the grave on the holy day of Firstfruits (Lev 23:10), the day when the priests would wave a sheaf of the first ripened grain (barley) as a wave offering (Lev 23:11). So when Paul said Jesus is the "firstfruits" of the resurrection, his Jewish audience knew this referred to the barley harvest:
1 Corinthians 15:20-24 (NIV)
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Incidentally, these 4 milestones in v23-25 indicate a harvest of the remainder of the barley, otherwise known as the rapture of the church, prior to the tribulation:
1. Firstfruits of the barley harvest, Christ's resurrection
2. The remainder of the barley harvest, the rapture of those who belong to Him
3. The reign of Christ (Rev 11:17 to Rev 20:14), which begins during the tribulation
4. The end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to the Father
And so we see that barley harvest is associated with the church age, the firstfruits of which was Christ, and the remainder of which is happening now, and will be completed at the rapture. The next harvest is the wheat harvest during the tribulation, for those that will go underneath the tribulum, allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in leading someone to an abiding relationship with Christ. The angels will do the harvesting, so they can separate the weeds from the wheat (Matt 13:29-30,39-41). The prophetic significance of the barley and wheat harvest should also remind us of the book of Ruth (Ruth 2:23).
Check out Perry Stone's commentaries on the harvests.
Strong's G200: ἀκρίς - a locust
Strong's H200: אִוֶּלֶת - foolishness, folly
Locust should remind us of the consistent biblical theme of destruction (Ex 10:12, Joel 1:4, Rev 9:3-4). Locusts completely destroy crops. And so we can see this idea emerging: It would be foolish to attempt to fulfill the mission of the church by our own strength, because it can only be accomplished supernaturally. God will ensure that whatever takes root from our own works, apart from abiding in Christ, will be destroyed in order to fulfill John 15:4-5. In other words, it would be unfruitful.
The church age will begin in the 5th millennium of man. It is characterized by the pouring out of God's grace and His Spirit, and His supernatural workings through Jesus' child-like disciples in order to accomplish the great commission, which is to bring both Jews and Gentiles into an abiding relationship with Jesus through the gospel. It is done only by His power. Attempts by any other method would be foolish and unfruitful. After the church age is complete, the remaining work of the Spirit will be passed on to the Jews.
John 6:1-14 (NIV)
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Let's unpack the major components, and see their prophetic significance.
Five small barley loaves.
The number 5 is the number of grace, as well as the number of the Holy Spirit, signified by the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Heh, which literally means "breath". We owe our existence to God's breathing into our lives (Gen 2:7). Grace is symbolic of the church age, where God will pour out His Spirit upon all people (Acts 2:17).Jesus said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35), which refers to His role as our Sustainer and the Giver of eternal life, and is also a reference to the Bread of the Presence in tabernacle.
The bread in John 6 is barley - the first grain to ripen. Barley is symbolic of the church, as seen in the winnowing process, which does not require being crushed under a tribulum like wheat. Barley is tossed up into the air, and the Wind separates out the chaff. At some point in the life of every believer, the Father will toss that person up in the air (perhaps via a painful set of circumstances), and the Holy Spirit will separate out all the hinders from a relationship with His Son, Jesus.
Jesus arose from the grave on the holy day of Firstfruits (Lev 23:10), the day when the priests would wave a sheaf of the first ripened grain (barley) as a wave offering (Lev 23:11). So when Paul said Jesus is the "firstfruits" of the resurrection, his Jewish audience knew this referred to the barley harvest:
1 Corinthians 15:20-24 (NIV)
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Incidentally, these 4 milestones in v23-25 indicate a harvest of the remainder of the barley, otherwise known as the rapture of the church, prior to the tribulation:
1. Firstfruits of the barley harvest, Christ's resurrection
2. The remainder of the barley harvest, the rapture of those who belong to Him
3. The reign of Christ (Rev 11:17 to Rev 20:14), which begins during the tribulation
4. The end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to the Father
Check out Perry Stone's commentaries on the harvests.
Two small fish
Jesus said that He will make us fishers of men (Matt 4:19) during the great commission (Matt 28:19-20). He also said that his "food" is to do the will of His Father (John 4:34). But why two fish? Perhaps this is because there are two main groups of "fish" we pursue: Jews and Gentiles (Acts 19:10,17, 20:21, Gal 3:28). This partaking of bread and fish that supernaturally multiplies is a picture of the Holy Spirit's work during the church age, which only occurs through an abiding relationship with Jesus (John 15:5).A boy
Jesus said we cannot enter the Kingdom unless we enter it "like a child" (Matt 18:2-5). Although the final fulfillment of this statement may be referring to our corporate birth into the throne room of God (Rev 12:5), it begins in part now. And so it is no surprise that Jesus supernaturally multiplied the bread and fish from a child, as opposed to a man... because He will only work supernaturally when we come to Him like children, taking a lowly position.5000 men
Orthodox Rabbis believe God allotted 6000 years to the descendants of Adam, called the Olam Hazeh, followed by 1000 years of rest, called the Athid Lavo. We would call the 1000 years of rest the Millennium, during which time Jesus physically rules the entire planet. The phrase "5000 men" indicates the church age will start around the 5th millennium of man (from Adam).
12 baskets
After the church age is complete, the remnants of the supernatural work leftover from the church age, represented by the 12 baskets of leftovers, will spill over into the time of Jacob's trouble, where the 12 tribes of Israel will begin to recognize their Messiah, Yeshua/Jesus. They will pick up where the church left off. This is the wheat harvest, and their firstfruits seems to be the 144,000 (Rev 14:4), 12,000 sealed from each tribe (Rev 7:3-8).Half a year's wages (200 denari)
This one is not obvious, and the following interpretation could be missing something, but here it goes. Phillip explains what it would take if a person were to work by their own strength for what can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. It would take 200 denari (in the original greek). Jesus says in John 15 that fruit only comes through an abiding relationship with Himself (John 15:4-5). Abiding believers should be able to recognize this. Our Heavenly Father supernaturally orchestrates situations for His glory through us, that we may be proven Jesus' disciples. This usually carries God's fingerprints, where all in viewing range can attest to our complete inability to cause the supernatural orchestration. It just happens. We can't make it happen. Per John 15, He will ensure it won't happen by our own efforts. So why the 200 denari? Let's examine Strong's G200 and H200. Certainly the Holy Spirit knew of the future, widespread usage of Strong's Concordance towards the end of the church age.
Strong's G200: ἀκρίς - a locust
Strong's H200: אִוֶּלֶת - foolishness, folly
Locust should remind us of the consistent biblical theme of destruction (Ex 10:12, Joel 1:4, Rev 9:3-4). Locusts completely destroy crops. And so we can see this idea emerging: It would be foolish to attempt to fulfill the mission of the church by our own strength, because it can only be accomplished supernaturally. God will ensure that whatever takes root from our own works, apart from abiding in Christ, will be destroyed in order to fulfill John 15:4-5. In other words, it would be unfruitful.
Conclusion
So if we take these prophetic hints, and string them together, this may be the deeper story being told:The church age will begin in the 5th millennium of man. It is characterized by the pouring out of God's grace and His Spirit, and His supernatural workings through Jesus' child-like disciples in order to accomplish the great commission, which is to bring both Jews and Gentiles into an abiding relationship with Jesus through the gospel. It is done only by His power. Attempts by any other method would be foolish and unfruitful. After the church age is complete, the remaining work of the Spirit will be passed on to the Jews.
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