The miracles of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000 are interesting. My new insight is this:
The first miracle – Matthew 14:13-21 – takes place in what the Jews called the “land of the twelve.” (The place where devout Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel continued to worship the Lord.) There were twelve baskets full of leftovers. Representing enough food to feed God’s people!
The second miracle – Matthew 15:29-39 – takes place in the Decapolis area east of Galilee which the Jews called the “land of the seven.” (There were 7 pagan nations driven from Israel by Joshua) There were seven baskets full of leftovers this time. Representing enough food to feed the pagans too!
Jesus is the Bread of Life and Savior of not only the Jews, but of the whole world!
In Matthew 14:22 and Mark 4, when Jesus tells the disciples to go to the “other side” of the lake, the disciples heard “other side” differently than we do. “Other side” culturally meant to the “land of the seven” where the devil lived and the sea was the place where evil spirits lived. This explains why they were terrified and called Jesus a ghost when they saw Him walking on the water. Jesus was showing them that He had power over these evil spirits and in a way kind of setting them up for the miracle which was to come, where He fed the 4,000 in the “land of the seven.”
Am I taking bread to people in the “land of the seven?” Do I love people who scare me? Have I gone to “the other side” with the Gospel?
Great stuff. I’d love to get your background info for the terminology “land of the twelve” and “land of the seven”. Can you give me a reference on that besides the writings of Ray VanderLaan (followtherabbi.com) snce he doesn’t cite his references?
Bill,
Unfortunately, I can’t remember the exact date, but I originally heard about the “Land of the Seven” and the “Land of the twelve” concept from a sermon that I downloaded by Rob Bell. It’s also referenced here:
http://www.fishingtheabyss.com/?p=40
towards the bottom of the post under the section marked “Sod – A Hidden Meaning” – it’s the “Example” used by the author. It seems apparent that the “hasidim” referred to these areas this way – I wonder if this is recorded somewhere (maybe the Mishnah) or if it’s just been passed down through the generations this way?? I’m gonna have to do a little more research myself now. (I’ll let you know when and if I discover anything.)
Thank you – this was very helpful to me!
bill